Looking at getting an impact wrench

[WILDHOBO]

And Jeeps are just tall Fiats.

Maybe renegades and cherokees, but I’m hoping not JL and JT. I’ll drive over a Fiat.

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[CFLgladiator]

All joking aside, now let's see it do that on a reasonable compressor. Even the 1" IR we had for truck work needed all our shop compressor could give if you needed it for any length of time and it kept the 10 of us going (half doing tires) without issues on the small stuff.

Air is more practical at larger sizes because copper is heavy but in the scope of home use, electric is king.

It only needs 155 cfm lol

 

[LostWoods]

It only needs 155 cfm lol

You misspelled "trailer" because it's typically a literal trailer designed to deliver absurd airflow to a tool lol.

To put it in perspective, when I wrenched for Jeep we had a 30-man shop and a 100CFM compressor and the thing was basically a Neon engine on top of a tank nearly as large as said Neon. This needs more.

 

[fourfa]

Informative thread, thanks. I've been chugging along with a corded HF impact tool for decades but thinking of a more portable setup so this has been helpful

Question: anyone like a brand that makes both a decent mid-torque cordless impact and cordless electric chainsaw suitable for mild trail clearing? That both use the same battery?

 

[Fouts]

Informative thread, thanks. I've been chugging along with a corded HF impact tool for decades but thinking of a more portable setup so this has been helpful

Question: anyone like a brand that makes both a decent mid-torque cordless impact and cordless electric chainsaw suitable for mild trail clearing? That both use the same battery?

I have a bunch of milwaukee power tools and like them a lot. Just purchased their chainsaw and have been very pleased. Haven't used a bunch but cut up a bunch of 3 to 5 inch tree remnents I had laying around and was pretty impressive.
Have had the high torque 1/2 inch drive impact for a while now and it is monster, maybe a bit too much. Its heavy and could hurt you if you're not hanging on tight. May go with there mid torque.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Informative thread, thanks. I've been chugging along with a corded HF impact tool for decades but thinking of a more portable setup so this has been helpful

Question: anyone like a brand that makes both a decent mid-torque cordless impact and cordless electric chainsaw suitable for mild trail clearing? That both use the same battery?

The answer to all the worlds problems, is Milwaukee. Again and again, Milwaukee. I use the same batteries for the compressor I air up with, with the impact, and with almost everything else. They do have a nice cordless chainsaw as well. But I use my hatchet or sawzall to clear branches and small trees. Same battery for the handheld sawzall.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I have a bunch of milwaukee power tools and like them a lot. Just purchased their chainsaw and have been very pleased. Haven't used a bunch but cut up a bunch of 3 to 5 inch tree remnents I had laying around and was pretty impressive.
Have had the high torque 1/2 inch drive impact for a while now and it is monster, maybe a bit too much. Its heavy and could hurt you if you're not hanging on tight. May go with there mid torque.

I have the mid torque and it works for almost everything. My bumper swap and winch install went very fast as a result.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I use a lot of their m12 stuff as well. I have an adapter for m12 batteries that provides straight 12v output. I use it to power my LED shade light, and it will charge lots of iPhones or similar on one battery with a low watt usb output.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I have a bunch of milwaukee power tools and like them a lot. Just purchased their chainsaw and have been very pleased. Haven't used a bunch but cut up a bunch of 3 to 5 inch tree remnents I had laying around and was pretty impressive.
Have had the high torque 1/2 inch drive impact for a while now and it is monster, maybe a bit too much. Its heavy and could hurt you if you're not hanging on tight. May go with there mid torque.

People have to determine what their need is. I must have the highest torque in such a tool. Others would be fine with the middle-of-the-road impact.
I need bolt-busting torque, something that will run a nut off a rusty bolt or break the bolt trying.
It made all of the swaps and changes I've made on my JT a piece of cake. Some of those things have crazy high torque and getting them loose means using a long breaker bar in a tight spot and spending time running off lock nuts or fasteners with LocTite.
When I'm tearing down a rusty suspension for restoration I can't mess with breaker bars and a 15 degree swing of a wrench or ratchet handle taking off something tight. The extra torque of the high-end version meant it didn't try hard at all to run those nuts on and get really close to the 190 needed on the LCA bolts.
Overkill for some jobs, maybe what most people do, but I couldn't get by with anything less.

