Reasonably priced wrenches larger than 2 1/2"

[KinzeMech]

Does anyone know a good place to find reasonably priced wrenches in sizes larger than 2 1/2"?

I've got harbor freight's "jumbo" and "super jumbo" (nice technical terms there...lol) wrench sets. Together they cover up sizes ranging from 1 3/8" all the way to 2 1/2". I'd like to find another set that covers the sizes between 2 1/2" and all the way up to 3". It's rare, but I've recently had a use for wrenches larger than 2 1/2" (not certain the exact size I needed, but I didn't have it). We made do with a 3 foot pipe wrench, but I hate using pipe wrenches on hex fasteners, I feel like doing that on a regular basis constitutes being a hack.

Normally, I don't like cheap wrenches, but the cheap large ones I've got have never disappointed me. Fasteners that large simply don't round off, and wrenches that large simply don't break.

 

[monomach]

The cheapest 3 inch combo I've ever seen was still right around $300 for just the one wrench. You just can't make a cheap wrench almost 3 feet long.

 

[raiderhillbilly]

Check ebay for engineers wrenches. The old Williams ones are cool. Slugging wrenches are cheaper than combination wrenches and lighter.

 

[KinzeMech]

I've been watching ebay. I've actually found a few, and depending on late auction activity (always a variable), I may find a bargain. It will take a little time to piecemeal this vs. a set, but seeing as a value priced set doesn't likely exist, this won't be a bad way to go.

 

[bobcatdan]

I think the 30" adjustable wrench bahco makes opens to over 3". You can also get it with the blue point name stamped on it.

 

[Heavy Metal Doctor]

I think the 30" adjustable wrench bahco makes opens to over 3". You can also get it with the blue point name stamped on it.

Yeah.....a big, good quality, adjustable works for most stuff when you get up over 1 1/2.
I bought HF jumbo wrenches when I started working on equipment for a living - I think they where all broken by 5 years in and I was still broke enough that I wasn't going to spend big bucks on replacing them with better quality versions, so I just bought a one big BP adjustable....I often hang a big cheater pipe on it and it works fine.

 

[bobcatdan]

One thing also I will say if the OP ran across the need for this at work, I would say for something that big, the employer should look into supplying something like that. Unless you use it often, hard to justify something that ridiculously big.

 

[KinzeMech]

One thing also I will say if the OP ran across the need for this at work, I would say for something that big, the employer should look into supplying something like that. Unless you use it often, hard to justify something that ridiculously big.

The shop provides 3 ft pipe wrenches, and considers that an adequate solution. It is my choice to be properly equipped to a higher standard than that. If I were to be working on a machine, and arrive at a situation where this tool were absolutely required to complete a repair, I would be able to go to NAPA and charge the necessary wrench to the employer. If the job can be completed with the pipe wrench presently in the inventory of shop tools, that is the method I am expected to use.

I have a HF 24" adjustable that opens to 2 1/2", and I've punished it fairly hard for 3 years now with it showing no weakness. I will have to look further at the 30" Bahco that someone suggested opens up to 3". That would meet my needs in one wrench (although I would probably still keep an eye open for bargains in the larger sizes).

 

[KinzeMech]

Yeah.....a big, good quality, adjustable works for most stuff when you get up over 1 1/2.
I bought HF jumbo wrenches when I started working on equipment for a living - I think they where all broken by 5 years in and I was still broke enough that I wasn't going to spend big bucks on replacing them with better quality versions, so I just bought a one big BP adjustable....I often hang a big cheater pipe on it and it works fine.

A few days ago, one of the other guys in the shop had to sacrifice his Harbor Fright jumbo 1-1/2" wrench on the altar of tool modification. He cut the wrench in the middle, and welded a 6 foot tubing in the middle of it to end up with a 1-1/2" wrench about 6 1/2 feet long. That wrench held up to 450 lbs of mechanic (Two 225 lbs guys, not one 450...lol) hanging all the way off the end of it. Granted, that doesn't mean the wrench will hold up over time, but it does mean it has got adequate strength.

I'm working on ag equipment, so I probably represent a lighter duty workload than what it sounds like you are working on. I encounter the occasional large fastener, but I can easily go a month at a time without laying a hand on a wrench larger than 1-7/8", so this honestly does not represent a "must have" tool for me.

 

[KinzeMech]

I think the 30" adjustable wrench bahco makes opens to over 3". You can also get it with the blue point name stamped on it.

That sounds interesting, and I will look again sometime when the snap on website isn't down.

Snap-on Update

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It's like they think nobody shops for tools online on the weekends, they do this **** a lot.

