Since its not sealed, i'd use some type of marine grade grease.
Recomend grease on this snow blower differential bevel gears.
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No. Trying to seal something not designed to be sealed causes more problems than it fixes. That is also why you want it completely full of grease and to purge it out with grease. There are not tight tolerances in it to worry about cold grease jamming it up. It barely does anything except when you turn side to side.
Most of the greases suggested are a bad idea for this application. Most will drop the oil out of the thickener and some do it worse when exposed to water. Any semifluid grease will eventually make its way out and separate. Corn-head grease is the closest to being suitable but the oil will run out of it also.
I have a TroyBilt 24" snowblower that was leaking it's dif "grease". The fluid was thin and and amber. It looked like ATF or motor oil. I filled it with the 00 grease, which is dark gray, and it's been fine, no more leaks and it works. A quart at Tractor supply was $5.25 at the time.
It seems unlikely that it was not designed to be sealed to "some" extent. What is your worry, that you would attempt to seal it, but would not succeed, then water would be trapped inside? That is not really too much worse than not trying to seal it at all, and also having water inside. That is where the tacky grease comes into play anyway.
This is not an application where there is an expected high temperature rise where you need a vent tube if sealed, but if you really want to add one because sealing it worries you, then that is your call to make.
You definitely do not want it full of grease thicker than NLGI 0. Far to viscous in very cold weather like you'd use a snowblower in. It is not a matter of tight tolerances when the whole thing is flooded with grease, rather this makes any movement at all in there, an issue. You are not building a grease mixer, just decreasing friction and fully filling it increases friction, substantially. Show me any differential/transfer case/etc, completely filled with NLGI 2 grease?
You state it doesn't do anything except turning but is it not the case that those shaft gears are always spinning when the wheels are? It is not hard to make this work long term if only it is done right. Not sealing it and then using so much higher viscosity grease that it pumps the grease out of the cracks even before the oil separates out, is not doing it right.
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I'd DIY some type of seal on the open ended part of the shaft, even if it's a wad of duct tape to keep dirt out and grease somewhat in.
Corn head grease!
anyway to put the parts in an ultrasonic cleaner? I'd do that then fill it with a 75/25 mix of Mystik red and 75w90 gear oil.
Just my $0.02
Just my $0.02
An NIGL number is not a viscosity and not a temperature range. It is very likely that it is not designed to be sealed because you can clearly see there are no seals. It is a differential and the gears do not spin unless the is a need for a different speed at each wheel I.E. when turning left or right.
Ouch that looks crusty. Anything will be better than the rust and grime, but if it were mine I'd either use a Marine grease or John Deere Cornhead grease. The cornhead grease is my go-to for snowblower gearboxes, especially if they had gear oil in them but it all leaked out.
You don't recognize that a lower NLGI # is chosen for a lower viscosity and temperature of operation? I'm pretty certain it is!
I don't, clearly see that there are no seals. What I see is there may be a seal on the bottom half of the casing, or that if the rest looks like it does, the seal may have long since crumbled away or been removed when someone else attempted to service it and obviously didn't get the job done or else it would be full of old, caked grease right about now! So if it really had no seal, then based on the picture, how did that work out? Hmm...!
Do you understand how a differential works? One if not both gears are constantly spinning for the left and right axle, but even if they weren't, why would you put an excessive viscosity grease in for the times when the differential is doing its job? As already stated, that won't keep the oil from leeching out and making it all the more (excessively) viscous in colder temperatures.
There are two realistic alternatives. Put far less than a full fill of viscous grease on the gears and only adjacent to them, or flood it with a less viscous grease/oil bath that the gears pull/fling up, and a seal to keep it in. Either way, why on earth choose to let all the flying snow get in there? Makes no sense, sealed doesn't necessarily have to mean air-tight at every possible entry point in order to keep most if not all moisture out.
NLGI consistency number - Wikipedia
NLGI# is only a classification of the hardness of grease and does not indicate viscosity or usable temperature range. The makeup of the thickener, base oil and any other additives determines that.
This is how a differential works. This application does not have a pinion gear. There are only spider gears. There is a chain that spins the housing that contains the spider gears. The spider gears only turn when each wheel is moving at different speeds.
Grease can turn to a powdery substance and almost disappear as shown in the pictures. This is what happens when water gets into grease and stays in it. '
As far seals, I constantly deal with things that people have tried to seal that were not meant to be sealed. This looks exactly like something that is not intended to be sealed as older equipment tended to be. Water will make its way in no matter how hard you try to seal something that is not meant to be sealed. You have to give the water a way to get out.
My go-to for odd, very low viscosity grease needs including my old tractor. Great stuff, heavy moly, good for cold weather and great for that leaky old steering box that you don't feel like resealing yet, and advertised as 'not to leak', which given the British success with automotive seals is quite a feat. Made for the swivel balls of Land Rovers.
Swivel Ball Grease
Swivel Ball Grease
The drive for the snowblower auger I have now has a plastic plug for filling, it's grease zerk sized. No seals on it as they used RTV originally. Don't know how full to get it and it's hard to fill anyway. But it's leaking. Looking for a syringe type filler for the 000 grease.
I don't think I would want a diff on a snowblower - unless it was a monster.
My HD Toro auger worm gear box takes 80W90 GL-5
My HD Toro auger worm gear box takes 80W90 GL-5
NLGI consistency number - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
NLGI# is only a classification of the hardness of grease and does not indicate viscosity or usable temperature range. The makeup of the thickener, base oil and any other additives determines that.
This is how a differential works. This application does not have a pinion gear. There are only spider gears. There is a chain that spins the housing that contains the spider gears. The spider gears only turn when each wheel is moving at different speeds.
Grease can turn to a powdery substance and almost disappear as shown in the pictures. This is what happens when water gets into grease and stays in it. '
As far seals, I constantly deal with things that people have tried to seal that were not meant to be sealed. This looks exactly like something that is not intended to be sealed as older equipment tended to be. Water will make its way in no matter how hard you try to seal something that is not meant to be sealed. You have to give the water a way to get out.
We're just going to have to be content with completely disagreeing.
My father in law had a old VW beetle he used on a rural newspaper route. I took over for a few weeks one time and used the car. It shifted kind of hard so I asked him what kind of oil to add to the gear box.
He said he just used gun grease. I asked him what was that and he said whatever was in his grease gun.
He said he just used gun grease. I asked him what was that and he said whatever was in his grease gun.
Green Grease. It isn't sealed so anything like 00 will just run right out.
I think your on the right track. Clean it and lube it up with cold temp grease then see how it runs.
I highly doubt such a crude and simple design will care much about grease type. It’s quite clear it is designed to operate with minimal lubrication.
And that’s exactly what I would do, use a very minimal amount. If you pack the thing full of grease, it will add a lot of drag and that grease will sling out anyways and probably be squeezed out of the case.
And that’s exactly what I would do, use a very minimal amount. If you pack the thing full of grease, it will add a lot of drag and that grease will sling out anyways and probably be squeezed out of the case.
