Rubber Shielded Bearings - Grease Instead of Oil?

[Hardcoretam]

Unfortunately i live in Scotland where it's often wet and muddy throughout most of the year.

I've noticed that no matter how much grease is inside the axles, or around the outside of the bearings water will always get inside and under the rubber seal.
The water rinses the oil away and then they wear down quickly.

I've bought a full new bearing kit to do the bearings again but as it'll be exposed to water often i was wondering if anyone had tried removing the rubber shields, washing out the oil, then putting marine grease inside instead?
I know this will cause more friction but i'm running an Axe system and geared low ad was hoping it might buy me some more miles between services.

 

[QuesoDelDiablo]

I always pack wheel/axle/trans bearings with grease, oil should only be used on motor bearings that spin at higher rpm's.

I got this advice directly from Boca Bearings, I feel like they'd know best.

 

[Hardcoretam]

I always pack wheel/axle/trans bearings with grease, oil should only be used on motor bearings that spin at higher rpm's.

I got this advice directly from Boca Bearings, I feel like they'd know best.

Sounds good to me.
I knew having one bearing filled with grease instead of oil wouldn't do much but was just concerned about the extra friction from doing every non motor bearing with it.

Do you grease your bearings prior to fitting or just between services when the oil that comes with them is washed out?

 

[Natedog]

IMO most grease is too thick and viscous for our tiny bearings, it gets mostly pushed out of the balls pathway and doesn't flow back, this is some really good stuff:
https://www.tiredirontractorparts.com/super-lube-oo-grease-quart-a-b1sb9089/

 

[QuesoDelDiablo]

Sounds good to me.
I knew having one bearing filled with grease instead of oil wouldn't do much but was just concerned about the extra friction from doing every non motor bearing with it.

Do you grease your bearings prior to fitting or just between services when the oil that comes with them is washed out?

I do it when they're first installed, when it comes to servicing I usually just replace bearings - I rarely clean & re-pack them. For bearings that cost an average of $1 each it's not worth the time to me..
(I'm also really hard on bearings-I treat my rigs like boats-so when I service them they're pretty bad)

 

[QuesoDelDiablo]

This is my grease of choice:

https://www.jensonusa.com/Phil-Wood-Grease

 

[Hardcoretam]

IMO most grease is too thick and viscous for our tiny bearings, it gets mostly pushed out of the balls pathway and doesn't flow back, this is some really good stuff:
https://www.tiredirontractorparts.com/super-lube-oo-grease-quart-a-b1sb9089/

That's a fair point.
I'll need to see if i can find something similar to that in the UK

This is my grease of choice:

https://www.jensonusa.com/Phil-Wood-Grease

That link doesn't work for me, for some reason.

I just want to say consider yourself fortunate to live in beautiful Scotland, and good for you actually taking apart your bearings to service them. Most don't. I'm wondering what kind of bearings you have tried. None that I know claim to be water-tight, but some design their seals to higher standards, and are meant to last longer.

Unfortunately it's more or less winter in Scotland about 8 months of the year, and often wet and muddy.
Last time i was out on a trail. it was so warm at the start i had shorts and t shirt on but we got caught in a passing storm which had hail and ice cold winds for about 15 minutes, then back to warm again.
It's good for mud / dirt but rocks here are usually always slimy or covered in moss and dirt.
I always envy the videos i seen of people out crawling in warmer countries where it's nice dry rocks and hard packed dirt.

The rig has had various parts serviced at different times so some bearings just now are shielded with black rubber, some are shielded with blue rubber and some are metal shielded

It's hard to get branded bearings here without usually paying a fair bit
The ones i bought this time are off a UK Ebay seller and unbranded as far as i know but they feel pretty good quality all the same.

 

[durok]

BTW - regarding weather, I am certainly happy to not be snowed-in during the winter here in south-central Texas, but it is just oppressing with the heat we have during the summer.

You can only take off so many clothes without being arrested... :shock:

I hardly run my rigs at all until we start getting cool fronts in October!

(and it NEVER gets too cold to go outside and "play" here)