What You Need To Lubricate In A Trimmer Besides A Gearbox

What You Need To Lubricate In A Trimmer Besides A Gearbox

With prolonged use of the lawn mowers, regular overheating of the gearbox occurs, which leads to its breakdowns. Damage to the gearbox leads to the fact that the tool is unusable and needs to be repaired.

Gearbox repair is an expensive undertaking, therefore it is recommended not to bring the tool to this state. The main reason for overheating of the gearbox and its failure is the lack of lubrication in it.

The article describes how to properly lubricate the trimmer gearbox to avoid breakage.

Gearbox Maintenance Frequency

Lubricating the gearbox is recommended in two cases:

  • Upon purchase
  • Before the start of each season

Necessary tools and materials

For maintenance of the gearbox, you will need the following tools and materials:

Allen key to open gearbox lubrication hole

Usually, such a key comes complete with a lawn mowing or trimmer.

10 ml medical syringe

The next tool is a regular 10 ml medical syringe. It is with the help of a syringe that the lubricant enters the gearbox.

In addition, the grease itself will be needed.

It is recommended to use branded grease from the manufacturer of lawn mowers. In extreme cases, you can use any lubricant to lubricate rotating mechanisms, for example, Litol 24.

Action No. 1 Open the gearbox

Unscrewing the gearbox bolt

In order to access the gearbox, it must be opened. To do this is quite simple – you need to unscrew the gear bolt with the hex key. This bolt for all lawn mowers is in the same place – directly next to the working body.

Type of open gear

Action No. 2 Filling a syringe with oil

Lubricated tube diameter does not match gear diameter

To easily put grease into the gearbox, use a syringe.

The piston is removed from the syringe.

First, the piston is removed from the syringe.

A syringe is filled with grease from a tube

Then the syringe is filled with grease from the tube.

The piston is again inserted into the syringe

Then the piston is again inserted into the syringe. The syringe is ready to fill grease into the gearbox.

Step No. 3 Filling grease into the gearbox

The syringe is inserted into the hole of the gearbox

First, the syringe is inserted into the hole of the gearbox.

Squeezing a little grease into the gearbox and turning it about a quarter turn

Then you need to squeeze a little grease into the gearbox and turn it about a quarter of a turn.

When all lubricant has been squeezed out, the process can be considered completed.

Lubricate in small portions. After each lubricant supply, the gearbox rotates 1/3 to 1/4 turn. It is advisable to select the amount of grease at each filling so that the gearbox completes a complete revolution during the lubrication process.

Action No. 4 Sealing the gearbox

Reduction bolt

After the gearbox is filled with grease, tighten the gearbox bolt and tighten it well.

VIDEO: How to lubricate a trimmer reducer or lawn mowers (the easiest way)

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How to Lubricate a Trimmer Gear or Lawn Mowers: Proper Maintenance of Garden Tools | (Photo & Video)

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Video: What You Need To Lubricate In A Trimmer Besides A Gearbox


During operation of the gasoline trimmer, the gearbox begins to make grinding sounds, which are a sign of lack of lubrication, or loss of its properties. Of course, the owner may not attach much importance to extraneous noise, but ignoring them will lead to jamming of the gears and, as a result, the upcoming expensive repair. Therefore, in order to avoid the prerequisites for the occurrence of grinding, it is necessary to comply with the lubrication regulations of the trimmer gearbox recommended by the manufacturer.

Trimmer gear device

Regardless of the manufacturer or model, the modern trimmer is equipped with a gearbox to change the angle of transmission of mechanical energy between the drive shaft and the fishing line head. Bevel gears are most widely used in lawn mowers, because, unlike spur gears, helical gears can bear enormous speeds, have smoother engagement and have increased bearing capacity.

The main parts of the trimmer gear

In the duralumin housing (1) there is a pinion shaft (2) and a bevel gear (3), pressed onto the driven shaft (4). To reduce the friction forces during rotation, rolling bearings (5) are installed on the bearing points of the shafts. Any gear transmission is a highly loaded mechanism, the duration of which, the noiselessness and reliability of which depends primarily on the lubricant. Therefore, in addition to the main components listed above, the trimmer gearbox includes a special hole through which bearings and gears can be lubricated without disassembling the assembly.

Grease for trimmer gear: which one to choose?

Gear paste selection

Currently, the market for gasoline powered tools and supplies has a wide selection of greases that are designed to reduce friction and overheating of rubbing parts. Therefore, each owner, when the time comes for maintenance, is faced with a problem than to lubricate the trimmer gear for long-term operation. For these purposes, special plastic pastes are used, which vary in properties and manufacturer.

Grease for famous brands of trimmers

Each brand of gasoline trimmers always recommends lubricant for the lawn-mowing gearbox of its own production.

  • Husqvarna. This Swedish manufacturer recommends the use of Multi-Purpose Grease Grasa Universal grease. This material is available in tubes of blue and black in volume of 225 or 250 grams. According to the company, this trimmer gearbox grease was developed specifically for the Husqvarna technique, taking into account the steels used and the operating speeds.
  • Stihl. For the Stihl FS Series lawn mowers, the manufacturer recommends using Stihl Superlub FS gear lubricant, available in 225 gram tubes or disposable containers of 80 grams in silver-orange.
  • Patriot. Lawnmowers of this brand are recommended to be serviced by the original Arsenal lithium grease of the AR-417 brand. It is specifically designed for geared gears operating at high speeds and temperatures.
  • Huter. For the conical transmission of the tool models of this Huter company, you can use any of the above brands of gear lubricants, as well as universal types of Rezoil, TsIATIM and others.
  • Champion. Champion Lawn Mowers User Manual recommends CHAMPION Super-Lube EP-O for recommended lubricants. The material is delivered in a 250 gram jar or in a disposable nipple Premium Champion C1104.
  • Makita. This Japanese manufacturer advises its customers to use Makita branded grease, which comes in white tubes with a red cap of 65 ml and 80 ml.

Lawnmower Gearbox Grease Selection Factors

Often the owner of a particular brand of gas trimmer does not have the opportunity to purchase a lubricant recommended by the manufacturer for any reason. In such cases, you will need to search for an analogue, which in its properties will be identical to the branded paste. Therefore, when choosing a paste for a lawn mowing gearbox, you should pay attention to the following factors:

Lawn mowing gear lubrication

  1. The viscosity of the lubricant. All pastes on the market are divided into three main groups, namely: highly viscous (contain additives), solid lubricants (soften during operation of the unit) and universal plastic compounds.
  2. Intensity of lubricant consumption. This factor is taken into account based on the personal experience of the owner, and is characterized by a period between two lubrications. Most manufacturers regulate servicing the gearbox every 20-40 hours of operation.
  3. The degree of adhesion to the parts of the gearbox. This indicator is characterized by the adhesion of grease to the metal trimmer assembly.

How to lubricate the trimmer gear

Disassembled lawn mowing gear

Almost every lawn-mowing gearbox is equipped with a small technological hole, which is plugged with a special bolt during operation. After thoroughly cleaning the unit of grass and debris residues, it is necessary to unscrew the screw and introduce from 1.5 to 3 ml of grease into the cavity of the gearbox, depending on the brand of the tool. For convenient dosage, you can use a traditional medical syringe. During the operation, foreign particles and objects must not be allowed to enter the gearbox, as this can lead to intensive wear of the gear train, as well as its jamming.

Experts recommend at the end of the mowing season and long-term storage of the tool without work, disassemble the gearbox, flush the gears and bearings, and also re-lubricate the assembly.