A Gas-Powered Impact Wrench
By Chuck Cage
Will turned us on to this wild tool from Harbor Freight that we’ve never seen in the store: a 1″ gasoline-powered impact wrench. He writes: “When I saw this online, I thought, ‘Holy cow!’ I’ve never used one myself, but I could see using it to bust lugs on a semi.”
This sucker’s 51.7 cc two-stroke engine delivers 406 to 1,250 ft-lbs of torque — through a massive gear reduction and hammering action, we’d guess — via a 1″ hardened anvil. It also features electronic ignition and — be jealous, Trabant owners! — an “EPA certification.” It ships with 1-1/2″ and 1-5/8″ impact sockets and requires a 25:1 fuel mix.
Have any of you used this or one like it? If so, drop us a line and send us a picture of it in use — we’d love to hear about your personal experiences with it. And if you’re in the market, HF’s got it marked down to $300 from its normal $400 price tag.
1″ Gas-Powered Impact Wrench [Harbor Freight]
April 16th, 2007 at 10:44 am
This would be sweet for drilling curbs and catch basins.
April 16th, 2007 at 11:31 am
Long time ago, an utility company left a similar one on my property. Though it was equipped with a drill. Once in a while I take it out for a test drive to drill some serious holes. While the power is nice bonus, the smell of gas in the morning is to die for
I certainly recommend it for the better outdoor jobs.
April 16th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
I don’t know what the hell I’d ever do with it, but thats’ pretty damn cool!
April 16th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
I know a guy who did a wireless repeater tower installation on a rocky outcropping in the middle of a remote island, using a gas-fueled drill to set the anchors in the rock.
I’ve also seen teardown crews use similar chop saws to take down TD-2 microwave waveguide in chunks. Gasoline has a much better power-to-weight ratio than batteries, and when you’re 200 feet up, coming down to change battery packs is a long-ass climb.
April 17th, 2007 at 7:43 am
The weight on this thing has to be a killer for any reasonable amount of time, but if you don’t have the power you need on site it is a good tool.
April 22nd, 2007 at 6:10 pm
[...] Link.. thanks to the Toolmonger Blog [...]
June 29th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
Holy Crap, we have some huge stuff in the Army and other than busting track on a M113, Bradley, or M1 I cant see myself using this beast. Its
huge, and looks like it would snap a wheel stud in two like a twig. Man I
would just love to see this thing in action!.