When I was in the service we had a Swench wrench great for breaking lug nuts loose, and such. I have owned one for years, only use it a few times a year, but sure is nice when needed. It does ratchet, to tighten you turn the wrench 180 degress as they are double sided. Not something you want to carry around in you pants pocket, though.
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Undoing Bolts, nut cracker, torque multiplier?
- Thread starter Bala
- Start date
Nige
Senior Member
That Swench wrench looks like an interesting tool. I've heard of them before but never used one.
Bala
Well-Known Member
Some info I found from Catapillar,
http://www.hastingsdeering.com.au/h...ns/Safety_Bulletin_No_7_Torque_Multiplier.pdf
http://www.hastingsdeering.com.au/h...ns/Safety_Bulletin_No_7_Torque_Multiplier.pdf
Nige
Senior Member
Bala, that not from Cat, it's from a Cat dealer in Australia. A an example of CYA. I remember the original incident on a BHP property about 10 years ago IIRC. I probably still have the Incident Report somewhere. Basically the guy using the multiplier was being a tw@ and deserved everything he got. Cat are still selling the smaller torque multiplier by the way and IMO it's perfectly safe if you use it as it was designed to be used.
BHP - the company that won't even allow the use of a sledgehammer on their properties ......
IMHO big Aussie mining companies are at the back of a large part of the safety bullsh!t that has hit the industry over the past decade. And they don't have a corporate sense of humour either ........ cnuts ......!!
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/business/a/-/wa/9569682/planking-poster-riles-bhp/
BHP - the company that won't even allow the use of a sledgehammer on their properties ......
IMHO big Aussie mining companies are at the back of a large part of the safety bullsh!t that has hit the industry over the past decade. And they don't have a corporate sense of humour either ........ cnuts ......!!
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/business/a/-/wa/9569682/planking-poster-riles-bhp/
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nickbowers
Senior Member
this is what i have, they have come down a lot now and are only $165 plus postage.
http://spannersupplies.com.au/products_2.html
SPANNER’S “Nutcracker” pumps out an amazing 5000Nm of torque, working at a ratio of 68:1,
http://spannersupplies.com.au/products_2.html
SPANNER’S “Nutcracker” pumps out an amazing 5000Nm of torque, working at a ratio of 68:1,
tuney443
Senior Member
I was thoroughly expecting to see a pic of my X wife and all I got was ''under construction''.No price either.
tuney443
Senior Member
Trust me,a used Swench is just as good as a new one,just without the glitz.The trick is to follow the directions and use an Allen key to release the spring pressure after each use.I have the model 750 now but if I find a nice 1000 with 2K ft.lbs.,I'm going to get one.There's always a few on Ebay and sometimes the military surplus boys sell them.
Bala
Well-Known Member
http://www.toolworks.com.au/vp1121h...-4-female-sq-drive-socket33mm-1-sq-drive.html
Heres another place with the price,
What I will do is get one of these, and then if it breaks I will have proved its worth and go for a better one.
Thanks for all the info and discussion guys.
Heres another place with the price,
What I will do is get one of these, and then if it breaks I will have proved its worth and go for a better one.
Thanks for all the info and discussion guys.
nickbowers
Senior Member
Buy a just trucks magazine because if you buy it off the people posted above you get a free 1" socket set for it aswell. Tonight i will scan and upload a copy of the page if you want.
I bought one of those just before Christmas, great tool!! 78.1 ratio takes Volvo loader wheel nuts of with no effort!! Had a customer ask me if i could take of wheel nuts on his low-loader trailer, he had a 12' pipe on them and no movement at all! took them of no problem! Only thing is they have no ratchet maganisim so when they are under load if you let go they could break you have, i did it and thought my hand was broke, can still feel it!!!! Long term i dont know how it'll hold up but time will tell!
Aiden
Bala
Well-Known Member
I can be pretty sure, nope i am positive, we dont have a newsagent on the island, the only thing i can buy on the island I can get at camp for free
Bala
Well-Known Member
from cps above
This snippet from the post by cps popped into my head a few days ago,
there is no point me getting one of these to replace the pipe on the breaker bar, it will get my boys for sure!
I will need to go back to looking at the childproof stuff.
This snippet from the post by cps popped into my head a few days ago,
there is no point me getting one of these to replace the pipe on the breaker bar, it will get my boys for sure!
I will need to go back to looking at the childproof stuff.
The Swench is basically a manual impact wrench, does anyone know about a gear reduction ratchet wrench, I've seen one years back that was about 5 foot long handle and had a gear reduction unit in the head that was about 10 to 1 reduction, but it never held the torque in the head like the Swench but was basically just a ratchet head, does anyone still make one? I've got torque multipliers, but those have the reaction handle you use along with a square drive ratchet or breaker bar. I've been looking for one for years now but haven't found one, even a smaller one. As they say everything has its use and need, I've got impacts, both air and electric, torque multipliers, but not a gear reduction ratchet.
surfer-joe
Senior Member
Best track bolt removal tool I ever used was an Ingersoll-Rand 1 1/2" drive air impact wrench. If they don't come off with that, it's smoke wrench time. Cat D9-10-11, the IR worked well on all of them. New, they are expensive. You have to have a lot of use for them to pay for the beast. They work well on any large overtight bolt or nut, but do make sure you and maybe a helper have a good firm grip on the thing when you pull the trigger. Otherwise, you might wind up going round and round before you can let go. It's happened to me.
