lever type grease gun versus pistol grip type

[mader121]

i currently use a lever type grease gun with a 36 inch hose however it is sometimes difficult to use in hard to reach areas with one hand, what do you guys think would a pistol grip gun be better or does it just get to tiring on your hand. it seems like it might??? let me know........

 

[mitch504]

I used only lever guns for years, till I tried a pistol grip. If you need to put a very high volume of grrease out the lever type takes much less strokes. I used a pistol grip for years, till I tried an electric one. I made fun of a friend for buying one; then when he went out of business, he gave it to me. If it broke tomorrow I would go to town and buy one before using a manual one again.

 

[tylermckee]

lever only, hate pistol grip. I have a pistol grip with the rubber hose for tight areas where the lever gun wont fit.

 

[norite]

I have bothtypes. The lever type pumps easier and gives higher pressure. Pistol grip type is great where you need the other hand to hold the hose on the fitting.

Best thing yet is a battery pwrd gun, speed of an air pwrd gun and mobility of a pistol grip hand pump gun. I have the alemite, it's great.

 

[stumpjumper83]

Best thing yet is a battery pwrd gun, speed of an air pwrd gun and mobility of a pistol grip hand pump gun. I have the alemite, it's great.

I would like to disagree on that point. Best thing is a auto luber that all you have to do is set the intervals and make sure there is grease in the tank... but if you have to grease manually, the power lubers are prety handy, especially the 18 volts

 

[markshr151]

I find that the 18 year old is easer to use then the 18 volt and I stay cleaner and can get other work done.I worked many years to have one of those 18 year old powered grease guns.

 

[Hendrik]

I have a pistol grip and find it to be quicker than lever type.
If I had a lot of grease nipples, requiring a lot of grease each I would look at a powered one but for my situation a manual one is good enough and gives me a bit of exercise.

 

[2stickbill]

I would like to disagree on that point. Best thing is a auto luber that all you have to do is set the intervals and make sure there is grease in the tank... but if you have to grease manually, the power lubers are prety handy, especially the 18 volts

Auto Luber is great.But the problem is finding some body to refill it.

 

[2stickbill]

I find that the 18 year old is easer to use then the 18 volt and I stay cleaner and can get other work done.I worked many years to have one of those 18 year old powered grease guns.

Your lucky.Most just want to play Vidio game are send text messages. All most forgot They like to borrow the car are truck with money included

 

[markshr151]

I do have the best 18 year old grease gun money can buy and I love him dearly.

 

[mitch504]

I had one of those 18 yr powered grease guns and it was great, now the grease gun motor's gone to the Army, so I went to 18 v power, works good, but requires constant supervision.

 

[ke6gwf]

If I had to choose one to carry with me, it would be a Pistol-grip with a long hose, because there are a lot of little fittings that you can't get to with a rigid tube and where you need one hand to hold the connector in place.

I keep Lever and Pistol styles around, and use the right one for the job at hand!

If it's a well-maintained machine that just needs a couple shots of grease a day, or a fitting in a hard to reach spot, the Pistol is the way to go.
If the machine hasn't been greased in a while, sometimes you need the extra pressure of the Lever to get it moving. If it is going to take a lot of grease because it's dry, or I am flushing the old grease out, the lever is nice. Prevents hand-crampitous...

I usually replace the grease fitting connector with an adjustable "heavy duty" 4-jaw one so I have less trouble with it popping off or leaking. Be warned though that if you put it on a recessed fitting that has a lot of back pressure, you may have a very hard time getting it to come off!

I like a long hose on the pistol gun so I can rest it on my leg or a tire or something while holding the fitting on. You can use your arm muscles instead of just your grip muscles to pump then.
The Lever gun has a rigid tube so I can lean into the high pressure locations.

My top pick would be an air-powered gun running off a drum with a long flex-hose, but those are hard to throw in your tool box! I someday might get an 18v gun, but it hasn't reached the top of the list yet...


My Tip O' The Day:
Leave the hose/tube screwed in hand-tight.
When changing grease tubes, after installing the new tube, remove the delivery hose and pump until grease from the new tube comes out (you will probably get some grease, then the air bubble will come through, then the fresh grease). Then screw the hose back in. The hose is so tiny, and the valve at the end of the hose so tight that pumping the air out can be difficult. Removing the hose gives it a straight shot. Leaving it hand tight allows you to re-bleed it when you hit that mid-tube air bubble!


Ben~

 

[mader121]

picked up a new pistol grip with a 30 inch rubber hose and im going to try using the lever type with a fixed hose, ill try using them both and see how i get along. thanks for all the feedback

 

[sea_goin_dude]

I like the lever gun but a hand (pistol) type gun can get into some tighter places. Most of the Lever guns have a threaded plug near the grease tube or hose. This plug may be removed and replaced with a zerk fitting. Then, you can reload the gun from a service station lube gun or if your smaller hand gun has the plug/zerk fitting, you can refill it from your larger lever/pistol gun and won't need to buy the smaller cartriges. You can even refill the gun if it has an empty cartridge in it. Just do not remove the cart when it is empty and use the zerk fitting to refill the gun with the empty cart still in the gun.
Whichever gun you choose, the lever or pistol gun, be sure to get the flex hose to make it easier to get to some of those hard to reach fittings. These hoses come in different lengths so it's your choice..

 

[Ford5500]

I've been turning wrenches for over 30 years and have used a variety of grease guns from lever, pistol, pistol air and the larger air tub greasers. Have not tried the cordless electric guns yet but some day. I find for my needs the pistol grip with 2 12” hoses on it works the best for most situations at work or at home. I find better control using this type of grease gun and a better feel when bearing are getting full without popping bearing seals with a power greaser. I used the pistol grip greaser in January in a cold driving shed on my Ford 5500TLB that I just bought. Some fitting took a lot of hand pressure before the grease came out, others I removed the fitting to clean out the dirt to get them to take grease. Plus I don’t care much for the whoosh of air from the air greasers with each pump. Well that’s my 2 cent’s.

Tony

 

[sea_goin_dude]

Tony two cents is good only if people will put it in their bank.......
I did have a friend who ran a service station for years (Fina I think it was) and the local car washes would come to him to get their grease as they said it did not wash off of the chain drive that pulled the cars through the wash. So guess it was "stickyer" than some others. This was the same grease that he used for auto chassis lubrication. I always liked texaco marfax I think it was and havoline oils and products. May be because the first job I had (15 years old) was working in a Texaco station. I remember that Havoline 10w-30 was 71 cents......qt.

Lever type

Pistol grip

filter wrench

Lever gun with adapters

Tip adapter to get at those impossible zerks

Dont let your "shaft" get dry. grease is cheap insurance of long life for your mechanical equipment.

 

[sea_goin_dude]

I guess I did something wrong as none of the photos loaded. Maybe you can't post photos on this forum. If that is the case, sorry about that.

 

[rare ss]

I found the trigger type K29 grease gun is my favorate all round unit, i have a 3 foot hose on it to grease driveshafts without removing belly guards ect
the lever type guns are good for tight pins and seized track adjusters so always best to carry one of them in the ute too

 

[Boophoenix]

I just found a pistol grip at tractor supply last week that I like a lot. has two settings a volume and a preasure.

The preasure seems to work really good. had a couple of fittings been fighting for a while with the old lever gun and they gave in pretty quickly to the pistol gun.

 

[blitz138]

Pistol grips are one handed operation. Too many times I need my other hand on the hose, pistol all the way for me. If you want to spend the cash the Alemite 14 volt is a better gun then the other 18 volt. Lithium Nicad lasts longer and is alot lighter.