Lets Talk Grease Guns

I have enough equipment that a reliable grease gun is a must. Problem is, I've never found one. I've tried all different types, quality levels, etc.., and always have a problem with them not staying primed. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong (If I am, I've been doing it for 35 years...) or if that's just the way they are, but I'm sick of having to mess with them every time I need to grease something, which is often. The only grease gun I have found that works reliably is an OTC mini pistol style, but it runs out too quickly. Ideally I'd like to get another pneumatic gun or an electric (never tried those) gun, but they all seem to work the same way, which makes me think I'll still have all the same problems with them. ???

Try a different brand of grease. We fought this on the farm many years ago, and finally realised the grease we were using was kinda spiralled into the tube, with a spiral of air alongside. There is no hope of keeping a prime when you are trying to push air.

I grabbed an old gun from my father in laws farm when he died, Its pretty good, and has a bleeder screw on top so when it gets a bubble, its easily bled out.

In reply to Streetwiseguy:

What kind of grease would you recommend? I've tried several over the years, although I can't remember all of them specifically. I've probably used mostly various types of Valvoline grease. I have tried at times to push the grease further into the tube before loading it, but sometimes I get the feeling the plunger is hung up or somehow not pressurizing the grease, because no amount of bleeding seems to help.

I've got likely the cheapest grease gun that either Autozone or TSC sells, uses the larger tubes, fixed neck with maybe a 30* bend in it, large pump lever down the side. I started using Lucas Red N Tacky #2 several years ago. The red grease makes it easy to distinguish between old and new when greasing trailer wheel bearings and I've never had a priming issue.

The complaint about my grease gun is that it can be difficult to get into tight/awkward positioned areas, I think a smaller 1 hand gun, or a flexible nozzle would fix that. Additionally the same issue I've had with every grease gun I've ever used, I always waste grease pumping it out around the zerk before getting the nozzle lined up just right on the zerk fitting. I don't think I've ever got the nozzle of a grease gun on a zerk fitting properly on the first try.

• Lee

I use a HF pneumatic with a flexible hose. As long as you load it up and bleed it, it works for me. For grease (non-wheel bearing use) I use the wally world Supertech synthetic red stuff in the tubes. All wheel bearings get Harley Davidson wheel bearing grease.

In reply to bigdaddylee82: You need high quality heavy duty tips. A good tip can make all the difference. When you get a zerk that is not sealing even with a good tip, replace the zerk.

Also, if you are doing a lot of greasing, a pneumatic gun is a worth while investment. I prefer the semi-auto type. Once upon a time I had a Lincoln semi-auto grease gun, it was great, but it walked off a job site one day. I've also had 2 HF semi-autos. One was every bit as good as the Lincoln, until it wore out years later, the other only lasted a few weeks.

I dunno, I have gotten great mileage out of the HF hand pump grease gun so far. It does suck at times trying to get the tip on and off the zerk. I think i have a tube of red-n-tacky from Lucas in there right now.

Bravenrace- I use Quaker State grease, and seldom have issues.

Lee- Absolutely buy a rubber hose for your gun.

I use a Milwaukee electric......this one to be exact. http://www.milwaukeetool.com/power-tools/cordless/2446-21xc

I've yet to have a problem out of it and its really nice to use for farm machinery and implements. We almost exclusively use the blue "Marine grade" grease that resists water a bit better. We have an old lincoln electric one we rarely use with high temp grease. Screw hand pumping and screw dragging an air hose around. These electrics are awesome.

I have a bunch of grease guns around the farm for various implements, from little handheld jobbies to big ones with 1' long rubber hoses. They all get packed with Red N Tacky and work roughly the same. No electrics or pneumatics though - just more to go wrong and the time saved isn't THAT significant.

FWIW, we just pop a new tube in, snap the spring loaded punger down, and we go until its empty. Both our electrics are 3' hoses though. Very handy when you have to carry it around for the 40 or so grease points on a combine.

In reply to yamaha:

Soooo, what kind are they?

In reply to bravenrace:

The Milwaukee I linked above and a now ancient lincoln electric........

I had stayed away from this thread, thinking it was another gun thead

then it finally dawned on me that since it wasn't growing in leaps and bounds, that it must be about automobile grease guns

no zerk fittings on my cars

In reply to wbjones:

Beat me to it.

yamaha wrote: In reply to bravenrace: The Milwaukee I linked above and a now ancient lincoln electric........

Doh! I didn't notice that both posts were from you. Ooooooops.

I picked mine up from the Snap-On truck 20+ years ago. It's been flawless. It's got the pistol type action, not the goofy lever on the side that takes two hands to grease a fitting.
As far as grease, I use off-the-shelf tubes. When I was working in the dealership, I'd just fill it with the 40 gallon pneumatic pump they had. I don't know that I've ever lost a prime on it.

wbjones wrote: I had stayed away from this thread, thinking it was another gun thead

My dad always said this was his favorite gun in the service because it weighed nothing on a march once you took the bolt & guts out of it. To this day he'll start swearing if you mention the word "M14" to him.

Sounds like you need a Graco Bulldog....

This:

Here:

This system Pumps Gadus S3 by shell, red in color so easy to see purge and extreme high temp. Great stuff!

TIP: you can fix a lot of the air issues by drilling a very small hole one or two threads down from were the cylinder and head bottom out. When air is suspected, back the cylinder off a bit exposing the hole. Yes a little grease will come out, but so will your air problem. We've used the same grease guns for over 20 years on excavation equipment. It works

For grease, go to an AeroShell distributor, somewhere at the airport. For wheel bearings, AeroShell 22, for chassis and general purpose, AeroShell 7. Its cheap and better than anything Ive found at any car parts store. Last time I bought it, about $15/tube.

I share frustration with grease guns. I have a pile of them in my garage that are worth about scrap. Generally I mix and match parts from them until I get a functioning gun. I've always felt there must be better guns out there, but have never really looked- just went down to the A/P store and bought whatever was there.

As for flexible vs. straight tubes, invariably I'll have a flexi end on when I can't reach the zerk fitting by hand so it's impossible to stab the nozzle on the fitting. Or I'll have a straight tube when the zerk's impossible to reach without going through some convoluted path.

Grease and I are not friends.

i use a $20 campbell hausfeld pneumatic gun from tractor supply with their store brand traveler grease with much success.

beats pumping the old school lever gun, or the pistol grip gun i thought would be better. i have a small pistol grip gun too that i rely on when i don't have air handy, and the big manual guns hang on the wall and collect dust. i should find them a new home.

I've never had a problem using whatever cheap pistol-grip style gun I can find and Lucas Red-n-tacky.