
Kubota ZD18 lawn mower
![]() | Bruce1
Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 2 Fergus, Ontario, Canada ![]() |
2012-05-07 183470
I have a kubota ZD 18 lawn mower. When I grease the mower deck I have trouble with the back grease nipple-- I am not sure that I am getting grease into it because of the angle of the spot where I have to put in the gun. There is a disconnect coupling just behind this nuckle but I'm reluctant to disconnect it, but maybe I should. Help me out here guys. I am dilighted with my mower other than this small problem.
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Kubota ZD18 lawn mower
![]() | kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5275 South Carolina ![]() ![]() |
2012-05-07 183471
If you are using a manual gun think you can tell if the grease is leaving the gun. I will not use pneumatic on such as sealed bearings for that reason. Is the issue you are not sure it is staying on the fitting or the grease is going into it?
....
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Kubota ZD18 lawn mower
![]() | hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 3583 iowa ![]() |
2012-05-08 183474
I have a center zerk on deck of my Deere mowers on my 345 riders that is a dinger to get at, behind belts, kinda in the midst of the lift mechanism. I agree with KT, on hand operated guns, you can "feel" by the pressure it takes to move the gun lever whether a zerk is taking grease or not.
But back to my difficult zerks, first a rubber hose gun is a must. Second there are gun hose tips that have a higher spring tension of the little grippers inside the hose tip that will hold the tip on the zerk much better than a standard hose tip. They do push on the zerk much harder than a standard tip, but once they are on the zerk they stay there till you're done greasing it. The ones I've found are larger in diamater than a standard hose tip, but so far haven't been large enough to interfere with getting onto a zerk. If you look into the end of the hose tip you will see three little grippers on a standard tip, these have five grippers with more spring tension. I don't know a brand, I got mine at the parts counter of a Deere dealer, but I'm sure most major farm supply outlets like TSC would have them too.
Frank. ....
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Kubota ZD18 lawn mower
![]() | Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada ![]() ![]() |
2012-05-08 183475
On our front deck mowers we removed the standard zerk on the and installed one that is on a 45 deg. angle instead.
I agree with the rubber hose type grease gun, it's a must for those tough spots.
Best of luck. ....
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Kubota ZD18 lawn mower
![]() | auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 2168 West of Toronto ![]() ![]() |
2012-05-08 183476
You're not alone. Unscrew the zerk, probably with a wrench or 1/4"-drive socket around 8 mm. Take it to an auto-supply store and get a boxed assortment with the same thread, likely metric. Install a 45- or 90-degree one. Keep the others for when they get plugged or damaged.
The problems with greasing bearings is you can't tell if it's going in, and with a flex connector on a manual gun you need three hands unless it's a pistol gun (which aren't as powerful). Solution:
Use a quality manual lever gun. I use a hose on my air-powered gun but for the lever I'd get a moveable angle metal tip. Get used to how the gun feels on other zerks until you can tell when the grease is going in. Then apply it to the bearings but don't over-grease.
Always glad to help a Fergusian. ....
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Kubota ZD18 lawn mower
![]() | hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 3583 iowa ![]() |
2012-05-08 183477
Yes, I've got several boxes of zerk assortments with 45's and 90's that would make my difficult ones easier but I would have to unbolt and remaove a shield before I could grease anything except a straight zerk.. The zerks are in the top end of the blade shafts and line up with a hole in the shield.
Frank. ....
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Kubota ZD18 lawn mower
![]() | charlieK
Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 137 kentucky ![]() |
2022-03-06 200902
I remove the deck in the spring to grease my 72" ZD28 and 54" cub cadet decks ....
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