In mechanics, oil and grease are essential to reduce friction between moving parts, prevent them from overheating, protect them from wear and corrosion, and isolate them from dirt. Oil is a liquid lubricant, whereas grease is a thick lubricant with a semi-fluid or solid consistency.
Grease is a mixture of oil, thickener and additives. The mechanical parts of some motorised gardening tools are lubricated using a multifunctional lithium-based grease with molybdenum disulfide, which are lubricants that function as a thickener and additive respectively. In this article we will find out how to grease a brushcutter: which components need to be lubricated, and why, how and when to do it.
Greasing a brushcutter
Usually, maintaining a brushcutter includes greasing the bevel drive and the shaft arm, regardless of whether it is a petrol engine brushcutter, battery-powered brushcutter or electric brushcutter. In all cases, the lubricant to use is molybdenum disulfide grease, which you buy in a tube, as in the case of Efco special grease: don’t substitute it with other types of grease, oils or moisture displacement products.
The brushcutter shaft arm contains a rotating drive shaft that transmits the power generated by the engine to the cutting attachment – be it blade, disc, or head with cutting line – and thereby makes it turn. The bevel drive consists of a pair of gears housed in a sort of casing and is found at the end of the shaft arm. It connects the shaft arm to the cutting tool, transferring the rotation of the drive shaft to the head, blade or disc. Uniquely in the case of backpack brushcutters, the rigid drive shaft connects to the engine body by means of a flexible transmission, which transfers the rotation to the rigid shaft and in turn to the cutting attachment.
Greasing your brushcutter bevel drive: when and how
There is no way to visually check whether the bevel drive needs greasing, so how often should you grease the bevel drive? The general rule of thumb is after a certain number of working hours, but it also depends on the brushcutter model and the work you do (how demanding it is based on the vegetation, cutting attachments, etc.). Check the manufacturer's instructions in the user and maintenance manual for your brushcutter: for its own products, Efco suggests refilling the bevel drive with grease every 30 hours of work.
How much molybdenum disulfide grease do you need to lubricate the bevel drive? For Efco brushcutters 10 g is sufficient. Follow the instructions in the user manual and don’t overdo it – better to check often and top up regularly. Here are the basic steps for greasing the bevel drive, which should be done with the brushcutter switched off and the bevel drive cold (it can get hot during use):
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Clean the bevel drive case so that no dirt enters, and take the opportunity to observe whether it is damaged or shows signs of wear.
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Remove the screw that acts as a stopper plugging the grease filling hole, which is located on one side of the bevel drive.
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Check the grease level from the filling hole: if you don't see any, it needs topping up.
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Squeeze the grease into the hole, directly from the tube, until it starts to escape from the hole.
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Manually rotate the cutting attachment a couple of times to distribute the grease in the bevel drive (protect your hands with utility gloves).
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Check the grease level again to see whether or not it needs topping up further.
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Plug the filling hole with the screw and use a cloth to wipe off any grease that may have leaked out.
Greasing the bevel drive regularly, based on the workload, will extend the life of your brushcutter and ensure peak performance. If your brushcutter starts but the cutting line or blade doesn’t rotate, the problem might be a damaged bevel drive or transmission shaft (more on that in the next paragraph) due precisely to poor lubrication. If you have any questions or want to replace a component of your Efco brushcutter, contact your nearest service centre and choose an original spare part.
Greasing your brushcutter’s drive shaft or flexible transmission: when and how
The drive shaft of Efco brushcutters rotates on self-lubricating bushings supported by rubber sleeves: this system guarantees proper lubrication of the shaft components during use. We therefore recommend that you grease the shaft only at the end coupling that connects to the engine or motor, as indicated in the user manual.
Do you have a backpack brushcutter? Greasing must be carried out both on the flexible transmission (every 20 hours of work) and on the rigid shaft (every 30 hours of work):
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Detach the sheath of the flexible transmission from the engine body.
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Squeeze molybdenum disulfide grease inside, onto the coupling where the flexible transmission connects to the engine.
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Reattach the sheath to the brushcutter.
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To lubricate the rigid portion of the shaft, detach it from the sheath of the flexible transmission and proceed as described above for rigid shaft brushcutters.
On the subject of brushcutters, here is a series of articles on topics ranging from purchase to maintenance:
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How to choose the best brushcutter: which criteria to consider.
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What to cut with a brushcutter: from lawns to underbrush.
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How to fit a brushcutter blade or disc for cutting weeds and clearing brambles and shrubs.
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How to maintain a brushcutter engine.
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Why your brushcutter fails to start and how to fix it.
