air impact wrench

Mike Aylward

Well-known Member
I am narrowing my search for a 1/2" and also a 3/4" impact wrench. I have been looking at Ingersoll Rand wrenches on a site called airtoolsforless. Has anyone dealt with them, and was your experience a good one? Is there a better place to buy? Thanks. Mike
 
Haven't seen the site but Ingersoll's are good guns . I have two personally and all 6 mechanics at work have them too. good tool for the money. Sorry I can't help you with the site and where to buy,but they are good guns. My brother worked in a tire shop and that's all they would buy. Best gun for the money !
 
I own at least six, from 3/8 to 3/4, wouldn't have anything else. Not saying they are the best, but the best value for the money.
 
I have 3 IR 244 1/2" impacts, and a 3/4" IR as well (forget the number on that one). What sold me on then was when I did track work for a living. The half inch would be used to remove 5/8 and under track bolts. They would almost always remove them. Keep in mind, most of these tracks hadn't had the bolts out of them for 20 years, and were rusted solid in the threads on the nut, and the shank of the bolt where it went tightly through about an inch of track rail and pad. 4 bolts per pad, 2 tracks of usually 37 links unless it was a lgp or long track, then usually 39 or even more if it was a high drive Cat. That's 296 per set that you'd have to hammer away at to remove, then you'd do what you had to do with the track, then 296 bolts to hammer in until they won't turn anymore once you put it back together. A set of tracks a day. Could have used the 3/4, but it was much more awkward to handle with one hand, while holding the nut with the other, so it was just easier to use the half inch. On excavator and big dozers, we had a 2" drive electric impact to remove the bolts and torque them down after buzzing them in with the half inch gun. An excavator usually has 51,52? (I forget, been a long time) links per track on an LC. So we would only use the half inch to run the bolts back in before torquing them with the big electric impact. So that's another 400 bolts we would run in with them in a day. We also ran 180 pounds of air pressure through them, which greatly shortens their life by really increasing the torque and RPM they run. Some would last 6 months, some would last a year, but they all wold perform. Not only did they just do the bolts on the track pads, but all of the sprocket bolts, lower roller bolts, top carrier bolts, and idler bolts on most jobs. Hundreds of high torque bolts each day. We always kept the bearing and air motor and hammer rebuild kits on hand, because we always had 3, one for each of 2 guys, and a spare, so when one fails, you have an extra to keep going. You can get all of the parts to fix them as well, except the hammer cage. When the hammer cage breaks, you can't get that part, so they went in the parts bin. Sometimes someone would forget and ruin a case by running over one with a dozer or something, so you could make a good one again from using the good internals with a used case from one with a broken hammer cage from the parts bin. We always bought ours, 1/2" and 3/4" from LandMesser tools in Waterford MI. They were usually much cheaper than anybody else around, and usually had a promotion where they threw in a rack of impact sockets with an impact order. Sure it wasn't much, but the way we used up sockets, it helped. I love my IR impacts.
 
A few years ago I bought a 1/2 and 3/8 on Ebay, display models. Think the 1/2 cost me $51 and 3/8 was about 80. These were both the composite bodies, never used and worked good.
 
Picked up a 1/2" Ingersoll Rand from Home Depot Or Lowe's several years ago because it was available when my old Sears died. It has worked well and didn't have any trouble at all with the sometimes buggered up threads on the 1/2 inch bolts on an old Ferguson plow I took apart.
 
I wouldn't rule out aircat air guns. The prices are cheaper than an ingersoll. A lot of guys at work have them. They last and work as good as snap on and Ingersoll. Kobalt has the only 3 year warranty on there air guns 3/8 and 1/2. I've used them both and are very respectable. If you don't use them much, Yes Harbor Freight has some good ones too. I've used them too and was quite impressed. I normally buy my air tools off of ebay stores. They normally have the best prices.
 
If you want an easy to use, dependable 1/2" air wrench with moderate power the good old CP 734 is hard to beat. If you want maximum grunt the IR will be a better choice. CP makes a gun with comparable power to the IR but the bigger CP seems to be heavily for its size. I don't have any experience with a 3/4.
 

I have wore out my fair share, IR is the best I have ever used.
Ingersoll Rand Titanium Air Impact Wrench's they are HIGH but will ware out the cheaper IR's. They are lighter and easier on a old man when he has to use them all day.

The cheaper IR like the 234 models I never got good service out of them. I guess they would be OK for a week end warrior. The last helper I had took a 3/8" 234 apart that I had trowed on the scrap pile and drilled the air passages out around the speed adjustment valve and made a beast out of it of course it has no speed adjustment other than wide arse open when you pull the trigger.

He used Aircat air tools they did the job but I never did like the way they feel are got use to how quite they were... Every Mechanic that has used my Titanium's were impressed at the power they had.
 
Ingersoll-Rand seems to be viewed favorably over on Garage Journal. I'll look seriously at them if my CP-745 ever packs it up.
 

Central pneumatic is the house brand for Harbor Freight. I use them myself, have for years, and find them adequate for home use. But I would never try to earn a living with a Central pneumatic tool.
 
(quoted from post at 12:13:10 11/27/16)
Central pneumatic is the house brand for Harbor Freight. I use them myself, have for years, and find them adequate for home use. But I would never try to earn a living with a Central pneumatic tool.

Chicago pneumatic is harbor freight's house brand. Central pneumatic is different.

Donovan from Wisconsin
 
You got those brand names transposed, Don.

<img src = "http://blog.harborfreight.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/vertical-compressor-coupon-street-trucks-quote.jpg">
 
Twin hammer IR. I used to buy three a year and rotate them out and sell the old ones. I would get three years out of them(new I dated them with an engraver). The tire store was hard on them :)
 
I bought the black and red cased ?" from HF about 10 years ago. Cheap and going strong. Does everything I need except nuts over 1 ?" across the flats and old rusted iron. For that I bought a cheap HF ?". Used it a few times and seems to do what it's designed to do. I do keep them oiled which surely helps.
 

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