I paid a shop 20 yrs ago to service reel? I never used it since service. It has been sitting on a shelf since
I have injured my elbow so I have been going through all my reels one by one! This was stiff, I opened it up and found this
Never the less it has now been wiped out and parts are in cleaning bath
Looks like 20 year old solidified grease. Nothing lasts forever, grease dries out and hardens like that. Looks like they used a lot
newer synthetic greases should not harden in this way. i come across this occasionally. growing up, we would have this old thick chevron grease that we used for everything, including the tractors. it has a very distinctive odor. it brings back alot of memories when i crack open at reel and smell that same old smell.
I only clean out the tractor grease one time.
Pretty standard for petroleum based greases when the oil evaporates. Most synthetic and marine greases and oils don't do that.
that's why I know not to use them