Always used grease on cutterhead bearings, but a guy at the parts counter talked me into trying synthetic oil instead

I was real skeptical when he said it'd last longer between changes on my Ellicott 270. Been running it for about 3 months now and I gotta say, the bearings run cooler after 10 hour days. The oil doesn't break down as fast with all the grit we kick up. Has anyone else switched from grease to oil and seen better wear on their swing bearings?

2 comments

2 Comments

jessicaw5425d ago

Oh man that reminds me of when I tried switching to a thinner oil on my stump grinder's wheel bearings... what a mess that was. The seals just couldn't hold it in and I ended up with oil dripping all over the place after a few hours of work. I eventually just went back to the heavy grease and never looked back.

reese_perry625d ago

Hear me out but I think you're gonna regret that switch to oil on a cutterhead. Grease stays put and keeps grit out way better than oil ever will. Oil just lets that sand and silt work its way into the bearings no matter how good your seals are. I've seen too many guys go back to grease after a season because their bearings started sounding rough from all the fines getting in. Stick with what works for the heavy stuff, oil is for the smaller parts that don't see as much crap.