Looking for Reasonably Priced Good Quality LARGE Combo Wrenches - 1.5" and Larger...

[NHtoolguy]

Tried to find these, but the website search function isn't working.

Their website is a bit cumbersome. Online, you can view their current sales flier. The chart of available sizes is found on pages 26 and 27.

 

[john.k]

Dont worry about length , you use an extender on spanners that big .......basic strength is more relevant.

 

[dutchgray]

Dont worry about length , you use an extender on spanners that big .......basic strength is more relevant.

Or hydraulic assistance by using an excavator to push down on it, you do what you got to sometimes (modern battery powered impact wrenches have greatly reduced the need for such methods though)

 

[JeepYJ]

In my experience large wrenches are often used to hold a nut (or bolt head) while an impact or socket works the other end of the fastener. A g8 1” bolt has a torque spec of nearly 900 ft-lbs. An open or box end wrench ain’t getting that loose. Cheap large wrenches seem to work fine for occasional use.

 

[KnurledNut]

I try to avoid the bottom of the barrel options with any tool. Paying a little more or taking time to find a deal has always resulted in higher quality and a better (and safer) product. Working around mines where tools were pushed to their limits, I often saw the wisdom in this. I've found the jump between cheap tools and good tools to be a much wider gap than the jump between good tools and the best, which are often closer in quality.

I bought the Williams off Amazon a decade ago. After much research, I found it to be the highest quality moderately priced set that covered 1-5/16 to 2" only skipping 1-9/16. They were made in Taiwan. I don't know why they discontinued them. Were they were too competitive against their domestic much pricier premium supercombo version? Did the manufacturer stop production? Were they not selling? Did they not meet some required aerospace spec? Who knows. But I can tell you they are excellent wrenches.
If you come across these used or NOS, don't hesitate to pick them up.
https://www.toolsource.com/sets-c-1...n-wrench-set-1516-to-2-11-piece-p-146558.html

Don't underestimate a 24" adjustable or a smooth jaw hex wrench like the Ridgid No. 25.

Another source of cheap jumbo wrenches of high quality are the German black DIN single open end wrenches often sent with machinery. They are a shorter flat beam pattern and may require a cheater, but at the same time will fit where a combo of the same size wont.



My largest wrenches are the round beam Urrea. Again, these were bought new from Amazon at a reduced price.
Notice the difference in size between it and a cheap wrench of the same size:

 

[john.k]

If the rings arnt used ,big high quality double open end spanners of all sizes are cheap as scrap metal......I have lots that I have ''cut and shut'' to fit forklift hyraulics and other difficult applications .

 

[Gmonkee]

I mainly used the taking the valve body out of the floor of a backhoe or the hydraulic lines out of the belly of the beast. Dozers were worse.
Long pattern was rarely the best option.

There was so much obstacle type stuff in them we may have pried the end with a bar or pulled with a rope at times.

Open end wrenches nearly always more useful.

He also had sockets in 3/4, 1", and 1 1/2" drive up to 4.5" sockets.
One big drive socket could have been hundreds of pesos, his big breaker bar was 5' long and a 2" steel bar. We would use 12' of cheater pipe on it if need be.
He had to make some of that stuff on his own in machine shops as it wasn't commercially available anywhere.

It was ridiculous and dangerous work. That big hardware torqued down to OMG specs. When you pull on the end of a 12' cheater tube with a 4 ton cable puller its stupid tight.
When that lifts the front of a Cat 120 grader off the ground you've reached new levels.
When that nut finally released there was a cacophony of falling metal and tools. The backhoe used as the counterweight even jumped a bit.

 

[bulletpruf]

Honestly I never used big wrenches like these but I wonder are you using the open side more or the closed side? Since there so big and expensive for quality ones I wonder if your better off with double open end if your using for hydraulics or double closed end if using for bolts and nuts. But also if your using closed end why aren’t you able to use a 3/4 or 1” drive socket on a impact or breaker bar?

Honestly I’d think double open end plus a 3/4 or 1 drive socket set would do the trick but since I don’t work on big stuff I honestly dont know

I use both open and closed, but open more than closed.