Oddly, I have 2 DeWalt drills from about 2000 or 2001 and am only on my second set of batteries for them!
The drills have been dropped, banged around, pushed hard, been used to install screws in decking, you name it. I wore out the original batteries about the time they were getting really hard to find (can't buy those 14 volt batteries any more) and now I note the replacement batteries are not holding up quite like they used to, but honestly, 22 years those drills have lasted and the batteries have gone at least 10 years per set of batteries. Wow.

 

[LostWoods]

People have to determine what their need is. I must have the highest torque in such a tool. Others would be fine with the middle-of-the-road impact.
I need bolt-busting torque, something that will run a nut off a rusty bolt or break the bolt trying.
It made all of the swaps and changes I've made on my JT a piece of cake. Some of those things have crazy high torque and getting them loose means using a long breaker bar in a tight spot and spending time running off lock nuts or fasteners with LocTite.
When I'm tearing down a rusty suspension for restoration I can't mess with breaker bars and a 15 degree swing of a wrench or ratchet handle taking off something tight. The extra torque of the high-end version meant it didn't try hard at all to run those nuts on and get really close to the 190 needed on the LCA bolts.
Overkill for some jobs, maybe what most people do, but I couldn't get by with anything less.

I subscribe to the "why not both" school of thought. 1/2" impacts are unwieldy but there's no replacement for displacement. The high-torque has never let me down but the mid-torque 3/8" I have is what I reach for first.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

but the mid-torque 3/8" I have is what I reach for first.

I used my 3/8" air "impact" so much over the years I almost wore it out.
I'm strongly looking at a 3/8" electric to compliment my bolt-busting 1/2" version.

 

[LostWoods]

I used my 3/8" air "impact" so much over the years I almost wore it out.
I'm strongly looking at a 3/8" electric to compliment my bolt-busting 1/2" version.

Cannot recommend it enough. Picked up this guy last year and it's so much easier to snake into places than my Snap-On 3/8" air.

 

[Gatorac]

Cannot recommend it enough. Picked up this guy last year and it's so much easier to snake into places than my Snap-On 3/8" air.

I would also highly recommend Milwaukee impact guns. I've had the big one for years with no issues. There was one in the company truck that was having problems. I sent it in expecting to pay for a repair. They sent it back good as new at no charge. I added the one mentioned above last year and it is my 2nd favorite tool (next to my 2 post lift) in my garage. It is very well thought out. It's Lightweight, evenly balanced and the narrow head lets it fit into many place a regular impact could not.

 

[dcmdon]

And Ryobi is green. That should be enough to not want it.

My Ryobi has lastsed almost 5 years so far with limited use swapping snows on and off a couple of times per year.

In all its gotten about what an impact driver in a shop would get in about a week.

Sometimes its not worth it to pay for the extra quality. At least not with battery powered tools where the battery will fail in 6 or 7 years no matter how expensive.

A Milwaukee battery costs more than a whole Ryobi kit.

Sometimes good enough is good enough.

Especially since everything, including Milwaukee is made in China these days.

A few years ago I had to drill a 4" hole in my foundation. I looked at a Hilti drill for $900. I looked at renting a Hilti drill for $150.

Then I looked at buying a Hilti knock off from Harbor Freight for $150ish with a coupon. It only had to survive long enough to make one 4" hole through 8" of concrete.

It worked fine. I could have sold it easily for $100 when I was done. but now I have a HF Hilti knockoff SDS drill as a souvenir.

If I made my living with the drill, I'd buy the HIlti.

 

[dcmdon]

All joking aside, now let's see it do that on a reasonable compressor. Even the 1" IR we had for truck work needed all our shop compressor could give if you needed it for any length of time and it kept the 10 of us going (half doing tires) without issues on the small stuff.

Air is more practical at larger sizes because copper is heavy but in the scope of home use, electric is king.

Part of the problem also is that the pressure regulators can't flow enough to drive impact tools.

I have a moderately priced compressor that is too old to even remember. I got my first 1/2" impact gun and was underwhelmed. When I ran the gun I noticed that the pressure on the hose side went way down than came up when I stopped hammering.

So I removed the regulator and the gun ran like a bat out of hell. I was going to buy a larger regulator to replace the inadequate one but ended up just getting an cordless electric. Either way, remember that impact guns require a huge flow of air. Even if you have the pressure in the tank if your regulator won't flow, the tool won't feel the pressure when its working.

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