+1Here's a link recommending the Icon at HF:
removing steering wheel
i borrowed a steering wheel puller for obvious reasons, but i'm not sure if i don't know how to use it or there are different types and this isn't what i need. i have a pretty good idea of what should be happening but i don't see how this one does that.www.orangetractortalks.com
Torque wrench
- Thread starter Bark
- Start date
Recommendations are only as good as the reputation of the person making the recommendation.
(In that particular recommendation/post... Flip claimed that due to appearances the cheap HF tool was IDENTICAL to the Snap-On/Williams expensive wrenches... therefore he drew the conclusion that HFs’ maker was also the Snap-on/Willaims mfr’r.... so they are the “same”.
THEN, only a few sentences later, he points out that the HF tool has a DIFFERENT ratcheting mechanism.
Doh... must not “be the same”....heh?
Don’t get me wrong... I have some cheap HF tools that have done very well for me ....for the price paid. However HF tools are NOT the same high quality as Snap-On, or Proto, or Craftsman even.
That said, ... as a retiree no longer working professionally..... I refuse to pay $200 for a Milwaukee impact-driver that requres another $100-battery (total $300... oh, wait...the charger is another $49....). when a HF ”copy” is only $65 complete with charger & battery.... because I don’t use it ten times a day every day.
I don’t expect it to be as durable as the Milwaukee.... but at my activity-level and age I”ll bet my grandkids end up with it..... and if it breaks while I need it..... I’ll toss it and get another and still be dollars ahead while keeping the American cashier at HF employed.
Last edited:
I was +1 pm on the HF ICON wrenches. I agree that historically HF has held the position of disposable tools cheap and if it lasted that job good enough and to be fair they still have lots of products like that. The Icon line of tools like their Daytona jacks are punching above their weight and the best value in the market.
Elliott in GA
Well-known member
Equipment
LX 2610SU w/535,LP RCR1860,FDR1660,SGC0554,FSP500, DD BBX60005
You might want to look at Tekton - 95% made in Taiwan (70) or the US (25). They are reasonably priced, and Home Depot carries them. The 50-250 lbs. Torque 1/2 inch drive wrench is $60.
www.tekton.com
About Us | TEKTON Hand Tools
We are a family-owned hand tool company based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We work hard, think precisely, and question convention to provide you the hand tools we would want to use ourselves.
Creature Meadow
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
2012 L4600, Disk, Brush Hog, GB60 Garden Bedder, GSS72 Grading Scraper
I do sometimes miss ole Sidecarflip, this would be a great time for him to come along and say 0-250# wrench is not near big enough for my tractors.
I have to use 0-600# wrenches, and I pay cash for them!
No harm meant, he would make me laugh once and a while then growl at other times.
Have a great day and good luck on your torque wrench hunt.
Jay
I have to use 0-600# wrenches, and I pay cash for them!
No harm meant, he would make me laugh once and a while then growl at other times.
Have a great day and good luck on your torque wrench hunt.
Jay
I bought a set from Amazon and have had good success with them.You might want to look at Tekton - 95% made in Taiwan (70) or the US (25). They are reasonably priced, and Home Depot carries them. The 50-250 lbs. Torque 1/2 inch drive wrench is $60.
About Us | TEKTON Hand Tools
We are a family-owned hand tool company based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We work hard, think precisely, and question convention to provide you the hand tools we would want to use ourselves.
Amazon.com: TEKTON 1/2 Inch Drive Click Torque Wrench (10-150 ft.-lb.) | 24335: Home Improvement
Amazon.com: TEKTON 1/2 Inch Drive Click Torque Wrench (10-150 ft.-lb.) | 24335: Home Improvement
www.amazon.com
Thanks for the info.My buddies and I work on airplanes a lot and we are required to annually have the calibration re-certified on torque wrenches.
When my high-dollar wrench was “borrowed” and never found it‘s way back home... and I was in a hurry on a personal job on my truck... I bought a set of HFs in 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2”. The 1/4” found it’s way into my airport toolbox, so when the company sent the shop tools for re-cert... I threw it into the group. It passed.
Same thing next year.... and the next.... So I threw all 3 sizes into the last calibration group and all 3 passed.
