They all get hot IME and after 2 hours of at least 50% WOT, I would expect it to be quite hot. Still, pull the hex plug and make sure yours has grease inside the box. If not go get some from the dealer. Stihl makes a tube of gear grease that screws right into the hole like the plug does.

 

Well put RG

I haven't noticed it before being that hot on mine I'll have to check

There was just another similar thread the other day

 

Yep, Normal. There is a small amount of grease in the housing. You can double check and add if needed.

 

A few my newest trimmers have Zero greasing requirements. No shaft or gearbox grease needed. 2 season going strong w/no grease. Time will tell

 

Echo has a tube of grease too red armor

Its lithium grease for gears and tubes on echos some have a zert ie the hedge trimmers

Heres a picture of the plug on string trimmer attachment its the hex bolt

 

I believe the Stihl recommendation is check every 25 hours and add up to 5 grams - filling it completely = not good, no space for air cooling.

The FS trimmer line you would use the "Superlub FS". I'm guessing this is for the high speed gears

Hedgetrimmers they have the "Multilub", for slower speed gearboxes?

I would imagine for the Echos you would want to have a similar lubing schedule.

 

My Stihl and RM manuals say to check and grease as needed. If you can see grease in the hole, you are alright. If not, time to add it.

 

For my Echo's I add grease once every summer and never have issues. The gearboxes do get hot however.

 

^^^^^No need get ripped off by Stihl or Echo buying tiny grease tubes.

 

Well, the price of grease depends more on the size of the container you're buying than the contents. 14oz cylinders of grease cost pennies more than 3oz cylinders, which only cost pennies more than those tiny Stihl tubes. But the convenience of just being able to screw the tube into the hole and know you're not voiding the warranty made it make sense for me when I bought my machines. 10+ years later, and I still haven't finished my first pair of tubes, so I'd say the ripoff wasn't exactly all that painful.

edit: And I've been told I'm being ripped off for buying 14oz cylinders of grease when 5 gallon drums sell you the same product for a fraction of the price per pound.

 

Agreed. NT has huge tube of lithium high temp for about $3 or $4 each.

 

Yeah the 80mg tubes will easily last me a year.

 

I have greased mine since 1998 with whatever I have in the grease gun. No problems yet, not one failure. Echo gear heads get hot, especially when new. Most people don't even grease them, and the failure rate is still pretty much near zero for the most part...

Don't lose sleep over the simple stuff, and trim on friend!!!

 

I use that greases on 21” gears and plenty other stuff. Buy in tubs. Shoot it or repackage tubes. Any good grease works fine depending on consistency for application.

 

Prior to viewing, it's best to let a warm unit cool while the access bolt is 'UP' so that any room/gap for grease will present itself.

 

We have added grease fittings to all our 2 cycle equipment (weed wackers, hedge trimmers and other like units). we also use wd40 or another lub to keep things loose. we wash and clean equipment to rid excess oil and dirt.