Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Quick question... As I have an older Bolens snowblower, I am unable to find any literature about lubricants. It's an Artic 70/75 and seems to be built like a tank. I've looked through this forum, and other online resources and am unable to come up with a "standard" for auger gear lube.

Given the question "what should I use in my housing?", and given that it's old, it leaks, and I have one shot at success, what should I put in my auger housing to keep it from turning to metal filings? It's full of marine grade grease now, but I'll gladly warm it up with a torch, drain it and put something else in it.

Any input is appreciated!

Thanks

John

If it has a Zerk (grease) fitting.  Use grease.  Probably not though.  I's say if it has a drain and filler plug, go with gear oil.  If the machine has a cast iron gear case.  Use what is recommended for other machines with cast iron gear cases.   For some reason, my Simplicity which has a cast iron gear case uses Benalene.  Which is a liquid grease and difficult to find.   Why Benalene rather than gear oil is beyond me.    

John,
A parts breakdown for you rig is here:

http://www.samsbolens.com/walkbehindsnowblowers.html

The auger breakdown shows the usual setup and parts for an auger gearbox. You could use any makers operators manual and get their lub specs. Some of the manf specs I've seen are not so great and better greases could be gotten at less expense but of course a manfs specified grease would work.

For the leak: a few weeks ago I was disassembling a gearbox and found some hard gray goop on a section of the outside seam. It's seemed weird that something dripped to such a spot but after a while it dawned on me that the prior owner was patching a leak. There's no pressure involved so anything that will stick to the metal on your gearbox would work for covering a leaking seam.

For the grease there are lots of specifications. One is either EP or HP, extreme pressure or high pressure. A rating of 50-60 if I remember right is not hard to find and would be ok.

Another spec is about water affecting the grease.

Marine greases have high pressure ratings and are good in damp or wet environments. Your marine grease is ok if you can keep it in the gearbox.

A marine grease would be good in the gearbox and also for general greasing of many other places on the snowblower expecially if your augers fit into a shaft that can rust as many do over the summer. Some augers require grease fittings, like Ariens, others do not, Toro.

People refer to a grease type of "Lithium". Lithium I believe is not a grease but an additive to grease to give it body to help the grease stick around where its needed. There is also a term of white grease but lithium based grease can be lots of colors not just the common white lithium.

Automotive places have some useable greases but a good HP marine grease with good water properties was suprisingly found at Walmarts. I got a soft and a hard grease. The soft for the gearbox becasue I could not figure out how to put the hard stuff into the gearboxs small hole. The hard and the soft were good for sprinkling around the rig.
Dawei

Thanks Trout and Borat,

It does have a grease fitting, but when I added grease for the first time since I've owned it, a lot of goop came out. This blower was somewhat abandoned for a couple of years, so I guess moisture found its way in there. It pushed out everywhere. I wasn't cranking the heck out of the grease gun either, thin curls came through the seams, where the shafts come out, and through a spot on top. Picture grabbing a handful of peanut butter and making a fist (No I have never actually done that!).

Thanks for the diagram. It's like winning the lottery! Now I can see how everything works.

Your advice is really appreciated, thanks.

John

When grease goes in, air must come out.  It's normal for grease to escape past seals and other available openings.  That's how you know you've gotten sufficient grease to the required area.  You should be alright.