Grease Gun Recommendation

[Jig Stick]

I just purchased my first JOhn Deere. A 2005 GX345. I am doing a complete maintenance routine so that I know what I am starting with maintenance wise. can somebody recommend a good grease gun for me to use on my mower deck spindles and front wheel spindles? How does a greas gun fit onto the components that need grease in them? Is there a bib like when you connect an air house to tire valve stems? Im new at this whole grease thing. THanks.

[Grateful11]

The thread below is probably one the best Grease Gun thread in a long time.

http://www.mytractorforum.com/showth...ghlight=grease

The grease fitting, aka: Zerk or Alemite, is a little round nipple that the
grease end goes over and kind of snaps onto and normally stays on as you
apply pressure with the grease gun. Personally I use Mystik JT6 grease
widely available at all Tractor Supply stores and other places. We have
3 Lincoln brand grease guns.

Good Luck!

[Tractor-Holic]

Plews and Lincoln make good grease guns..but even cheapie ones work OK,its not a presision instrument,and anything kept greased always works better and lasts a lot longer..I find myself ADDING grease fittings to things that should have had one,but dont--just to save a few pennies at build time..and ensure it'll wear out faster on ya!..

[P B G]

The grease gun's fitting is basically two ears that are contained by a spring clip, so they pop over the round part of the fitting and hold on (hopefully) so that when you pump the handle the grease all gets forced in.

I prefer a rigid tube over a flexible, this allows me to use one hand to hold the gun, and one to pump, with no worries of the fitting popping off and gooing everywhere.

That said I have several grease guns, some rigid some flexible, some smaller some larger, some flexible rubber and some with rigid metal tube and a side entry fitting for getting behind clutches on snowmobiles etc.

If all the grease fittings are fairly easily accessed I would definately go for a rigid metal tube, with a lever not a pistol grip.

[Tencubed]

Originally Posted by P B G

The grease gun's fitting is basically two ears that are contained by a spring clip, so they pop over the round part of the fitting and hold on (hopefully) so that when you pump the handle the grease all gets forced in.

I prefer a rigid tube over a flexible, this allows me to use one hand to hold the gun, and one to pump, with no worries of the fitting popping off and gooing everywhere.

That said I have several grease guns, some rigid some flexible, some smaller some larger, some flexible rubber and some with rigid metal tube and a side entry fitting for getting behind clutches on snowmobiles etc.

If all the grease fittings are fairly easily accessed I would definately go for a rigid metal tube, with a lever not a pistol grip.

Good advice as was the recommendation of using a Lincoln gun. Have some Lincolns that are at least 40 years old and going strong.

For the kind of grease to use I'd suggest you check your owners manual and/or your dealer. It's possible you may need more than one gun if different lubes are required in different areas on the tractor.

Dad always told me that grease is cheaper than parts and he was 100% correct. I'd rather see a little grease mess around a bushing or bearing than worn metal shavings.

Enjoy your new toys.

Mike

[oldsarge]

Sorry I don't agree with P B G,If all you've got is one tractor,get 1 small pistol grip grease gun with a hose and three small refill tubes.I think you'll find it the easiest and handiest way to go.You don't need a big lever gun unless you're greasing a combine or a big dirty plow etc.

[P B G]

Those little refills are expensive as crud, and hard to find a good assortment of greases locally to fit them for instance when I run out of grease my local hardware store has about 5 different greases in 14 oz tubes for about 4 bucks a tube, or one type of 3oz 3 pack refills for about 10 bucks, 9 ounces for 10 bucks. Then every 3 ounces of grease used I am opening up my grease gun, cramming a new cartridge in, scraping the excess out of the old tube (.5 ounce or so) trying to pack that into the head of it, then bleeding it out. Its a mess.

If he truely only has 5 zerks I'd be surprised, garage door spring mechanism, wheelbarrow, trailers, driveshafts under the truck, suspension zerks, any boats? Lower units, pivots on steering mechanisms, suspensions, tongue etc. Motorcycles? How about a drill press, check the spindle on that?

I really understand what you are saying old sarge, I have a pistol grip with a rubber hose, I love it for when I am under a car and need to grease something where I couldn't pivot the lever on my bigger main guns, but the minute I can use the bigger ones I do just because I hate loading grease guns, particularly mid project when I have to stop and get gloves on and fiddle, then it has an air bubble that isn't clearing etc.

Anyhow its a judgement call, I really do think if you have old stuff around you end up with a good number of grease guns. I've bought additional ones just because they were on sale with refill cartridges included for about the price of the grease itself.

[Don B.]

I like my air powered, 5-gallon bucket sized grease gun on wheels. I fill all my hand grease guns from it as well. Lots easier than dealing with air pockets like every time you swap out tubes. I prefer the hand "trigger" ones, with a flexible whip as opposed to a lever type because I find so many places that the rigid type won't fit into, and if you combine a lever type with a flex then I need a 3rd hand! That said I must have 6-8 hand-pump grease guns around here, both lever and hand-pump; I got a box lot at the last farm sale I went to for like 6 grease guns ~$10/all of them.

[Kbeitz]

I like Lincoln... What I dont like is the new grease that melts and runs out of the grease gun before you even get a chance to use it...

[mla2ofus]

I prefer the hand pump style w/ 2 -12" hoses in tandem. That way if I'm under a rig I can lay the gun on the ground and pump w/ one hand or if I'm standing up, rest it on my hip and pump w/ one hand. Leaves the other hand free to handle the coupler. It's the way I've done it for years while working on the crushers so I guess I'm used to doing it that way.
As for the large vs small, just remember every time you break a gun open to change cartridges, there's a chance for contamination, mainly dirt. So I'll take the large for anything.
Mike

[Don B.]

Originally Posted by mla2ofus

I prefer the hand pump style w/ 2 -12" hoses in tandem. That way if I'm under a rig I can lay the gun on the ground and pump w/ one hand or if I'm standing up, rest it on my hip and pump w/ one hand. Leaves the other hand free to handle the coupler. It's the way I've done it for years while working on the crushers so I guess I'm used to doing it that way.
As for the large vs small, just remember every time you break a gun open to change cartridges, there's a chance for contamination, mainly dirt. So I'll take the large for anything.
Mike

and that's another advantage of filling the hand grease gun from a pneumatic pump; you don't have to open the grease gun; just put a zerk on the hand-gun so you can pump away. Most have 1/8NPT pipe plugs on them that are replaced by a zerk.

[mla2ofus]

Originally Posted by Don B.

and that's another advantage of filling the hand grease gun from a pneumatic pump; you don't have to open the grease gun; just put a zerk on the hand-gun so you can pump away. Most have 1/8NPT pipe plugs on them that are replaced by a zerk.

Absolutely, Don. On the crushers we NEVER used cartridges because there was always an inordinate amount of dust. We bulk filled w/ a hand pump mounted on a 1/4 drum thru an alemite fitting.
Mike

[slip knot]

Gotta have a gun for each grease or application. I got a 5 gallon air gun with EP in it for machinery. a pistol grip with EP for vehicle greasing. A lever gun with Moly grease in it for drivelines and a small pistol grip with waterproof grease for the boat. The air gun is great for big jobs. The pistol grips are good for lower psi work and lever guns are needed for higher pressure fittings.