To grease or Not to Grease?

[bidkev]

Having seen how the grease had solidified on my roller spindles, I am dubious as to it's benefits. Opinions anyone?

TIA

kev

[Kerry]

Grease mixed with water is basically useless, basically what occures with steering cables that are greased.

Cheers, Kerry.

[littlejim]

kingtin,

after seeing what you saw I swapped to oiling the rollers, plenty of room between roller and axle to get it in.
kerry has highlighted the problem of grease drying out in the steering cable and steering tube on the motor many times.
However wherever there are grease nipples on the motor I pump some new stuff in after every trip.

[bidkev]

kingtin,

after seeing what you saw I swapped to oiling the rollers, plenty of room between roller and axle to get it in.
kerry has highlighted the problem of grease drying out in the steering cable and steering tube on the motor many times.
However wherever there are grease nipples on the motor I pump some new stuff in after every trip.

Yeah, my steering locked up on me once. on stripping it down it was caked inside the barrel with brown gunge (the o ring on the locking nut had perished). My mate and I tried cleaning it as with a pull through on a rifle barrel. The bloody rag got st stuck, there was so much shit in there. The we tried pushing it through with a stainless rod and the rag bunched up and grabbed the rod! When we finally got the rod back we ended up having to grab/cut the rag with a router bit.........Oh the joys of learning! :-) Never greased the steering rod since and never had a problem since.

cheers

kev

[bidkev]

"with a pull through on a rifle barrel"! :-) What a typo! :-) That should read "as on a rifle barrel"

[Hagar]

G'day Kev
I am going to be the exception here and say that everything on my steering and on my motor that has a grease nipple or needs lube that won't wash off gets greased and I never have any problems . This includes the steering cable and the tilt tube . My opinion is that most of the problems come from the current or previous owner using general purpose instead of water-resistant boating grease . It's easy to pick up any old grease gun when you are in a hurry sometimes . By water-resistant grease I mean the blue coloured stuff . Sold as an Evinrude product in small and large cartridges or made by Castrol and sold as ' boating grease ' . Super Cheap normally stock it . I always turn the motor full lock both ways to push out the excess from the tilt tube and cable afterwards.

I use the same stuff on the trailer roller pins and it lasts a couple of years between applications but still stays soft .
This is what I have found over the last twenty years or so - I know others have differing opinions .

There is a problem with older motors building up rust inside the tilt tube and 'grabbing ' the sliding rod of the teleflex and locking it up . From what has been posted on previous topics this problem is sometimes overcome better by oiling and not greasing it appears . I had a secondhand motor with this problem and when I finally extracted the teleflex rod the tilt tube had to be reamed out .

What grease have you been using Kev ?

Chris

[bidkev]

G'day Kev
<snip>
I use the same stuff on the trailer roller pins and it lasts a couple of years between applications but still stays soft .
This is what I have found over the last twenty years or so - I know others have differing opinions .

There is a problem with older motors building up rust inside the tilt tube and 'grabbing ' the sliding rod of the teleflex and locking it up . From what has been posted on previous topics this problem is sometimes overcome better by oiling and not greasing it appears . I had a secondhand motor with this problem and when I finally extracted the teleflex rod #the tilt tube had to be reamed out .

What grease have you been using Kev ?

Chris

G'day Chris

Have to admit that I've not been looking after my rig as I should've done but now I've got more time on my hands (no longer home schooling a foster kid) I'm encountering and sensing all kinds of potential probs.

I've been using Castrol boating grease on the bearings but the probs with the rollers and steering have been inherited.

The way I see it is that grease is a lube but it is also adhesive. If it's placed in an enclosed environment then it works just fine, but if it's dunked or sprayed then it must have the capacity to have all kinds of crap adhere to it. When the steering locked I found that the grease was no longer "grease", that is, it wasn't "slidey" but was a cake of brown tacky gunge that had stiffened almost solid because of the visible grains of salt and sand that had become embedded in the grease.

A knackered O ring on the locking nut and the fact that the nut itself was damaged by the male rod pushing against it when steering hard to port, had contributed to crap getting inside the sleeve and solidifying the grease. I suppose I shouldn't bank the boat so hard and that wouldn't happen but boys will be boys :-) The nut itself, on Yammys, is plastic/nylon and the current one needs replacing already, from what I can see..... after only 8 months!........And how the hell do they justify 9 bucks for a bit of bloody plastic!!!!.......but that's a whole new topic.

I've been told to only tighten this nut by hand but I'm not sure how true this is. Perhaps someone can respond to this?

