Torque test channel did a failure test and this model had around 150 foot pounds of force applied to it when ratcheting manually before it made a snapping sound but still worked after that.
I would never use this to manually ratchet a bolt/nut... nor would I use any other brand to do so. These types of tools are awesome time savers once a bolt/nut has been broken.
ive had mine for 6 months and i abuse the crap out of it and do runing starts and slam in on the bolt lol i also use it to break bolts loose with no issues. defiantly worth the buy
@@two_tone still going strong and i use it as a breaker bar sometimes lol i also spin it up and throw it on the bolts to lol and it will break them free still
HF has this tool for $99, I think it is best use after breaking the bolt using a regular ratchet and unwinding the bolt with this tool. Awesome video, thank you.
I fully agree. The easy part with a ratchet is breaking loose, the hard part is sitting there in a tight space getting only 1 click worth of turn... Thats where this tool shines
my non fuel electric ratchet died recently and I was thinkin of picking one of these up I saw in store and was kinda suprised how quality it felt and the batteryies are at a great price
Saw one for the first time a few days ago and was thinking about getting one, love the small narrow neck, would have saved me many hours in my long life, really enjoyed seeing the construction of it, just trying to decide between the 1/4 and 3/8, Thanks for the video.
Too many reviews ignore head/neck size comparisons. Chunky tools are bad news in tight areas. Self and bro both bought these specifically for the compact head and slender neck which reach LS bellhousing bolts nicely. They will last a LOT longer if you only use them where you need the reach! His is getting noticeably weaker (mine is newer so less used and I conserve it). When I eventually kill mine I'll tear it down to see if I can machine it to work as a 90-degree long reach adapter after discarding the motor.
I just bought this today. It loosened a bolt on my Harley Davidson that I have been having trouble with I have a old Impact tool sold by Harbor Freight when stationed in the Philippines that still works. .
loved this friggin video man, always wondered how these things work, and for you to be an engineer adds a special note of street cred/ insight into why things may have been beefed up/ skimped out on. youre like a much more refined Ave lol
The black is an overload but as far as the contacts are concerned that's not over molding that's a process known as "insert injection molding" commonly done in the tooling and automobile industry
Great video. Sad though, I thought all of the Hercules tools were brushless. I’m still gonna buy one. It will go well with my standard length of Milwaukee.
Makita stuff is like Toyota stuff. It can last through years of abuse. Many harbor freight products are very good nowadays but nothing I've got from harbor freight compares to any of my Makita or DeWalt or Milwaukee tools.
Have you checked out a Milwaukee ratchet yet? I’m interested as to how the internal designs compare. I have the Hercules and it’s been good for 3 months!
I have never personally wore out a brushed motor with personal use. my guess is years of professional use if its from a quality brand... which Hercules is rapidly becoming I think.
This motor design is not really intended to be serviceable but it probably could be done.... the hard part would be finding the brushes that match since the manufacturer probably doesn't offer them separately as a rebuild kit.
If you want to compare value to extreme value, take a look at the Walmart hyper tough extended ratchet. It costs 60 dollars for an extended ratchet with a 1.5ah batt, and I'm insanely curious to know what cost-cutting they took to make it more than half the cost of the next most expensive extended ratchet.
@@JJCCENG haha, I just looked through the comments and saw someone already suggested it sorry. In any case if you do the ratchet think about doing the extended one possibly, bc the neck and head looks very similar to this one and I want to see if any of it is interchangable.
I second that. Hopefully you'll pick up the extended version aswell. It be interesting to see the quality especially since they have a 2 year warranty for under $50.
You need to do a Tear down of Hercules cordless angle grinder. That thing has a pretty bad design flaw in the gear case that allows one of the gears to spin on the shaft, so you can't tighten your grinder disk. I fixed mine but would never buy another one.
The 20v Hercules tools have a 5 year warranty, you should have exchanged it. My 4 1/2 5 inch is a year and a half old, no problems and still a beast with a 7 inch cut off wheel
You said that you used a separate ratchet to break loose the bolts on your CV axle. Couldn't you just use this cordless ratchet by hand to accomplish that?
In theory, but those bolts are really sticky and high torque so I wanted to break them loose with a 1/2" drive to avoid the risk of breaking/bending the 3/8 sprocketing mechanism in the driver.
