Grease guns

[jkesselr]

Hey guys,

I’m looking for a new grease gun and need some help. I’m only looking for manual units (no battery or air units). I don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars, but I’m tired of POS units. Let’s hear your recommendations for best bang for the buck while also being solid units. Ideally it would be sub-$50, but I’d be willing to go to like $100 if I have to to make sure this is the last one I buy.

Thanks in advance!

 

[rockcrawler]

The Lincoln 1134 pistol grip grease gun is good for the price. Comes with rigid extension and whip. I also recommend the Lock n Lube coupler.

 

[jkesselr]

Okay, I will take a look. I have heard good things about the lock n lube. Are the knock offs any good, or should I just bite the bullet and buy the original?

 

[Squez]

We use Lincoln’s at work not sure of the model number but we have high pressure and high volume. Aside from mine ( I take care of my **** ) they are used and abused. I’ve had mine for over 12 years.

 

[jkesselr]

We use Lincoln’s at work not sure of the model number but we have high pressure and high volume. Aside from mine ( I take care of my **** ) they are used and abused. I’ve had mine for over 12 years.

Awesome, that’s good to know. Can you look tomorrow and see if you can spot a model number?

 

[Squez]

Will do..

 

[jkesselr]

Will do..

Thanks, man!

 

[CGarage]

I own over 20 grease guns.
The best?
Umeta Germany and Abnox Switzerland.
I tried all of the others.
I own most of mine in pistol grip format and that is most useful I believe.
The Snap-On grease gun is made for Snap-On by Alemite/SKF and it is also nice but the nod goes to Umeta and Abnox.

 

[ATC]

I love my Lincoln pistol-grip.

 

[driftpin]

Model 7090 3 Way Lever Gun
Petroleum Chemicals Co.
Elgin IL





Dunno if you're looking for something as-simple as this, I bought it new probably > 52 years ago, and it's seen duty on dozens of vehicles I've owned during that time.

 

[shanker]

I have an old John Deere branded pistol grip grease gun that I absolutely love, I think it's from the 70's and I've been unable to find any markings on it other than USA stampings.

I wish I knew who made it I wouldn't mind finding another one.

 

[jkesselr]

Thanks guys, I appreciate all of the responses!

 

[zmotorsports]

I have a couple of older Lincoln 1134 models that work well. I also have an older Proto that I really like but I recently purchased a LockN'Lube grease gun that I REALLY like. That is what I have my most used grease in now.

I fell into the trap and bought a couple of Macnaught's a few years ago based on a few people's recommendation. Absolutely hated that grease gun and ended up tossing it in the garbage. Total waste of money.

 

[CGarage]

I have a couple of older Lincoln 1134 models that work well. I also have an older Proto that I really like but I recently purchased a LockN'Lube grease gun that I REALLY like. That is what I have my most used grease in now.

I fell into the trap and bought a couple of Macnaught's a few years ago based on a few people's recommendation. Absolutely hated that grease gun and ended up tossing it in the garbage. Total waste of money.

Why didn’t you like the Macnaught? They are from Australia I think. I have not had a problem with mine.

Still, the Umeta and the Abnox win for quality and construction.

 

[AJHD]

.

 

[zmotorsports]

Why didn’t you like the Macnaught? They are from Australia I think. I have not had a problem with mine.

Still, the Umeta and the Abnox win for quality and construction.

Issued with getting it to prime started off the disappointment. Followed by it leaking worse than any other grease gun that I had ever owned.

Glad you like yours, but mine ended up in the garbage and I cannot under good conscience recommend them.

 

[CGarage]

Issued with getting it to prime started off the disappointment. Followed by it leaking worse than any other grease gun that I had ever owned.

Glad you like yours, but mine ended up in the garbage and I cannot under good conscience recommend them.

Understood.
In fairness, all of the hand operated grease guns can be “difficult” to prime under certain circumstances and, in my opinion, they will all leak to some extent with common NLGI #2 grease. The oil will separate from the thickener and it is inevitable that this happens. Mostly temperature dependent.