I have a 3/4 drive socket set, but I rarely need to use these.

I have a set of Sunex crow's feet as well, up to 2.25".

Thanks

 

[bulletpruf]

I'm sure there is always going to be a use case, but generally an open end is sufficient or there is enough room for a socket.

I only used them on hydraulic fittings and mounting coupler assemblies on the top of various hydraulic attachments.

Only concern would be a possible high torque scenario where the open end can more easily spread or slip. I rarely use the open end of a wrench if I don't have to.

Ditto. The larger wrenches will only be used for hydraulics; I don't have any bolts with a 2" head on my dozer. At this point, I think the largest bolt I've come across is 3/4" and that has a 1 1/8" head.

 

[bulletpruf]

Wow those look short. I would not have bought short big wrenches. That makes no sense to me. You’re going to end up hitting those with hammers. I would 100% send those back.

The ASME wrench specs are pretty short wrenches. Snap on “standard length” wrenches, just for discussion, are usually closer to the ASME “long pattern”. I have Snap on “long pattern” which are really extra long.

I would have held out for a decent set of protos or some other industrial brand (Williams?) that offers longer wrenches. The Icons generally follow the Snap on patterns, so I’d look at them as well.

If they're too short, I'll get something else. They're coming from Amazon, so it's an easy exchange.

Proto and Williams are going to be spendy, I think. Maybe the HF wrenches are longer.

 

[bulletpruf]

350B?? Those things really vibrate with the 3 cylinder engine. Use locktite on everything. Keep the 4big bolts on rear of transmission case tight. Had one break into once because 2 of the 4 bolts fell out and operator didn’t know

350 Straight, 1967 model.

You're referring to the bolts on the reverser, right? The reverser is between the engine and the transmission, and has 4 enormous nuts holding it into place. These are known to loosen up. The other problematic bolts are in the reverser mount; have already dealt with a broken one there. The bolts from the frame to the finals are also prone to breakage; have one snapped off there, too. More details here -- bolt carnage is on pg 3 or so -- https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...ulldozer-1967-john-deere-350-straight.558103/

 

[bulletpruf]

Or hydraulic assistance by using an excavator to push down on it, you do what you got to sometimes (modern battery powered impact wrenches have greatly reduced the need for such methods though)

I've got a bunch of cheater pipes, and I ain't afraid to use 'em!

 

[dr_clyde]

Ditto. The larger wrenches will only be used for hydraulics; I don't have any bolts with a 2" head on my dozer. At this point, I think the largest bolt I've come across is 3/4" and that has a 1 1/8" head.

In my experience you will want the angled head double open ends for working on hydraulics. They’re always at a weird angle in a hard to get at spot and the angled heads really help getting in the tight spaces.

 

[bulletpruf]

I try to avoid the bottom of the barrel options with any tool. Paying a little more or taking time to find a deal has always resulted in higher quality and a better (and safer) product. Working around mines where tools were pushed to their limits, I often saw the wisdom in this. I've found the jump between cheap tools and good tools to be a much wider gap than the jump between good tools and the best, which are often closer in quality.

Ditto. I have plenty of Craftsman, Williams, Blue Point, and a fair bit of the nicer HF (I generally like their made in Taiwan stuff). But I will occasionally gamble on the made in China tools or drop some $ on SnapOn.

I bought the Williams off Amazon a decade ago. After much research, I found it to be the highest quality moderately priced set that covered 1-5/16 to 2" only skipping 1-9/16. They were made in Taiwan. I don't know why they discontinued them. Were they were too competitive against their domestic much pricier premium supercombo version? Did the manufacturer stop production? Were they not selling? Did they not meet some required aerospace spec? Who knows. But I can tell you they are excellent wrenches.
If you come across these used or NOS, don't hesitate to pick them up.
https://www.toolsource.com/sets-c-1...n-wrench-set-1516-to-2-11-piece-p-146558.html

I likes me some Williams wrenches; would love to find a set of these lightly used.

