Pneumatic Grease Guns

[Kscardsfan]

Does anyone still use a pneumatic grease gun? I'm thinking about getting one for the shop at work since we do all of the lube work and PM stuff in a bay with air readily available. I like the cordless ones, but they would just be an added cost and something to lose or get stolen out in the field. Are there any that are worth owning or ones to avoid? I know if make a job easier my guys will do the job more often and more thoroughly. Thank you all.

 

[DGersic]

I have the HF one. It’s ok, I guess. I don‘t actually use it. I don’t know if they’re all like this, but the air only pushes off a spring. The spring does the grease work. Works ok with warm grease on a clean new zerk, but if the zerk isn’t clean and new, or the grease is cold and thick from being in an unheated shop, the spring may not have enough oomph to drive grease in to it. My manual gun, I just squeeze harder.

 

[Shoreline_]

I have the full auto Lincoln one. It's good for when you have to purge old grease out of mechanical joints. But it's too fast for ball joints

 

[AJHD]

I can't give you any specific models or brands, but we used them at CAT. We went through a ton of grease, literally.
We had the versions that mount to the top of a barrel of grease. We also used them to refill our battery powered grease guns instead of constantly changing out tubes.

They're much faster and a barrel of grease lasts longer than a tube. But they were heavy, annoying to roll around the shop and tether to an air hose.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I can't give you any specific models or brands, but we used them at CAT. We went through a ton of grease, literally.
We had the versions that mount to the top of a barrel of grease. We also used them to refill our battery powered grease guns instead of constantly changing out tubes.

They're much faster and a barrel of grease lasts longer than a tube. But they were heavy, annoying to roll around the shop and tether to an air hose.

Buying grease by the "barrel" is the only way to go with heavy equipment !

 

[scooby074]

I have a lincoln pneumatic cartridge gun i had since way back when i did this for a living. They have since been replaced with cordless which werent really a thing back then. Cordless is just more convenient

Pneumatic Barrel pumps (also Lincoln) were used for both in shop and on the lube service truck. Barrel pumps are just much more convient and cheaper to run than cartridge guns for high volume lubrication. Plus the barrel pumps gun is a lot smaller than the cartridge style which is nice sometimes.

 

[gregs]

I just ordered a replacement Lincoln 1162 for work. The one it’s replacing lasted about 10 years. The air piston seals failed and it was going to be at least $30 for those, and a new gun was under $100 so I went that route. It’s a good grease gun and works well. If I can find the seals a little cheaper I may fix it for a spare.

 

[dchawk81]

Does anyone still use a pneumatic grease gun? I'm thinking about getting one for the shop at work since we do all of the lube work and PM stuff in a bay with air readily available. I like the cordless ones, but they would just be an added cost and something to lose or get stolen out in the field. Are there any that are worth owning or ones to avoid? I know if make a job easier my guys will do the job more often and more thoroughly. Thank you all.

I have 2 or 3 pneumatics but haven't used them since getting the cordless.

Short of a cordless they beat the pants off a manual.

Mine are from HF and weren't any more expensive than the manual ones.

 

[dchawk81]

I can't give you any specific models or brands, but we used them at CAT. We went through a ton of grease, literally.
We had the versions that mount to the top of a barrel of grease. We also used them to refill our battery powered grease guns instead of constantly changing out tubes.

They're much faster and a barrel of grease lasts longer than a tube. But they were heavy, annoying to roll around the shop and tether to an air hose.

That's weird my pneumatic guns aren't any bigger than a manual. They just have an air fitting and a trigger instead of a pump handle.

I have small hands so the handle is a no go.

 

[scooby074]

That's weird my pneumatic guns aren't any bigger than a manual. They just have an air fitting and a trigger instead of a pump handle.

I have small hands so the handle is a no go.

Grease pumps. Theyre pneumatic but mounted on a drum of grease. They can be a PITA to move, but usually have like a 25' + grease hose on them so you dont have to move the drum that much. A drum of grease weighs ALOT!! Keg size, probably 120lb. Drum, probably 400.

 

[dchawk81]

Grease pumps. Theyre pneumatic but mounted on a drum of grease. They can be a PITA to move, but usually have like a 25' + grease hose on them so you dont have to move the drum that much. A drum of grease weighs ALOT!! Keg size, probably 120lb. Drum, probably 400.

OP asked about guns not pumps.

 

[scooby074]

OP asked about guns not pumps.

AJHD was referring to grease pumps you responded to in his comment (I believe).

 

[dchawk81]

AJHD was referring to grease pumps you responded to in his comment (I believe).

I missed his being off topic.

 

[dscheidt]

OP asked about guns not pumps.

yeah, but he's working in a shop. a pump on a 120 lb keg with a 25' hose and a tiny grease nozzle beats the snot out of having to deal with tubes.

 

[dchawk81]

yeah, but he's working in a shop. a pump on a 120 lb keg with a 25' hose and a tiny grease nozzle beats the snot out of having to deal with tubes.

I'm not in the game of telling people what they should have. I've heard enough from self proclaimed experts to not be one.

 

[DemoFly]

I have a locknlube one at work. It works great. It's the selectable single-shot or continuous model. I would avoid buying a single-shot as they struggle to build much P.S.I. when it's needed.

I keep it in single-shot 95% of the time, but sometimes the bucket pins aren't sitting even and the zerk gets pinched and you need more power.

 

[john.k]

I have a Tecalemit ,air actuates the grease shot,but otherwise its just a cartridge gun ........Mine hasnt been used for ages ,and its had the cartridge part robbed off it (by me) to keep hand lever ones going ............I find the biggest nuisance is the plunger seal splitting........just about all my guns have split the plunger rubber,and the the damn thing fills with grease ,so when you pull the rod out ,grease spews out all over the place ..............The only guns Ive got that are any good,are the really old ones with leather plungers.

