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rotary hammer....what to buy?

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riggler

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  So the last of my faithful Milwaukee rotary hammers (1 5/8" inch class spline, corded)  crapped out this fall and Im currently bidding a job that will make me replace it. Found a later used version on ebay for about 250.00 and it is even spline, but Im on the fence about it. I could also find a new one for around 500, but as time goes on it is getting harder to find spline tools. Using an adaptor to go to sds from native spline makes the drill harder to get to tight spots and throws the balance off.             Maybe it is time to up grade.

 

   Hope there are a couple of guys on here who use them can offer some advice to below questions....

 

    I see there is now sds and sds MAX.....is one better than the other ?  Which one is more available at the box and supply houses?

 

   Cord vrs Battery. Usually on site i have my service truck with the welder generator on it so power is available, but dragging cords through

    the mud and up in to the air  to make a few holes for some #8 rebar dowels is a pain...Are the cordless models any good? Since Im already neck deep

    in  Dewalt stuff (when i started buying 20+ yrs ago they had the widest choice of tools and the yellow is easier to find on the ground, so no comments               please,lol)       If i went cordless it would likely be the 60volt  1 9/16" 0r the 1 3/4"  Dewalt. Any reviews on their performance?

                                                                        Much thanks, steve

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I've been using cordless SDS for years.  In my truck there are 2 Hilti's and a Milwaukee. Of what you can buy at the box stores Milwaukee lasts much longer than Dewalt.    The Hiltis are top of the line and beat out both Milwaukee and Dewalt  but are more expensive. 

 

For SDS Max I've got a Hilti and a Bosch .   Both are corded and run great.  I've considered battery SDS Max but they are kind of cost prohibitive compared to electric models.   When the Bosch hammers die we get rid of them. When the Hilti dies we just bring it in and they have it repaired quickly. 

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30 mins ago, DMacLeod said:

I've been using cordless SDS for years.  In my truck there are 2 Hilti's and a Milwaukee. Of what you can buy at the box stores Milwaukee lasts much longer than Dewalt.    The Hiltis are top of the line and beat out both Milwaukee and Dewalt  but are more expensive. 

 

For SDS Max I've got a Hilti and a Bosch .   Both are corded and run great.  I've considered battery SDS Max but they are kind of cost prohibitive compared to electric models.   When the Bosch hammers die we get rid of them. When the Hilti dies we just bring it in and they have it repaired quickly. 

Thank you for the feedback!

 

Do you use the hammer section very much or primarily use it for drilling? A good portion of the use we give our hammer is breaking out concrete. How is the battery life in that application?

Does sds and sds max have all the same size bits or is 1 for the smaller bits and the other is for larger diameter and coring ?

I have always used spline and like that i can index the tool where i want it

 

When I brought in my dead milwaukee to a friend of mine that owns and operates a service center he told me that IF you could find the parts it would still cost like 75% of a new hammer....he didnt even want the old one for spare parts.....so while i gotten good service out of Milwaukee they, like most everything else, isnt as good as they use to be.

 

 Since I already use the yellow stuff and have a fleet of batterys, if i go cordless it will be yellow.

Years ago Hilti gave a royal screwing on one of their systems...(in the middle of a project they raised the hardware prices 1000%) and basically told me to bad so sad....Ill never buy another... 

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13 mins ago, riggler said:

Thank you for the feedback!

 

Do you use the hammer section very much or primarily use it for drilling? A good portion of the use we give our hammer is breaking out concrete. How is the battery life in that application?

Does sds and sds max have all the same size bits or is 1 for the smaller bits and the other is for larger diameter and coring ?

I have always used spline and like that i can index the tool where i want it

SDS is the smaller more common size we use for drilling in concrete using; 3/16" for wire and nail, 1/4" up to 5/8" for rebar. We also use them for smaller chipping work. Battery life is good.

SDS MAx is the modern replacement for your splined tools.  We use these for larger chipping before stepping up to air tools.

We also use them for drilling concrete with bits up to 1-1/4". We never had much luck with battery in this size as they aren't as fast as electric.

13 mins ago, riggler said:

 

When I brought in my dead milwaukee to a friend of mine that owns and operates a service center he told me that IF you could find the parts it would still cost like 75% of a new hammer....he didnt even want the old one for spare parts.....so while i gotten good service out of Milwaukee they, like most everything else, isnt as good as they use to be.

We had the same thing with Milwaukee.  Use it until it doesn't run then throw it away.    

13 mins ago, riggler said:

 

 Since I already use the yellow stuff and have a fleet of batterys, if i go cordless it will be yellow.

For SDS size work Dewalt held up decent but Milwaukee lasts longer.  Most of my foremen trucks are slowly switching from yellow to red.

13 mins ago, riggler said:

Years ago Hilti gave a royal screwing on one of their systems...(in the middle of a project they raised the hardware prices 1000%) and basically told me to bad so sad....Ill never buy another... 

We have always had the best luck with service on Hilti.  If we broke a tool during a job we would drop it off and they would often lend us one to use until the repair was done.   Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with them.

 

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On 1/12/2022 at 6:23 AM, The Riddler said:

Bosch corded for me. I have the older bulldog extreme. Not only for anchors and shields I bought the chipping hammer attachment. For light duty chipping and touch up it works fantastic.

Yup. I got two of them. Great tools.

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I have a smaller DeWalt cordless hammer drill. I only drill to set Red Heads and it does a bang up job for that. If you're going to be doing heavy break out or large holes, can't beat a Hilti. I used to drag it to jobs, but 30 years on my RA doesn't allow me to get beat up like that anymore.

Edited by ReeferRob

"The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before,
the old phrase has a literal meaning: We are all in the same boat."
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On 1/14/2022 at 3:44 PM, riggler said:

I have recently looked at GASP

Harbor freight hammers....

My luck with previous purchases there is about 70 percent good

30 percent not so much.....

I know you get what u pay for but.....

One of my foremen swears by HF tools.  (And no his name isn't Patrick)  

I think their return policy is decent but not positive as I've only ever bought small stuff from them.    The price savings is something worth looking in to.    I don't think it can hurt, good luck. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

So I bought a makita 1 9/16" rated rotary hammer spline, ordered it through home depot online, picked it up a couple days ago.

Tried it out today, it drilled pretty well, way faster than my old milwaukee.

Went to hammer a slab and discovered there was no shifting out of the rotary part, your just supposed to 

"push less hard", what a crock. Definitely not what the product description said. I took it back  tonight, back to the drawing board. 

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