[Arsenix2001]

I inherited my fathers X758 who passed late last year. He bought it new in 2019. I hit all the grease points but just realized the engine to trans driveshaft should be greased and Im pretty sure my father had never greased them in the 130 hrs that are on the machine. Any risk of damage? I plan on pulling the deck tomorrow after work and getting to them.

 

[X758er]

There are two zerks on the trans end of the driveshaft.
A zerk on opposing u-joint caps.
Not terrible to lube.
You probably will have to rotate driveshaft by turning over the engine to grease both zerks.

 

[Sundancer268]

Doubt any chance of damage in that few hours. Cars and trucks no longer have grease fittings and go for years, I would not worry about it and just grease it when ever you have the deck off or once or twice a year.

 

[tj1]

Watch the grease after you hit one, if it comes out of the other cups you may not need to grease the other zerk. I do both but I'm able to turn the shaft without to much trouble. Not hard to grease at all once the deck is off.

 

[x738]

OM says greasing is a once a year OR every 200 hour interval (whichever comes first).

I'd agree with above posters that there that there is little chance there has been damage to be concerned about.


Service interval info cut and paste from x758 manual:

Servicing Your Machine
IMPORTANT:
Avoid Damage! High-pressure washing can damage to machine components.
Operating in extreme conditions require more frequent service intervals:

• Engine components become dirty or plugged when operating in extreme heat, dust, or other severe conditions.
• Engine oil can degrade if machine is operated constantly at slow or low engine speeds or for frequent short periods of time.

Use the following timetables to perform routine maintenance on your machine.

Park the vehicle safely. (See the Safety section.)

After First 50 Hours

• Check rear wheel bolt torque.
• Change transaxle oil and filter.
• Check and tighten clamps for cooling and air intake system.
• Check and tighten hardware.

Every 100 hours or 12 Months (Whichever Comes First)

• Clean radiator and hydraulic oil cooler screens and cooling fins.

Every 200 hours or 12 Months (Whichever Comes First)

• Change engine oil and filter.
• Check fan belt tension.
• Check and clean battery.
• Lubricate steering spindles, axle pivot, steering cylinder, and engine drive shaft.
• Check the hydraulic full-time 4-wheel drive (HFWD) oil level.
• Check tire pressure.
• Check and tighten clamps for cooling and air intake system.
• Change fuel filter.
• Monitor air filter restriction indicator for service of air cleaner.
• Clean radiator and hydraulic oil cooler screens and cooling fins.
• Check and tighten hardware.
• Test or replace radiator cap.

Every 200 Hours

• Change transaxle oil and filter.
• Check and tighten rear wheel bolt torque 88 N·m (65 lb·ft).
• Clean radiator and hydraulic oil cooler screens and cooling fins.

Every 1000 Hours or Every 2 Years (Whichever Comes First)

• Change engine coolant.
• Check/adjust valve lash.

Grease
IMPORTANT:
Avoid Damage! Use recommended John Deere greases to avoid component failure and premature wear.
The following grease is recommended for service:

• John Deere Multi-Purpose HD Lithium Complex Grease
• Grease-Gard™ Premium Plus

Not all grease types are compatible; John Deere does not recommend mixing greases. If using any product other than the recommended grease in service, purge any remaining grease from the system before application. If not practical, grease twice as often until all old grease is purged from the system.

 

[JDGreen-n-Yellow]

Watch the grease after you hit one, if it comes out of the other cups you may not need to grease the other zerk. I do both but I'm able to turn the shaft without to much trouble. Not hard to grease at all once the deck is off.

What do you use to turn the driveshaft?

 

[CJadamec]

What do you use to turn the driveshaft?

I generally just grab the motor coupling and slowly roll the engine over.

Might be harder on a diesel to do that by hand though.

 

[Arsenix2001]

OM says greasing is a once a year OR every 200 hour interval (whichever comes first).

I'd agree with above posters that there that there is little chance there has been damage to be concerned about.


Service interval info cut and paste from x758 manual:

Servicing Your Machine
IMPORTANT:
Avoid Damage! High-pressure washing can damage to machine components.
Operating in extreme conditions require more frequent service intervals:

• Engine components become dirty or plugged when operating in extreme heat, dust, or other severe conditions.
• Engine oil can degrade if machine is operated constantly at slow or low engine speeds or for frequent short periods of time.

Use the following timetables to perform routine maintenance on your machine.