 

[Steve_P]

I also have the Lincoln 1134. It only sees 10 fittings a year, but it's 10+ years old and excellent quality. The one I have is made in India, but again, no issues and the quality is excellent.

 

[zmotorsports]

Understood.
In fairness, all of the hand operated grease guns can be “difficult” to prime under certain circumstances and, in my opinion, they will all leak to some extent with common NLGI #2 grease. The oil will separate from the thickener and it is inevitable that this happens. Mostly temperature dependent.

I agree whole heartedly. I've been greasing industrial equipment, automotive, farm equipment, etc. for close to 40 years now and have well versed in the nuances of the equipment, supplies and process. That being said, that grease gun was the worst in all my years of pumping grease.

 

[toolmanmark]

I own over 20 grease guns.
The best?
Umeta Germany and Abnox Switzerland.
I tried all of the others.
I own most of mine in pistol grip format and that is most useful I believe.
The Snap-On grease gun is made for Snap-On by Alemite/SKF and it is also nice but the nod goes to Umeta and Abnox.

I own over 20 grease guns.
The best?
Umeta Germany and Abnox Switzerland.
I tried all of the others.
I own most of mine in pistol grip format and that is most useful I believe.
The Snap-On grease gun is made for Snap-On by Alemite/SKF and it is also nice but the nod goes to Umeta and Abnox.

CGarage do the German and Swiss grease guns use the same size grease tube as we use in the USA.
Point me to the best pistol grip grease gun of the two brands. I do not like the Swiss one with the tube straight out the back. Thanks, Mark.

 

[jttc09]

Alemite 500 lever gun with a long *** hose and a locknlube connection. That way you can lock the hose onto the grease fitting and if need be use both hands to pump grease. Obviously you need to be careful with seals but if it’s old and not wanting to take grease this really helps. I switched over to a Milwaukee gun years ago but still have that alemite setup as a backup floating around in my truck.

 

[MongoTA]

I have a PLEWS gun as well as a hi-lo dual pressure gun, both manual. Plus a Dewalt 20v.

I mostly use the PLEWS and the Dewalt, the Dewalt especially for the tractor and equipment when I might have 30-60 fittings to hit.

If manual, I'd consider using a pistol grip. One hand to dispense and the other to place and remove the fitting on the zerk.

If you haven't used on before, there are some nuances to loading, burping air, and dispensing grease. Also know that the dispensing tip of the grease gun generally has a knurled barrel fitting on it. The barrel can be rotated to loosen or tighten the fitting's grip on the zerk. So many "broken grease guns" that won;t attach or release a zerk can be 'fixed' by simply rotating the barrel. Something Lock n Lube makes a lot of money off of.

 

[CGarage]

CGarage do the German and Swiss grease guns use the same size grease tube as we use in the USA.
Point me to the best pistol grip grease gun of the two brands. I do not like the Swiss one with the tube straight out the back. Thanks, Mark.

It’s a coin toss between the two.
The Abnox is rude bucks, ~ $200 US last I saw.
The Umeta is ~ $65 and available in the US out of Umeta USA in North Carolina.
It’s beautifully made and a step up from the Lincoln and Alemite pistol grip models.

Between lever action and pistol grip, I think pistol grip is a lot more functional.

I have a vehicle requiring ~ 33 grease fittings be greased every ~ 3000 miles.
I have a 12V electric Lincoln grease gun, pistol grip, for that. I’m happy with the 12V unit because the overall operating pressure is reduced to acceptable levels to not risk rupturing the seals.

 

[CGarage]

Alemite 500 lever gun with a long *** hose and a locknlube connection. That way you can lock the hose onto the grease fitting and if need be use both hands to pump grease. Obviously you need to be careful with seals but if it’s old and not wanting to take grease this really helps. I switched over to a Milwaukee gun years ago but still have that alemite setup as a backup floating around in my truck.