I’ve never bothered to have them re-calibration checked since. It’s been 4 years now since I retired and would not hesitate to use them on my own airplane. (FAA has no idea how to get to my house anyway.)
In the time I was lurking (before I actually got my Kubota) I used to get a kick out of his posts. Some of them were very informative.
I know the value of buying quality tools but...Sniff Sniff,, I wish I could justify the cost.
They have a couple of brands on that page. Are you referring to the CDI brand or the GearWrench? Thanks.
Last edited:
My original post was about the Gearwrench, I have a one of those in 3/8 drive that I also like.
Donystoy
Active member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
LX2610HSDCC, B/H, Loader, plus numerous other attachments. B7200 sold
I think any torque wrench will keep its calibration better is you make sure you remember to reset back to zero after use. I have two sizes that I purchased up here from Canadian Tire a few years ago and work well. Still have an old Craftsman bar type that I use to use when rebuilding engines that is just taking up space but can be used to compare the others to .
I pretty much agree with Geohorn. Most of the tools I buy now go thru the price/value to me test. For small wrenches, screwdrivers and the like I try to buy good (perceived) quality. Proto, Gearwrench, Knipex are goto brands.
When I needed a torque wrench a few months ago I ended up buying this Crescent CRTW12 1/2-Inch Torque Wrench 50-250 Ft/Lbs
It was about $70. Since it came from Amazon I asked my son to bring home a Proto to check it against. Pretty much the same reading on lug nuts (within 2lbs). If there was a significant difference, back it would go.
When I needed a torque wrench a few months ago I ended up buying this Crescent CRTW12 1/2-Inch Torque Wrench 50-250 Ft/Lbs
It was about $70. Since it came from Amazon I asked my son to bring home a Proto to check it against. Pretty much the same reading on lug nuts (within 2lbs). If there was a significant difference, back it would go.
I keep forgetting that I am not working on a piano or fine china. Its a new tractor so I mostly am just making sure the tires and things aren't going to fall off so a couple of lbs one way or the other isn't a big issue. Still irritated about my old wrench getting purloined.
Hope whoever grabbed it shears off a bolt and whacks himself in the head with it.
Ok....I pulled the trigger. Needed a torque wrench today for rotor tiller head bolts so I impetuously ordered the TEKTON 1/4 Inch Drive Dual-Direction Click Torque Wrench (10-150 in.-lb.)
the TEKTON 3/8 Inch Drive Click Torque Wrench (10-80 ft.-lb.) and
the TEKTON 1/2 Inch Drive Click Torque Wrench (25-250 ft.-lb.).
I am not a huge fan of Amazon but their return policy is outstanding. I will let you know if I decided it was all a big mistake.
Thanks for all the ideas guys, I really appreciated it.
the TEKTON 3/8 Inch Drive Click Torque Wrench (10-80 ft.-lb.) and
the TEKTON 1/2 Inch Drive Click Torque Wrench (25-250 ft.-lb.).
I am not a huge fan of Amazon but their return policy is outstanding. I will let you know if I decided it was all a big mistake.
Thanks for all the ideas guys, I really appreciated it.
Checking the calibration on a torque wrench is not difficult--at least for a single setting. Clamp the drive in a vise so that the handle sits horizontal. Measure exactly 1' from the center of the drive and hang the weight you are calibrating from the handle at that point. The wrench should click. The weight you are using to calibrate should match the ft lb setting you have on the wrench. Move the hanging weights toward the handle an inch or so and it should NOT click. Can be used clockwise as well as counter clockwise. Of course this calibration check is only as accurate as your weights or the scale you are using to weigh them, and it is only good at the single point unless you do multiple tests as various weights.
I had used a socket that would fit on my 1/2" torque wrench to check it against another torque wrench which is not a very accurate way of doing it. I had never thought of using your method. Great advice.
Very good info. Thanks for posting it. No comparison for the money that's for sure.
Got the TEKTON torque wrenches today. Gonna go torque off something. Probably my wife---
---when she finds out I bought the three wrenches instead of just the 1/2" that I really needed.
---when she finds out I bought the three wrenches instead of just the 1/2" that I really needed.