Downsizing...which 3/4 ratchet to sell?

[cookefab]

I hate to get rid of tools, but I've got doubles/triples of way too much to keep...especially in this economy. Business is down, taxes are up, space is tight, I'm in a new-to-me market...the list of reasons, (excuses), is too long to list. I've figured out most of what needs to go, but I'm on the fence on a handful of remaining items...read on...

I've got a newer US made CM 3/4" drive ratchet that is in excellent shape, and I've got an older Williams H-51 that I got an awesome deal on, also in great shape - a "you ****" price, in other words. Even though part of my income comes from wrenching, I rarely use 3/4" drive other than my CP impact, so having two sets of 3/4" drive hand tools is ridiculous.

I would like to get some opinions on which to keep, which to sell, and some reasons why...I'm hoping someone out there has some insight that is escaping me.

FWIW, I'm leaning towards selling the Williams - the CM is a little longer, and parts are easier to come by, should I ever break it. (Not really crazy about trading a US made ratchet for a ChiCom one...) On the other hand, the Williams has a definite "cool" factor, at least to me, and sadly, from what research that I've done, won't fetch as much as the CM, even on Ebay...

Thanks in advance...

 

[volaredon]

I hate to get rid of tools, but I've got doubles/triples of way too much to keep...especially in this economy. Business is down, taxes are up, space is tight, I'm in a new-to-me market...the list of reasons, (excuses), is too long to list. I've figured out most of what needs to go, but I'm on the fence on a handful of remaining items...read on...

I've got a newer US made CM 3/4" drive ratchet that is in excellent shape, and I've got an older Williams H-51 that I got an awesome deal on, also in great shape - a "you ****" price, in other words. Even though part of my income comes from wrenching, I rarely use 3/4" drive other than my CP impact, so having two sets of 3/4" drive hand tools is ridiculous.

I would like to get some opinions on which to keep, which to sell, and some reasons why...I'm hoping someone out there has some insight that is escaping me.

FWIW, I'm leaning towards selling the Williams - the CM is a little longer, and parts are easier to come by, should I ever break it. (Not really crazy about trading a US made ratchet for a ChiCom one...) On the other hand, the Williams has a definite "cool" factor, at least to me, and sadly, from what research that I've done, won't fetch as much as the CM, even on Ebay...

Thanks in advance...

huh I thought Williams was all US made?

 

[rusty65]

Personally I would sell the craftsman because round head ratchets like the Williams are actually in fact stronger then pear head ratchets which the craftsman likely is. The only thing I would worry about with the Williams is if it wears out on you which I would think would take years of abuse with no care.

 

[cookefab]

huh I thought Williams was all US made?

It is, or at least was when this H-51 was made...now its a tossup by my research. I was referring to fixing my existing US made CM vs. exchanging it. I haven't seen a US made 3/4" drive anything at Sears in a while...

 

[cookefab]

Personally I would sell the craftsman because round head ratchets like the Williams are actually in fact stronger then pear head ratchets which the craftsman likely is. The only thing I would worry about with the Williams is if it wears out on you which I would think would take years of abuse with no care.

Actually, this H-51 is a "pear head" by all definitions. I highly doubt that I would be able to break either of them, but you never know...and I don't abuse any of my tools...I actually have 3/4" breaker bars as well, and know when to use them. Wish they were longer, though...

 

[sberry]

Like you said,,, you really dont even use it,,, whuy so much worry about wearing it out or breakage????? This is the 1% that seldom happens but gets the most worry, which is stronger etc, means nothing. Sell the one you can get most money for, I am not much for selling tools but for a lot of people it really makes sense especially when they don't need or have no near future need or it could be replaced with very little effort should the need arise at the same cost, why keep/store/inventory etc it?

Selling items is a skill I wish I could master especially in todays world with the ability to buy as needed.

Only real time breakage or wear is issue is daily use, that is a professional tool and very little problems, in fact Sears 1/2 ratchets hold up fairly well, not suyper smooth but they work, the 3/8 they havnt mastered yet or they did and screwed it up. 3/4 not even an issue, got one mkyself, a cman, 30 yrs old and works like new, never know it wasnt. They just dont get the wear and face the same duty cycle as a 3/8 especially if its a go to tool for a full time mechanic. Once a guy has 2 the wear is spread if he uses a second and with a 3rd I bet most career mechanics would have hard time wearing a set out.

I have 3 or 4 in a pool, at muy rate if I bought a new Struck F ** or what they are that I should never have to service it. I did some early cman, they were abused big time from young guys, hard stress, a couple SK, fast hard work, a couple units short so they got used a lot, over the years after they get service they were fine as we increased so manhy power drive tools a small ratchet barely gets mush of a workout anymore, a longer bar is within reach as is an impact, a new decent 3/8 would probably last me the rest of my career provided I was the only operator.

