Brush cutter tech woes - need help

Can anyone tell me please how to lubricate the gearhead of a Stihl FS56 brush cutter because there is no grease port on the housing . And has anyone had one of these apart , i have tried but only get so far , do i need special tools .
There is nothing i can find on these heads for this model.   Surly it cannot be a sealed unit or its a pretty stupid design as after so many hours nit needs servicing i would have thought .
Many thanks

Hi Malcolm;   I'm afraid your out of luck.  These are built sealed... with supposedly a lifetime worth of grease...
We tried to disassemble one and only got so far... Spraying a penetrating lube on it while running was the best idea we came up with.
Unfortunately things are no longer built with a lifetime of service intended.They are not built to be repaired but simply replaced!
How fast and how cheap can it be built is the new normal... it sucks in my opinion!  

I had the same conundrum with my Shindaiwa string trimmer. So I looked at a picture of the model of brush cutter you mentioned, and while it's hard for me to tell, I think I see a small bolt/screw on the side of the gearbox housing down at the end. I have one on mine. What I did is get a needle tip for my grease gun, and unscrewing the bolt which was just a plug on mine and didn't hold anything together, insert the needle tip and load it full of grease. I suspect you may be able to do the same thing on your Stihl. Here is a picture of a needle tip for a grease gun and they're inexpensive.


source

Thanks for the replies , so looks like another piece of crap then, UN-servicable, wow.
And they are not cheap.
Its a pity some engineering company has,nt stepped up to the plate and designed replacement heads with full servicability for these machines and others .
I had thought of drilling a hole in the head and tapping a thread into it but where the bearings are is touch and go and the swarf going inside as well, however a thorough clean out with degreaser should clean it out , then ther,es the wall thickness for the thread , i guess there's not much there!
I have the old head and its shot so it might be worth a try on that.
Its not a cheap part and all thats gone are the gears , very annoying.
Oh well.
Thanks again

Huh.  You're right.  I loaded up the instruction manual and there is nothing in there about greasing the head.  I have a higher-numbered unit (the 131, I think ...) and its does have a grease port on the right side of the head - and the manual is all about doing that every twenty five hours.  Think I'm overdue...

I like the idea of making a grease port- A small hole drilled into the side of it, tapped and then shut with a bolt?  'That does involve some specialty tools you may not have around - but you can buy a single tap for $5-10.  Might be worth experimenting on this head - and then even if its dead you could buy a replacement head and add that port.

Good luck!

Done it already , experimental two 8mm holes in the side and cleaned it out with brake cleaner , can see a chewed bevel gear , first hole was a tad too high second perfect . Can spray through the square shaft drive hole and it blows the crap out the side hole , only prob now is the swarf removal from the inside of the 8mm hole , more experimenting soon

there's a big difference between stihl homeowner and pro model equipment. the pro stuff is well worth what it costs in the long run as long as you maintain it properly and feed it non ethanol gas and use high quality stihl oil.

I might add that many of those string trimmer heads will interchange on a shaft. if you can find a scrap yard that will sell stuff you might find source of parts for cheap.
I have long experience with string trimmers. It was like 15 or more years ago that I got completely and totally frustrated trying to get a string trimmer running from my shed, Ryobi, echo, toro, and a few others were in the shed from over the years, spent a bunch on parts to try and fix them and none would start and run consistently .  completely frustrated I went to stihl dealer and spent a whole bunch on a new km130. that powerhead still starts on first or second pull of the rope every time I pull it out to use it. Not sure how many hundreds of hours its got on it but still has the same full power as when it was brand new. Well worth the $$ it cost and has paid for itself many times over.

If there is little/no pressure build up in the case, a rubber plug might work. The kind with a groove under a wider head, the groove catching the case metal. I've seen them but don't have a clue where to source, though.


Regards,
Rufus