I like the Lock-n-Lube couplers!

 

[WildBill]

I have a manual Lube Shuttle grease gun. I am really happy with it, it is completely different than a normal gun and supposed to not get grease everywhere. So far that seems true. Here is the Lube Shuttle site https://store.advancedenginetech.com/

 

[CGarage]

I will also state this:

I have never seen a real-world situation that requires only ONE grease gun.
If you take your budget and drop it all in one shot on an expensive grease gun, and miss out on having others for different grease applications, that is a mistake.

If I could do it all over, I could probably get it down to 4 or 5 grease guns to cover all applications. Grease technology has come a long way in the past 20 years, and it was 20+ years ago when I first started paying attention to grease.

At a bare minimum, plan on having grease guns on hand to cover:

- Wheel bearings
- CV Joints
- GC-LB for chassis / suspension fittings

Most of the greases needed for these applications are indeed different.

Most every mechanic’s shop I have seen has had just one grease gun, which always made me shake my head in disgust.


Grease guns I have:

2 x Umeta, one lever, one pistol grip (Germany)
2 x Mato levers (Germany)
4 x Pressols (Germany)
5 or 6 x Abnox Swiss (all pistol grips)
1 x Lubrication Engineers pistol grip
4 x American Advantage Plus US Gov issue (USA/China) (all lever)
1 Snap On pistol grip
1 x MacNaught pistol grip
2 x Lincoln Electric pistol grip
1 x Lincoln pneumatic pistol grip

Observations: They all seem to leak.
I don’t blame the grease gun. I blame ambient temperature and the grease.
I mostly use NLGI #2 grade greases from a wide variety of manufacturers including:
Shell, Mobil, TRC (Texas Refinery Corp), Amsoil, Redline, Schaeffers, Castrol, Total France, and Fuchs (off the top of my head).

 

[zmotorsports]

I will also state this:

I have never seen a real-world situation that requires only ONE grease gun.
If you take your budget and drop it all in one shot on an expensive grease gun, and miss out on having others for different grease applications, that is a mistake.

If I could do it all over, I could probably get it down to 4 or 5 grease guns to cover all applications. Grease technology has come a long way in the past 20 years, and it was 20+ years ago when I first started paying attention to grease.

At a bare minimum, plan on having grease guns on hand to cover:

- Wheel bearings
- CV Joints
- GC-LB for chassis / suspension fittings

Most of the greases needed for these applications are indeed different.

Most every mechanic’s shop I have seen has had just one grease gun, which always made me shake my head in disgust.

Amen.

I am down to 6 finally. I have the five most used in my hanging storage rack and one that is seldom used in another location.

I have not found one grease that will do everything in all my years.

 

[Buckaroo5]

I have the Alemite 555-E pistol grip with a lock-n-lube straight coupler and 90 degree adapter. It was a significant step up from my old no name grease gun that I used for 20 years and has allowed me to get to every fitting I have needed to so far, I also have the very cool Summit Racing wall mount with drip tray for storage....highly recommended.

Pardon Our Interruption

 

[CGarage]

I also have the very cool Summit Racing wall mount with drip tray for storage....highly recommended.

Pardon Our Interruption

I have a spare Snap-On roll cart and was thinking of buying 6 of these Summit wall mounts and fitting them to the sides to make my own “lube cart”……

 

[mervyn]

I hate grease guns with a passion. I rarely use one and in the past every time I need to use it, tge grease has partially melted and ran out of the thing.
So.
Now I use one of those mini grease guns with a flexible hose and keep it in tge house so the grease dosent melt.
Still hate em.

 

[Buckaroo5]

I have a spare Snap-On roll cart and was thinking of buying 6 of these Summit wall mounts and fitting them to the sides to make my own “lube cart”……

If I were buying 6, I might try to fabricate something but the drip tray on the Summit Racing holder is removable so you can dump the fluid. That's a nice feature.

