advise on shopping for a cordless grease gun

[dmowitz]

Hello, this is Dave Mowitz with Successful Farming Magazine.

I'm in the middle of writing an article about shopping for cordless grease guns and could use your input.

What advise do you have for someone buying a cordless unit. Do you go with the biggest (20-volt) gun available . . .or do the 12-volt guns cut the mustard.

Also, what features do you like best in a cordless grease gun. For example, do you like that it has a long hose to reach out to those hidden zerks or that it is lightweight or that it can be adjusted for a low or high flow rate. 

Any recommendations and suggestions would be appreciated.

Also, feel free to share your experiences with grease gun. For example, I once bought a cheap cordless grease gun at a "One Time Tool Store" that died the first time I used it. On the other hand, my brother is still using the original cordless grease gun he bought a decade ago. 

Thanks for the help!

Dave

[Shaggy98]

I've got 2 of the first Lincoln electric guns available.  I'm not 100% certain, but I think they are either 14.4 or 18 volt, but leaning towards 14.4.  I've used them for over a decade with little or minimal trouble.  I try to keep the batteries in a warm environment during the off season.  Not sure if it's necessary but it's just something I was told to do.  I've got 2 batteries for each gun and I try to run the batteries as low as I can before I recharge.  I was also told this would aid and keeping the battery at full range and they wouldn't get a recharge memory.

[oneleggedfarmer]

Dave:

Many have asked about cordless grease guns with a love or hate relationship.  Most of the hate that I've seen is they don't lock hard enough on grease zerks as the tips wear.  Most do NOT purchase replacements that are rated for the PSI of the grease gun.  I've had the best luck with those rated for my Lincoln 14 volt.  Yes, they can be more expensive than the local hardware or dealer has but grease and wasted time isn't cheap either.  I like the 2 speed option to speed greasing also. 

What I wished a company would change the standard grease cartiges to a larger size link calk for instance.  Doesn't take long to burn the standard ones if greasing multiple implements.

Thanks for asking