Why the Bad Rap on Gearless or 0 Degree Ratchets?

It's raining today so I might as well do something constructive and post a diatribe on Gearless Ratchets. I love these tools and have been collecting them for some 20 years now. I don't have every type ever produced but I have a reasonable cross section of tools to draw upon.

From what I have read from previous posts here on the GJ they are not so popular and of course I hope to help change your opinion on these very practical tools. And why not? If they can be put to good use, let's use them and take advantage of what they can offer us. First up here are some of the ones I own.



As you can see I am not lacking in selection. And I have just added the 3 Toptul ones on a tip from a previous GJ poster. First let me cover what I think are the disadvantages of this style of ratchet.

1) Not all designs have a reversing lever and have what are called push through centers. That is they only travel in one direction and are reversed by sliding the center from one side to the other.

2) Those that do reverse often are fiddly in operation meaning the reversing lever can be difficult to operate.

3) They don't have that reassuring click to let you know that they are working. Can be a problem when working in a hidden location.

4) Snappy doesn't make them so they must be no good.

5) The heads on the reversing ones are often thicker than their equivalent sized ratcheting ones.

6) Some are not rebuildable as they are permanently sealed together.

7) Some have a residual drag to them (possibly need braking in) so one might have to hold the fastener or extension to turn.

In my experience there a certain people who work their tools hard and lay them down wet. No tool likes this kind of treatment and this especially true of Gearless Ratchets as I have seen a fair share of them just plain worn out.

With all these demerits why bother? Here's why:

1) No wasted motion could conceivably save one hours of turning time every year of use.

2) The current line-up of push through center ratchets have very small heads. Much smaller than any other ratchet on the market today. A life saver in those really tight situations where you need every possible advantage.

3) I bought 3 Toptul Gearless Ratchets for about the same price as one Deluxe 3/8 drive Snapppy Ratchet.

4) What will happen in the future when SO runs out of teeth to add to their ratchets and what will be their next step? You can bet a Gearless Ratchet will happen eventually as how else are they or anyone else going to get people to buy new ratchets? Yup, they got to come up with something new.

5) Why not get a step ahead on the future by buying a few of these ratchets today and let work they accomplish speak for themselves?

6) Hey, if you should wear one out it still cheaper to buy another new ratchet than it would be to buy a SO rebuild kit.

No fooling, I really do like these ratchets and of course I have yet to wear one out as I am not one to ask more from a tool than it was designed to do. I have nothing against SO or Mac or any other quality tool as I use them too. I am only taking advantage of the advantage that these tools offer. And why not it is to my advantage to do so.

Personally i find them (obviously) only useful in tight spots. I believe they have their place but that its not to take the place of a regular ratchet. This is unless they design is improved upon and they can offer the same strength as a geared ratchet.

You gave 7 good reasons why I don't have one in my box.

what are the 2 to the far left?
those look sweet.

i still think a matco 88 is thinner than the push through you posted. I have a mac gearless that used once. It fell onto a hot exhaust manifold and the plastic roller holders melted.

davesnothere said:

what are the 2 to the far left?
those look sweet.

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Those look to be Blackhawk ratchets.

I have the mac 1/4 drive and the switch is very finiky. The drag it has also kinda takes away from what you gain buy using a gearless.
maybe like you said it needs to be worked in.

davesnothere said:

what are the 2 to the far left?
those look sweet.

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Those are vintage Blackhawk Freewheeling Ratchets that haven't been made since the 1950's. They don't fall into the same category as most of the others as they are easy to reverse, have small heads and little friction or drag during use.

I have one that is not reversible (Radian brand?) and has the push through square drive when you need to reverse. It looks just like #8 in the picture

The ratchet works fine, but a couple times the non reverse design has caused me a problem. I managed to manuever the ratchet in a place where I really needed to be able to reverse it to get it out which was kind of aggravating

sparky7 said:

This is unless they design is improved upon and they can offer the same strength as a geared ratchet.

