Battery powered impact gun

[Barrman]

I love tools. Especially useful tools. I don't like spending money for things I can't see a benefit from though.

I showed up at Kwai's ranch back in 2007 for a Texas FE and he put us to work changing tires on his white M715. He had a cordless impact. It was neat, but I had onboard air for the M715 and air tools with me. I had a compressor at home too. Why buy something I don't need?

He had mentioned that cordless impact in conversations every so often but I didn't want or need one. Then just after Christmas this year my mind got changed. A co worker had found a really good price for cordless impacts at TSC before Christmas. He was going to get one for himself and another as a present for his father in law. They were out and gave him rain check cards for the sale price once they were in stock again. He found some at another TSC and forgot about it.

Then he got called in January by them saying come pick them up. He now had no need and asked me if I wanted to use his rain check card. I said no right off. Then I looked them up online. The more reviews I read and the more I thought about how I didn't have OBA on the M715 anymore, drove a lot of other vehicles without air and how I had just gone two weeks with my home compressor down due to a burned up motor. The more I thought I should get one.

I really felt kind of bad buying it. I thought I was throwing money away. I did throw it in the truck when I made a cross country trip to pick up a truck and had a trailer tire go bad. Road side tire changes sure are easy with that thing. Then I needed to swap a bumper on a vehicle out in a field. That thing is like magic. I don't know how I lived without one of these things now.

Why the sales pitch? Not a sales pitch since I haven't mentioned any brands or models. I just want to pass on to those that haven't used one. You might want to think it over again. Because mine doesn't go many days without being used. Well worth the price in my opinion and now one of the first things I pack for a vehicle road trip.

Oh, Kwai has a Milwakee and I have a Dewalt. You all know the major brands. Pick your favorite and check one out. You won't be disappointed.

[Von]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Military-24V...3D252329236108
That's pretty cool... too bad mine's not 24v anymore and my slave receptacle isn't wired up.

I've almost gotten to where I can consider getting cordless tools. My youngest step son moved in with his brother last week. They are 17 and 19. The oldest has been on his own for a year and it's done him some good, the other one is not quite as responsible as an average 8 year old.

While the older one IS getting better about asking before borrowing, I prefer not to spend a dime on battery powered tools just yet... way too portable. And they are useless if they are used up and the battery not recharged... as would happen while I'm at work...

When those two knotheads are settled enough that they can afford to buy and maintain their own tools.... Until then I'll just dream of cordless tools.. I can pull up my Amazon Wish List and look at them anyway..

[kwai]

I love tools. Never pass up a reason to buy more.

I have even more cordless stuff now. I did have to breakdown a few months ago and spend $200 for 3 new batteries for my milwaukee cordless tools (impact, sawzall, drill and circular saw). I have the 28V stuff from milwaukee. They do a good job but they are heavy.

More recently, I picked up the 18V ridgid drill, impact driver and 4" grinder with 3 batteries. Always get more than 1 battery. I have found 3 works well one online, one charging and one charged and ready.

The ridgid impact driver is great for small low torque jobs. I have a couple of bits to use either 3/8" or 1/4" sockets. The small impact driver is more practical than the 28V milwaukee impact. But it won't take off lug nuts and the milwaukee will.

The 28V sawzall is the most versatile tool. Great at cutting everything from steel, aluminum and wood to quartering a deer.

All the cordless stuff gets used, but I still have to drag out the air powered impacts when i need real torque.

[jeeper]

I bought one of these about a month ago. (In case the link doesn't work it's the Milwaukee 2763-20 bare tool).

I already had m18 fuel battery tools. I also recently got the Red Lithium 5.0AH battery to go with the impact. All I can say is wow. The tool itself is brushless and is more than double the torque of the older tools. This thing has 1100 foot pounds of torque to remove stubborn fasteners and 700 foot pounds to tighten them.

It is way quicker and actually has more torque than my old Campbell/Hausfeld air impact gun. It recently snapped off a rusted 1/2" diameter bolt like it didn't even know it was trying. Between the brushless motor design and the high amp hour battery the usable battery time between charges is incredible.

I have been wondering why I didn't get one of these long ago.

[kwai]

I have been wondering why I didn't get one of these long ago.

Probably because they didn't exist.

[TXfirefighter]

My son has several cordless impacts and such because he travels working on barges. After using his a couple of times, I finally bought an impact and cordless ratchet. Man!! These things beet the ponies off swinging a std ratchet or even the ratchet wrench when working on fire trucks in the field!!!
I got an inverter so I could charge it from the truck in-case I don't have a place to plug in. Great tools

[Subybaja]

On my short list to buy. As soon as I finish this post, I'm going out and switching my wife's tires with a cross-wrench.

I'm a big Rigid fanboy, because:

Rigid has been great for me.

I've got several of the combo-bags. I've had them about 10 years, and they've worked fine for heavy home use- basement remodel to the block walls, making a flat roof pitched with trusses, assorted driveway truck fab.

About 2 years ago my whole fleet of batteries were getting short-winded. The local HD didn't know anything at all about the warranty. The bigger store across town tested them, took my name, and Rigid mailed me an entire new set.

This included a 3ah oversize battery that was bought seperately, and not supposed to be covered by the LSA (only batteries in sets are covered). I ed to customer service on the Rigid site, and the next time I logged on, it was listed as LSA.

I was meticulous about registering within 90 days of purchase.

Kwai, you catch that last part?

1100 ft/lbs?!?!?!!!! WOW.

So, $100 and free batteries at 325 ft/lbs, or $400 at 1100 ft/lbs. Argh.

[venominjected]

I run Makita LXT cordless system...

I will be buying their 1/2" cordless impact....

The Makita 18-Volt LXT Lithium-ion Brushless Cordless High Torque 1/2 in. sq. Drive Impact Wrench (XWT08Z, tool-only) combines 740 ft. lbs. fastening torque and 1,180 ft. lbs. break-away torque with extended run time and speed control for unmatched fastening performance. It features an efficient Makita brushless motor for longer run time, increased power and speed and longer tool life. The electronic 3-speed power selection switch gives users more precise fastening control.

[kwai]

The new cordless impacts sound like they are a lot more powerful than my 10 yr old Milwaukee which the spec list as 325 ft-lb.

However, a Snap-on 1/2" impact puts out 810 ft-lb of torque. And I can up the air pressure well above the std 90 psi to get even more torque for the really stuck nuts.

[jeeper]

I just used my impact to remove the pintle nut that was badly rusted on my spare frame.

I soaked it with penetrating oil for a week before trying to remove it last year by hand. I had put a six foot long cheater bar on my 3/4 drive breaker bar. I bent the breaker bar but the nut didn't budge.

Yesterday I tried to remove it again. I bought a 1/2-3/4 adapter and tried to remove it as-is. It didn't budge. I ended up heating the nut up for a few minutes with a propane torch and viola. The impact was able to break it free after about a minute on the trigger.

The added bonus was that the pintle was actually able to spin after I got the nut off and removal from the frame was done by hand.