When you said this will not break any big bolts u would have to get an impact or ratchet it by hand...did you have to use a different ratchet...or did you use this hurcules one to break it by hand then you finished it off electricity?
I used a traditional ratchet to break them loose manually.... I might have been able to to break them loose manually operating the Hercules also, but that's not what i got it for. I didn't want to stress the 3/8 ratchet drive train any more than necessary.
40 ft lbs is the max for this ratchet. Is this supposed to wobble like crazy? The one I bought just messed up the threads in the hole I was trying to put the bolt into. What Is with this wobble?
"Slave labor countries" is an unfortunate way to describe the people and places that make things for us. Unless ofc you mean actual slavery. I'd be interested in specifics if you have info re Hercules brand.
It wasn't meant to be derogatory to the people, they are just trying to survive. I was really only acknowledging the economic realities of trade with communist regimes and that free countries cant compete with communist regimes labor rates... becasue they oppress their citizens. Its actually a huge issue in product design... intricate tedious assemblies almost have to be made oversees becasue Western labor is so expensive... so when i see something tedious to assemble i like to point out the cost benefit dynamic.
@@JJCCENG I understand it wasn't your intent. It's nonetheless a false and derogatory way to describe a company unless you have specific information regarding involuntary labor being used to manufacture Hercules products. More broadly, the US was once in the position of these "communist regimes" with very low cost of manufacturing. I don't think you'd describe America in those terms. It's a more nuanced economic reality that's happening. I would rather describe the situation as being that we in the West have made our labor uncompetitive through increasing government control over the economy. It's our own central planning that's largely to blame.
@@grantcivyt My company also sources a small percentage of our components from China so I wasn't blasting the Hercules brand but rather the Chinese regime. But it was a passing comment in a video about a Hercules product so I understand where you're coming from. No argument here on government regs, monetary policy, trade deal etc. being a big problem on our end... but Chinese labor is so cheap in part becasue the Chinese regime suppresses their own citizens keeping them impoverished.
Torque test channel did a failure test and this model had around 150 foot pounds of force applied to it when ratcheting manually before it made a snapping sound but still worked after that.
Mine the first day made a snapping sound at much less than 150 lbs and it is unusable!
I would never use this to manually ratchet a bolt/nut... nor would I use any other brand to do so. These types of tools are awesome time savers once a bolt/nut has been broken.
ive had mine for 6 months and i abuse the crap out of it and do runing starts and slam in on the bolt lol i also use it to break bolts loose with no issues. defiantly worth the buy
How did it hold up 1 year later?
@@two_tone still going strong and i use it as a breaker bar sometimes lol i also spin it up and throw it on the bolts to lol and it will break them free still
@SuperBigNye sweet now im definitely getting it over the milwuakee that's all I needed to hear.
If only, you, Project Farm, and Torque Test Channel got together, the cordless tool industry would be forced to up their game to make any sales.
My voice isn't anywhere the size of theirs but that does sound like one heck of a consumer reports trio for tools.
I’d like to add another user to your list AvE is the name. Specifically his BOLTR series where he breakdown and examines power tools and other things.
@@Technics69 My subscribers told me about him about a year ago... he's great!
And AVE
@@Technics69AvE is great
Love this kind of content. Keep it up and we’ll keep watching! Everyone learning together is how we grow.
HF has this tool for $99, I think it is best use after breaking the bolt using a regular ratchet and unwinding the bolt with this tool. Awesome video, thank you.
I fully agree. The easy part with a ratchet is breaking loose, the hard part is sitting there in a tight space getting only 1 click worth of turn... Thats where this tool shines
my non fuel electric ratchet died recently and I was thinkin of picking one of these up I saw in store and was kinda suprised how quality it felt and the batteryies are at a great price
I'm impressed at how well greased the moving parts and bearing are lubricated.
I loved you used "dead nuts". Every machinist who would tolerate me hanging around them used it. I expect a family member was a machinist.
lol... i'm friends with 2 machinists at the office so that probably is where i picked it up.
He should also be using RCH then.
Saw one for the first time a few days ago and was thinking about getting one, love the small narrow neck, would have saved me many hours in my long life, really enjoyed seeing the construction of it, just trying to decide between the 1/4 and 3/8, Thanks for the video.
Thanks for the review; you made a good case for getting the Hercules 12v ratchet.