Don't underestimate a 24" adjustable or a smooth jaw hex wrench like the Ridgid No. 25.

I have a Blue Point (or is it Williams?) 24" adjustable.

Another source of cheap jumbo wrenches of high quality are the German black DIN single open end wrenches often sent with machinery. They are a shorter flat beam pattern and may require a cheater, but at the same time will fit where a combo of the same size wont.

The smooth jaw hex wrenches that I have are almost all metric; stuff I picked up when I lived in Italy. Also have this neat copper beryllium 41 x 46 that I picked up cheap.

My largest wrenches are the round beam Urrea. Again, these were bought new from Amazon at a reduced price.
Notice the difference in size between it and a cheap wrench of the same size:

Not familiar with Urrea, but when someone mentioned them yesterday, I did a search. They're a bit more than I want to spend at this point.

 

[mikey03]

The smooth jaw hex wrenches that I have are almost all metric; stuff I picked up when I lived in Italy. Also have this neat copper beryllium 41 x 46 that I picked up cheap.

that’ll be real useful if you got to adjust any large construction hydraulics inside a meth lab and want to keep it from sparking and blowing up

 

[bulletpruf]

that’ll be real useful if you got to adjust any large construction hydraulics inside a meth lab and want to keep it from sparking and blowing up

Well, I'm fresh out of meth labs, so I put it on eBay for $100. No takers. New price on something like this is about $600.

 

[308guru]

Extra size to deal with rust and dirt and grime on the bolt head? Or more likely just shoddy manufacturing.

No, not shoddy manufacturing, just following standards. You do know there are standards for wrench opening size as well as fastener head sizes, and pretty much everything else, right? Whether a manufacturer meets the standards is another question.

 

[mikey03]

How you guys storing these big wrenches and keeping them organized? The big ones are honestly real heavy and take up alot of a drawer and idk if organizers are really built for big wrenches

 

[bulletpruf]

How you guys storing these big wrenches and keeping them organized? The big ones are honestly real heavy and take up alot of a drawer and idk if organizers are really built for big wrenches

I think I have up to 1 5/16" or so on my pegboard. The rest will go in a drawer or on a shelf.

 

[bulletpruf]

No, not shoddy manufacturing, just following standards. You do know there are standards for wrench opening size as well as fastener head sizes, and pretty much everything else, right? Whether a manufacturer meets the standards is another question.

@AdAstra beat you to it; he posted that yesterday.

 

[JradM]

My largest wrenches are the round beam Urrea. Again, these were bought new from Amazon at a reduced price.
Notice the difference in size between it and a cheap wrench of the same size:

I came to the thread to make a similar comment. In large-wrench sizes, the length and girth of the wrench can be dramatically different between brands and price-tiers. I think it stands to reason that the material costs are more of a factor when you may be buying 2lbs of steel.

Someone shopping for a 2" wrench online might not realize that one is 6" shorter and weighs half as much and innocently assume that a 2" wrench is a 2" wrench. It's certainly a simple way to undercut your competitors too.

That doesn't mean you need the big girthy version. It's simply something to be aware of so you don't buy inappropriately.

 

[bulletpruf]

That doesn't mean you need the big girthy version.

For some reason, that statement reminds me of one of my old girlfriends...

 

[Cruzan80]

How you guys storing these big wrenches and keeping them organized? The big ones are honestly real heavy and take up alot of a drawer and idk if organizers are really built for big wrenches

My wife took some spare canvas and sewed a wrench roll for me. Rolled up, and they live under the toolbox.

 

[bulletpruf]

My wife took some spare canvas and sewed a wrench roll for me. Rolled up, and they live under the toolbox.

You are a lucky man. If I asked the Long-Haired General to do something like that, she'd probably take one of the wrenches and whack me with it...

 

[Cruzan80]

I had to have everything trimmed and marked out for her, so it was just following pencil lines on the sewing machine and using the serger on the edges. I also waited to ask her until everything was already out and set up...

I slowly pick up larger sizes for Proto, up past 2", when I can find them for cheap (under $5/wrench minimum). No immediate use case, but one of those" nice to have" when I need it for a saw arbor or something else large.

