Proper lubrication is the key to keeping your tools and machinery working efficiently.
By Alex Rennie Published: Sep 16, 2021 4:17 PM EDT Save Article
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A reliable grease gun is essential if you have any type of mechanical equipment that needs to be regularly lubricated. These handheld tools are designed to hold a standard grease canister, and inject its contents directly into the fittings of your machine using a special coupler. They can be manually powered—by pumping a hand lever—or automatic, using battery packs or compressed air to dispense their grease. Although some use a rigid pipe to direct their grease, most use a flexible hose, allowing users to maneuver the coupler onto the fittings with one hand while holding the canister with the other.
The most important question to ask yourself when purchasing a grease gun is what type of power source is going to be best for you. While manual models—which require you to pump a handle or lever to generate pressure—do require some elbow grease to use, they can also be more convenient than automatic guns, especially when you only have a few fittings to work on. That said, if you have a lot of lubricating to do, automatic guns that are powered by batteries or compressed air, could be a better fit. Battery-powered guns could be an especially convenient choice if you already own a few tools from that specific brand. This will allow you to use your existing battery packs, and purchase a cheaper version of the gun that doesn’t include expensive batteries.
Similarly, you should think about the amount of grease you’ll be going through. While most grease guns take standard size grease cartridges, others like the G. Gun Grease Gun, use bulk grease to fill their 2-gallon canister, which makes them much more useful for anyone who plans on going through a lot of grease. Or, if you know you’ll only be using a small amount of grease, like when you’re working on your bicycle or chainsaw, a smaller, compact gun would be a lot more convenient.
Another factor to think about is the length of the hose that comes with your grease gun. Take the time to think about what exactly you’re going to be using it on, and if you can, go out and measure how long a hose would have to be to effectively access your fittings.
I've used a variety of grease guns during my time as part of a landscaping team at a large state park, and used them frequently for maintaining large mowers, tractors, and other heavy equipment. I used this hands-on experience, in addition to online research and customer feedback, to put together this list of the best grease guns you can buy. I did my best to include a range of prices, styles, and sizes, so whether you have multiple machines that need frequent lubrication, or a small mower that needs occasional maintenance, you should find an option here that works for you.
