Large syringe to apply grease instead of grease gun - anyone tried it?

[Quoc_Pham]

Hey all!  I've been checking out all the bad @ss topics here and I'm trying to improve my setup for servicing my reels. I bought a cheapo 3 oz mini grease gun from harbor freight and i'm still  trying to find yamaha marine grease locally (l.a/o.c) to no avail. So... I do a search for who knows what and these pre packed grease syringes come up.  Question is would it be practical to use a large syringe rather that a grease gun? I was thinking of using the 10 oz squeeze tubes of yamaha since I only do my own reels and can sacrifice the extra 4 oz in the name of convenience.  Would the rubber seals(?) hold up to the grease or am I just cookoo? Thanks in advance!

Funny thing is I just saw this post today. My wife works in the medical field and got me a few syringes in various sizes.

Don't know if you've found the grease yet, but I live in OC and have the entire tube left, and it's going to take me a while to use it all. Let me know if you need some and I can pretty much give you half the tube for a couple bucks.



I had the same idea you did!




This syringe is 20ml which is 3/4 oz. roughly.

[foakes]

The syringes work good -- although I have had issues with the grease getting past the O rings -- and also being hard on my hands if the grease is not at a warmer temperature.  I probably bought too cheap of plastic syringes -- but this is all I use now.  For me -- this system is cheap, effective, and easy.

I just use a small grease gun with an adapter, and a basketball needle inflator sawed off at the end.

For larger applications on inner plate, bridge, ring, or gear surfaces -- a brush and container jar are dead simple.

The Yamaha Marine grease is excellent -- and very cheap to purchase.

This system of ideas came from Alan -- and it works very well for me.

Best,

Fred

[handi2]

I use the Cajun Injectors used to shoot up Turkeys and such. They work great and are cheap..!! They already have a long tube on them and can reach way in there...

[Quoc_Pham]

Could always drill the syringe a little larger if you want more flow, I didn't have any problems (in Sunny Southern California) to squirt out grease from that sucker last night. Again, 20ml of grease isn't a ton of resistance.

[Unutt]

I have used a syringe for the last few years.  I load the syringe by pulling the plunger and loading grease from the bottom.  Sometimes the plunger does not want to come out after the syringe is empty.  Syringes are cheap.  One syringe lasts a month or two.  If the plunger sticks, I pitch it, and start a new one.  I use grease sparingly.  I like the control the syringe affords me.  I also use a syringe with a smaller needle to apply oil.