Grease - is there no better way? Can we talk about this?

[Engineer42]

I used to think about getting new grease in my 5 gallon grease bucket that refilled hand grease guns. Wish I had done it years ago.
Easier and faster than changing a tube of grease. Best used with a grease gun that the rod comes out as the grease gun is filled
Never have an air problem.

Does anybody have a recommendation for a good quality pistol grip grease gun?

Mine are old and failing
I had 4. One for each shed. I'm down to one. And it's leaking past the plunger. I'm wishing I had looked into fixing the others.

The guns I have bought since, suck
A lot of squeezing and not much grease pumping.

Sad to say, my wife had done all of the greasing this year.

Alemite brand.

 

[JRH02]

Bought an electric this spring to add to my Ryobi 18v stuff. It only has one speed. So grease day came around and I stretched the boom/dippers out on the big and little machines and went to work. Did the Kubota first and all was fine with the new toy. But when I got to the 410j I soon realized something that I really liked about the electric: The electric pushes a LOT of grease pretty quickly so on almost every zirk I get grease out on both sides, all the way around. Some smaller stuff and something with a seal I have to cycle the trigger or I know I could rupture a seal.

I still used the hand operated gun in a few places though. I sure don't mind getting grease on my hands, no big deal.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

Because I grew up to be frugal, resourceful etc., I have been dealing with 40+ year old lever grease gun. After reading the start of this thread, I decided to buy a new pistol grip. Should have done it years ago, just for the convenience of making it a two hand operation instead of two hands and a thigh, chest, whatever. I don't like getting greasy, but it comes with the territory. That's what rags, soap and water are for.
I do wish there were grease fittings on my zero turn spindles, although I never had a lawnmower spindle fail after 10+ years...

 

[Mtsoxfan]

Also, to make sure I don't mix different types of grease on my tractor, I bought a case of Mobil Delvac, so that should last me a long, long time.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I would like to see a video of you greasing your equipment showing the problems you’re having that cause you to get so greasy. I have vehicles, tractor, equipment and a 61” ZRT Grasshoppers that needs grease regularly. I don’t stay squeaky clean but I don’t ruin rags or clothes.
What in the world are you doing?!?!

Not having a grease gun with a sock on it.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I used to think about getting new grease in my 5 gallon grease bucket that refilled hand grease guns. Wish I had done it years ago.
Easier and faster than changing a tube of grease. Best used with a grease gun that the rod comes out as the grease gun is filled
Never have an air problem.

Does anybody have a recommendation for a good quality pistol grip grease gun?

Mine are old and failing
I had 4. One for each shed. I'm down to one. And it's leaking past the plunger. I'm wishing I had looked into fixing the others.

The guns I have bought since, suck
A lot of squeezing and not much grease pumping.

Sad to say, my wife had done all of the greasing this year.

McCarr #1190K35. -- I have two. Fairly low volume per stroke. Trouble free. If you have an extremely strong grip you can bend the handle on a plugged nipple.

 

[WinterDeere]

As I read 11 pages of talk about electric and cordless grease guns, and pistol grip versus traditional two-hander with a hose, all I could think about is how little of the time I spend on the job of greasing anything is actually spent pumping grease. Getting under the equipment and cleaning the grime off the zerks and connecting to them easily takes me more time, than actually squeezing the lever on the grease gun.

So, throw me in the camp of guys who just don't understand the appeal or need for an electric grease gun, although I'll admit I don't have any equipment that needs daily greasing. My mower spindles and front trunion get greased twice per year (50 hours), everything else is once per year (100 hours).

 

[kenhar]

Regular maintenance, greasing, changing oil, and checking air pressure in tires is the life of a machine. The electric grease gun is easier for me. One hand to hold the long hose on the zerk, the other to pull the trigger. Some of my equipment have zerks you can see but are hard to reach and needs a third hand to pump my very good 6 old guns. To each his own.

 

[dieselscout80]

My Woods C114 has at least 11 grease zerks (recounted today it’s 13) and it gets greased each time I use it. My 917 flail has six and gets every major use.

Tractor more than a few and gets greased about twice a year except for the SSQA that needs it four to six times a year. If I had a big loader job it would be greased more often.

Place me in the pistol grip grease gun camp and I added a longer hose to it.

As far as getting dirty I am more like my wife’s granddaddy than her father. Her Dad could work on equipment and rarely get his hands dirty it seemed.

Where her grandfather and I can open the truck window to look at a piece of equipment and have grease on us in multiple places.

I am unsure about the electric grease guns, but to each his own. When I worked for a trucking company we had an air powered grease gun with a 5 gallon tank.

I don’t remember thinking it was a great thing. If I was a maintenance worker for a construction company with lots of heavy equipment I would all be for it.

