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| Three Generations of Service  |
I got some gift certificates to Deep Homo for my Natal Anniversary. Went up today and grabbed a half-inch drive Milwaukee Fuel impact wrench. I have the 1/4 hex drive impact which is pretty darn impressive but this thing is a BEAST! Rusted on lug nuts on a boat trailer that's been used in salt water...thump, thump, thump, WHIRRRRRRRRRRR and they're off! BooYeah! Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent. | ||
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| Staring back from the abyss  |
I have the same one. Had a nut on my dump trailer that I needed to remove so that I could adjust the height on the ball receiver. Socket wrench didn't budge it. Box end wrench didn't budge it. Box end wrench with a breaker bar and me standing on said breaker bar didn't budge it. The Milwaukee? B-D-D-D-D-D-D and off it came. I was so tickled with it that I wanted to walk around the neighborhood and see if anybody wanted their tires rotated. ________________________________________________________ "Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton. | |||
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Optimistic Cynic |
So now you get to experience the joy of not being able to find your impact sockets right away, so you just "well, I'm sure these high $ Snap-On chromies will do....oops! | |||
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| His diet consists of black coffee, and sarcasm.  |
The repeated, rapid hammer blows contribute to breaking the rust loose. Unfortunately, the one I got didn't hold up. It only lasted 7 months before the clutches gave way, leaving the motor spinning uselessly. Also, the batteries came apart. Granted, I use such tools every day and much harder than the average homeowner, but that is still a poor service life. I have had an Aircat half-inch air gun, abused daily, for 8 years and it runs like new. It is "only" 1150 ft. lb., however. Something else common to all electric impacts is that they are very heavy and unbalanced. They will wear your hands and wrists out after a long day. | |||
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| Three Generations of Service |
It IS a heavy sumbitch, that's for sure. No more often, or harder, than I'll use it, it should last forever. Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent. | |||
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| His diet consists of black coffee, and sarcasm. |
Electric tools do shine when you don't have a handy source of air, which is pretty much anywhere outside of your repair shop, or you're unwilling or unable to have a compressor big enough to run air..(This is likely to be my situation in my impending retirement.) Although they somewhat lack "breakaway" or "nut-busting" torque, electric ratchets are very handy, not having to have an air hose attached to them. The 3/8" drive is more all-around useful. The 1/4" have bodies that are just as fat around as the 3/8, so they can't get into really tight spaces, which is the raison d'etre of 1/4. | |||
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| Three Generations of Service |
I actually went in expecting to buy a battery ratchet, but just couldn't muster up the love for the 12v factor. I do have a 12v recip saw and it's handy but one heavy cut is about all the battery is good for. Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent. | |||
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Baroque Bloke |
Did you try a manual hammer driven impact wrench? They work well in many cases. Serious about crackers | |||
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| Three Generations of Service |
I use one on motorcycle applications. Excellent for loosening those Phillips/JIS case screws and replacing them with socket head screws... Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent. | |||
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Member |
While I definitely think a good heavy duty impact is more important than a battery, or even air ratchet, the 12V Milwaukee Fuel ratchet is a great tool to have handy. I generally like breaking things free by hand, or getting final tightening by hand ratchet, a battery powered ratchet can come in real handy. Just this weekend I dropped the transmission pan on my Cummins powered Ram, and that made super light work of the task. It’s not something I use all the time, but it’s so,e thing that I’m glad I have at my disposal. “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” | |||
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| His diet consists of black coffee, and sarcasm. |
Most electric ratchets are 12V. Snap-on makes 14.4V, but Snap-on prices … DeWalt makes 18 or 20V (don't remember which offhand) ratchets, but the battery design and mounting makes them very long and somewhat unwieldy. | |||
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| Thank you Very little  |
Gonna have to get yerself a Napcar Hat, brrrrrapp brrrrrappp | |||
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| Three Generations of Service |
"Napcar" he sez...Ain't that the Truth? BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent. | |||
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Member |
I carry one of those in my work van along with a full set of impact sockets for when I come across some person with a flat and I'm feeling the need to be kind and generous.... of course I also have to carry a air compressor because usually their spare is flat.... learned this the first time I changed a tire for a lady.... seems 'be prepared' in not a concept many people understand. My Native American Name: "Runs with Scissors" | |||
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Member |
I remember when I serviced a woman’s car one day and she came running out of the house asking why I was in her trunk, I said I was putting air in her flat spare tire. She was shocked Hell has no fury like a liberal confronted with reality | |||
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