Never encountered these probs back in the UK and never had a need to pose questions in this regard. I would've thought that the lower temps over there would've led to less viscosity, but the opposite seems to be the case. Agreed, the grease marketed there is probably different to cope with the different temps.

I have to assume that these probs inherited are most likely due to the incorrect grease being used previously.

cheers

kev

[Glug]

No greasy will handle it if you are launching close to sand even the expensive anti sieze one will collect the fine dust over time. Oil washes the dust out but does not protect the metal from corroding as well as grease in a dust free environment. This is why different guys dissagree, different maintenance, different usage you just have to find which is best for you.

[blaze]

IMO tilt tube should be greased and often, rollers left dry. Oil wont stay in a cold climate like tassie, what hope has it in the heat up there.
cheers
blaze

[littlejim]

Hagar,

I too only use the blue evinrude stuff (grease). If you have a look, especially at the rollers you will find after the oil has leached out, you are left with a clay that sticks like that brown stuff to a Whitney blanket. Fresh grease, for a while, will make things slip over the clay, but eventually there isn't enough room and you'll have to wash the lot off. (I'm sure most of the blokes here are using a 'marine' grease. It still breaks down, maybe a bit slower than automotive grease, but it won't last forever.)

[bidkev]

Bloke passed me by whilst I had my head under the trailer.........came back an hour later with two stainless spindles.........didn't have the balls to ask him for 6 more :-)

cheers

kev

[littlejim]

Kingtin,

make your own.
When I had roller probs which meant hiring an elephant to get the boat off at launch, I went to the metal shop and got stainless steel rod of the right diameter.
Despite the stories of how hard it is to work with, I was able to cut it to length with a hacksaw and drill holes for the split pins. For the holes I ground a little flat at the end, centre punched a spot for the drill and used a small drill to do a pilot hole for the proper sized drill.
I used to grease them with marine grease, but as Kerry has pointed out, and now you, it turns to a hard but sticky goo. The ss shafts mean the rollers roll better, but I still squirt some oil in whenever I think of it.

[bidkev]

Kingtin,

make your own.
<snip>
.

Gonna do that littlejim. Seems the way to go. Thanks for the info

cheers

kev

[Fed]

I've gotta go against Kerry here, I've always had great success with grease and it doesn't wash out.
I don't believe a little stiff grease has any bearing on rolling a ton or so boat down a trailer.
I use greasable axles & give each side a little pump with w/proof grease evry now & then.
One thing I've found though, the axle size makes a lot of difference to the rolling performance, the ones with the 16mm shafts are crap compared to the 22mm (I think) ones.

[bidkev]

<snip>
One thing I've found though, the axle size makes a lot of difference to the rolling performance, the ones with the 16mm shafts are crap compared to the 22mm (I think) ones.

Yeah, I have to agree. 2 of mine were bent! I have double tilt rollers all the way up though and I'd have to replace them and the rollers if I upgraded the axles......maybe when I win the lotto, but then again, perhaps I'd just get a new rig :-)

cheers

kev

[Kerry]

I've gotta go against Kerry here, I've always had great success with grease and it doesn't wash out.
I don't believe a little stiff grease has any bearing on rolling a ton or so boat down a trailer ....

NO probably doesn't as the rollers eventually are well and truely stuck to the pins and what's turning is the pins (with the rollers fixed) in the brackets.



....I use greasable axles & give each side a little pump with w/proof grease evry now & then ....

Does that mean you have bored every pin and fitted grease nipples?


....One thing I've found though, the axle size makes a lot of difference to the rolling performance, the ones with the 16mm shafts are crap compared to the 22mm (I think) ones.

I think the best trailer is one that don't have ANY rollers at all ;D should be more of them ;)

Cheers, Kerry.

[Fed]

G'day Kerry, long time no talk to.

That's the trick, making sure the rollers roll on the axles and not the axles rolling in the brackets.

I didn't drill them I buy them pre-drilled and fitted with grese nipples on both sides, they are also cross drilled in 2 places to get the grease right where it should be.
I give a couple of pumps & the grease oozes out between the axle & the roller.
Forgive the pun but once everything gets bedded in they run like greased lightning.
I'm sure a lot of problems are caused by rough gal too.
I used to try 'spray grease' through a small tube that fitted into the top of the can but when the boat is on the trailer you need to get it into the 'gap' at the bottom of the axle but the 'gap' at the axle/bracket is on the top.....?
blah,blah, blah... you know what I mean. :-/

[Kerry]

....you know what I mean....

Yeah :D actually know what you mean ;)

;D Still reckon the best trailer has no rollers :D

Cheers, Kerry.