Grizzly 15 inch planer gear oil....

[Maik Tobin]

Saturday, I got my new planer down to my basement shop with the help of a couple of movers (made the process so easy). I started to go through the set up of the machine, including wiping down tons of grease. Then I get to the part where I need to ensure that there is ample gear oil and fill if need be. Could they have found a more difficult spot for the fill plug? I took out the plug, dipped an allen wrench in which came up dry, so I need to add oil. How in the world are you supposed to get oil into that fill hole which is located on a side surface that is not easily accessable? Fortunately, the oil bottle I bought had a fairly long spout so I was able to force the oil in by squeezing the bottle, but almost as much oil ended up on the outside as inside. I think I will see if I can find some thin tubing to assist with this process for the next oil change.

Oh, by the way....I absolutely love the planer. Can not believe the difference over my lunchbox machine. Planed some lumber yesterday and it comes out smooth as a baby's butt!

[Joe Angrisani]

Maik.... Your idea to get some tubing that fits the oil bottle spout will work great. You've stumbled onto the old "fill-the-gearbox-through-the-side-fill-plug" trick. Try to anticipate how much is needed so you can disconnect the tube from the bottle and let the tubing drain into the tool reservoir at the end of the process.

[Rick Pettit]

I use a fill kit for an outboard lower unit. No mess.

[Chip Lindley]

If you already got the gear oil into the gear case, you're good for the next 20 years. It's not like a car that needs the oil changed every 3000 miles or 60 days. The next owner can change it.

[Chuck Wintle]

Saturday, I got my new planer down to my basement shop with the help of a couple of movers (made the process so easy). I started to go through the set up of the machine, including wiping down tons of grease. Then I get to the part where I need to ensure that there is ample gear oil and fill if need be. Could they have found a more difficult spot for the fill plug? I took out the plug, dipped an allen wrench in which came up dry, so I need to add oil. How in the world are you supposed to get oil into that fill hole which is located on a side surface that is not easily accessable? Fortunately, the oil bottle I bought had a fairly long spout so I was able to force the oil in by squeezing the bottle, but almost as much oil ended up on the outside as inside. I think I will see if I can find some thin tubing to assist with this process for the next oil change.

Oh, by the way....I absolutely love the planer. Can not believe the difference over my lunchbox machine. Planed some lumber yesterday and it comes out smooth as a baby's butt!

which model did you get?

[matt wormmeester]

I use a fill kit for an outboard lower unit. No mess.

Works for a LOT of things too.

[Maik Tobin]

If you already got the gear oil into the gear case, you're good for the next 20 years. It's not like a car that needs the oil changed every 3000 miles or 60 days. The next owner can change it.
Manual says to change it after 20 hours of use and then each year.

[Maik Tobin]

I bought the GO453Z.

[Josiah Bartlett]

I work on a lot of cars that have similar problems filling the gear box- You can get a pump with clear tubing that replaces the cap on the bottle for a few bucks at an auto parts store, or you can get a big syringe like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Fjc-Inc-2731-Syringe-Injector/dp/B000HI0UK0

I also have a big 1 pint capacity syringe with a hose barb fitting on it but I can't find a link to it. I think I bought it at NAPA.

[Maik Tobin]

I work on a lot of cars that have similar problems filling the gear box- You can get a pump with clear tubing that replaces the cap on the bottle for a few bucks at an auto parts store, or you can get a big syringe like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Fjc-Inc-2731-Syringe-Injector/dp/B000HI0UK0

I also have a big 1 pint capacity syringe with a hose barb fitting on it but I can't find a link to it. I think I bought it at NAPA.

That syringe is perfect....I will be ordering one. That will also make it easy to see how much oil I put in.

Thank you.

[glenn bradley]

My Griz arrived with warnings about topping off the gearbox in about a half dozen places. They really don't want you to miss it ;-) I agree the filler and drain plugs are in poor positions. I added a short length of hose to the 1 qt. squeeze bottle the oil came in.

I just did my 20 hour oil change. I learned when working on hydraulic drives that this first one-time change is reasonably important. Make yourself a note, write it on your calendar or whatever. Its a pain but, it should be a one-time pain. Enjoy.

[Chip Lindley]

Would Grizzly be skimping on gear oil, expecting the buyer to foot the bill? (Less gear oil buys more sticky cosmoline to keep new machines rust-free on their cross-Pacific trip. Sounds reasonable to me!

By all means change the oil after 20 hours to flush out any metal shavings, etc from the gearbox. Autos used to have a magnet embedded in the oil pan drain plug to capture stray steel; a good idea that does not seem to exist on many current models.

[Anthony Whitesell]

Two items. First the make an oversized syringe for filling or emptying "transmissions", check out this at our friends HF http://www.harborfreight.com/oil-suction-gun-95468.html

Second, If it was hard to get it in, have you looked as to how to get it out?

[John Aperahama]

There are two cap screws on top of the gear box the ends of these screws are open to the g/box. Remove one and insert oil.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Just drained + refilled the gear oil on my Delta 15" planer [sorry, chip :D was swapping blades, clean and lube everything in sight, would have adjusted - 'cept nothing out of calibration, knee-jerk went for the oil drain plug - couldn't help myself].

Anyhoo....I have a small [1 pt?] lube can with the thumb lever and a gooseneck filler - I hacksawed the small nipple end off the gooseneck. Works great - builds thumb muscles - I can tell you that for free.

FYI - you're probably smarter than me, but I found it necessary to have a small empty container and a roll of paper towels handy, since there is no sight glass, and the oil is very viscous, so it will continue to pump into the reservoir even though you've overfilled it by 3 - 4 oz., and the excess oil starts coming back out......Awww CRAAAAAAAPPPP!!!!....................At least, I know that sucker is dead-nuts at the fill line. :D