Greasing Nose Sprockets - Tool Advice

[peatff]

1 hour ago, Bob_z_l said:

Thank You. I have a generic one from Tree and Grass

 

This looks the business. Cheers

 

I have one of those and it works fine. I refilled it with Castrol LM grease, the blue stuff it came with ran out ages ago. Make sure the grease is well packed in with no air gaps.

[openspaceman]

5 hours ago, Mark Bolam said:

The only one I’ve found that works is the original metal barrelled Oregon one.

If @Bob_z_l wants he can borrow mine as I only use it occasionally for Husqvarna clutches

[Rob D]

8 hours ago, Stubby said:

Milling is maybe a different kettle of fish . Working on the ground be it in the woods or a groundy I have found , over the years that its best not to grease them . I have had a few nose sprockets let go and since I stopped greasing all has been fine . It depends on the environment you are working in but sometimes dirt and dust can stick to the grease making it into a sorta grinding paste shortening the life span . Just me perhaps ...

 

It's a tricky one is this - if you are well on top of bar maintenance and are regularly cleaning out the gunk [which then allows oil to seep down onto the nose bearing] then prob you don't have to grease...

 

When you are greasing then the idea is more that the grease pushes out any grit that's in there and the centrifugal force in some ways should spin the excess grease out with any bits.

 

But as usual no right or wrong just what works best for you.

 

 

[Rob D]

8 hours ago, Bob_z_l said:

 

My experience with my GB nose sprockets is they seem to dry up and become a metal on metal very quickly without loads of grease. Then bang.

 

 

If you are finding this is a regular thing check the other things that can cause noses to fail - ie. worn rim/drive sprocket peening the chain which then burrs the nose sprocket.

 

Also clean the gunk out the bar regularly [ie really every time after using it] as otherwise the oil that comes onto the bar tends to get slurped up by that gunk at the bottom and none ever makes it to seep down into the nose bearing.

[Rough Hewn]

Thanks, to explain,  I've had a couple of failures on my GB milling bars.
Maybe getting a bit over sensitive but it seems to me putting grease in rather that relying on oil seemed to make them last.
 
Cheers

What bars? Pitch? Length?
I’ve never greased any of my GB or other bars ever.
A few weeks ago I had a chap in who was interested in the panther mill GB bar set up.
I then realised I’d never even flipped the bar…
For over two years of brutal abuse, my main go to mill.
Didn’t look too bad either so left it on.
Mine are all .404 and pretty bomb proof[emoji106]

[Bob_z_l]

12 hours ago, openspaceman said:

If @Bob_z_l wants he can borrow mine as I only use it occasionally for Husqvarna clutches

Thank you. A very kind offer. I have splashed out on one of the metal ones in the hope that £14 trumps £4.99

 

Thanks  Bob

[Bob_z_l]

11 hours ago, Rough Hewn said:

What bars? Pitch? Length?
I’ve never greased any of my GB or other bars ever.
A few weeks ago I had a chap in who was interested in the panther mill GB bar set up.
I then realised I’d never even flipped the bar…
For over two years of brutal abuse, my main go to mill.
Didn’t look too bad either so left it on.
Mine are all .404 and pretty bomb proof

Cheers @Rough Hewn and @Rob D

 

I have (now) 2 x 42"  3/8 lo-pro's They both have replacement nose sprockets. First one (I believe) because no grease at all and  a couple of hundred metres of milling ant it just failed. I lost all chain tension and the sprocket had disappeared. The plates had splayed game over.

Second nose sprocket on new bar went after several hard months of milling mainly Oak and Beech. 

 

Have 2 rim drives and 2 saws that they rotate between.  I try to keep things clean with a regular blast off the air line.

 

I have also , unfortunately , made contact on both bars with  metal. Enough to snap one chain and remove teeth on the other. 

Deep inside the wood and , I believe, out of the range of my metal detector. 

 

The bars have lost a bit of paint, but there is no apparent wear barring a small nick where the chain broke. I have tried to re-dress this to stop any further problems.  

 

The .404   have is on a 46" sugi /881 and is not a ripper chain but  so far 80m of Cedar, Larch and Oak. No problems.

 

Please don't get me wrong....I don't have issue with the Lo-Pro but think compared to a regular 3/8 or .325  and definitely the .404 the Lo-Pro is quite a lot more delicate. 

I  do realise this and so try and treat them accordingly. I don't rush them or push hard.  But do love the narrow kerf and the act on larger pieces it can give me an extra board. 

 

The reason for the thread was that my grease gun made all the right sounds but wasn't applying any grease. Same in my mind as  having a sump full of oil but a failed oil pump.....it was only going to end one way!

 

Thanks as always for all your great advice. 
I will take it all on and recheck what I'm doing as it will inevitably be user error  on my part.  

 

 

Cheers   Bob

 

[Rough Hewn]

Cheers @Rough Hewn and @Rob D
 
I have (now) 2 x 42"  3/8 lo-pro's They both have replacement nose sprockets. First one (I believe) because no grease at all and  a couple of hundred metres of milling ant it just failed. I lost all chain tension and the sprocket had disappeared. The plates had splayed game over.
Second nose sprocket on new bar went after several hard months of milling mainly Oak and Beech. 
 
Have 2 rim drives and 2 saws that they rotate between.  I try to keep things clean with a regular blast off the air line.
 
I have also , unfortunately , made contact on both bars with  metal. Enough to snap one chain and remove teeth on the other. 
Deep inside the wood and , I believe, out of the range of my metal detector. 
 
The bars have lost a bit of paint, but there is no apparent wear barring a small nick where the chain broke. I have tried to re-dress this to stop any further problems.  
 
The .404   have is on a 46" sugi /881 and is not a ripper chain but  so far 80m of Cedar, Larch and Oak. No problems.
 
Please don't get me wrong....I don't have issue with the Lo-Pro but think compared to a regular 3/8 or .325  and definitely the .404 the Lo-Pro is quite a lot more delicate. 
I  do realise this and so try and treat them accordingly. I don't rush them or push hard.  But do love the narrow kerf and the act on larger pieces it can give me an extra board. 
 
The reason for the thread was that my grease gun made all the right sounds but wasn't applying any grease. Same in my mind as  having a sump full of oil but a failed oil pump.....it was only going to end one way!
 
Thanks as always for all your great advice. 
I will take it all on and recheck what I'm doing as it will inevitably be user error  on my part.  
 
 
Cheers   Bob

 

Hitting metal will not just bugger the teeth,
the shock with transfer to the drive sprocket and bar sprocket.
I’ve had .404 rim sprockets shatter after hitting metal.
If in doubt use a .404 duromatic bar [emoji6][emoji106]

[Bob_z_l]

41 minutes ago, Rough Hewn said:

Hitting metal will not just bugger the teeth,
the shock with transfer to the drive sprocket and bar sprocket.
I’ve had .404 rim sprockets shatter after hitting metal.
If in doubt use a .404 duromatic bar

Cheers @Rough Hewn   The "shock" was something I suspected which is why I mentioned it. As said, I think the failures are mainly due to me expecting/asking too much from the setup. It's  a good setup  but not bob-proof.

 

Yes  .404, that was one of my plans. Small hiccup was that I already had the 661 and lo-Pro bars.

 

I will in due course upgrade the bar to fit the panthermill then I'll be unstoppable :-)

[Darrin Turnbull]

I think a correctly tensioned well sharpened chain is sufficient.