Grease for the jack

[zelmo]

I am about to replace my Fulton trailer jack. The original lasted about 10 years before it started to be hard to operate. After searching I found out about lubing the mechanism and that works for a short time before needing to be done again.

The jack I ordered has a grease fitting while the one I have now does not, so putting grease in won't be such a hassle. If I am remembering correctly I saw recommendations to make sure a new jack was lubed up good before using. If that is correct what a good grease to use in a grease gun?

[RANGER487]

I would think any greese would be good for that if you have some in your gun already just use that I have bearing greese in my gun now and use it on my jack and also our horse trailer jack

[zelmo]

Thanks. The Fulton instructions say to use an automotive grease, so I guess that is what they use at the factory. I wasn't sure if I should use marine grease and if that would be compatible with what Fulton uses.

[SoonerFan]

Actually Lucas Red & Tacky is more for the application you're talking about than in wheel bearings that many use it for. It's made for industrial and agricultural applications where sticky adhesion to sliding surfaces is important.

[Fins]

Be careful with how much grease you put in there. I ended up with grease all over my hands every time I operated the jack until all the excess worked it's way out. Makes a black gooey mess. But the jack operates wonderfully!

[Ed R]

Be careful with how much grease you put in there. I ended up with grease all over my hands every time I operated the jack until all the excess worked it's way out. Makes a black gooey mess. But the jack operates wonderfully!

I'll second that! I did a liberal grease job about 8 years ago, been good ever since.

[Nova Kaw 650]

Any grease will work.
One or two pumps a year is all I add; any more and it starts to run out and get messy.

[zelmo]

Actually Lucas Red & Tacky is more for the application you're talking about than in wheel bearings that many use it for. It's made for industrial and agricultural applications where sticky adhesion to sliding surfaces is important.

Because different types of grease are not always compatible I reached out to Fulton to find out what they used. They didn't answer my question directly; instead they just said use whatever I use on the hubs.

That doesn't help me much since I have oil bath hubs. So I am back to wondering - do I use Marine grease or the Red "N" Tacky? Will I run into compatibility issues?

[Nova Kaw 650]

Because different types of grease are not always compatible I reached out to Fulton to find out what they used. They didn't answer my question directly; instead they just said use whatever I use on the hubs.

That doesn't help me much since I have oil bath hubs. So I am back to wondering - do I use Marine grease or the Red "N" Tacky? Will I run into compatibility issues?

The load and infrequent use of a jack requires nothing special. Don't worry about mixing different types of grease for this application, because it will make no difference. Put in whatever you have there.

[SoonerFan]

Because different types of grease are not always compatible I reached out to Fulton to find out what they used. They didn't answer my question directly; instead they just said use whatever I use on the hubs.

That doesn't help me much since I have oil bath hubs. So I am back to wondering - do I use Marine grease or the Red "N" Tacky? Will I run into compatibility issues?

I don't mean this to sound rude or snarky but in all honesty you're over thinking this. In close to 20 years of boat ownership, I've only replaced one jack. I really didn't have to replace the one I did...it was just starting to get hard to crank and I wanted a fancy looking Fulton. I even thought about my reply to your question and thought to myself, "it's just a jack...grease it once or twice in it's lifetime....low stress as to compared to real machinery like farm equipment and printing presses etc".

As far as I know almost all of the greases that we all use on our trailers and motors are either calcium or soap thickener bases. Although it's better to NOT mix them, it really wouldn't cause any harm...especially in something as low speed and low stress as a bass boat jack. The only greases that I know of that shouldn't be mixed with those greases are the synthetic greases like maybe Mobil 1 or Royal Purple I guessing.

I would use what ever you have or can pick up at the local auto parts or Walmart...any good name brand grease will do fine...worry about something that may actually go bad.

[Nova Kaw 650]

I don't mean this to sound rude or snarky but in all honesty you're over thinking this. In close to 20 years of boat ownership, I've only replaced one jack. I really didn't have to replace the one I did...it was just starting to get hard to crank and I wanted a fancy looking Fulton. I even thought about my reply to your question and thought to myself, "it's just a jack...grease it once or twice in it's lifetime....low stress as to compared to real machinery like farm equipment and printing presses etc".

As far as I know almost all of the greases that we all use on our trailers and motors are either calcium or soap thickener bases. Although it's better to NOT mix them, it really wouldn't cause any harm...especially in something as low speed and low stress as a bass boat jack. The only greases that I know of that shouldn't be mixed with those greases are the synthetic greases like maybe Mobil 1 or Royal Purple I guessing.

I would use what ever you have or can pick up at the local auto parts or Walmart...any good name brand grease will do fine...worry about something that may actually go bad.

And that won't even matter for this application.

[mibassranger]

The load and infrequent use of a jack requires nothing special. Don't worry about mixing different types of grease for this application, because it will make no difference. Put in whatever you have there.

My original Fulton XLT jack from 2004 is still in great shape - I planned on replacing it, didn't like how the new models "fit" on to the trailer so I kept the original. I took it off and did a thorough cleaning a couple years ago, then re-greased with marine grease (that's what I had in my gun, used on jack wheel also) - and it works well, easy to crank. Seems that unless it gets rusted from not being lubricated or somehow gets some foreign material in it like dirt, it should last a really long time with the minimal use it gets... I took the cap off last week to check the grease, there was plenty still in there from last year. I remember a thread about how to "rebuild" a jack on here, was mainly a maintenance guide but showed great info on getting in to the real workings of the jack...

[zelmo]

I don't mean this to sound rude or snarky but in all honesty you're over thinking this. In close to 20 years of boat ownership, I've only replaced one jack. I really didn't have to replace the one I did...it was just starting to get hard to crank and I wanted a fancy looking Fulton. I even thought about my reply to your question and thought to myself, "it's just a jack...grease it once or twice in it's lifetime....low stress as to compared to real machinery like farm equipment and printing presses etc".

As far as I know almost all of the greases that we all use on our trailers and motors are either calcium or soap thickener bases. Although it's better to NOT mix them, it really wouldn't cause any harm...especially in something as low speed and low stress as a bass boat jack. The only greases that I know of that shouldn't be mixed with those greases are the synthetic greases like maybe Mobil 1 or Royal Purple I guessing.

I would use what ever you have or can pick up at the local auto parts or Walmart...any good name brand grease will do fine...worry about something that may actually go bad.

I overthink everything. I would much rather be sure of what I am doing and not make a mistake. I know that marine grease and regular axle grease can be incompatible. I sure don't want to install a new jack, lube it with the wrong grease, and wind up right back where I started with my current jack.

Thanks for all the responses. Based on what Fulton told me I will skip the marine grease and just use regular.

[mikesxpress]

Based on the jack configuration the only zerk fitting I've seen lubes the top gears. This doesn't lube the actual jack screw itself. I raised my jack all the way up and drilled/tapped a hole where I could spray white lithium grease directly onto the jack screw while working it in and then installed a short plastic 1/4-24 UNF screw as a maitence port. Smooth operation.