Round Head vs Pear Head Ratchet Poll
- Thread starter Kyle86
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redwrench60
Well-known member
Pear head. Easy to reverse one handed. Fully rebuildable. More choices available. I'm also just used to them.
Vibrolux
Banned
bobcatdan
Well-known member
I use pearhead more simply because I own more of them. My favorite ratchets though are round head swivel ratchets, ie SO and SK. I also prefer my 1/4" SO to my pearhead SO.
EvilWelder
Well-known member
SK ratchet is what I use. I like my flex Snap-On and the long Armstrong, but the old SK is still the first one I grab.
Snapped-off
Well-known member
Pear for me, simply because that's what I grew up with. I don't really care for round-head ratchets anyway.
davesnothere
Well-known member
Can't say it better than that.
TwoInch
Well-known member
i prefer pear heads usually, especially when its a flex head.
im not a huge fan of round heads, with exception to older JH Williams B-52s, and S-52 and 53 ratchets. they are my favorite ratchets of all to work with, but no other round heads for me.
i do own a 3430 wright, which is the tiny 3/8s roundy which is smaller than most 1/4 ratchets.
im not a huge fan of round heads, with exception to older JH Williams B-52s, and S-52 and 53 ratchets. they are my favorite ratchets of all to work with, but no other round heads for me.
i do own a 3430 wright, which is the tiny 3/8s roundy which is smaller than most 1/4 ratchets.
kc-steve
Well-known member
Before I started coming here and learning more about all ratchets I was a pearhead kind of guy. But with experience and knowledge comes a change in my opinion. I like both equally. Man if you pearhead guys ever tried a vintage Thorsen open gear roundhead, with its tiny "foot print," you'd change your minds!
But it looks like I'm going to have to add more pearheads to my inventory.
Steve
But it looks like I'm going to have to add more pearheads to my inventory.
Steve
plinker
Well-known member
I prefer round heads in 1/4 & 3/8 drive and pear heads for 1/2 drive, but I usually pick the one I deem best for the job at hand.
shampoop
Well-known member
Other than in a roto ratchet application, are there actually ANY advantages to having a round head?
TwoInch
Well-known member
i preferred pearheads with a QR for many years, but have been liking non QR pear heads more and more the last couple years.
i also was totally satisfied with regular craftsman 36t mech for a long time... that changed drastically in the recent past....
i also was totally satisfied with regular craftsman 36t mech for a long time... that changed drastically in the recent past....
I voted pear but I'm warming up to round. I've got a few RHFT that as I spend more time with I'm liking more and more. But growing up, every roundhead I came across came out of some craptacular import set that HF would be ashamed to sell. Think Buffalo (if anyone remembers them) or some no-name cheap discount store house brand. Pearheads though were good quality (in my house, they CM and Indestro). So for me roundheads have a certain stigma to overcome still....
But there's a definite advantage with pear heads of just flicking your thumb to change direct!
But there's a definite advantage with pear heads of just flicking your thumb to change direct!
bobcatdan
Well-known member
Round heads were normally finer tooth or a dual pawl design where as a pear was course, 36 tooth at most. That has changed now a days.
TwoInch
Well-known member
i agree with the roundhead stigma. i have always had that same distaste for them, from growing up and using cheap japan, or bad taiwan no namers... the JH williams ratchets are what made me open up to them.
plinker
Well-known member
When most pear head ratchet's were 36 tooth or less there was a big advantage tooth count wise (easily doubled with a round head), Now with 60 tooth + pear head there's less of an advantage, but user preference is most of it.
Some round heads also can have a built in spinner, C-man RHFT's as an example.
While I like the RHFT it is one of the few ratchets that has failed me, though this was a long time ago. I tried the SK with Facom style about 6 years ago but they didn't seem very high quality. I also have a couple of Wrights now and they are ok, they feel great in the hand but the 3/8" compact is axially loose and I haven't used the 3/8" normal much since I got it recently. I really enjoy the Cornwell JR-30 bought here in the classifieds and I like the Dual-80 pear heads. Every SO round head ratchet I have tried I didn't care for. Are their new selector dials plastic? They sure feel like it.
So I prefer pear head but am open minded. I may have to pick up a Wright open head soon.
So I prefer pear head but am open minded. I may have to pick up a Wright open head soon.
same for me
redwrench60
Well-known member
I bet all that fingertip dexterity makes you a hit with the ladies.
Dont be Jealous of me and my 8 fellow voters.
Bolster
Well-known member
I grew up with ROUNDhead and vastly prefer PEARhead. Even after years of roundhead use, I would still try to twist the roundhead the wrong way (in my case, reverse of the direction I wanted it to go). Wasted my youth on roundheads. Pear for me.
Provincial
Well-known member
I grew up with SK round head and P&C open gear. I later acquired Craftsman and SnapOn pear heads in 1/4, 3/8, and flex 1/2". I have a Williams S53A round head that is my favorite 1/2" ratchet. I have Craftsman RHFT ratchets in 1/4" and 3/8". Not too long ago I picked up a Craftsman pear head 1/2" with the "V" shifter.
As you can see, I have a broad taste in ratchets, and find that I can work well with either kind. I haven't noticed that the pear is much easier to reverse, but I learned on a round head and can reverse them one-handed. Kind of like learning to drive on a stick shift.
