Corn Head Grease

David G

Well-known Member
What is the difference between using corn head and regular grease? I am tired of adding lubricant to a leaky steering head.
 
Have you ever tried Deere Multi-lube? It is a pourable grease that was used in central lube systems on Deere cornpickers,balers and corn heads.I have added it to gearboxes with leaky seals with good results.
 
Corn head grease is either 0 or 00 where normal grease can be anywhere from 1 through 4. 1 or 2 being what you would normally find in your average grease gun. It is thinner, but it doesn't run like gear oil.
 
It comes in a quart bottle,it will flow out but very slow.I learned to never run the 237 cornpicker dry in cold weather because it was almost impossible to prime the hand pump as it gets very thick.Every Deere dealer should stock it as some fairly late model balers used it as well.
 
Cornhead grease is somewhat flowable where regular #2 grease not so much.

Anyway, JD Cornhead grease is "Polyurea" based. It is not compatible with oils or traditional lithium based #2 greases that you commonly buy. So no mixing of it with anything else.

Whenever starting to use the JD cornhead grease then you only want to use that and make sure clean out the old oil and Lithium grease as the polyurea will not mix with it. Same applies if you want to cease using the cornhead grease then clean that out and you can use oil, common #2 general lithium grease, or even a mixture of the oil and #2 grease to make your own homebrew mixture of a runny grease.

The key is making sure the grease you use is compatible with oil if you plan to do a homebrew mixture. Some greases are compatible with oil and some are not compatible.
 
I use it in all the steering gears on my tractors. It will flow, although slowly, even in cold weather. But it doesn't leak past seals very readily. I keep some around all the time.
 




JD corn head grease is NLGI 0
Regular grease is NLGI 2
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Try CNH Pourable High EP grease.

Flows much better than cornhead grease and much less prone to leak past seals than 90W.

Also has the EP additives needed for steering gear boxes, rotary cutter gear boxes, etc.

Dean
 
So, should not add it to steering gear that has 85W-140 left in it, then would go with regular grease.
 
David the JD multi lube is not that much thicker than gear oil. I would sue the JD corn head grease. It is readily available and is a good product. I can't tell you if the TSC or others 00 grease will work well. I never skimped on lube quality. You will only need a tube or two.

For what your needing just cleanout your old steering box the best you can. Then take a piece of brake line and braze a grease fitting on one end. Stick the line down into the bottom of the gearbox. Start pumping. The box will fill from the bottom up this way so you get the box full without a lot of air in the bottom to mislead you on the fill level.
 
(quoted from post at 03:42:24 07/26/14) So, should not add it to steering gear that has 85W-140 left in it, then would go with regular grease.

Correct. Get as much oil that is in there out if you plan to use the JD brand of cornhead grease. And never add oil to it once the JD brand of cornhead grease is in there they will NOT mix and can actually cause issues later if you mistakenly add oil where everything separates and then you have a zero lube situation.

Most regular #2 common greases are compatible with oil (but not all of them are it is all in the grease base) so if you want to go that route you can and mix your own like Ellis did. I usually just mix my own as well. I always have oil here at the place as well as regular #2 grease tubes so it is easy for me to add one or the other for a top off. Short of adding a grease fitting to a gear box, I sometimes just stick my grease needle in the gearbox and fill it that way through the oil fill hole.

A year or two later, then I have no worries if I need to top off again as usually a little will eventually leak out over time on a worn leaky gearbox no matter what you use. I will add grease if my mix seems a little runny. I will add oil if it seems a little thick. (Note: I prefer my mixes more towards the oily side if you only going to fill the box to the traditional oil fill line as the lube still must splash around some to get everywhere it needs to go. No if you going to add a zerk and overfill it above the traditional oil fill line then it matters less and a thicker mix is okay).

Not familiar with the CNH grease Dean mentioned, but that one sure might be a good option worth looking into - especially if it is more compatible with oil.
 

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