Craftsman Pro 3/8" Air Ratchet

[jshillin]

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00919919000P?keyword=19919

The ratchet is $49 as part of the Craftsman Club through the 8th. It has 65 ft/lbs. of maximum torque at 150 RPM.

How is this ratchet?? It's definitely cheap enough, but it is worth it or should I spend a little more for something else?? I heard a lot of good things about the Aircats, so how would this compare Price vs. Performance? I'm not sure of a good place to look at the aircats either.

Any info you could provide is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

- Jason

[billymade]

At $100 MSRP; I don't think you can expect much, I would look elsewhere. I personally haven't used this one but the lower end Craftsman stuff traditionally doesn't hold up well and isn't particularly powerful. I would look at a IR, CP or some other pro brand (Snap-On, Mac or Matco); check out your local pawn shops or flea, many times they will have brand new air tools for sale at really cheap prices, in the case of a pawn shop, just make sure they have a 24 hr return policy so, you can test them out at the shop. Good luck!

[jshillin]

At $100 MSRP; I don't think you can expect much, I would look elsewhere. I personally haven't used this one but the lower end Craftsman stuff traditionally doesn't hold up well and isn't particularly powerful. I would look at a IR, CP or some other pro brand (Snap-On, Mac or Matco); check out your local pawn shops or flea, many times they will have brand new air tools for sale at really cheap prices, in the case of a pawn shop, just make sure they have a 24 hr return policy so, you can test them out at the shop. Good luck!

I checked the local pawn shops and they either wanted a ton of money for the name brand stuff or they didn't have any good air tools.

[Fedwrench]

You can always buy better, the question is how hard and often are you going to use it? What do you expect it to do? Air ratchets never perform like a 3/8 drive impact wrench. That said for the money, it's probably not that bad for home or hobby use. I personally prefer Ingersoll Rand air tools, and I refuse to pay $300 for a truck brand air ratchet and used air tools unless like new, are always a crap shoot.

[Monte]

How much do you want to spend ?

[ovilla]

The one thing that I've always hated about air ratchets is how slow they are. I really want the speed of an impact gun. Anyway, some of the newer IR models run at 300 RPM, which I think might be easier on air compressors and should make tedious work go a little faster too.

[jshillin]

I just wrench on my vehicles and my family vehicles. Definitely not going to get a ton of use, but want something to perform well anytime I need it. As far how much I'm looking to spend, I'll spend as much as I need to go get a decent tool. I'm not looking for top of the line and not looking for crap either.

[schloe]

Chicago Pneumatic makes a pretty cool compact 1/4" air ratchet that can be had on ebay for less than $100 new

[SpiderGearsMan]

used air tools are not the hot setup

[JeepsAreBuilt]

The one thing that I've always hated about air ratchets is how slow they are. I really want the speed of an impact gun. Anyway, some of the newer IR models run at 300 RPM, which I think might be easier on air compressors and should make tedious work go a little faster too.

X2 !!!!!!

at 150 RPM.. you will get bored. I bet I could run a bolt faster manually :lol_hitti

[oldtools]

Buy used. It is a lot cheaper. You can get several for $50 instead of one Craftsman. I bought a 3/8 Astro Pneumatic for $5, a 3/8 Sioux for $10, and a 1/4 Buckeye for $15 at the swap meet. All of them still work very well.

[wantedabiggergarage]

That one looks like the Florida Pnuematic. We had two at the shop; one was the shops, and one belonged to one of the mechanics (old home/backup model). They both lasted about a year (little less then), with pretty steady use (not heavy). The first one broke in half, a couple of months after rebuilding the trigger. The second one's anvil broke and parts were combined to make a usefull one (which went back to the home stuff). All right for the money for a home shop, but I wouldn't buy it.


I know used air tools are not popular, but I have a machinist friend, who bought a lot (1 lot), of used air tools. He replaced gaskets and such, and did quite well for his needs. (disassembly)

[speed bump]

X2 !!!!!!

at 150 RPM.. you will get bored. I bet I could run a bolt faster manually :lol_hitti

If you can beat an air ratchet at even 100 RPM then you are faster person than probably everyone else here. I personally like air ratchets being slower than an impact because when something goes wrong I can recover with an impact its in before I realize I need to let go of the trigger.

[showags]

I have used the C-man professional mentioned and have absolutely no complaints. My father also has one that has been used daily at a diesel shop. No issues thus far. Some have mentioned to just use impacts. Which is what should be done...when there is room. The ratchet is for tight areas that an impact can't get to. In that case, I want a slower mechanism with less torque. Trust me, the ratchet mentioned is plenty quick and powerful to smash your hands if you are not careful. I wouldn't want anything with more torque or speed. That is when the 3/8" IR impact comes out. My $.02

[Keep]

I have one and it works just fine, it does however use a lot of air. My 30 gal cycles frequently when using it.