As you can see, I have a broad taste in ratchets, and find that I can work well with either kind. I haven't noticed that the pear is much easier to reverse, but I learned on a round head and can reverse them one-handed. Kind of like learning to drive on a stick shift.
PaulsGarage
Well-known member
Same as some of you other guys, I grew up with round-head cheapo ratchets and have a stigma against them ever since, always came in those kits with a selection of SAE and Metrics in a blow-molded case, always rusted and felt like there were only about 12 teeth in the head.
To this day even the newer SO roundies feel wrong to me. I know it's only in my mind but a quality pear head ratchet is the professional's tool.
Edit: I will add that I've owned a number of classic SK rats and never had cause to complain, they are solid and reliable but I still prefer SO for my daily work.
To this day even the newer SO roundies feel wrong to me. I know it's only in my mind but a quality pear head ratchet is the professional's tool.
Edit: I will add that I've owned a number of classic SK rats and never had cause to complain, they are solid and reliable but I still prefer SO for my daily work.
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Nebraska03
Well-known member
I prefer pear heads to round heads. Though for working on small equipment engines, a 1/4" Dr round head works just fine for getting in tight spaces.
Ever since I found myself at my grandmother's house, having to change out the battery in my car, in the dark, with a dying flashlight between my teeth, I have had this "love" for Proto pear heads. All that was available that night were some of my grandfather's tools from his HVAC business days in a well-worn Kennedy hand box. Wound up using some faded New Britain deep sockets and a Proto 5249. I was hooked.
Ever since I found myself at my grandmother's house, having to change out the battery in my car, in the dark, with a dying flashlight between my teeth, I have had this "love" for Proto pear heads. All that was available that night were some of my grandfather's tools from his HVAC business days in a well-worn Kennedy hand box. Wound up using some faded New Britain deep sockets and a Proto 5249. I was hooked.
Me too.
I believe Craftman had the rights to the "quick release" patent in 1965. No other company could use quick release until the patent was up. Just like Flank Drive and Snap On Tools. Quick release ratchets are associated with Craftsman tools. Craftsman ratchets were okay but not really that good. When you bought a Craftsman tool set the first thing you would do is buy better ratchets.
http://home.comcast.net/~alloy-artifacts/craftsman-maker-v.html#qr-ratchets
TwoInch
Well-known member
from what i understand, craftsman ratchets were much more well regarded back in their "heyday" compared to now. i have always known them to be of good and comparable quality compared to the rest of the field back then, unlike the last decades. i would agree that nowadays, the first thing people do, or should do, is upgrade the ratchets in cm kits.
Started off using a Thorsen open gear ratchet. There is still none better for fast reversing and compactness. When Craftsman quick release came out I got one of them. Not quite as quick to reverse as the Thorsen, but the quick release was good enough to make up for the reduction in speed of reversing. Got a fine tooth round head when I couldn't get enough arc for changing the rear spark plug on a Chevy v 8. This combination served me well for years until the fine tooth pear heads came out. I have other ratchets now but more for interest than really needing them.
KEH
KEH
Wakefield
Well-known member
I think that in the past professionals feared Quick Release because they had (still do?) a drilled out center in the drivepiece/squaredrive for the plunger that moves when you push the release button. That looks like it would make the drivepiece weaker. Not as much cross section metal.
I think the newer professional stuff might have that drilling a bit smaller than on the old Craftsman roundhead. All have a little metal drilled out at right angle for the ball and spring (or pushrod for the quickrelease) but I don't think that drilling goes all the way to the base on the non quick release.
It just comes to my mind that I don't think there is such a thing as a quick release on a breaker bar!
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SMKS
Well-known member
I like both, but I have way more round heads than pear heads.
TwoInch
Well-known member
all the older QR stuff i have seen do not have the hole all the way through. only the newer stuff from my experience. i know usa made craftsman qr do not have the hole through, but the imports do.
edit - just took a look at roughly 15 QR ratchets from -v- to brand new, and only two had the hole, one was a taiwan craftsman polish, and a menards brand china.
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bobcatdan
Well-known member
My opinion on QR, craftsman started it and held the pat. When the pat expired, all the cheapy ratchets added the feature. Other then the rare SO QR, can anybody name a higher quailty ratchet that had QR. I am refuring to old school USA toolmaker, not newer higher grade imports. The only one that comes to mine are non craftsman RHFT
crewchief888
Well-known member
i have both, at work and at home.
mostly pear head, all depends on what i need at the time.
all my sk's are round head, along with an offshoer CM copy in 1/4" dr,
little of everything in pear head, SO, mac, matco, duralast, and a couple unmarked offshore.
mostly pear head, all depends on what i need at the time.
all my sk's are round head, along with an offshoer CM copy in 1/4" dr,
little of everything in pear head, SO, mac, matco, duralast, and a couple unmarked offshore.
arnwoodwheels
Well-known member
Proto round head QR no longer made. Is buggy with craftsman sockets.
My flexhead Proto round QR 3/8 seems to be the one I go to the most. Followed by my old Cornwell pear head.
Facom makes RH QR's . My next ratchet