I almost broke down and ordered the Lock and Lube, but since you use yours on the same machines I have, I'm now leaning toward the Univer-co. I only found three reviews online so I'm still hesitant. How do you put this on the fitting, do you have to hold the ring back to put it on? Just like to know more about it before throwing $30 at something not knowing how it works.
Thats part of the problem with the Univerco, no reviews! LockNLube has all the search results (and reviews) locked up on the first 3 or 4 google pages so this great product is basically unknown. When people search "locking grease couplers", like I did before my purchase, all that comes up is LnL. It wasnt till I went to the Deere dealer where they had an operating display of the unit that I was sold.
The coupler will slide over most fittings without pulling back the collar, it will push on and lock. Some times I find that its just easier to pull back the collar when putting it on but that goes against the instructions.. If youre familiar with how a hydraulic or air hose coupler works then youre familiar with how this operates. Its basically a small air coupler, complete with ball bearings. Its the ball bearings that lock around the Zerk and hold the coupler on. When you want to release, you pull the collar back, just like a air or hydraulic coupler, and the Univerco will self release.
Ive used a lot of grease guns with various (traditional) couplers over the years professionally (greasing equipment was a major part of my day) and I have to say that at first I thought these $30 grease couplers were a bit of a joke, aimed at yupies :laughing: but after using the univerco for a few days im sold on its usefulness and construction. I wish I had one when I worked as a mechanic full time! In my opinion it honestly eliminates about 90% of the mess. So far the coupler has only leaked 2 times and that was not the fault of the coupler, but my fault for not having the coupler locked on. I beleive this coupler makes a metal to metal seal too as opposed to the rubber seal on the lnl, at least I didt see any soft rubber when I looked it over.
On the front of my ZD there is a zerk on the piviot for the front caster mount. I could not get it to take grease for the last couple years that I had it and was beginning to think that I was going to have to put in a new zerk or even take the joint apart and clean it out. The Univerco got that zerk to take grease to my surprise. It gave a big belch and a bunch of dried, rusty grease shot out around the bore. My grease gun will go to about 6000psi, and I bet it took all of that pressure to push that mess out, and the univerco held with no problem and no leak (its rated to 10k psi). I was pretty impressed.
There are a few other guys on here with one too, and so far there are no complaints that I am aware of.
As you can see, its not anywheres near as large and awkward as the lnl. Its the same size as a normal coupler.