Or in my case feel better about keeping it since I haven't had the chance to use it yet. Thanks for your Great video!
I really wish they came out with a 20v brushless version. That would be great
yes, i hate that i need a separate battery just for this, its the only 12 Hercules i have.
@@JJCCENG at least the charger charges both 12 and 20 so you don’t need two different chargers
@@JJCCENGI've got the 12v cut off tool too
20v battery would make it too bulky
Too many reviews ignore head/neck size comparisons. Chunky tools are bad news in tight areas. Self and bro both bought these specifically for the compact head and slender neck which reach LS bellhousing bolts nicely. They will last a LOT longer if you only use them where you need the reach! His is getting noticeably weaker (mine is newer so less used and I conserve it).
When I eventually kill mine I'll tear it down to see if I can machine it to work as a 90-degree long reach adapter after discarding the motor.
I just bought this today. It loosened a bolt on my Harley Davidson that I have been having trouble with I have a old Impact tool sold by Harbor Freight when stationed in the Philippines that still works. .
I wish the drive shaft pin was bigger. Because at my shop my coworkers always break due to that PIN. Same for Milwaukee too
Hello, please tear down Walmart Hyper Tough version. They are now offering same type product in regular and long reach.
loved this friggin video man, always wondered how these things work, and for you to be an engineer adds a special note of street cred/ insight into why things may have been beefed up/ skimped out on. youre like a much more refined Ave lol
That's high praise, Ave knows his stuff. Much appreciated man. More to come!
The black is an overload but as far as the contacts are concerned that's not over molding that's a process known as "insert injection molding" commonly done in the tooling and automobile industry
Amazing review Sr, haven’t seen your channel before, so now subscribed to see these content, thanks
Much appreciated!
Great video. Sad though, I thought all of the Hercules tools were brushless. I’m still gonna buy one. It will go well with my standard length of Milwaukee.
I think they already have some and are keeping it under the rug. Getting rid of old inventory first lol
@@Dan-qh6meI just bought one of these yesterday but I was thinking the same thing lol. I wouldn’t doubt it
Great review. I just pick one of these up yesterday for ~75$ with their 15% off coupon.
I have been very happy with mine.
A harbor freight employee, I believe she was the manager, said Hercules is about equal to Makita brand tools.
Mostly Dewalt and Milwaukee copies
Makita stuff is like Toyota stuff. It can last through years of abuse. Many harbor freight products are very good nowadays but nothing I've got from harbor freight compares to any of my Makita or DeWalt or Milwaukee tools.
Have you checked out a Milwaukee ratchet yet? I’m interested as to how the internal designs compare. I have the Hercules and it’s been good for 3 months!
I have not, but thanks for the suggestion, I'll add it to my list.
Mine is still going strong after just over a year. Buy the 2 year warranty and "break" it at 23 months
With the motor being brushed. What would the life span on it be before the contacts wear out
I have never personally wore out a brushed motor with personal use. my guess is years of professional use if its from a quality brand... which Hercules is rapidly becoming I think.
Great video and excellent explanation of parts, was great I just ordered one
Thanks for the kind words! Glad it was useful.
Could those brushes be replaced if need be?
This motor design is not really intended to be serviceable but it probably could be done.... the hard part would be finding the brushes that match since the manufacturer probably doesn't offer them separately as a rebuild kit.
If you want to compare value to extreme value, take a look at the Walmart hyper tough extended ratchet. It costs 60 dollars for an extended ratchet with a 1.5ah batt, and I'm insanely curious to know what cost-cutting they took to make it more than half the cost of the next most expensive extended ratchet.
Great suggestion, thanks!
@@JJCCENG haha, I just looked through the comments and saw someone already suggested it sorry. In any case if you do the ratchet think about doing the extended one possibly, bc the neck and head looks very similar to this one and I want to see if any of it is interchangable.
It's all good bro, The more people I see asking for the same thing helps me decide what I do next.
Ditto
Can you do one on the Walmart Hyper Tough cordless ratchets? They are becoming very popular because of their availability and price point.
Yes, I'll be posting it in the next 2 weeks.
Sorry, the next video will be a hyper tough 12V impact not cordless ratchet, but i will put it on my list. Thanks for the suggestion.
I second that. Hopefully you'll pick up the extended version aswell. It be interesting to see the quality especially since they have a 2 year warranty for under $50.
