Overheard a guy at the supply shop say he never greases his swing pins

I was picking up some cutterhead parts down at Gulf Coast Supply last Thursday and this older operator starts going off about how grease attracts sand and grit, so he just runs his swing pins dry. Honestly, I stood there listening for a solid ten minutes while he explained it to the kid behind the counter. My first thought was that sounds like a fast track to bushing failure. But then he showed me his machine logs and he’s only replaced pins twice in 15 years of working the Mississippi River. I run mine greased every shift change like the manual says, but now I’m wondering if I’m doing more harm than good out here in the muddy stuff. Has anyone else tried running swing pins dry on a real heavy clay bottom?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_nathan1mo ago

Yeah, buddy of mine tried that on the Gulf and his bushings were shot in six months.

uma_taylor471mo ago

...cause honestly I think that old timer might be onto something if you're running in straight heavy clay. Grease is basically a sponge in that stuff, it traps every bit of silt and sand that works its way past the seals then holds it right against the pin. I've pulled apart greased pins on Mississippi jobs where the grease came out looking like gritty toothpaste. Now I'm not saying go dry for every job, but in real sticky clay where water isn't sloshing things around I can see the logic. The key thing he probably does that nobody mentions is he knocks the pins out and cleans them with a wire brush every couple weeks instead of just pumping more grease on top of the problem. Sometimes the manual is written for the average job and doesn't account for the weird conditions we actually deal with.

drew551mo ago

Man, that "grease attracts grit" thing always gets thrown around but I gotta push back on it. In heavy clay I’d rather have the grease flushing crud out than letting it grind in dry. Have you seen any wear on his bushings or pins that makes you think he’s onto something?

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