Grease - is there no better way? Can we talk about this?

[not2old]

I also store my grease guns in a 5 gal. bucket and am surprised at how much oil leaks out of the grease and collects at the bottom of the bucket.

I did some research and discovered that grease guns should be stored horizontally and not vertically. In horizontal storage, less oil will separate from the grease and the oil that does separate tends to stay in the grease tube.

I plan to now store my guns on a large cookie sheet.

Mine came with a holder similar to a fire extinguisher and I screwed a pill bottle to the wall for the drips from the nozzle.

 

[not2old]

Yes, too much grease only makes a mess and attracts dirt. Daily greasing was expected, no demanded when I ran a Cat 966 years ago. A couple pumps kept the passages clear and saved the cost and hassle of unnecessary pin and bushing replacements. My favorite gun was an Alemite that I still have today 50 years later although I more recently bought a pistol grip made of Chinesium that allows one hand operation on light duty stuff. I store mine vertical so the oil runs out and doesn't leave a trail on the garage floor.

I;m still using an Alemite about the same age. Kids gifted me a Lincoln cordless about ten years back that quit working after about the third tube. I will get around to fixing it when I find the time.

 

[rScotty]

One option would be to fit an autogreaser. There'd still be grease but you'd deal with it less often. Other than that, you "could" convert some of the assemblies to oil-lubrication but it's probably not practical for all (or any) of them. When I rebuilt the axles on my gooseneck, I converted them to oil which makes topping them up super-easy. Probably a hangover from my logging truck days where all axles were oil-bath.

I'd like to hear more about conversion to oil lubrication. One of our old tractors has some FEL pins and bushings that are almost locked tight with hardened grease. Oil lubrication might loosen it up.
I've tried a hammer grease gun and also tried replacing the zerk with a brass fitting and tube full of penetrating oil. Neither of those tricks worked.

 

[EscapedSuburbia]

I'd like to hear more about conversion to oil lubrication. One of our old tractors has some FEL pins and bushings that are almost locked tight with hardened grease. Oil lubrication might loosen it up.
I've tried a hammer grease gun and also tried replacing the zerk with a brass fitting and tube full of penetrating oil. Neither of those tricks worked.

An FEL might be too big of a heat sink for this to work successfully, but I've had success using a heat gun on a joint to get hardened grease to flow.

 

[Hodado]

I’ve always felt like I waste more than I should,never sure when to stop pumping

 

[pacosperson]

One of the things I hate most about working with equipment is grease. I recently decided I was going to make it easier by getting a battery powered grease gun. Then I opted to put a lube lock fitting nozzle thingy to try to reduce the mess.

It helps but the grease and mess still gets everywhere.

All over my hands. Ruined countless numbers of rags. All over the tractor in places I'd rather not have it. All over the grease gun and even some of my other tools.

Is there a better way? Are there any products I should look into?
Is there no newfangled alternate to grease that isn't quite so messy?

Grease makes the already unpleasant task of maintaining equipment even less pleasant.

A tiny amount of grease goes a long way! Make sure the article to be greased is ‘unloaded’. You want to make sure the grease goes into the side doing the most work. . Then you only have to pump enough grease into that few thousandths gap to force any old grease out. Any more is wasted extra and added mess. I think synthetic greases cleanup easier that petroleum greases.

And don’t start in the same place every time. The first ones will be greased properly, but the last ones, when your attitude is shot, will be poorly greased.

 

[rScotty]

An FEL might be too big of a heat sink for this to work successfully, but I've had success using a heat gun on a joint to get hardened grease to flow.

Well, thanks for that idea. I do have a nice industrial heat gun. I'll try that before getting out the torch.

 

[eKretz]

Lots of differing opinions here, many of which don't take into account the differing states of equipment. One guy says I only use 2 pumps, next guy uses a ton and doesn't know when to stop... Why might that be?

Generally it's because one guy has a machine with nice tight pin to bushing fit and one doesn't. You don't need much grease *if* the fits are very good. Keep them full of fresh grease and they'll stay that way a pretty long time, almost indefinitely for home use. If the fits are loose as a goose, the grease won't spread to where it's needed, it will just go to the point of least resistance and pump out the big hole. The only way that pin joint stands a chance of getting enough fresh grease where it's needed is if it gets over pumped a ton and exercised through it's full range of motion during.

So the best bet is to keep those pins and other joints greased frequently and generously unless you really want to replace them. Better too much grease than not enough. Oil is not a realistic option for a pin unless you make modifications to add a bunch of o-rings to the pins near the ends of every joint or something. Otherwise it would just instantly run out, and whatever was left would likely squeeze out.

 

[jrsavoie]

I also store my grease guns in a 5 gal. bucket and am surprised at how much oil leaks out of the grease and collects at the bottom of the bucket.

I did some research and discovered that grease guns should be stored horizontally and not vertically. In horizontal storage, less oil will separate from the grease and the oil that does separate tends to stay in the grease tube.

I plan to now store my guns on a large cookie sheet.

Laying them.on.a large cookie sheet would br storing them horizontally

 

[jrsavoie]

Greasing a small tractor loader that only takes 2-3 pumps a pin isn’t bad with a manual pump. Greasing larger equipment that takes a lot more grease sucks by hand. And a battery grease gun is still capable of doing a low amount of grease. Aside from cost I’m not sure what the advantage is of a manual gun.

I like the manual hand squeeze on sealed bearings. I can feel when it's full.
On my old stuff, it often takes several pumps.

My 6' mower deck is a 1986 and I've never changed a spindle or ujoint.
We grease every time we mow.

1 to 7 acres at a crack.