Took me 5 years to admit I was greasing my hoist drum wrong every day

I always slopped grease all over the drum grooves thinking more was better. Then I watched a guy from a different crew do a rebuild on his rig in 2 hours flat because his drum had almost no caked up grease inside. He told me 'just a thin coat on the cable itself, not the drum' and I felt like an idiot. After trying it for a month my brake pads aren't glazing over and the hoist runs way cooler on a full load. Has anyone else been over-greasing their drums without realizing it?

3 comments

3 Comments

sean_torres7112d ago

You ever have a buddy who's been running cranes for 20 years and just watches you struggle? My friend from the local union hall finally pulled me aside after watching me cake grease everywhere. He said the same thing - just a thin wipe on the cable, don't touch the drum. I thought he was crazy until my next inspection came back clean and the brake drum wasn't all glazed over. Still feel like a moron for wasting all that time and money on extra grease.

mark_mitchell12d ago

Yeah, I used to slather it on too but that conversation changed my mind.

the_wyatt12d ago

And that's the thing about a lot of maintenance work, you learn the wrong way first because bad habits are passed down just as much as the good ones. I've seen it in all kinds of trades where guys think more is better until someone shows them the clean way actually saves time and money. Once you notice one example, you start seeing it everywhere - people just doing something extra because nobody ever told them to stop.