Cordless Ratchet Wrench

[Ruffian]

I agree with the above comments.
1/4 air ratchet was a huge bonus in the body shop or cambelts but not alot else.
Everything else got the 3/8 impact gun.

The cordless ratchet is nice but I dont think I would use it any where near as much as I think it would be.

The sealey or the Draper stormforce are going to be your cheapest options.

 

[Carl Wilson]

I have a Draper Stormforce 3/8 battery ratchet. It's handy, powerful and the battery lasts.

I expect people will say it's not good enough for industrial use. In my experience "industrial use" means not looking after things properly.

 

[chris pruteanu]

I would save my money and buy a decent (high tooth count) ratchet: snap on, facom, beta, gedore, etc. The battery operated ones are not really used enough to warrant the investment + they are a lot bulkier than air ratchets. An impact wrench is another story...good to have around the workshop !

 

[123hotchef]

I have air ratchets and I cant remember the last time I used them, just dont seem worth the effort to fetch and connect. Do these battery ratchets eat batteries and are they actually compact enough to poke in places where they would be of use? Genuine question and nothing to do with urine extraction.

Bob

Oh yes I was like you can't be bothered with the air ones but I have 2 milwake ones one 1/4 and a 3/8 I use them when space is tight for a little 3/4 gun. The battery life is great

 

[8ob]

Oh yes I was like you can't be bothered with the air ones but I have 2 milwake ones one 1/4 and a 3/8 I use them when space is tight for a little 3/4 gun. The battery life is great

As you and @premmington say 1/4 drive and compact is useful, I have found my cheapy 3/8 butterfly nut gun of more use, hose tail swivels out of the way and its as small as my 1/4 air ratchet, shame they don't make that as a cordless .

Bob

 

[Carl Wilson]

Either that's a really small air ratchet or you've got massive hands.

 

[123hotchef]

That's a baby one I have one similar

 

[armalites]

The thing I've always found with air ratchets especially when using them in confined spaces is the amount of times the fixing will tighten leaving you hand stuck with no way to get at the reverse.

I'm guess that's not an issue with a battery one because the reverse is on the trigger.

 

[123hotchef]

I forget where reverse is same place i think

 

[Munkul]

I have air ratchets and I cant remember the last time I used them, just dont seem worth the effort to fetch and connect.

Bob

We found this too. Eventually my cousin bought milwakee battery 3/8" and 1/2" ratchets for daily car maintenance work - inc a lot of suspension bits etc.

Guess what? They never get used. Literally 1% of jobs where they would ever be useful over a regular spanner/hand ratchet, or a proper impact gun. The head on the Milwaukee is too chunky to ever be handy.

 

[sako243]

What about one of these? Found it quite useful when access is limited, they do a 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2", has a 1/4" drive on the end so could always stick a driver on there.

Either that's a really small air ratchet or you've got massive hands.

I was going to say @8ob using himself as a reference is not much use, makes everything look half the size.

 

[Wightsparks]

Bought one of the Sealey kits with 2 batts and a bag , combined with a random ebay offer it was £75 - the same price as ratchet+battery+charger.
Been using it today and it is definitely handy, not too big or heavy, but there is a lot more throw on the ratchet so a couple of times I needed to get in a really narrow spot with a normal ratchet to get it started - but then it was great just to whizz out the bolt! It does have an impact type action that I was not expecting.

 

[Wightsparks]

Oh and if anyone else fancies one or anything else from FFX

 

[stuvy]

I’m so tempted but don’t have the spare cash this month, always the way

 

[pondy]

I'm a big milwaukee fan. I have their stubby 3/8 fuel impact I use for small suspension bolt etc, brushed 3/8 impact I use for trim, headlamp bolts etc, 1/2 high torque impact for wheels etc and anything that's stupid tight and finally my fuel 3/8 ratchet, it's a quality tool, use it everyday. Next year I'm going to get a couple 6ah battery's, stubby 1/2 Impact and the new long 3/8 ratchet snf the die grinder had caught my eye

 

[chris pruteanu]

New milwaukee gear is really good however their batteries cases are not really suitable for a hard life in the garage or on a building site- plastics do crack pretty easily and they need glueing with some polyurethane glue... I Have 3x 9 Ah batteries with broken cases...they need redesigning.

 

[Bobtail4x4]

The magazine car mechanics have done a test of ratchets in the latest issue. I flicked through it the other day whilst in the man aisle in tesco the other day. Sorry I don't remember which they 'liked' the best....

I have a ready account, just looking, they have the sealey12v mpact wrench as best buy, send me an email address, can send you the article.

 

[armalites]

I have a ready account, just looking, they have the sealey12v mpact wrench as best buy, send me an email address, can send you the article.

I used to be a subscriber to a couple of the magazines in that stable and if I'm honest I always found their product tests a bit disappointing. One thing you would see quite often is teo items that clearly came out of the same factory because they were identical sometimes even the same colour and they would get totally different ratings. I also found they never actually tested any high end kit. So many reviews shy away from expensive stuff and I've seen reviews where something clearly had the best performance and they would mark it down because of price. I just wish sometimes they would have a "Best On Test" category regardless of cost. You won't normally see a Snap On,Milwaukee or Dewalt on those tests.

Practical Classics and Land Rover International used to have subscriber gifts like Teng socket sets,CTEK battery chargers,Swiss Army Knives now it's Draper stuff.

 

[123hotchef]

Quite fancy a 3/8th one of these, use it like a ratchet then push the button to whiz in or out. Not spending out on a Milwaukee but the Sealey CP1202 looks ok around £85 inc batteries.
Unfortunately Bosch (that I have batteries for) don't seem to do one. Any other suggestions/ recommendations for a home mechanic?

did you get one yet?

 

[Wightsparks]

Yep, about 4 posts ago ^^
I specifically had this job in mind (Jag timing cover with 26 bolts in a small space) and it worked perfectly.