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They typically offer more strength.

Like any other ratchet, they need lube. They usually cannot be disassembled, so a soak in atf does wonders.

The drag problems typically only occur if dry and close to end or loosening. Have found that changing grip typically solves that problem. Becomes a "palm driver" grip where a single finger can provide enough "counter drag on extension/socket. A lot of exposed threads are dirty/rusty enough to have plenty of counter drag on their own and this isn't often a problem in reality.

You do usually have to push them through to reverse. Usually isn't a problem unless you are adjusting preload on something where you actually have to switch between forward and reverse. If I am removing a bolt or installing one, I couldn't care less about being able to switch directions on the fly. Actually a benefit, no self reversing.

Head thickness or width can be a detractor, you would have to compare individual models since they vary in size.

Would you caption the photo so we can tell who made which ratchet?

The stubbies are Titan, and pretty sweet at that. Venture to guess the longer handled chrome ones next to stubbies are probably titan or T&E

Very nice collection and write up.

But there was one thing that just rubbed me the wrong way that I wanted to point out.

oldjacks said:

6) Hey, if you should wear one out it still cheaper to buy another new ratchet than it would be to buy a SO rebuild kit.

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Snap on supplies rebuild kits for free. You don't even have to pay the shipping. Just send them an email and you will have it in three days. If your ratchet is discontinued and they don't have a rebuild kit, they will send you a whole new ratchet.

Other than that, I enjoyed the read, though I don't think I'm ready to run out and buy one just yet.

Question for the oldjacks: because you're a connoisseur of these, which one do you like best and why?

oldjacks said:

I have nothing against SO or Mac or any other quality tool as I use them too.

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Do you really think that? You mentioned them, what? Four times? Your comments in your first post lead me to believe otherwise.

GeorgiaHybrid said:

You gave 7 good reasons why I don't have one in my box.

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+1

wreckercologist said:

Do you really think that? You mentioned them, what? Four times? Your comments in your first post lead me to believe otherwise.

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Didn't oldjacks post up pics before of quite a collection of conventional tool truck ratchets as well?

GrantCee said:

Would you caption the photo so we can tell who made which ratchet?

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Left to right Vintage Blackhawk first three ratchets, next 2 Rich Pacific, then Speedmaster, Plomb Prototype Hinge Handle Ratchet (Speculation on my part), Radian, Mac, NKC Liberal Ratchet (With wobble drive), next 5 (Titan, Astro and no names), and last 3 Toptul

Kirbot said:

Very nice collection and write up.

Snap on supplies rebuild kits for free.

Other than that, I enjoyed the read, though I don't think I'm ready to run out and buy one just yet.

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Just goes to show that I don't know everything and that is why I'm a member here so I will learn about what I don't know. Never replaced any Snappy items before.



Quote:I have nothing against SO or Mac or any other quality tool as I use them too.

wreckercologist said:

Do you really think that? You mentioned them, what? Four times? Your comments in your first post lead me to believe otherwise.

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I'm not sure I understand your message. I have been collector off and on of tools for nearly 25 years. I own SO, Mac, Cornwell, Williams, and many other ratchets and have used them all on various occasions. In fact SO was one of the first tools I collected and at one time I had a very extensive collection of their vintage tools.

Currently I use the tool that is best suited for the task at hand. I enjoy all ratchets but prefer to use Gearless most but not all of the time

laz said:

Question for the oldjacks: because you're a connoisseur of these, which one do you like best and why?

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The best of these are the Blackhawk Ratchets but, unfortunately, since they are vintage, they are not easily found. They have the best combination of head size, quality construction and ease of reversing (push button and swing ratchet to the right or left to reverse). Designed and built in the late 1930's they were as good a ratchet that was ever made on the market at the time.

Pretty cool ratchets!

