Automatic Greasing Systems: Pros, Cons and Tips

There has been a lot of debate on the issue of greasing tractors and trailers. Questions tend to revolve around with what, when, and how. What sort of grease should be used? When, or, how often should it be greased? How should it be greased; or, use what to grease with?

As far as the sort of grease to be used, any given unit handles different loads and works in a different climate. Most fleets will narrow down the majority of their grease options to ‘the best for summer, overall’. And, ‘the best for winter, overall’. Typically that’s just fine. As for how often to grease, the right answer usually resembles ‘as often as practical’. I do believe you can waste grease by using too much at a time. I don’t believe you can grease too often. Grease is cheap. Breakdowns are not.

It’s pretty straight forward that buying grease in bulk is the cheapest way to go. A 55-gallon barrel of grease with an air pump and a 50 ft hose is hard to beat. But what if a truck could grease itself? It is, and is not, too good to be true.

The pros of automatic grease units

As far as pros are concerned, it may seem pretty intuitive. All the same, here are a couple that may be more or less obvious.

Running late in the garage? Had a few too many priority breakdowns to repair and put regular maintenance on the backburner? Automatic greasers grease whether you have the time or not. Easy to know whether or not the grease unit is working. A driver can see pretty well as their work week goes on whether or not the grease level is going down. Refilling is simple. That 55-gallon drum we all know so well can fill up the canister in a hurry. The cons of automatic grease systems The cons may not be so obvious but here are a few from my own experience.

They break down and they're not very obvious to fix when they do. Short of keeping an eye on the grease level and checking if the outside of camshafts are wet, it’s hard to know which components are getting greased and which aren’t. If a component seizes there is no way to know it isn’t being greased properly. The chances of this happening are lower because there is a regular flow of grease.

A hose can fail. And it usually won’t fail in a visible location where a driver can easily spot it while doing his walk around. Even if it is easily visible, it will take a decent build up of grease before it can be seen. If the hose breaks under the cab or over an axle, it can be hard to see and difficult to fix. You can’t install a grease hose on moving parts. There are a few components that are difficult to grease. Not many, but drive shafts and steering shafts are a couple great examples. No tinkering or engineering will practically change the fact.

Not bringing in a truck or trailer for a routine grease job is an inspection opportunity lost. The positive of not having to bring in the truck or trailer very often creates the negative that the mechanics are seeing a lot less of the important bits.

Tips for overcoming the cons

There are some big cons to the automatic grease systems, for sure. But that does not make them a good reason not to use them. Here’s why:

Before deciding on a grease system, be it a Groeneveld, a Lincoln or another reliable model, it’s important to know where to get parts when you need them. Having some common parts on hand may be expensive but knowing where to get them is a must.

Just because the automatic greaser is, well, automatic, doesn’t mean you can set it and forget it. Doing a brake job? Check the cams, make sure they’re greased. Doing an oil change? Check everything and do a proper inspection.

Drivers need to be aware of the possibility of a hose failing and should be checking for failed hoses (clumps of grease where there shouldn’t be). It’s important to report these issues and resolve them quickly. Grease is cheap, wasted grease is not.

Automatic greasers aren’t a fix-all solution. They just help a lot. They are good as a bare minimum for maintenance but they’re not perfect. Unfortunately, a few of their weak points are important ones, like u-joints. Grease intervals still need to be kept up for the components that automatic systems can’t reach and this can make them seem expensive. That makes the decision to use the systems a difficult one. This also touches on the fact that inspection intervals should be maintained. What it boils down to for many is that the worst case isn’t too bad. And minor maintenance stops becoming much quicker.

Conclusion

There is a delicate balance to whether or not an automatic greasing system is right for you or your fleet. They definitely have some big advantages, but with that is a decent price tag. For many fleets, they are a complete waste and even a nuisance. If you decide to use them they need to be used with intention just as with the rest of your maintenance.

Drive safe,

Kevin Gauthier