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New impact wrench review (off topic)


Ronnie

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Not often do I get excited about buying a new tool but this one is worth telling someone about.

 

For years I have wanted a battery powered, 1/2" drive impact wrench but they were just too expensive for me to justify the cost when it's primary duty will be removing lugnuts.  But prices have been coming down

 

I had recently looked at this impact wrench online at Lowes website and it was $119 with no battery and no charger. My local Lowes had it yesterday for $99 and they threw in a free lithium battery so I pulled the trigger and bought it. I already had a charger for my 24v battery powered Kobalt string trimmer that would work so I didn't have to buy a new charger$$$.

 

The box says this wrench is rated at a maximum of 200 ft-lbs but they say online it is 150. I was only looking for 150 so it suits my needs. I think it might go to 200 because it can loosen and tighten the lugs on my truck that I tightened to 140 with my torque wrench with ease. It could do that on it's lowest setting. It has three settings for speed and torque. (see photo)

 

Power isn't what I find impressive about this wrench. I haven't tried it for maximum torque yet. It is the control you have with it the I find impressive. It has three speed/torque settings but it also has a variable speed motor. You have so much control over the speed that I could remove the plastic screw-on lugnut covers from my wheels and screw them back on without over tightening them and breaking them. Apparently as you squeeze the trigger the torque is reduced with the speed. With the same low setting I can squeeze the trigger all the way down and remove lug nuts on my truck that have been tightened to 140 ft-lbs, and tighten them again to near 140 without hammering a lot. I don't think it has the power to remove a harmonic balancer bolt but I didn't expect it to.

 

When I took this thing out of the box I thought I had been given the wrong tool. I worked for the railroad so I'm use to really big and heavy impact wrenches.  It's really small considering it's power. Not much bigger than my battery powered drill. I like that because it is light and easy to use. After checking the Lowes website I found that I had received the correct wrench. After testing it for a while it seems to get the job done without straining.  I guess only time will tell if it will last but with me primarily using it to remove lug nuts when rotating tires I expect it will last longer than me. ?

 

I put a soda can in the photo to show you how small this thing is. The bottom two photos show the switch that changes the speed and the button you can push to check the battery level.

 

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I bought the Ryobi version of that. Years ago I bought a Milwaukee battery powered impact wrench, but never bought anymore Milwaukee battery tools so it was an orphan. As I had already been buying Ryobi I thought I would give their impact and driver tools a try and I too have to say I am impressed.

 The Milwaukee tool? Traded it off to a wood working friend of mine for some work I needed done. 

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Ryobi is really good stuff. Milwaukee is good to but I'd rather have the Ryobi if I had to choose. I've had good luck with Kobalt so far. I bought one of their kits with a drill, circular saw, reciprocating saw and light about two years ago. So far everything has worked flawlessly. So has my Kobalt grass trimmer and leaf blower. I also like the fact that Lowes is about a mile down the road if I have a complaint.

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Talking about battery power stuff...About four years ago I bought an EGO battery power self propelled 21" lawn mower with grass bag.  It operates on a 56 volt lithium-ion rechargeable battery.  Bought it at Home Depot.  The thing is awesome.

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1 hour ago, ship said:

Talking about battery power stuff...About four years ago I bought an EGO battery power self propelled 21" lawn mower with grass bag.  It operates on a 56 volt lithium-ion rechargeable battery.  Bought it at Home Depot.  The thing is awesome.

My daughter has been thinking about getting a battery powered mower for her small yard. We were worried about how long the battery would last before replacement. Four years so far for yours sounds pretty good.

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I have about a 25K house lot (quarter acre) which can be mowed in about an hour.  When all is cut, the battery is only a little over 1/3rd depleted.  I've been quite happy with mine so far.  I believe there are more powerful battery lawn mowers available now since when I bought mine....higher than 56 volt.  With proper storage (following the manufacturer's recommendations) the battery can last for years.  One item mentioned is to store it inside if the outside temp drops below 50 degrees.  Another is when storing for the winter, charge only to 50% and wait till Spring to boost charge to 100%. 

Edited by ship
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