I have a pretty nice Craftsman drill. It is 20 volt, lithium ion. I just discovered today that it has no HAMMER mode. I had to set a corner in some concrete, that turned out to be VERY HARD. We drilled with sledge hammer and star drill, about 1" deep, and painted it up. We had intended to drill through it, and set a rebar, with the cap on the surface. I am finally taking on a little work, after tick fever. I do still have a swollen lymph node, and now some pain in my knee.
But, apart from that, a fellas got to work, Right?
So, much is changing in technology, that staying current, is a rodeo!
What coordless hammer drill would you buy, today?
And, many thanks.
Nate
Milwaukee.
Nate,
I use a Bosch. Spendy but worth it.
Maybe I'd be looking a place to rent a Pionjar.
It will make short work of anything including granite.
And if you ever have to set "A" order monuments to refusal at 25' to 30' deep, it's the only game.
I think I want one that does hammer only... good for opening holes in pvmt, with fat chisel bit.
So far, the Milwaukee does this, and so does the Makita.
Thanks
Nate
Dang Nate,
After losing all that money for that "Bighelp Pushup Contest", I would suggest betting Big that he Couldn't star through in an hour....letting sister hold that crisp 10 dollar bill.
DDSM
> I use a Bosch. Spendy but worth it.
I second that. Get one that uses the SDS type bits. Cheaper in the long run.
> I think I want one that does hammer only... good for opening holes in pvmt, with fat chisel bit.
A 
&imgrefurl= http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/reviews/hand-tools/14-hand-tools-to-speed-up-disaster-recovery-5&h=450&w=600&sz=11&tbnid=-511PKe_iHGgbM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=120&zoom=1&usg=__jYA-t4LuL-HeCs1GNfiajwSB0tE=&docid=WX1eDWQQ1iq0SM&sa=X&ei=KXH4UfWAMMn9igKK_4F4&sqi=2&ved=0CGsQ9QEwBQ&dur=70 1">digging bar is my tool of choice for busting out holes in asphalt.
Dan, me friend, it was just me an Big Help today. It was on a steep hillside, above a lake, and the concrete was SUPER HARD. I got it started, maybe 1/2" deep, and Big Help took it down to 1". This was some bad boy concrete. The persons who placed it did not want it to move. It was 6' wide, and about 6" deep.
I dream of a gas powered hammer, about 2x a year.
Most stuff, a battery would do it.
N
I have the cordless 18v lith ion makita lxt sds rotary hammer drill. It is great at drilling holes, and can easily drill several inches deep in very hard concrete up to at least an inch diameter. While it is great for this, it does NOT work well at chipping out asphalt. Even my plug in version does not work great at chipping asphalt. To chip asphalt, you really need a gas hammer. This is my actual experience.
I have a Hitachi-
http://www.hitachipowertools.com/index/main-navigation/tools.aspx?d=2,313&p=663
-that I'm very pleased with.
Nate,
The 36v Bosch does have a hammer only mode. You can by chisel bits for it that work quite well. The thing has amazing power for being cordless. I have taken to using a in the AC. I first use a 1-1/2" core bit to bore out a spot for the aluminium cap and then finish it off with a 5/8". Beats the hell out of trying to manhandle the things in the ground and the cap is protected because I leave it recessed a bit. The only thing I have found that the drill will not do is drive a iron. You need the larger drivers for that.
Atlas Copco Cobra is standard equipment in Alaska
Our office has a Makita 18V - works ok, but the batteries are only big enough to set about six points(each)
I got frustrated with it and grabbed my Dewalt 36V - it goes a fair bit harder
Our office rock-jock has a Bosch 36V that he uses for setting climbing bolts in granite as well as survey points. Its definately as step up again
I had some guys trying to set a Cap in the Bridge Abuttment at Millwood. They worked for an hour with an 18 volt Dewalt. It got hot and started smoking. I called one of my guys that had a Riobe gas powered hammer drill. When he got there, it took 45 seconds to drill a 4" deep hole. We were using a 7/8 inch bit. We filled the hole with epoxy and set a forced centering monument. That was Monday. Tuesday afternoon, I screwed a Tribarch on it and mounted a GPS antenna on it. My HI was 0.060. I got 4 1/2 hours of data and submitted it to OPUS for use in OPUS Projects. The initial run through OPUS looked good even though we had to use the ultra rapid orbits.
> What coordless hammer drill would you buy, today?
I'd still be looking for a used Ryobi ER160 gasoline-powered hammer drill. Mine are twenty years old and still going strong. They originally cost very little, but are among the most valuable equipment I have. You carry two-stroke mix for your chain saw and that's what they run on all day long.
They'll drill a 5/8 in. hole 22 inches into limestone or granite, but a rock bar and a pair of gloves are what you'll want for potholing asphalt pavements. Cheap and effective.
Thanks Kent.
I really did not want to buy a $3000 dollar gas hammer, that weighed 35 LBS.
If that Ryobi will do it, then it would be great.
Nate
Mine is Hilti TE 6-A36. Very powerful 36V hammer rotary drill.
