one answer:

A good overall grease for lawn/garden and grounds maintenance equipment will be rated number 2 GC-LB. Should come in a 14 ounce cartridge to fit the gun below... Lowes may also carry these cartridges.

For a grease gun, take a look the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Grease gun - Lowes

That is a satisfactory grease gun. The only thing I would change would be to add a "swivel tip" in place of the rigid tip that comes on it. If you install a swivel tip you will be able to change the tip angle to get onto zerks that are in tight places or that angle in such a way that you can't hit them with that long, straight delivery pipe and rigid tip. Some people prefer a flexible hose instead of a swivel tip. I have used both kinds and I prefer the swivel tip.

I believe I bought mine at Lowes, along with the grease. I do have the one with the flexible hose.

A manual lever or pistol grip type grease gun will fit your needs just fine. You DON'T need a air or battery operated gun to do what you are doing.
With the above mentioned types you will never need to worry about having to charge the battery or run a compressor and it is totally portable and inexpensive.
Farm and Fleet usually has a good selection of guns and grease.
Good luck.

Since the gun was covered I thought I would give you a little advice on greasing the Air Force way for aircraft...When putting grease in a fitting always wipe any dirt away from the zert prior to attaching the gun. This will keep you from injecting more dirt into the zert and possible jamming open the little spring loaded ball from sealing the hole shut. Apply enough grease so that you see new grease coming out around the edges. One or two pumps it not near enough and your zert may be clogged and you not know it. Also the old grease contains small dirt particles. Wipe away any visible grease with a clean rag. Grease acts like a magnet with dirt. Use a dry lubricant on surfaces where it is not housed like the steering gears, seat hinge, hood hinge those sort of places. Good Luck.

Thanks to all for the help. I found a nice gun at Home Depot (Lucas Oil brand) that came with the flexible and stiff attachment for $24 (they had a cheaper one for $12, but it didn't come with the flex hose).

One question on the grease ... After I'm done, should I leave the tube in the gun for storage or remove it (since I won't likely use it again till next year). Does grease go bad?

Another random question ... I was going to replace the fuel line (between the filter and carb) ... Most of the stores have the clear rubber lines (vs the black rubber one that came from the factory). Any reason to not replace with the clear? I'm guessing an auto parts store might have the black version like it has now.

Thanks again for everyone's help ... You guys are really great!

1) Leave the unused grase in the gun as is - it will keep for a long, long while. Just wrap the gun in an old rag and when going to use the gun again later, just wipe off the nozzle to get rid of any dirt (per Zoomie's comments).

2) on fuel lines - IMHO is to make sure that you are getting the right TYPE and size of line. Whether it is clear or not is not of any particular importance.But, the wrong material type will not hold up to fuel/heat/etc and subsequently fail. Unless you know exactly what you're looking for, go to the auto parts store and tell them what you need (bringing a pc of the old hose along will help in getting the right size..). If you plan to re-use the fuel line clamps, also best to stay with the same wall thickness in the replacement line - some clamps depend on that thickness to work.

One possibly compelling reason to stay away from the clear fuel hose is fright!!!! When you SEE vapor bubbles in the fuel hose you might become frightened by the sight, thinking there must surely be something bad happening that must be remedied right away (same thing applies to clear fuel filters). Unless you are willing to accept that vapor bubbles in a fuel hose or filter are completely normal, you need to keep your hose and filters "opaque".

First question is:why do you need to replace the fuel line?

Second: Are you replacing steel line or rubber hose?

If replacing rubber hose you need to use a rubber designed to handle fuel. Using anything other than FUEL LINE will swell and possibly leak resulting in a fire.
Do not use vacuum line to handle fuel or brake fluid on your vehicle. Different types of rubber react differently to the type of fluid they carry.
Go to a REAL auto parts store and they can get what you need.

I've found that using Wheel Bearing grease is beneficial in that it'll hold up better to heat and is used for high speed. I use it for my 48" deck spindles,front wheels and front axle steering king pins. I just give the zerts 2 to 6 squirts of grease before mowing depending on the zert. Haven't had any troubles since I bought my GT5000 in 2005.
Tim

Thanks for all the help. I had time today to get most of the work done. I went a bit nuts (for me) and removed the deck so I could really clean the underside really well. Took a little longer than I planned, but generally went well. The grease part was pretty easy (thanks to all of your help.)

I did not changes the fuel line (didn't really need to -- I read somewhere it was a good idea to change those after 5 years, but I have not had any real problems with it .. so I left it as-is.)

One problem I did have -- I could not get the old oil filter off. Not sure if it just was tightened to hard last time, or not lubed enough around the gasket. I just went ahead and put the new oil in and moved on with the old filter (Kohler actually only recommends changing it every other oil change.)

I have one of the band/clamp oil removal tools, but it's really hard to get any leverage with the tight area. I was going to spray some WD40 around it to see if would loosen it, but thought I would ask around if that was a good idea or not. Any thoughts? Are there any tools that are better for tight spaces?

Thanks again for all the help!

I recommend you find a "variation" of the band type. The variant I refer to is like the band type tool you have except it DOES NOT have a "built-in handle". Instead of a handle, it has a 3/8" square drive hole that you can use with a 3/8" ratchet or a 3/8" pull handle. The trick you need to use with this tool is to load a long 3/8" drive extension into the band tool and then use the ratchet or pull handle "from a distance". This will give you all the leverage you need. One more thing to heed is to ALWAYS situate the band tool as near to the base of the filter (the part that touches the engine) as you can get it. This is the strongest and most rigid part of the filter shell. If you try to put the band tool anywhere else you risk collapsing the filter and that will make it even more difficult to remove. Good luck.

First off when I change my oil the filter gets changed with it ... I never did it any other way - I recommend you don't do it either (next time). With my memory the way it is - 1 year from now id be asking myself IF i changed the filter last year...

Secondly - when I run across a tough filter that doesn't want to cooperate - I break out my big channel lock pliers and gut ugly on the uncooperative filter... Its messy - but it comes off...

good luck