Battery Ratchets?.

[Keithmac]

I've been on the fence about buying a Snap-On battery ratchet for a while now, with the new style batteries etc they're over £400, plus only one year warranty.

Had a good read up over the weekend and I've decided to give the Milwaukee 1/4 M12 Fuel a go. £115 for bare tool and £45 for one battery and charger!. 3 year warranty.

Plus there's a lot of M12 kit out now, and a spare battery is £30 (vs Snap-On £100).

Just wondering if anyone else uses one, thought the 1/4 is ideal for the motorcycles.

If I get on with it I may get the 3/8 extended reach one in a few months.

 

[conny]

Whats wrong with a bit of good old manual pull/push of the arm?
Unless I was on a production line tightening nuts all day I wouldn't waste my money to be honest.

 

[chainsaw_masochist]

Whats wrong with a bit of good old manual pull/push of the arm?
Unless I was on a production line tightening nuts all day I wouldn't waste my money to be honest.

Fair enough for the occasional wrencher, conny, but no doubt Keith, John, Mottie and the rest of the cognoscenti occasionally can get a socket over a bolt but not have room to turn the wrench. A simple press of the button just works so ultimately a potential time-saver. It does look smart, though, and Milwaukee seem to get good reviews.

 

[Keithmac]

Anything that makes the job easier is a bonus imho.

When you're working with bolts all day every day it seems a good tool to have.

Time will tell, could be best thing I've bought or a toolbox ornament!.

Interested to see how well it's made, my Snap-on 14v 3/8ths battery impact gun is 15 years old and still going strong (use it most work days as well).

The Snap-On NiCad batteries were discontinued long ago so if the Milwaukee M12 ratchet is well made I could be going for their battery impact next..

 

[Mottie]

90% of the time I use my impact wrench these days is when I’m removing/replacing wheels. I have a DeWalt cordless drill, impact screwdriver and a multi tool at home that use 18v batteries. I have two 4.0Ah batteries and two 2.0Ah batteries and two chargers. I was thinking of buying a bare 1/2” drive impact wrench. I don’t think I’d get any use out of the 3/8” or 1/4” models.

 

[Stivino]

I've got a Snap-On 3/8 drive air ratchet, it's handy for getting to bolts at the front of the engine, between the engine and bodywork. i.e. water pump bolts. I always crack the bolt loose first and let the ratchet spin the bolt out.
A battery one would be great in those situations as there would be no need for the air line.

 

[Keithmac]

Best thing about the 3/8 Snap-on battery gun is it's very controllable, can use it for delicately nipping up engine case bolts (ready for final hand tightening) but it also has enough oomph for crank nuts (a 1/2 gun would easily shear the crank nose off).

The new ratchet will hopefully come into its own when doing valve clearance jobs (10+ bolts holding the cam carriers on etc).

Time will tell..

 

[Keithmac]

Did this last week (Triumph valve clearances), the battery ratchet would have saved a fair bit of time here.

 

[conny]

I withdraw my comment. LOL.

I can see where you guys are coming from now. As I don't work on engines I have never experienced the 'tight spots' you guys sometimes come across.
I suppose if I was still on factory maintenance I would have understood better.

 

[Keithmac]

Early Fireblade here, 22 10mm head bolts to get the cams out (plus god knows how many to get to and get cambox cover off!).

Even winding them out and back in with final hand tightening has to be quicker!.

 

[leegsi]

They are a life saver sometimes.

Had a bolt that you could only move the ratchet about 10 degrees. Used one of these and it just wizzed it out.

 

[Keithmac]

The 1/4 body turned up today, battery arrives tomorrow. Could have got good use out of it this morning as well..

 

[Keithmac]

Had a good weeks use out of it now and really like it, massive time saver running bolts out and not too powerful as to strip threads out on delicate bolts.

Very impressed with the quality as well, it'll put up with proper workshop use no problem.

Looked at the 3/8th Snap-on ratchet on the Van and don't believe it's 3x the tool for 3x the price, think Milwaukee have sewn up the powertool market (for me anyway).

Was looking at their stubby 3/8 impact gun next, believe it's nigh on 1/2 the weight of my Snap-on 3/8 gun. Has a setting where it runs till the fastener has just snugged up then stops, ideal for running bolts back in before final hand tightening.

Think if you're mainly working on cars the 3/8 long reach ratchet would be the best bet (which is also on my shopping list!).

The batteries availability and price on the M12 platform is a massive bonus, Snap-on seem to just up sticks and switch to another battery style on a whim where as the M12 is on 2nd Generation of tools (FUEL) but same charger and battery.

 

[Mottie]

Think if you're mainly working on cars the 3/8 long reach ratchet would be the best bet (which is also on my shopping list!).

When I was working all day on cars, a 3/8” air ratchet was very handy. That battery ratchet is perfect for the type of work you do.

 

[Burnerman]

I don’t have any Milwaukee power tools but I can confirm they are well made and the spares situation is good too.....any part you need is 10 days away as a rule.
John