Park the vehicle safely. (See the Safety section.)

After First 50 Hours

• Check rear wheel bolt torque.
• Change transaxle oil and filter.
• Check and tighten clamps for cooling and air intake system.
• Check and tighten hardware.

Every 100 hours or 12 Months (Whichever Comes First)

• Clean radiator and hydraulic oil cooler screens and cooling fins.

Every 200 hours or 12 Months (Whichever Comes First)

• Change engine oil and filter.
• Check fan belt tension.
• Check and clean battery.
• Lubricate steering spindles, axle pivot, steering cylinder, and engine drive shaft.
• Check the hydraulic full-time 4-wheel drive (HFWD) oil level.
• Check tire pressure.
• Check and tighten clamps for cooling and air intake system.
• Change fuel filter.
• Monitor air filter restriction indicator for service of air cleaner.
• Clean radiator and hydraulic oil cooler screens and cooling fins.
• Check and tighten hardware.
• Test or replace radiator cap.

Every 200 Hours

• Change transaxle oil and filter.
• Check and tighten rear wheel bolt torque 88 N·m (65 lb·ft).
• Clean radiator and hydraulic oil cooler screens and cooling fins.

Every 1000 Hours or Every 2 Years (Whichever Comes First)

• Change engine coolant.
• Check/adjust valve lash.

Grease
IMPORTANT:
Avoid Damage! Use recommended John Deere greases to avoid component failure and premature wear.
The following grease is recommended for service:

• John Deere Multi-Purpose HD Lithium Complex Grease
• Grease-Gard™ Premium Plus

Not all grease types are compatible; John Deere does not recommend mixing greases. If using any product other than the recommended grease in service, purge any remaining grease from the system before application. If not practical, grease twice as often until all old grease is purged from the system.

I missed that in the OM, thank you! Much less concerned now. I think I will still pull the deck and get to it today if time. I have a shiney set of gator G6 blades I have been wanting to try out!

 

[BigBlue]

I believe the reason there are two zerks is so you can likely get to at least one whenever the engine is shut off. Not that you need to hit both of them. I don't know that for a fact though. But if you look at the end it seems like the grease going into either of them ends up in the same joint.

I also agree that in a <2 year old machine with 130 hours it is not a big deal that this joint wasn't greased beyond the initial factory setup.

Rob

 

[tj1]

What do you use to turn the driveshaft?

same as Cjadamec, roll it over by hand at the motor coupling until I hit compression. I can hit both normally as they are pretty easy to get ahold of.

 

[tj1]

I believe the reason there are two zerks is so you can likely get to at least one whenever the engine is shut off. Not that you need to hit both of them. I don't know that for a fact though. But if you look at the end it seems like the grease going into either of them ends up in the same joint.

I also agree that in a <2 year old machine with 130 hours it is not a big deal that this joint wasn't greased beyond the initial factory setup.

Rob

I agree 100%, there is no need for both as I do see grease come from all cups.. I did rotate the shaft and hit the second one for nothing last time I greased her up. At least I found out there was no need if you pay attention.

 

[Arsenix2001]

Thanks all, get her greased tonight as well as the MFWD shaft on the 38R. Changed over to the gator blades and they definitely chop the grass up finer. Was blowing bits out of the powerflow unit for the 519 that didn't happen with the stock blades.

 

[KHodges]

Doubt any chance of damage in that few hours. Cars and trucks no longer have grease fittings and go for years, I would not worry about it and just grease it when ever you have the deck off or once or twice a year.

I agree, little chance of damage at only 130-ish hours, but I wouldn't compare these GT driveshafts to a car or truck. They use sealed bearing cups and the driveshaft U-joint is much larger. On these smaller machines, keeping that U-joint well greased is a must. Read here on the forums from quite a few owners of the smaller 1 and 2-series tractors (2305, 1023,1025, 2320) who didn't know there was a U joint that needed greasing or those who bought used machines that didn't get the required maintenance and had theirs snap.

I'm glad to see that JD did something on the X7 to make that joint easier to grease. Putting a second zerk on the U-joint makes it easier to get to a zerk pointed in the right direction. My X748 only had one, and sometimes I'd have to bump the starter half a dozen times to get the zerk pointed where I could get the grease gun to hook up.

 

[drs455aws]

After I grease mine I take long thin screwdriver and a rag to clean the excess grease out of the joint so it doesn't sling as much around up under their.