Great job on getting it back together 😂,,and man you moved fast! 😅😅
🤣 Thanks I was hopped up on a lot of caffeine
You need to do a Tear down of Hercules cordless angle grinder. That thing has a pretty bad design flaw in the gear case that allows one of the gears to spin on the shaft, so you can't tighten your grinder disk. I fixed mine but would never buy another one.
Thanks for the suggestion.
The 20v Hercules tools have a 5 year warranty, you should have exchanged it. My 4 1/2 5 inch is a year and a half old, no problems and still a beast with a 7 inch cut off wheel
Thanks for the informative vids
User manual says 100 foot pounds of manual torque is max
You said that you used a separate ratchet to break loose the bolts on your CV axle. Couldn't you just use this cordless ratchet by hand to accomplish that?
In theory, but those bolts are really sticky and high torque so I wanted to break them loose with a 1/2" drive to avoid the risk of breaking/bending the 3/8 sprocketing mechanism in the driver.
As soon as that rubber gets full of oil and grease it starts falling apart real fast😢
Reminds me of AvE except a bit more serious. Subbed
High praise, thanks!.
When you said this will not break any big bolts u would have to get an impact or ratchet it by hand...did you have to use a different ratchet...or did you use this hurcules one to break it by hand then you finished it off electricity?
I used a traditional ratchet to break them loose manually.... I might have been able to to break them loose manually operating the Hercules also, but that's not what i got it for. I didn't want to stress the 3/8 ratchet drive train any more than necessary.
Do you think the 1/4 in-drive version is made with similar quality and robustness?
It looks like an exact scaled down copy but one little component under-engineered is all it takes so hard to tell. Thanks for the question.
40 ft lbs is the max for this ratchet. Is this supposed to wobble like crazy? The one I bought just messed up the threads in the hole I was trying to put the bolt into. What Is with this wobble?
There was some wobble in mine but did not seem excessive.
What snap ring pliers are those?
Harbor freight
Dang Man U really know ur stuff
Or so it would appear...😁
Are there parts available? I broke the anvil head
Not that i'm aware, sorry.
Very educational.
Thats my goal, thanks for the feedback!
The 3/8 is 45 foot lb torque and the 1/4 is 45 foot lb torque..
Thank you for not using any vulgarity during your video like the other guy...
That guy is terrible with his language. Completely unnecessary.
dO THOSE SCREW RECIEVERS HAVE METAL INSERTS?
The screws holding the grip body together do not
How to grease it?
Cant see a way without taking apart. thanks for the comment
90 day warranty?
Yes I believe so
Awesome video! Thanks for the breakdown. I used to like AvE but I dislike his potty mouth.
Thanks for the kind words!
Thanks for the kind words!
Thanks for the kind words!
This used to be AVE 😅😢
5:11 😵💫🤤
😆 Promo*SM
"Slave labor countries" is an unfortunate way to describe the people and places that make things for us.
Unless ofc you mean actual slavery. I'd be interested in specifics if you have info re Hercules brand.
It wasn't meant to be derogatory to the people, they are just trying to survive. I was really only acknowledging the economic realities of trade with communist regimes and that free countries cant compete with communist regimes labor rates... becasue they oppress their citizens. Its actually a huge issue in product design... intricate tedious assemblies almost have to be made oversees becasue Western labor is so expensive... so when i see something tedious to assemble i like to point out the cost benefit dynamic.
@@JJCCENG I understand it wasn't your intent. It's nonetheless a false and derogatory way to describe a company unless you have specific information regarding involuntary labor being used to manufacture Hercules products.
More broadly, the US was once in the position of these "communist regimes" with very low cost of manufacturing. I don't think you'd describe America in those terms. It's a more nuanced economic reality that's happening.
I would rather describe the situation as being that we in the West have made our labor uncompetitive through increasing government control over the economy. It's our own central planning that's largely to blame.
@@grantcivyt My company also sources a small percentage of our components from China so I wasn't blasting the Hercules brand but rather the Chinese regime. But it was a passing comment in a video about a Hercules product so I understand where you're coming from.
No argument here on government regs, monetary policy, trade deal etc. being a big problem on our end... but Chinese labor is so cheap in part becasue the Chinese regime suppresses their own citizens keeping them impoverished.
Crazy that you had to explain that.@@JJCCENG