 

[ultrarunner]

I have a pistol grip after I ran out of hands for my lever gun.

The pistol is similar to this one with a selector to switch between high volume or high pressure.

A few times the high pressure has come in handy.

Professional Series Pistol Grip Grease Gun

The Professional Series Dual-Mode Pistol Grip Grease Gun is the easiest way to build high pressure in your grease gun thanks to its 2 piston design.

locknlube.com

 

[redmt]

If greasing a tractor is an issue then sell the tractor. Owning and maintaining equipment isn't for you. We get our grease in 35 gallon barrels. We use air greasers with 50' hoses. My 71 year old wife can grease a full size tractor with no more than a couple paper towels.

 

[WinterDeere]

My 71 year old wife can grease a full size tractor with no more than a couple paper towels.

No grease gun needed?!? You're a lucky man!

If greasing a tractor is an issue then sell the tractor.

I know plenty of people who don't maintain their cars, equipment, home, etc. But I never thought I had the right to tell any of them they need to sell their stuff.

 

[eKretz]

An electric grease gun doesn't have a huge benefit for most homeowner size machines. But get a BIG machine like an industrial backhoe or giant farm tractor with huge attachments that have a lot of fittings and you'll get to appreciate one pretty quick if you grease it regularly. Not everybody works with small stuff.

 

[RjCorazza]

An electric grease gun doesn't have a huge benefit for most homeowner size machines. But get a BIG machine like an industrial backhoe or giant farm tractor with huge attachments that have a lot of fittings and you'll get to appreciate one pretty quick if you grease it regularly. Not everybody works with small stuff.

Doesn't have to be big... My Kubota ZD mowers have 21 grease points each. The electric grease gun with LockNLube tip really helps.
On edit: I missed 3, they have 24 grease points!

 

[jrsavoie]

Doesn't have to be big... My Kubota ZD mowers have 21 grease points each. The electric grease gun with LockNLube tip really helps.
On edit: I missed 3, they have 24 grease points!

I've had 3 Kubotas
Somebody should have smacked me before I let the wife buy the 3rd.
None have been comfortable and all have had a bunch of lube points

 

[WinterDeere]

Doesn't have to be big... My Kubota ZD mowers have 21 grease points each. The electric grease gun with LockNLube tip really helps.
On edit: I missed 3, they have 24 grease points!

You're right! But at the same time, 24 zerks on a zero turn seems kinda ridiculous. Didn't anyone tell Kubota the rest of the world switched over to sealed bearings for most applications, 40 years ago?

Even the idlers on my 2007 Deere mower deck are all sealed bearings, the only greasible things there are the three main spindles. Everything else that gets greased on that machine is a non-bearing pivot, such as mower deck trailing arms and brake linkage.

Most sealed bearings have a service life that's many times longer than the lifespan of a commercial zero turn mower, so they're an ideal application case.

 

[4570Man]

As I read 11 pages of talk about electric and cordless grease guns, and pistol grip versus traditional two-hander with a hose, all I could think about is how little of the time I spend on the job of greasing anything is actually spent pumping grease. Getting under the equipment and cleaning the grime off the zerks and connecting to them easily takes me more time, than actually squeezing the lever on the grease gun.

So, throw me in the camp of guys who just don't understand the appeal or need for an electric grease gun, although I'll admit I don't have any equipment that needs daily greasing. My mower spindles and front trunion get greased twice per year (50 hours), everything else is once per year (100 hours).

I like to grease my skid steer and excavator bucket pins every 1/2 tank of fuel and the rest of the pins every tank of fuel. I’m not sure what you’re greasing every 100 hours.

 

[WinterDeere]

I’m not sure what you’re greasing every 100 hours.

Recommended service schedule for pedal and brake linkage on tractor and zero turn is 100 hours or annual. Tractor trunion and mower spindles are spec'd for 50 hours or twice annual. FEL pins are also spec'd at 50 hours, which is about 2x per year for me.

 

[4570Man]

Recommended service schedule for pedal and brake linkage on tractor and zero turn is 100 hours or annual. Tractor trunion and mower spindles are spec'd for 50 hours or twice annual. FEL pins are also spec'd at 50 hours, which is about 2x per year for me.

I guess that’s ok if the FEL only sees 5 hours use out of those 50. 50 hours is woefully inadequate for pin grease if you’re actually working the pins for 50 hours.

 

[WinterDeere]

I guess that’s ok if the FEL only sees 5 hours use out of those 50. 50 hours is woefully inadequate for pin grease if you’re actually working the pins for 50 hours.

You're probably right, but I'd guess that by the time I pick up material, take it to where it's going and dump it, a 10% - 20% duty cycle is probably not far from reality. It definitely gets a heavier workout during some chores, but far less with others, to where 10% might be close to the yearly average.