 

[bulletpruf]

I had to have everything trimmed and marked out for her, so it was just following pencil lines on the sewing machine and using the serger on the edges. I also waited to ask her until everything was already out and set up...

I stand by my previous comment - you're a lucky man. I supposed I could do the same for the LHG, but there would also have to be some sort of substantial bribe involved.

I slowly pick up larger sizes for Proto, up past 2", when I can find them for cheap (under $5/wrench minimum). No immediate use case, but one of those" nice to have" when I need it for a saw arbor or something else large.

How do you find $3 Proto wrenches of that size???

 

[Cruzan80]

Most of them were acquired 1-2 at a time, from yard sales/estate sales and the like. Some have come in larger auction-style lots, where I take my best guess. There are holes here/there, need to pull it out and actually see what is there/missing.

I am also a teacher, which means I have had much more spare time to chase down these things during breaks than if I was working a regular 40hrs with vacation time. I don't think I have bought any in the last 2-3 years, and most of them are 6-8yrs ago plus, which has helped (prices on all kinds of stuff has been getting stiffer in the last few years).

 

[bulletpruf]

Most of them were acquired 1-2 at a time, from yard sales/estate sales and the like. Some have come in larger auction-style lots, where I take my best guess. There are holes here/there, need to pull it out and actually see what is there/missing.

I am also a teacher, which means I have had much more spare time to chase down these things during breaks than if I was working a regular 40hrs with vacation time. I don't think I have bought any in the last 2-3 years, and most of them are 6-8yrs ago plus, which has helped (prices on all kinds of stuff has been getting stiffer in the last few years).

Well, if you want to double your money on any of those $3 wrenches, I'm your Huckleberry...

 

[Cruzan80]

I do think I have some other large US made stuff that didn't sell at the yard sale last weekend. Will look thru and PM you.

 

[bulletpruf]

I do think I have some other large US made stuff that didn't sell at the yard sale last weekend. Will look thru and PM you.

Excellent!

 

[Retired dozer fixer]

I have 2 full sets of combo wrenches up 2” all USA bought 1 or2 at a time from co workers retiring or garage sales. Only bought 1 new a Snap-on 1 1/2. Years ago I think was $100 and thought that was nuts. Most are Mac Snap-on S-K and Williams.

 

[Beerhippie]

Any recommendations?

Thanks

Recommendations? Snow Cat tracks give you more room to lay out tools.

 

[Retired dozer fixer]

Buy lots of Red Locktite

 

[bulletpruf]

Buy lots of Red Locktite

Really? The red stuff? I have some, but I rarely use it.

 

[Beerhippie]

Really? The red stuff? I have some, but I rarely use it.

Stuff stays where you put it, but it can be easily softened with a little heat. I find myself using it a lot.

 

[mikey03]

I’d like to see some of y’alls big wrench wall setups. Wondering how they look on the wall even though I don’t need them I like to look in case I find them for $3 some day

 

[bulletpruf]

I’d like to see some of y’alls big wrench wall setups. Wondering how they look on the wall even though I don’t need them I like to look in case I find them for $3 some day

This is what I have at my 20 x 50 shop. This is from last year sometime when I was just getting set up. Larger wrenches are stored on shelves or in drawers.

 

[Retired dozer fixer]

I’d like to see some of y’alls big wrench wall setups. Wondering how they look on the wall even though I don’t need them I like to look in case I find them for $3 some day

One set is in an old 1” drive socket box and the other is in an old porta-power box. Heavy as hell. Only have one now because I gave one set to my son

 

[YesIHaveAHammer]

I’d like to see some of y’alls big wrench wall setups

I don't have these, but pretty tidy.

Facom 54 in 24-55mm panel set.

 

[john.k]

Id imagine Facom is an expensive way to buy pipe ......I used the 7/8 size hex drill rod ......you can literally stand on the end of a 7ft long drill rod in a wheel nut spanner ,and bounce up and down on it to free up a Budd wheel nut ,and it does not bend ........Sandvik Coromant drill rod .