Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
I picked up this US Army Ordnance Dept grease dispenser at the flea market this morning.
It dates to WWII. It has a leak-proof lid, a pump, a 5-foot hose and a goose neck nozzle and it has been mounted on a skid with casters. The Federal Stock Number for this piece of equipment in WWII was 41-G-1425. Official nomenclature is “GUN, pump, bucket, lubricating, low pressure, with flexible hose, 25-50 pound capacity.”
These are fairly rare. I know of several in the hands of WWII Military Vehicle enthusiasts. Highly desirable item to set up near a group of vintage MV's for a WWII Living History Display at a rally or show.
They were standard issue, 1 each, in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th echelon tool-sets, as well as special Armored Forces. Mechanics would push these around the motor pool or maintenance depot like a big grease gun and use the attached hose and nozzle and extensions (two of them were tucked inside the rolling skid) to grease fittings (Zerk) like you would with a regular hand-held grease gun, or you could bring the hand pump grease guns to this pumper and refill them. Used on everything from Jeeps to the largest trucks during WWII, but these really came in handy for construction vehicles, engineers equipment, and armor, all of which had dozens of fittings.
Stewart-Warner's Alemite Division made these forever before it was passed on to other OEMs (Lincoln, GRACO, etc), and there is little difference between one made in WWII through the 90's. The "Super Grease Gun" is still in the US system as FSN 4930-00-244-4859. And of course Alemite (and Lincon, etc) made versions of these for civilian service stations as well. Newer equipment has fewer service points, of course, so these have largely been replaced by newer smaller and faster automated air or battery powered jobbies.
It was caked with old grease and grime, but I knew what it was as soon as I saw it and the “ORD 152701” marking on the neck of the pump (that is a US Army Ordnance Dept stock number) confirmed it.
Unfortunately I used a little bit too much Simple Green and a little bit too much force on the "U.S. ORD" marking on the lid.
The red coat is primer. The forest green coat is original to 1939. I believe the OD green coat, which is 1942 spec, was probably applied in the field.
I was more careful with the "Alemite Stewart-Warner Corp" marking, which shows the coats even better.
I was even more careful with the stenciling.
Before:
After:
The light blue stenciling reads “B 109“. It may be a unit number, perhaps (wishful thinking here…) B Company, 109th Infantry Regiment, which shipped out of Indiantown Gap, PA, but drafted over half its ranks from New Jersey (where I live) and New York in 1941.
The red stenciling reads "C G", which refers to "Chassis, General", signifying that this particular pumper was used for general purpose grade grease.
It dates to WWII. It has a leak-proof lid, a pump, a 5-foot hose and a goose neck nozzle and it has been mounted on a skid with casters. The Federal Stock Number for this piece of equipment in WWII was 41-G-1425. Official nomenclature is “GUN, pump, bucket, lubricating, low pressure, with flexible hose, 25-50 pound capacity.”
These are fairly rare. I know of several in the hands of WWII Military Vehicle enthusiasts. Highly desirable item to set up near a group of vintage MV's for a WWII Living History Display at a rally or show.
They were standard issue, 1 each, in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th echelon tool-sets, as well as special Armored Forces. Mechanics would push these around the motor pool or maintenance depot like a big grease gun and use the attached hose and nozzle and extensions (two of them were tucked inside the rolling skid) to grease fittings (Zerk) like you would with a regular hand-held grease gun, or you could bring the hand pump grease guns to this pumper and refill them. Used on everything from Jeeps to the largest trucks during WWII, but these really came in handy for construction vehicles, engineers equipment, and armor, all of which had dozens of fittings.
Stewart-Warner's Alemite Division made these forever before it was passed on to other OEMs (Lincoln, GRACO, etc), and there is little difference between one made in WWII through the 90's. The "Super Grease Gun" is still in the US system as FSN 4930-00-244-4859. And of course Alemite (and Lincon, etc) made versions of these for civilian service stations as well. Newer equipment has fewer service points, of course, so these have largely been replaced by newer smaller and faster automated air or battery powered jobbies.
It was caked with old grease and grime, but I knew what it was as soon as I saw it and the “ORD 152701” marking on the neck of the pump (that is a US Army Ordnance Dept stock number) confirmed it.
Unfortunately I used a little bit too much Simple Green and a little bit too much force on the "U.S. ORD" marking on the lid.
The red coat is primer. The forest green coat is original to 1939. I believe the OD green coat, which is 1942 spec, was probably applied in the field.
I was more careful with the "Alemite Stewart-Warner Corp" marking, which shows the coats even better.
I was even more careful with the stenciling.
Before:
After:
The light blue stenciling reads “B 109“. It may be a unit number, perhaps (wishful thinking here…) B Company, 109th Infantry Regiment, which shipped out of Indiantown Gap, PA, but drafted over half its ranks from New Jersey (where I live) and New York in 1941.
The red stenciling reads "C G", which refers to "Chassis, General", signifying that this particular pumper was used for general purpose grade grease.
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