 

[dscheidt]

I'm not in the game of telling people what they should have. I've heard enough from self proclaimed experts to not be one.

Sure, but it's entirely possible that OP hadn't considered a pump, and including it in an enumeration of pneumatic grease dispensing tools seems pretty reasonable. he didn't say what he's greasing, so it's possible he needs a bunch of special greases, which is much easier to do with a gun, but it's just as likely that they use the same grease in everything (or almost everything). I have more than once asked about a tool or type of tool, and had someone suggest that I wanted some other thing instead. sometimes they were right, and I hadn't known the tool existed, or hadn't considered it for some other reason, and their maybe off topic response saved me time or money or both.

 

[dchawk81]

Sure, but it's entirely possible that OP hadn't considered a pump, and including it in an enumeration of pneumatic grease dispensing tools seems pretty reasonable. he didn't say what he's greasing, so it's possible he needs a bunch of special greases, which is much easier to do with a gun, but it's just as likely that they use the same grease in everything (or almost everything). I have more than once asked about a tool or type of tool, and had someone suggest that I wanted some other thing instead. sometimes they were right, and I hadn't known the tool existed, or hadn't considered it for some other reason, and their maybe off topic response saved me time or money or both.

OR...

They know they need a grease GUN and want to know if the pneumatics are worth it.

I take posts as they are and not as I think they should be. But hey whatever.

 

[john.k]

In my experience the 50 gallon drum Graco type work well with lots of hose to the gun ......the Graco pump generates all the pressure needed to work the gun ..............next down would be the small drum setups with 5 gallon drums ,generally you need to work a plunger on top of the drum to pump grease to a handpiece ,with a lever gun that actually pressure pumps the grease............a smaller version fits a 5lb tin of grease using the same system ............unless there is a lube tech to handle the small drum systems ,they end up in a horrible mess of grease ,sand ,and muck where drivers are allowed to grease their vehicles.

 

[Sumboodie]

Buying grease by the "barrel" is the only way to go with heavy equipment !

I penciled it out and cost wise it's not a big savings.

Saves on time of course if you're a big shop going through pounds of grease a day.

Some of the shops I deliver to go through a drum every couple weeks.

 

[john.k]

If you keep your eyes open ,there is often unopened drums of grease on fbook or ebay...............recent purchases would be 200lb drum of 3% moly grease for $1 ...and 20 x 20lb drums of white (food grade) grease ,asking price was quickly down to $1 a drum,then I got paid to take away the whole 20 drums.

 

[zendriver]

I have the HarborFreight one is cheaper than the one they sell now

It worked great a few times I use it. On the backhoe. I believe 32 zerks

Long-term

 

[dchawk81]

If you keep your eyes open ,there is often unopened drums of grease on fbook or ebay...............recent purchases would be 200lb drum of 3% moly grease for $1 ...and 20 x 20lb drums of white (food grade) grease ,asking price was quickly down to $1 a drum,then I got paid to take away the whole 20 drums.

I'd consider that a bonus if I came across it but wouldn't run a business on it.

 

[plinker]

Lincoln 1162. They last a long time even with heavy use grease trucks/equipment.

FWIW,
Also have an M12, runs about 1/2 the speed of the pneumatic, but cordless can be handy at times. The M18 with the high speed setting is closer to the Lincoln's speed. Shop setting, I prefer the Lincoln. My experiance with drum greaser's is they leave a lot to be desired.

 

[Kscardsfan]

Lincoln 1162. They last a long time even with heavy use grease trucks/equipment.

FWIW,
Also have an M12, runs about 1/2 the speed of the pneumatic, but cordless can be handy at times. The M18 with the high speed setting is closer to the Lincoln's speed. Shop setting, I prefer the Lincoln. My experiance with drum greaser's is they leave a lot to be desired.

All the equipment gets brought back to a compound at the end of the day to be cleaned off and put away, and gets fluids checked, tires filled, and zerks lubed etc. in one of two shop bays before it leaves for the morning, both bays have air drops, so a pneumatic gun makes more sense than cordless in our case. If we ran a service truck I would say we need to invest in a cordless unit. We don't go through enough grease in a year to justify buying it by the barrel, plus the feds make it harder on us to maintain compliance if we have that much of any one material on hand. If we have tubes they don't pay attention to it. If we have 50 gals or more I have to create a separate document detailing how it is used, how we store it, how we will respond to a spill, fire, etc. on it.

 

[john.k]

Service trucks generally have a compressor ............and in any case ,a truck with air brakes will have enough air to work a pneumatic grease gun .............I know cordless are flavour of the month,but the big advantage of air is its not that attractive to thieves ,which a $400 cordless grease gun is.

 

[MarineScott]

I have the Lincoln, with an extra long hose and a Lock n Lube coupler end

 

[Kscardsfan]

I have the Lincoln, with an extra long hose and a Lock n Lube coupler end

How is the lock n lube? Worth the extra?

 

[dchawk81]

How is the lock n lube? Worth the extra?

I have the Lock N Lube on my Milwaukee and I can say it's worth it with the caveat that its size doesn't let it fit everywhere.

 

[DGersic]

How is the lock n lube? Worth the extra?

Yes. Very worthwhile.

I have one driveshaft zerk that can only be reached from the top. Any other position, the U joint closes up too much to fit the coupler in. Holding the coupler in place, out of sight, with one hand while pumping the pistol grip grease gun with the other, sucked. With the L-n-L coupler, it’s a lot easier to stick it on the zerk, then just pump the gun while knowing that the coupler will stay put.

For all of the other zerks I have, it’s still a nice convenience not to have to hold the coupler.