Lubrication of roller chain?

[John R in Wisconsin]

I have a John Deere 14T baler (probably 60+ years old), and I am doing some winter maintenance. I removed the main drive chain, which is a roller chain. It is nice and tight, so does not need replacing. So far I have soaked it in gasoline and rinsed it several times with gas, so I feel it is clean. Now, how should I best lubricate it before putting it back on the machine? Soak in 30 weight oil? Any other thoughts?

 

[wore out]

It's hard to judge the wear of a used roller chain unless it has recently been run and is clean and free of gunk.. Unless it has been replaced recently I'll bet it is worn more than you think!

Since you have it removed and timing will be involved in putting it back on (unless it's the pickup drive) I would replace it with good quality ''Diamond'' chain or equivalent and be set for many years.

Worn chain wears sprockets and leads to more $$$ in repairs over time.

 

[JIM MN]

I would let it soak in light weight oil. Pull chain out of oil, wiggle around, put
back in to soak some more... Take chain out of oil and hang up to drip off.. Clean up good
to get all the out-side oil off the chain so it does not collect dust and dirt . Good To GO
!!

 

[504]

Roller chain lube.It come in a spray can,any farm store will have it. We buy it by the case at work.

 

[dairyman]

The service book for my Claas round baler recommends dipping the chains in boiling grease. Not easily done though.

 

[rustred]

soak in in a pail of gear oil. gear oil is sticky and will stay inside better than engine oil. yes there is spray chain lube but its kind of a useless thing. i use it also on combine chains. the gear oil treatment is the best way to go when u have lots of time. you want that lube inside the rollers where it will do some good not just spraying the outside with chain lube. when u pull it out of the pail hang it up with the pail under it to catch all the drippings. i always thought to use chainsaw chain oil as it is real sticky. never ever tryed that.

 

[DeltaRed]

Used french fry oil.Get it from local restaurants.The dogs like it too.

 

[rustred]

ooh and if you want to check your chain wear... lay it flat on a board or floor. then hold one end and pull the other end , then push it together. if you have a bunch of movement u need a new chain. a new chain u will not have link movement. thats how you check a chain. plus a worn chain wears the sprockets faster.

 

[psimmer]

The guy I run a inverted snowblower for uses chainsaw bar oil on the 4 blowers he owns. Not sure how well it actually works, but he provides it and wants me to use it. A couple blowers are several years old, and to my knowledge he hasn't had any chain issues. Not saying its the best, but that is what he wants us to use.

 

[Muir hill 101]

Case ih both have a good spray chain Lund and unlike oil if you put it on it kid if makes a film that dries and it doesnt collect dirt like regular oil will

 

[Rich'sToys]

As mentioned, a chain in that location is going to collect a lot of dust and dirt, especially if it is oily. No easy answer to that.

 

[big jt]

I use John Deere Chain and Cable lube on my combine. Spray all chains daily and ones that are working at limit maybe twice a day. Doesn't keep it soaking wet but moist. Works well for me and a combine is also a high dust location.

jt

 

[Loosehandle]

Back in the day my dad would have squirted some used oil on it and called it good, and we baled a lot with a 14t.

 

[Tx Jim]

Ditto on using JD chain lube in aerosol can. I've been using that JD chain lube for many years on roller chains. I agree with wore out that most chains require small sq baler to be ""timed"".

If chain is laid length wise on a table with pins/rollers horizontal with table how much curve(arch) will chain bend? If arch is very much chain needs to be replaced.

This post was edited by Tx Jim on 03/17/2023 at 05:55 am.

 

[showcrop]

With the amount of work that you have already put into it, consider doing what all of the off road motorcycle racers do: They melt paraffin wax in an old frying pan, leave the chain in for a few minutes to get up to the same temp, then hang it above to drain while it cools. This gets the wax INSIDE where you need it, and wax lasts much better than oil. For periodic lube, as you can see from the answers already posted use aerosol chain lube. It comes out of the can watery thin, and if your chain is hot it will penetrate, and set up and last for much longer than light weight oil. spray it on the inside of the chain just before it goes over a sprocket. less will fling off.

 

[lugnuts2030]

I determine a worn out roller chain by stretching the old one out and lay a piece of new chain the same size besides it. If the the old one is much longer per several links it's time to replace the chain so the sprockets don't get worn out.<bThis can be done with the chain on the machine as well as laying them flat while stretching them out.

 

[caterpillar guy]

You can soak it and spray it with fancy lubes and all. When said and done just brush old engine or rear end oil on them each morning and it will out last the baler. We just use old engine oil on roller chain on balers combines planters and don't have a lot of chain problems. I even oil the gathering chains on the cornhead with old engine oil.

 

[Leroy]

When it is clean just yes plain old kerosine. Corn picker manual said to do that. it lubes but will not hold dirt. Diersel is to oily and will not run clean.

 

[Greenfrog]

How about silicone spray? It lubes, but doesnt attract dirt.

 

[SETX]

I do the same on all of mine rustred. I have squirt bottle full of gear oil and oil the chains on balers and combines with them turning. Messy but works.