The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk John Deere Cornhead Grease for My Steering Box

I'm going nutz trying to find this stuff. Been to Tractor Supply in Azle, TX and the New Holland dealership in Haltom City on Airport Freeway and neither ever heard of it.(??)
So, some of you D/FW, TX 'Bolters, tell me where you KNOW I can buy it. I sure would appreciate it very much and I don't mind the drive!! Somebody around here has to have it!

Thank You!! Joe

STP oil treatment will work fine, so I'm told.

go to a john deere dealer they will have it. i used it in my boxes and it still comes out.

Now why don't you just simply use what's made for it, instead of corn head grease, gear oil, STP, Vasiline, etc.
Penrite Steering Box Lubricant is made for that exact purpose. http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products/classic-car-oil/steering_box_lubricant , http://www.penriteoil.com.au/pis_pdfs/PI_Steering%20Box%20Lube.pdf .
Is it more expensive than a tube of John Deere Corn Head Grease? Sure, but it's not supposed to be a consumable if you seal up the gear box you shouldn't have to add any for years.

You need a John Deere dealer Joe. I took a copy of the following sheet into the mower place on the way home and they said it would be there the next day from the nearest agricultural store.

https://jdparts.deere.com/partsmkt/...tiPurpose.htm#_Special-purpose_corn_head

This was an interesting read on its intended use:

On a corn head, which is an attachment used on a combine for the purpose of harvesting ear corn, there is a gearbox on each row. A 6 row corn head will have 6 of these gear boxes. The gear boxes have a set of bevel gears that turn a pair of counter rotating "snap rolls" that pull the stalk down and strip the corn cob off of the stalk. The designated lube for these gear boxes is corn head grease. Corn head grease is a semi-fluid grease, thick enough to pump, but will liquify at least to some degree when it gets warm.
As a point of reference as to the reliability of corn head grease in a roller. A gear box on a corn head has some pretty small gears in it, and they will run for hundreds of hours without fail on corn head grease. Dad bought out corn head new in 1979, and it is still running today on a neighbors farm. In the beginning, we ran Mobil synthetic gun grease, in later years, corn head grease. This header to this day has not had a gear box failure.


These guys should be able to get it:

John Deere Dealer‎
3319 N Main St, Cleburne, TX, United States‎ - (817) 641-7861‎

Lawn Land‎
714 Dallas Dr, Denton, TX, United States‎ - (940) 387-8377‎

Good luck.

Give me a day to get back to you (I'm out of town at the moment.). There is a John Deere franchise right near my house. I'll stop by tomorrow. If you you like, you can give them a ring to see if they have any in stock. Call David's Stove Shop. They might list their location as Hudson Oaks or Willow Park.

If they have it, I'll get it for you. Let me knowhow much you need.

Bill

Im with Denny on this. I use 90w gear oil with no problems. I did overhaul my steering box and installed a new seal.

Jeff

If you get down to the actual spec of the John Deere Corn Head grease it is the correct stuff. What you need is a self leveling grease. I'm not saying that other stuff won't do the job. I will say that 90 gear lube is way to thin and in a fresh rebuild I'm sure it will stay in the box. What I would question is that under the stress of working the steering box that it will hold up.

Don

The first real job I had back in the late 50's was in a Chevrolet dealership and I started out as a greaser. Standard oil for the trans, rear end and steering gear was simply gear oil. After that I worked in as a parts man for another five years and that was all that I ever saw used in steering gears.
No reason why it should break down in a lightly used area like a steering gear when it doesn't break down in a trans of differential. As far as the Penrite goes It's probably just a gear oil packaged so you will feel like your using the "correct" lubricant in your vintage steering gear.
And I hold to my statement, if your loosing gear oil from your steering box then you have a worn seal, worn sealing surface on the sector and or loose bushings. Repair those and you won't have leaks.
DG

You hit the nail right on the head there, Denny! Fix the seals. I had the same issue, no matter what I used, it leaked out. The flaps I use didn't have a listing for the seal, but they are a National Bearing and Seals dealer. So I yanked out the old seal, we mic'd it, added a few thou for wear, and matched it up. Did the same for the shift shaft seals (try saying that 3 times fast! ) for the transmission. Filled the steering up with Alemite #2, and Lucas 90w140 in the trans, and haven't had an issue since. I did originally run 90 weight in the steering gear

Truly appreciate the suggestions and help guys. Sometimes you don't want to hear that you have to tear down something to fix it and you are hoping someone will tell you about something easier. I started on it tonight, hope to finish Saturday.
Thanks,
Joe

Joe, when ya got something as nice as that truck of yours, that you have had as long as you have had it, and that you enjoy driving as much as you drive it, why skimp! Filling the gear with grease of any sort is just a last ditch effort to hide the problem, the old bury your head in the sand and they won’t see you thing. That jewel of yours just wouldn’t be right with a Band-Aid.
DG

...and no inventory at the stove shop. The tractor guy suggested to inquire at the Stephenville or Crowley location.

Bill

Joe---Let me know if you need some. I got mine at a JD dealer just outside of Houston. I think that I have a couple tubes in the garage. If not, they stock it on the shelves. Drop me an email @ [email protected]

I drove up to Rhome, Texas today, west of Texas Motor Speedway to the Saginaw Implement Company and got a tube for $3.50, tax included. Tomorrow, it's "grease the steering box" day.
Thanks for the help guys!