Opinions on air powered grease guns

[alanganes]

Anyone using an pneumatic grease gun these days?

The battery powered cordless ones are really nice but a bit expensive for my budget at the moment and this would always get used within compressor range. Non-commercial use, just for stuff around at home like my small tractor and assorted automotive stuff. I have been using the typical old lever style and it pushes grease OK but it is pretty clumsy, particularly on the tractor as I lack 3 hands.

Any opinions on whether these are even worth using and if so what's decent and what to avoid? The one linked below is just one of the first ones that came up in a google search along with the predicable choices from Harbor freight.

Or is it a better option to stick with the old lever gun and get one of the thumb lever style lock-on type zerk nozzles? Or some other option I am not aware of?

https://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-1162-Air-Operated-Grease/dp/B0019COQ6C

[Joe Rogers]

Use this to allow one man lubing of a skid steer.

https://locknlube.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAx9mABhD0ARIsAEfpavSsm4hKQylHEc-w6U6bsLoaECEiSZdzTAWLt0CmlbXyVUH2seh9GggaAtT6EALw_wcB

Works well Joe

[wierdscience]

If you never have to push hard, caked grease out, or force grease into a dry bore, then the air operated ones work fine. They don't necessarily produce the same pressure as a quality manual one though. Looks like 6000 psi for that one, which is good, but the better quality manual guns run up 8-10,000.

If you re just doing normal work, with fittings that are free and have been taking grease it should work fine. X's 2 for adding a Locknlube end.

[old mart]

I worked with a guy who had been employed by a garage during the 50's. They had just bought a new Teckalamit pneumatically powered greasing system. Not realising just how powerful they are, he shot himself in the hand. About an ounce of grease was injected into the area between his thumb and forefinger. At the hospital, they had never seen anything like it and all they could was cut a slit and squeeze the grease out as best as they could. He recovered, but 25 years later there was still a small ammount of grease in his hand and no feeling in thar area.

[Doozer]

I also would like a recommendation of a good air-powered grease gun.
The battery-powered ones are too over the top.
I received as a gift, and air-powered grease gun, bought at AutoZone or
some such place. I put a tube of grease in it the first time, and could not
get it to work. Simple devices, really. But it had an air lock somewhere
and not enough spring force to make the grease feed or something.
So yes, I am willing to buy something good if it means not having to screw
around with it. Nothing more frustrating than a grease gun that does not work.

-D

[Willy]

I realize that everyone's greasing requirements will vary greatly, however based on my own personal experience of going thru about 20 tubes a week for decades of greasing mostly mobile heavy equipment, I hated air and battery powered guns with a passion. Mostly due to their bulk and lack of durability and power. I used to get into some very confined spaces so their bulk alone was a deal breaker. The environment was also more rugged then they were. They do work okay though when conditions are ideal and can be a time saver when used appropriately.

I always use a good quality long ( at least 36") hose with a really good coupler attached to one of Lincoln's finest lever guns, no pistol types for me thanks. Joe Rogers recommendation of the Lockn'lube coupler is one that I've heard good feedback on also.

Greasing efficiently is as much about technique and experience as it is about equipment. Things like air locks and hoses falling off of zerks will not magically disappear with the use of a powered gun.

[alanganes]

I realize that everyone's greasing requirements will vary greatly, however based on my own personal experience of going thru about 20 tubes a week for decades of greasing mostly mobile heavy equipment,

This is good insight, thanks. I don't even know the brand of the two lever guns I use for this sort of stuff but I have had them for a very long time. They both work fine so far as forcing grease into stuff. So maybe it's just the locking coupler and a longer hose that I want?

And speaking of the Lock n lube stuff, has anyone used one of these new grease guns they are offering? If you subtract out the cost of the included locking fitting, it ends up still close to double the cost of one of the higher cost Lincoln guns. Still not unreasonable for a good tool, just curious if anyone has had their hands on one. It does look like the tried to add in some features to addrsss common complaints about such things:

https://locknlube.com/products/professional-series-lever-grease-gun

Thanks all, for chiming in here.

