Hey everyone! I am looking at buying an impact wrench and drill combo and I’m wondering what y’all use yours for. Hoping to at least use mine to change blades on my mower. Will a 12v 3/8 do it?
Other than the obvious drilling and driving: Blades, lug nuts, driving lag bolts into wood, freeing up stuck hardware in general. I've got a corded one too for the stuff my battery powered one can't handle. I can run that off my truck via a power inverter if necessary.
Hey everyone! I am looking at buying an impact wrench and drill combo and I'm wondering what y'all use yours for. Hoping to at least use mine to change blades on my mower. Will a 12v 3/8 do it?
You want an impact gun...and the biggest torque you can afford. Quality tools are nothing you want to skimp on.
We have the snap-on impacts at work fyi
Cross Creek you may want to consider what you're really looking to do with it.
if all you are looking to do is remove spindle nuts and you will always be doing that in a garage with electricity, then you could spend 50 bucks and get a half Drive corded one. Save the money for something else you know
Get the Milwaukee M18 1/2" impact. Anything less than a 1/2" will not work for the blades. I love the M18 and will never go back to the Air impact gun. Word of caution, I snapped some 1/2" grd 8 bolts with the Milwaukee, watch the settings on it!
If I was buying strictly an impact I’d buy Milwaukee but I was already pretty committed to Dewalt. I have the whole set. The 3/8 is useless against blade bolts. The mid range 1/2 is hit or miss. The full size one is what it takes to get the job done.
If I was buying strictly an impact I'd buy Milwaukee but I was already pretty committed to Dewalt. I have the whole set. The 3/8 is useless against blade bolts. The mid range 1/2 is hit or miss. The full size one is what it takes to get the job done.
If the mid range is hit or miss your blade bolts are way too tight. I have the mid torque half inch Milwaukee and it rips off blade bolts, lug nuts etc with ease.
I've got all the snap on stuff. While the 3/8 impact is nice, it's not breaking lug nuts and blade bolts loose. I've got a 1/2 Ridgid 18 volt impact for the tougher jobs, it works great. Removing blades is the best, no more double wrench nonsense.
No i wouldn't waste your money honestly. IMO the best battery powered tools always have brush-less motors. I was a mechanic for 3 years so Ive had the luxury of keeping my snap on 14.4v family of tools that work awesome. But all my Milwaukee stuff is the fuel line with brush-less motors. Def worth the extra money up front for longevity and power difference.
I have that exact 3/8 ratchet and bought the 1/4" fuel brush-less ratchet and the power difference is unbelievable.
m12/m18 fuel milwaukee products will get you going in the right direction. Just start with what you need now and build on it.
Just to add - A few tools that I wouldn't want to be without is an impact wrench, floor jack, axle stands, air compressor and torque wrench. They are key for doing my own maintenance/repairs and keeping me up and running.
Case in point this season: I had a spring cleanup and mulch job that I farmed out to my son who has worked with me in the past but my rate was too high for the customer and I was too busy anyway. I hate that job as well - it's very tedious and the customer is very picky. I was to supply the tools and mulch and my son was doing the labor directly for the customer. So I arranged to meet my son and my customer on the job with a load of mulch and tools to get my son introduced to the customer and set him up. So I'm in a hurry airing up my dump trailer tires - they were a bit soft from sitting over the winter. In my haste I bend the valve stem over on one of my tires and tore it, flatting out the tire. Crap, I've got people counting on me to be there at a specific time. So I grabbed my impact wrench, floor jack and axle stand, jacked up the trailer, set it up on an axle stand, zipped off the lug nuts, removed the wheel, threw it in the trunk of my car and headed to my mechanic downtown. He put one of his techs on it immediately. I headed back home, got the wheel back on and my total down time was just 1/2 hour. I had built some extra time in for getting the mulch in case they were busy, so I was able to get to the job site just a few minutes late. There's no way I would have been able to do that in that amount of time without those tools!
Similar situation this spring during the heavy grass growth period when I blew a brake hose on my truck on a Saturday while out mowing. Shops are closed and I needed to get back up and running ASAP, so I had to fix it myself. 17 year old rusty truck and the mounting bolt for the hose is frozen up hard. Guess I should add penetrating oil and a torch to that list of tools/supplies, because I needed those too.
Bottom line - If you want to be dependable, minimize your downtime and keep up and running, invest in some tools. A welding setup is nice to have too.
I dont understand why everyone is suggesting a 1/2" drive impact for blade removal. For lug nuts i understand but my snap on 14.4 3/8" drive impact is more than enough for my blades and most other things. Sometimes its too much. I have a 1/2"impact too but that really only used on lugnuts for me
yea can never have too many tools. Im pissed i sold off a bunch of stuff when i stopped being a mechanic. happy tho that i kept all my snap on and Milwaukee stuff though cause it has come into great use in maintaining my equipment!
Because the drill has limited ability to break loose or tighten hardware. Ya ain't gonna take your mower blades off with a drill. Here's the set I have for my drill for small hardware.
Because the drill has limited ability to break loose or tighten hardware. Ya ain't gonna take your mower blades off with a drill. Here's the set I have for my drill for small hardware. View attachment 415848
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