 

[sberry]

Over my career as a farmer I will not have work one 3/4 ratchet out from use. Me, my men, my imediate family together wont wear out or break a 3/4 over 3 generations in the farm business, small farm, about like a light truck shop most of the time.

A hump and pump auto guy depending on style of work I bet doesnt wear out a truck ratchet in 5 yrs provided as a primary unit, he would have to be dripping sweat 50 hrs a week. Avg mechanic anymore has all this stuff but pisses and moans about how hard it all is if he cant put a code reader on it, a lot of hand tools do not see the service they once did when a valve job was routine anywhere north of 60K miles. All the work done to an aouto in thiose days involved real nut and bolt stuff.

 

[sberry]

The whole crowd that believes themselves to be real demanding on their tools isnt for the most part, over estimated about like the service demand to the avg garage, 100A and 95% of the time the lights are the big draw at amp loads that can be counted on hands. A few driveline guys maybe, a few front end suspension types could give a few pieces a hard life, the other 95% of the world the tools sit idle way more than they are used, put a stop watch on any given half a dozen most used wrenches and see how much it adds up to in a week, ionly a few minutes with the busiest. Doing a ton of rusty stuff in a muffler or class 8 truck shop a bit more demanding, in other threads I talk about this, about being brutal,,, yes, you dont care for a brutal mechanic but that has little to do with the issue of the fitmness of the tool but makes my point even more, have seen these pieces survive heavy service with a rate of failure only marginally higher than the best, and so many stilol in service that we still dont know at what point it would become an issue.

Well over half socket failures if they didnt show up right out of the box is either impact where they shouldnt or driving sockets on with a hammer, its one thing with an impact but thin chromes, duh. Easily abuse issue from a semi skilled operator, I know where things get broken in my shop or shops I have managed and its not from the hi level masters, its from the crowd that figures themselves to be hi rate types no matter what, cant stop a second to do it right.

They may also be the crowd to go for every gadget,,, we just bought a set of HF metric impact swivels, I had one over the years for cross memeber work on trucks but I spring 28$ for a set "just in case" it was my idea but my master didnt care,,, said this,,, we got along just fine this far without them, seems I did use the 19 so far on 2 bolts but we,,, him and myself are so crafty and understand some geometry that we can see adding a simple 2 inch common extension allows us to rotate a ratchet square with the work it all fits without running at odd angles especially with impact. I have trouble spelling math but can see if something is crooked or straight or if a collar on a tool is interfering etc.

My helper is constantly saying,,,, that was easier than I thought it was going to be. Main reason is he attacks first when that doesnt work he looks for another answer maybe, can fiddle in a hurry with the wrong wrench, doesnt make you fast, figuring how to square the impact up in with right fittings and drive 4 rusty bolts out in 30 seconds vs 30 mins with an undersized 3/8 manual ratchet,,, peole hate to stand around 5 minutes figuring out the easy way, would rather rush in and bust a stud off first thing jump up and down, buy another bit to race to see if they can fix the first fuk up.

Had a guy work for me 5 yrs on old equipment, broke about 1 bolt and we might have discussed the possibilty of this before it actually occured, man never broke a thing, the stuff he was working on, the tools he used.

 

[sberry]

I wish I had him back on ossasion, I paid by the hour and still would hire him by the hour to sit down and read a service manual, (used to drive others crazy to see him sit on a padded stool and read) tell me how it works in a 5 minute summary. We serviced a ton of complicated ****, sometimes once we learned would service multiple units etc.

 

[Steevo]

Sell me the Williams 3/4" ratchet for a rock-bottom deal, and then I'll post the bargain in here and get a "you ****" for it!

I'll give you $20 plus shipping.

 

[sberry]

I am not too bright but am a super practical estimator by poker numbers, about like 5 card draw. I used to prepare for everything but as I said my mechanic bud did great with far less hardline tools than I have, he got what he needed but rarely bought something cause it was cheap, once he got the pieces he needed he quit looking, said it took 2 looks and buying one socket from that tool truck that regular stopped next door when our parts store delivered twice a day and was an SK dealer at 25% the cost.

I have a few SK for this reason, over the years before the advent of the modern tool and focused on sets, bought from those guys, bought some singles, a 6 pt 16 for one job, was about 8$ delivered. 31 or 32 at the time off the truck plus tax, absolutely needed it just once, the import cost about half that in a single and it was common 12 pt which I had a couple. Another SK from the dealer I bought was a 1 1/8 impact and in hindsight I havnt used it but wanted to finish off a set I scored minus it from an auction, heavy duty, 25$ I think but I rat hole in as insurance of being able to gang up, I may have used it a couple times, cant remember.