[darryl]

It's been a long time since I had this idea, but here goes. I wanted a little rolling cart for my grease storage. It would have the lever operated pump on it, a good sized container so I'm not running out of grease too often, a spring-loaded 'buffer'- kind of like those water-hammer devices, and a delivery hose with a valve on it. You would pump it to load the buffer, then clip on and deliver grease using the valve right on the line. When the buffer empties, you pump it again. A valve would release whatever is left in the buffer back into the container when you're done the grease job. The cart would have a post on it where you coil up the hose and hang it, and clip the valve end onto. You never have to put the grease gun down anywhere else- this keeps the greasy mess with the cart and off the workbench or storage shelves, etc.

[alanganes]

I can see the utility of a setup like that, but I don't have quite that much greasing to do. It's not even that I am in much of a hurry really. Other then occasional car maintenance, most of what I do is all of the grease points on my little tractor and some assorted yard equipment. And having to try to hold a hose on a zerk and then try to pump the gun lever while attempting to try to hold the body of the grease gun against something gets stupidly annoying. The first time I used a friends cordless dewalt one, it seemed so convenient by comparison.

I don't feel I would use one often enough to justify the cordless style, so I figured that maybe the pneumatic style might be a good compromise. But thinking about it after hearing a few ideas here it seems like just having a locking fitting for the zerk may solve the worst part which seems to be the need for three or more hands.

As a slightly related aside, I made something a bit like you describe for oiling my lathes and mill. I took a lever pump type one-shot oiler and replaced the lever with a pedal. It is mounted on a little frame that sits on the floor with a hose going to a vlave with a zerk coupler on the end. I push the coupler onto the zerks on the machine, open the valve and step on the pedal to pump way oil into the machine. Works great and the hose hangs up on the waist high handle I have on it to move it around.

[Old School]

Air Grease Gun with 6 In. Extension (harborfreight.com) This is the one I purchased awhile ago I did replace the hose with a longer one. This is an inexpensive unit but it surly does well on both of my trucks and also the other stuff around the shop. If I needed it for everyday use I would buy a better unit but no need for what I do now days.

[JoeLee]

I don't have an air grease gun but did buy an air calking gun a long time ago.
I was making a green house and had to run silicone beads that were 8' in length. I could run a perfect bead until I had to release the trigger on the calking gun for another squeeze. Everytime I did that I would mess up the perfect bead. Then someone suggested that I get an air calking gun. OK, sounded like a good idea.
The problem was it pressurized the back of the tube with air and when I would let up on the trigger the crap would just keep coming out because the tube was still pressurized. Then all the silicone blew out the back of the tube all over my hand. Took that POS right back to the store.

JL.................

[sarge41]

Haven't used an air powered grease gun since I was a kid working in service stations. Back then, cars had a bunch of fittings, especially Chryslers. I bought a battery powered gun on sale at Rural King years ago, liked it, but the pump died. Since then I have been using a pistol type gun. they only take one hand, the lever types need two hands. Just put a long hose on the pistol gun and you're good to go. It does every thing I need, tractors, lawn mowers, cars, trucks, and machines in the shop.
Sarge41

[JoeLee]

Haven't used an air powered grease gun since I was a kid working in service stations. Back then, cars had a bunch of fittings, especially Chryslers. I bought a battery powered gun on sale at Rural King years ago, liked it, but the pump died. Since then I have been using a pistol type gun. they only take one hand, the lever types need two hands. Just put a long hose on the pistol gun and you're good to go. It does every thing I need, tractors, lawn mowers, cars, trucks, and machines in the shop.
Sarge41

Never heard of them !

JL...............

[SVS]

Pistol grips are my go to guns. Detest lever action. Farm had a couple Lincoln cordless-didn’t last long. Have a Milwaukee now which is good on machines with bushings that need lots of grease, but there is no feel like you want greasing sealed bearings.

[OaklandGB]

I just have my home lawn equipment, and assorted other small equipment. Not really a lot of greasing to do except on the garden tractor and deck which gets greased every week. About 8 fittings all together. I use a pistol grip, longer flex hose and a clip on end. One thing I do is clean every zerk before greasing. The regular zerk attachment works just fine with a clean zerk.

I guess I like the little bit of feed back I get from using the pistol grip where I can tell that the fitting is taking grease and when it starts to push back. I just don't have that much greasing to do for a powered gun or one of those roll around bulk tanks.