 

[CGarage]

I hate grease guns with a passion. I rarely use one and in the past every time I need to use it, tge grease has partially melted and ran out of the thing.
So.
Now I use one of those mini grease guns with a flexible hose and keep it in tge house so the grease dosent melt.
Still hate em.

I guess you enjoy big maintenance bills for failing to grease?

 

[mervyn]

I guess you enjoy big maintenance bills for failing to grease?

Nope. Most of my junk has no grease fittings. Bike has one, on the swingarm.
Pickup has a couple and suv has a couple.

 

[bwringer]

I own over 20 grease guns.
The best?
Umeta Germany and Abnox Switzerland.
I tried all of the others.
I own most of mine in pistol grip format and that is most useful I believe.
The Snap-On grease gun is made for Snap-On by Alemite/SKF and it is also nice but the nod goes to Umeta and Abnox.

I will also state this:

I have never seen a real-world situation that requires only ONE grease gun.
If you take your budget and drop it all in one shot on an expensive grease gun, and miss out on having others for different grease applications, that is a mistake.

If I could do it all over, I could probably get it down to 4 or 5 grease guns to cover all applications. Grease technology has come a long way in the past 20 years, and it was 20+ years ago when I first started paying attention to grease.

At a bare minimum, plan on having grease guns on hand to cover:

- Wheel bearings
- CV Joints
- GC-LB for chassis / suspension fittings

Most of the greases needed for these applications are indeed different.

Most every mechanic’s shop I have seen has had just one grease gun, which always made me shake my head in disgust.


Grease guns I have:

2 x Umeta, one lever, one pistol grip (Germany)
2 x Mato levers (Germany)
4 x Pressols (Germany)
5 or 6 x Abnox Swiss (all pistol grips)
1 x Lubrication Engineers pistol grip
4 x American Advantage Plus US Gov issue (USA/China) (all lever)
1 Snap On pistol grip
1 x MacNaught pistol grip
2 x Lincoln Electric pistol grip
1 x Lincoln pneumatic pistol grip

Observations: They all seem to leak.
I don’t blame the grease gun. I blame ambient temperature and the grease.
I mostly use NLGI #2 grade greases from a wide variety of manufacturers including:
Shell, Mobil, TRC (Texas Refinery Corp), Amsoil, Redline, Schaeffers, Castrol, Total France, and Fuchs (off the top of my head).

This guy greases.

I love how for every conceivable subject, and a lot of formerly inconceivable subjects, there's a subject matter expert somewhere on this forum.

Thanks for stepping into the spotlight, CGarage. It was your day to shine!


As to the topic, I am disappointed to hear from our esteemed expert that all grease guns leak. I wonder if anyone makes a grease gun diaper, maybe a roll-on condom sort of thing that could keep things reasonably neat and clean.

There's a gadget called a "candom" that rolls up over a beverage can condom-style to help keep it cold. Wonder if one of these, or a longer version, would help keep drooling grease guns contained?

 

[CGarage]

This guy greases.

I love how for every conceivable subject, and a lot of formerly inconceivable subjects, there's a subject matter expert somewhere on this forum.

Thanks for stepping into the spotlight, CGarage. It was your day to shine!

I enjoy many of your posts as well and had to chime in and contribute my .02 cents.
We have a number of members who contribute significant knowledge and it is important to recognize them, as well.
Dave455 and Monte frequently contribute and I am always appreciative of the opportunity to hear their professional thoughts.

A lot of money to be saved via proper grease application, not to mention increased service intervals. It’s not a subject worth skipping!

I began like many, realizing that I had a vehicle with special lubrication requirements with a fluid spec, taking it in for service, and having a tech totally ignorant about grease and lubrication in general!

25+ years ago, I started showing up with the oils and fluids I wanted the techs to use.
Then, tubes of grease. Then after I learned that there was a wasted partial tube of grease left over in the shop grease gun after every service, I quickly started buying my own grease guns. When I saw them miss fittings (after providing aviation checklists), I started doing it myself!