Would make make my day to come across any of those old ones in my garage/estate sale foraging.

oldjacks said:

Left to right Vintage Blackhawk first three ratchets, next 2 Rich Pacific, then Speedmaster, Plomb Prototype Hinge Handle Ratchet (Speculation on my part), Radian, Mac, NKC Liberal Ratchet (With wobble drive), next 5 (Titan, Astro and no names), and last 3 Toptul

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Was that a flee market find? Interesting to know that rare Japanese tool made its way across the pacific. Their stuff is very expensive, comparatively speaking. That ratchet would probably cost close to $150. They do supply certain German automaker's assembly lines--that should speak for its durability and reliability.

I've had the Toptul 3/8" for a couple years, but I've only used it a handful of times. They are a bit bulky and head-heavy, but they certainly work well as there's zero backlash in them.

superautobacs said:

Was that a flee market find? Interesting to know that rare Japanese tool made its way across the pacific. Their stuff is very expensive, comparatively speaking. That ratchet would probably cost close to $150. They do supply certain German automaker's assembly lines--that should speak for its durability and reliability.

I've had the Toptul 3/8" for a couple years, but I've only used it a handful of times. They are a bit bulky and head-heavy, but they certainly work well as there's zero backlash in them.

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That NKC ratchet was a gift from a friend and is indeed of a very high quality. It looks a bit funky but it is a useful tool and the head diameter is amazingly small with a reverse mechanism that works considerably better than most others. I have never met anyone who has known anything of this brand so your info is a welcome addition.

As far as the Toptul Ratchets are concerned they are indeed head heavy & bulky but seem to be built like a tank. I haven't had a chance to work with them much yet but I don't think I will be disappointed. Should be able to handle the toughest jobs with ease.

That's a nice gift!

NKC makes gearless ratchet adaptors (probably what they're most famous for) that have the most compact dimensions available in the market today. Here's a link: http://www.winpal.net/~nkc/seihin/ratye-s.html

I found out that Volkswagen is the company that uses their tools.

You have my curiosity up now on those NKC Ratchets but a quick Google search doesn't bring up any results of value. Your link shows worldwide patents for them but I ask what is the point of that as apparently they have no desire to make these items available to the general public. It may be a dead end but little diligence can frequently pay rewards so I am going to continue my search. Saw your previous post on T-Handles but that is about it for the NKC Brand

I am also a little surprised that more of the members here on GJ didn't chime in for actually using gearless ratchets. Considering how long these devices have been around it is a rather strange that more people haven't tried them out. I ran into a Filipino Gentleman one day and we got to talking about tools. He then proceeds to tell me about the greatest ratchet ever made.

He then told me it was out in his car and soon enough retrieved it. I was amazed when he showed me a Vintage Blackhawk Freewheeling Ratchet. I can't remember what he told me how he came to own one of these or why it was the only tool he had in his car. It was obvious though that he had a deep appreciation for the tool and would not even consider selling it to me.

oldjacks said:

That NKC ratchet was a gift from a friend and is indeed of a very high quality. It looks a bit funky but it is a useful tool and the head diameter is amazingly small with a reverse mechanism that works considerably better than most others. I have never met anyone who has known anything of this brand so your info is a welcome addition.

As far as the Toptul Ratchets are concerned they are indeed head heavy & bulky but seem to be built like a tank. I haven't had a chance to work with them much yet but I don't think I will be disappointed. Should be able to handle the toughest jobs with ease.

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I have the TopTul 3/8" and I agree, built like a tank. Used it just the other day when wrenching on my Landcruiser. Although I have never done it, feels like you could put a cheater on it and wouldn't even blink. For sure needs less swing than a ratchet ratchet but I would not say zero deg tho.

I use them when I can although am a little sad there isn't much available in 1/2 drive. In the 936 days I used them almost exclusively, all day everyday. The 936s just sat quietly unused because they rarely had a purpose in life, unless the ratchet head of the gearless was in the way. That wasn't often the case.