Embarrasing question

[canoetrpr]

I'm not particularly handy in any sense of the word so please bear with this embarrasingly simple question.

I've bought a grease gun - lever type manual - to grease the various fittings on my tractor - particularly around the loader.

For about 50 % of them, I align the gun, squeeze and things seem to work just fine. For the other 50 % of them, grease comes up along the side of the nozzle when I squeeze and I am assuming is not getting into the fitting properly. I have no clue why - I am aligning the gun on the fitting and squeezing. What could be more simple than that?

Could it just be that the particular fitting does not need grease?... I have no clue. I'm determined to get grease into those darn fittings - help!

The tractor is practically new - 42 hours. I imagine the fittings are quite clean.

 

[Mike_Lipke]

wiggle, push, align,....keep putzing untill that grease goes in.

 

[ihookem]

Look in the grease gun fitting and you might notice there are prongs in there. If they are not lined up right the fitting won't go in the grease gun. Mine does the same thing with my new fitting. My old one works perfect. I think it's because of a cheap female fitting in the gun.

 

[DieselPower]

If it was a cheap gun then it could just be the female fitting. You can usually pick up a good Lincoln grease coupler at TSC or most auto parts stores. A high quality coupler can make quite a difference in the fit to grease fittings.

 

[MadDogDriver]

I agree with DieselPower. You can change out your fitting on the grease gun, or even use a hose adapter instead of a hard metal line. I prefer the hose style with a high quality coupler myself, gives me a lot more flexibility for the hard to get zerks. The high quality couplers allow you to "dial in" the tightness of the coupler with the zerk.

 

[mjncad]

I splurged and bought a Lincoln 12v cordless grease gun, and it is so much easier to use then fumbling with a lever style gun and a flexible hose.

If you get a Lincoln cordless, just remember to burp it after using it, otherwise you run the risk of having grease ooze out of the gun in places you didn't think it could.

I thought I got a lemon and took it to the local Lincoln service center, and they said it was fine; but like a baby...it needed to be burped by pushing the relief button on top of the cartridge holding canister. In other words, I should have read the manual more closely. The service center didn't charge me as they figured I spent enough for a 40+ mile round trip and the embarrassment.

 

[canoetrpr]

Thanks for the advice folks. I didn't get the cheapest gun but it wasn't much.

I've always burnt myself when I haven't bought a quality tool of any kind. You end up paying more than you would have in the first place.

Off to my local TSC store this weekend for a coupler.

 

[EddieWalker]

I agree that you have a loose female fitting. I don't know about your area, but my Tractor Supply store is absolutely terrible on greese and zirk fittings. Napa has good quality stuff and it's always in stock.

I used to be a big fan of the rubber hose for greasing fittings, but don't know why. It's just what I picked up over the years, so that's the only way I'd use a grease gun. It didn't matter if it was an air gun, or lever gun, they all had rubber hoses on them for that flexibility.

Then I got this idea after fighting the hose and pumping the grease that if the hose was stiff, I wouldnt' need three hands. I took off the rubber hose and put on the metal one. WOW, it's like night and day. It's much easier to use, and with my air guns, it's just one handed.

I have quite a few zirk fittings on my tractors and implements, and I can do about 95% of them with the solid tube. For the few that need a flexible hose, I have a second handle pump type grease gun that I use for those.

Eddie

 

[mrutkaus]

In rare cases the fitting indeed is full of grease and won't take anymore and for some reason it won't come out around the fitting where it is designed to.

And you can damage things like boots and seals by putting too much grease in with too much force.

But this doesn't happen very often.

Mike

 

[Z-Michigan]

You say that you "Align" the gun... are you pushing it on til it kinda clicks? That is part of getting the coupler on right. Depending on the fitting and the angle, it can be easy or very difficult. Everytime I get grease oozing out the sides it is because I didn't have it on all the way, and I always get it to work with a bit more effort. In one case I had to loosen the collar around the coupler in order to get it on, and that did the trick. Wiggling and pushing it on from slight angles (up to 20 degrees or so) often helps too.