Crows feet

[Jlarson]

I keep a lot of cheap ones around too cause I'll put em on an impact and extension and rattle a stubborn fitting till it gives up. A long air hammer bit is also useful in that area.

 

[RAS61]

Torquing injector lines.

Torquing any nut you can't get a socket on

 

[Renegade1LI]

It ***** if you need them & don't have them, when we did more of our own heavy equipment repair they saw a lot of use, now not so much. For some reason when these big machines are designed servicing them wasn't a priority, I also used them removing some car transmissions.

 

[Neggy]

I used my SAE crows feet from 198X last year when rebuilding the top end of my 2013 Harley.... I can't even remember when the last time I used them before that. Snap-On crowsfeet too

My Metric ones.... can't remember the last time I used them

But back in the day there were times they were worth their weight in latinum

I bought a serpentine belt tool a few years back and it had a few cheap Metric crows feet in the kit.

 

[Renegade1LI]

But back in the day there were times they were worth their weight in latinum

Spoken like a true trekie,lol

 

[Steve_P]

This is one tool where it's Snap-On or bust.

My two sets are vintage KD USA and are fine. At that time it was the same as Craftsman USA. But if buying today, you might be correct. If I was buying today, I would also look at SK

 

[Old Donn]

Not a pro either. Picked up Craftsman fractional and metric crows feet some years back because some day, I thought I might need them. Not yet so far, but they're at the ready.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

My two sets are vintage KD USA and are fine. At that time it was the same as Craftsman USA. But if buying today, you might be correct. If I was buying today, I would also look at SK

Mine are KD also. I think I'd go Tekton if I was to buy new (as an infrequent user).

 

[cannuck]

I have the usual metric and US open and Weatherhead, but on top of that some really large ones from an inch up to 3 or so. Actually use the big ones a fair bit (inside of power transformers when there is no room to swing a wrench on bushing jamb nuts. I will be making an even larger one later this month - once more for a bushing nut that is too close to others, core and wall to be able to turn a long (and very thin) flat wrench (laser cut from plate, 1/2 drive square end cut from an impact socket and welded on).

 

[AirMech#406]

This is one tool where it's Snap-On or bust.

Line wrenches would be #2 on that list.

I gotta disagree. I have used S/O, Mac, Proto, Craftsman... I never really had a situation where I found myself saying "whew! lucky thing we had these Snap-Ons or that would have been impossible!" I actually sold my S/O set in favor of the lower-profile Tekton crows feet. I have no regrets. You don't need to fork over an absurd amount of money to tighten AN fittings and hard-to-reach fasteners.

As to the OPs question: as others have already said, they are invaluable for torquing hydraulic fittings and fasteners that are difficult to reach with a regular wrench or socket. They are heavily utilized in aviation, both commercial and general.

 

[CoconutPete]

I have a 20 year old BMW Z3 that's my Sunday car.

I finally broke down and bought a set when replacing the clutch line. There was just no way to get a wrench around the nut up between the wall of the transmission tunnel and the transmission itself.

Full disclosure: I went for the cheap HarborFreigh set and i did have to go to work on the 13MM one with a file in order for my ratchet extension to actually fit.....

 

[iagsxr]

Replaced most of the hydraulic hoses on my forklift last summer. There were several fittings that you had to use a crow's foot.

Got in my dad's box and used his as I don't own a set. After that was all fired up to get my own till I thought about it a little bit and realized that was the first time I'd needed them since we closed our shop a little over ten years ago.

If I had my own set they'd get used more often, but most of the time there's a workaround.