Local Mercedes dealer made me look at dealership business model “differently” when I saw them maximizing profit by buying Quaker State in bulk 55 gallon drums and using that, over what I think they should be using, like Mobil or Castrol, etc

 

[Firebrick43]

I will also state this:

I have never seen a real-world situation that requires only ONE grease gun.
If you take your budget and drop it all in one shot on an expensive grease gun, and miss out on having others for different grease applications, that is a mistake.

If I could do it all over, I could probably get it down to 4 or 5 grease guns to cover all applications. Grease technology has come a long way in the past 20 years, and it was 20+ years ago when I first started paying attention to grease.

At a bare minimum, plan on having grease guns on hand to cover:

- Wheel bearings
- CV Joints
- GC-LB for chassis / suspension fittings

Most of the greases needed for these applications are indeed different.

Most every mechanic’s shop I have seen has had just one grease gun, which always made me shake my head in disgust.


Grease guns I have:

2 x Umeta, one lever, one pistol grip (Germany)
2 x Mato levers (Germany)
4 x Pressols (Germany)
5 or 6 x Abnox Swiss (all pistol grips)
1 x Lubrication Engineers pistol grip
4 x American Advantage Plus US Gov issue (USA/China) (all lever)
1 Snap On pistol grip
1 x MacNaught pistol grip
2 x Lincoln Electric pistol grip
1 x Lincoln pneumatic pistol grip

Observations: They all seem to leak.
I don’t blame the grease gun. I blame ambient temperature and the grease.
I mostly use NLGI #2 grade greases from a wide variety of manufacturers including:
Shell, Mobil, TRC (Texas Refinery Corp), Amsoil, Redline, Schaeffers, Castrol, Total France, and Fuchs (off the top of my head).

How are you buying the Umeta. I am looking at their website and see no way to buy. I cant stand pistol grips however so I want to try a 75/pk

I may have used one already as some come with the german cnc machines but they disappeared quickly into private hands.

 

[CGarage]

How are you buying the Umeta. I am looking at their website and see no way to buy. I cant stand pistol grips however so I want to try a 75/pk

I may have used one already as some come with the german cnc machines but they disappeared quickly into private hands.

I bought them ~ 15 years ago or so from Umeta USA in the Carolinas. Call them up.

I would get a pistol grip for automotive use or for use in areas with restricted space.

I think only ~ 6 of mine are lever action.

 

[Firebrick43]

I bought them ~ 15 years ago or so from Umeta USA in the Carolinas. Call them up.

I would get a pistol grip for automotive use or for use in areas with restricted space.

I think only ~ 6 of mine are lever action.

Thanks.

I have used a pistol grip frequently and hate them. I can see their use in an auto but none of my autos have any zerks. But my tractors and ag equipment do and especially the plain bushing joints that need 5 squirts or so a lever gun is much better on the hands with a locking ****** to hold the zerk.

 

[Buckaroo5]

As to the topic, I am disappointed to hear from our esteemed expert that all grease guns leak. I wonder if anyone makes a grease gun diaper, maybe a roll-on condom sort of thing that could keep things reasonably neat and clean.

There's a gadget called a "candom" that rolls up over a beverage can condom-style to help keep it cold. Wonder if one of these, or a longer version, would help keep drooling grease guns contained?

Thou ask and thou shalt receive....there is a Grease Gundom from lock-n-lube....have not tried it as I use the wall mount Summit Racing holder but this would be great for the tool box....

LockNLube Grease Gun Barrel Cap (black)

Keeps grease from leaking out the bottom of any grease gun. No more mess in your shop or toolbox from leaky grease guns.

locknlube.com

 

[Snapped-off]

Had a blue Lincoln at my prior job that would always lose prime.

I have 2 Lock n Lube guns at home. Been great so far.