Tried a different lube on my tower crane's slewing ring and it ran 20 degrees cooler after 8 hours on the job

Swapped from that standard lithium grease to a synthetic one with moly on a tip from an old operator in Tulsa and the temp gauge dropped way faster than I expected, has anyone else seen big temp drops with a specific brand?

2 comments

2 Comments

charles_kim20d ago

Honestly that's a really solid tip from that old timer, man. I've seen the same thing with a few different rigs where just switching to a synthetic with moly shaved off a solid chunk of heat right away on the first run. It's wild how much difference a better lube can make on those slewing rings when they're working hard.

anthonykim20d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy out in Odessa runs a fleet of old P&H cranes and he had the exact opposite experience with the synthetic moly stuff. He tried it on his 670 dragline and the slewing ring actually ran hotter by about 15 degrees for the first two weeks of heavy use. He figured it was the moly solids not breaking in right with the worn surfaces (the ring had maybe 8,000 hours on it already). He switched back to a conventional lithium grease and the temps dropped back down to normal. I think those synthetic blends work great on fresh rings but they don't always play nice with the old worn stuff that has its own established wear patterns.