Nipples!

[blueST]

This is for my mower deck, not a car, but thought this would be the best place to ask. I want to replace the grease nipples, one is broken off and some of the others arent sealing properly. Trouble is, I don't know what size they are. Also, they are of a type I've never seen.

It's the one on the right in the photo. It's not shaped, so the grease doesn't clip on and it has a cylindrical plug seal rather than a ball. It has quite a short thread.

The one on the left is one my Dad gave me try as a replacement, which seems to have the right thread (but I don't know what size that is!) but the threaded portion is too long so I can't tighten it up before it contacts a shaft behind.

Any suggestions on how I can work out what size and where I might get replacement?

[Gaspode]

Can't you put a washer or two under the conventional grease nipple to reduce the effective thread depth?

[blueST]

Gaspode said:

Can't you put a washer or two under the conventional grease nipple to reduce the effective thread depth?

Possibly, if I can find one that's a tight enough fit to stay under the hex section. I still need to know what size thread it is to order some more.

[TheRealFingers99]

A friendly engineer's supply house (on a quiet day) will probably measure it and order one. If the machine isn't of (relatively) ancient UK or American manufacture, you could determine the thread size with a single metric thread gauge and a set of calipers. 'Tis no mystery, but a visit to the engineering shop will save you buying anything extra.

[littleredrooster]

On the left is a standard-looking grease nipple. They are usually 1/8" BSP thread.
On the right is an oil nipple which has a myriad of thread possibilities, often American variants. A set of digital calipers and some thread gauges are called for, I think.

[blueST]

littleredrooster said:

On the left is a standard-looking grease nipple. They are usually 1/8" BSP thread.
On the right is an oil nipple which has a myriad of thread possibilities, often American variants. A set of digital calipers and some thread gauges are called for, I think.

Are you certain it's an oil nipple? Ive never heard of one before, so I googled it which brought up just a few links related to Myford lathes. None of the pictures I could find of oil nipples looked like that either. The other reason I ask is that the nipple is to lubricate a swivel shaft of a large castor wheel. Oil would be no good for that.

[dbfan]

It looks a bit like BSP, but could also be UNF - popular from the mid fifties but more so in the sixties and seventies. If memory serves, my tractors have 1/4" UNF nipples but I can't remember what the Landy has. I tend to use a nut or bolt to find the size, though I have a large stock of nuts and bolts of various sizes and lots of UNF grease nipples!

I would suggest the tapered nipple is for oil as other poster has said - also common on garden machines and there are "oil guns" as well as grease guns though some think they are actually cheap grease guns!

Something like this:

http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/tools/ts105a.htm

Perhaps the machine needs oil rather than grease - something like 90 to 140 grade. My David Brown tractors use oil for some of the steering bearings - many other tractor makers prefer grease so farmers used to grease them and end up changing the bushes and bearings more often than normal.