The newer torque multipliers are a great tool, but, also expensive, and slow to use. The big IR is much faster.
The newer torque multipliers are a great tool, but, also expensive, and slow to use. The big IR is much faster.
Diagonal Brace
Well-Known Member
Friggin 1 1/2 drive sockets are expensive. Ive got a multiplier with a 1 inch in and 1 1/2 out and have paid upwards of $400.00 for individual sockets. they dont break though.
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Bala
Well-Known Member
Price in Australia for 1" radtorque, $8400,
Nige
Senior Member
And worth every penny I can assure you - provided you have enough work to keep it gainfully occupied.
Bala
Well-Known Member
Its about the safety more so than the problem of getting bolts undone, while my job is to run the workshop, it is also to train the local staff, and we are improving safety. It took me months but I now have the guys wearing glasses grinding and drilling without me needing to remind them!! We now have a safety officer, fill in incident reports etc.
So we had an injury from a lad standing on a pipe on a bar to undo truck wheel nuts, he slipped off. So I introduced the 1" electric impact gun and 1" breaker bar with a length of pipe that would undo most any bolt without needing to stand on it. Then a lad hurt himself, and he is a qualified tradesperson, from using the length of pipe with a ****** bent 3/4 sliding bar, instead of the 1" breaker bar, it twisted out of his hand and dislocated his thumb, so not good.
So i had said I was going to purchase a torque multiplier but as they can wind up and let go that is not suitable, as these guys will make it happen!!, A big air impact gun will work but is heavy and need a 100cfm compressor.
So option left (as far as I can see) are swench type tool or Niges ray gun.
I can see swench type tools are still a lever so if you need to use an extension and have a worn bolt head then slipping off is still possible.
Can I ask Nige what your ray gun is like to use, is it hard to hold when under load etc, is it childproof to use.
Remember these guys do not train easily, they do not listen or dont process the information I give them.
I really need to find the best option available that has the least chance of someone being able to injure themselves. I had a toolbox meeting one morning, I spent 20minutes on two subjects in particular, one was to use the tyre cage pumping up splits rims, that afternoon 2 staff were pumping a tyre outside the cage, another 20minute talk that morning was on not being near, under etc a machine that was running, that afternoon, a supervisor was refitting the blade to a dozer, he was operating the machine with 3 staff in between the machine and the blade to line it up.
So it is a struggle, I have tried the common sense approach an now need to submit the most foolproof option to undo bolts, then its up to my managers to decide.
So while i would be happy using
So we had an injury from a lad standing on a pipe on a bar to undo truck wheel nuts, he slipped off. So I introduced the 1" electric impact gun and 1" breaker bar with a length of pipe that would undo most any bolt without needing to stand on it. Then a lad hurt himself, and he is a qualified tradesperson, from using the length of pipe with a ****** bent 3/4 sliding bar, instead of the 1" breaker bar, it twisted out of his hand and dislocated his thumb, so not good.
So i had said I was going to purchase a torque multiplier but as they can wind up and let go that is not suitable, as these guys will make it happen!!, A big air impact gun will work but is heavy and need a 100cfm compressor.
So option left (as far as I can see) are swench type tool or Niges ray gun.
I can see swench type tools are still a lever so if you need to use an extension and have a worn bolt head then slipping off is still possible.
Can I ask Nige what your ray gun is like to use, is it hard to hold when under load etc, is it childproof to use.
Remember these guys do not train easily, they do not listen or dont process the information I give them.
I really need to find the best option available that has the least chance of someone being able to injure themselves. I had a toolbox meeting one morning, I spent 20minutes on two subjects in particular, one was to use the tyre cage pumping up splits rims, that afternoon 2 staff were pumping a tyre outside the cage, another 20minute talk that morning was on not being near, under etc a machine that was running, that afternoon, a supervisor was refitting the blade to a dozer, he was operating the machine with 3 staff in between the machine and the blade to line it up.
So it is a struggle, I have tried the common sense approach an now need to submit the most foolproof option to undo bolts, then its up to my managers to decide.
So while i would be happy using
Nige
Senior Member
You don't need to hold the RAD gun at all once it is engaged and the foot is locked in place. You just set the tool in position, open the air valve slowly and wind the tool around until the "foot" bites on whatever solid piece you are using as resistance. At that point the guy who was holding the tool in place steps back and the guy driving applies full air pressure to the tool. At that point, off she comes, or on as the case may be.