 

[cookefab]

Sell me the Williams 3/4" ratchet for a rock-bottom deal, and then I'll post the bargain in here and get a "you ****" for it!

I'll give you $20 plus shipping.

The whole idea of selling off spares to offset Uncle Sam's latest smackdown is to make money...thanks anyway...

Interesting profile pic, though...

 

[AL`]

My vote is you keep the Williams and sell the Craftsman. But if I were looking to buy it, I'd suggest otherwise as Steevo did.

 

[kythri]

Is this the H-51 with the humongous handle (H-51/H-51B) or the H-51AB that has a replacable pipe/rod handle?

If it's the all-one-piece job, I'd keep the Craftsman, personally.

If it's the one with the pinned/replaceable handle, I'd keep that.

 

[cookefab]

Is this the H-51 with the humongous handle (H-51/H-51B) or the H-51AB that has a replacable pipe/rod handle?

If it's the all-one-piece job, I'd keep the Craftsman, personally.

If it's the one with the pinned/replaceable handle, I'd keep that.

It doesn't have a removable handle, and the handle it does have is big-ish...I guess...I have big hands, so it kind of fits...the stamp on the (top) of the handle says "H-51"...no letters after that...

Are there known issues w/ the H-51(B)? Or is it just not worth as much as the (AB) version?

I guess I should have posted a pic of the Williams to begin with...

 

[kythri]

I can't speak to issues or value, just personal preference.

I just strongly dislike that style of ratchet - looks like the OLLLLD Snap-On stuff.

 

[BD1]

I vote to sell to STEEVO !!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tweedlestan]

Seems to me this thread had a different title, in its infancy...

 

[cookefab]

Seems to me this thread had a different title, in its infancy...

Yeah, there is that...^

I got a crappy offer, support for the crappy offer and a life story amongst some input...still on the fence...

Have to download the pic...heck, maybe I should list both on the classifieds here, and keep what doesn't sell first.

Taxes ****.

 

[kunkernator]

If you truly want to sell one, I may be interested at a fair price. I am trying to get some 3/4'' drive tools.

And as for which one to sell; when you use a 3/4'' drive ratchet, which one do you grab for more often? Sell the other one.
I would not keep it based on novelty, but because of it's usefulness to you.

 

[cookefab]

If you truly want to sell one, I may be interested at a fair price. I am trying to get some 3/4'' drive tools.

And as for which one to sell; when you use a 3/4'' drive ratchet, which one do you grab for more often? Sell the other one.
I would not keep it based on novelty, but because of it's usefulness to you.

Honestly, I've never used the Williams - it's stayed in the drawer in my shop box from the time I got it, in a "lot", until I pulled it out about a week ago to get me in the dilemma that started this thread. All I've done to it was wipe it down, and treat w/ the high buck rust inhibitor/protector. Most of my work is out on the property, or on the road. The CM was kept in a CM "truck" box in the cab of my work truck - its been used 3 times, that I can remember, in the 4ish years that I've had it...

PM me, and fire off an offer. Shipping will be a factor, due to weight/length...I think...

 

[kunkernator]

PM sent

 

[2oolhound]

Yeah, there is that...^

I got a crappy offer, support for the crappy offer and a life story amongst some input...still on the fence...

LOL Good summary!

 

[ChevyEFI]

I never came to terms / liked the RP CM ratchets with their feel & coarse teeth.

If you like the feel of one over the other, there you go.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I never came to terms / liked the RP CM ratchets with their feel & coarse teeth.

If you like the feel of one over the other, there you go.

Well, if you don't like a Craftsman and its "coarse" teeth, and feel, you would hate the Williams. It has only about 26 teeth or something like that, very long travel between clicks, extremely difficult to disassemble if you want to clean or oil the mechanism (the thin nut that holds everything together is usually frozen and requires a special or homemade spanner to turn it). The Williams is a very bulky ratchet. I have two of them in 3/4 drive. I also have a pear head Bonney, and a pebble handle Proto pearhead in 3/4 drive, and at work I have a nice Blackhawk with fine teeth and a rather small round head.

Charles

 

[cookefab]

^Yep, Williams is 24T, the CM is 36T...no weird nut on the Williams, though...circlip.^

^I actually get to call BS on myself! It is a pin spanner nut that hold the Williams guts in - 1 7/8" FWIW...lesson learned - look (twice) before typing...^