 

[OutsideMachinist]

I would agree with the posts about an adjustable or slugging wrenches in the sizes you need. Adjustable would be cheaper obviously. I think the HF wrenches are junk. The NT jumbo wrenches are better but they are still carbon steel and not like a good quality USA wrench. They work ok definitely decent for the price you dont care about cutting or bending them.

Spending your own money just get the adjustable. Anything 2 1/2 below I would grab Klutch wrenches also.

 

[Ign]

Wow, I always figured all the NT stuff like this was identical to HF..... I coulda sworn it used to be; the pictures in their catalog looked the same and the number of pieces and sizes in a set was also identical.

 

[Ign]

Also OP I don't mean to hijack as I know how frustrating it is when you ask for one thing and people tell you can just use something else, but I'm assuming you've considered the 1" drive set from HF? I completely understand that sockets and wrenches can be very different animals in practice, so this simply may not work for you. At $180 less 25% it really ain't a terrible value or huge investment once we start talking about tools in this league.

http://www.harborfreight.com/21-piece-jumbo-1-inch-drive-heavy-duty-socket-set-95377.html

The other potential pitfalls, however are that it's heavy if you want to move the whole set around, and if you're truly only needing over 2.5" you only gain 2 5/8", 2 3/4", 2 15/16", 3" and 3 1/8" (also don't know if you need over 3" so that last one may not help you either).

Still, to buy those 3 or 4 sockets in a "real" brand would probably total your entire cost at HF. Used, quality sockets of this size may be cheap on ebay - - I haven't looked - - and if so, you've probably not looked either because you don't need sockets, you need wrenches.

edit: I also love how HF's text description says 3 1/3". Just the other day I was thinking damn, I could really use a 3 1/3" socket

 

[ihateminimumwage]

Wow, I always figured all the NT stuff like this was identical to HF..... I coulda sworn it used to be; the pictures in their catalog looked the same and the number of pieces and sizes in a set was also identical.

I bought the jumbo set from NT a couple years back, and they are much nicer than the HF set, and have held up great. Still nowhere near as nice as the Kobalt USA big combos I bought to fill in the set (1-1/4, 1-5/16, 1-7/16. 1-9/16) are far better quality.

 

[shockwave]

Look at craigslist and eBay 2nd hand will be the way to go as not many around

And a large adjustable wrench is good as well look at ones made in Spain

 

[bobcatdan]

Another option for big adjustable wrench, OTC. They make a couple of monsters that rathen a screw adjustment, have a series of holes and pins to lock the jaw at a set size.

 

[CNGsaves]

How about 1" drive breaker bar and sockets, then cheater pipe as needed?? Company SHOULD be providing these tools all around anyway.

Your buddy cutting tool and fabricating something that will hold two guys jumping up and down on it to break loose nut is just INJURY (and subsequent lawsuit) waiting to happen. Company likely on bleeding edge also of a surprise visit from OSHA.

Also, COMPANY could just as easily provide 1" drive impact tools and impact sockets with very little injury risk to the employee. This would be my vote for best tool for the job, along with torch first to loosen up stuck bolt.

 

[Wakefield]

The cheapest 3 inch combo I've ever seen was still right around $300 for just the one wrench. You just can't make a cheap wrench almost 3 feet long.

Looks like about $548. for a Wright Black combination wrench in 3" and probably is about 3 feet long

A "satin" silvery 2 and 3/4" one shows $370 but doesn't look like the "satin" ones go above that size

Get it while you can! "Closeout" on Epstein's: 2 and 9/16" SK combination wrench@ $178. (before shipping) I think it is new old stock probably an excellent alternative to a loaded barbell If you don't have a bolt that big

 

[Heavymetalmechanic]

I have had my entire 210lbs on 4' of snipe over a 30" bahco/BP adjustable wrench more times then I can count with no slip or spread. Mind you it is a shop tool...

Another option I have seen done is to find a reputable fab shop with a water jet/plasma table cut big lobster-claw open ends in the size you need out of 7/8" tool steel with a 8-12" shank then cut a 1" square drive socket in the end. Nothing pretty but if it is not a low clearance job they work great.

 

[KinzeMech]

Also OP I don't mean to hijack as I know how frustrating it is when you ask for one thing and people tell you can just use something else, but I'm assuming you've considered the 1" drive set from HF?

That set has been on my shopping list for some time, and I'm getting close to getting it. Based on my experience with harbor freight 3/4 drive stuff, I expect the sockets to be ugly, but get the job done, and I expect the ratchet to probably be junk. The next thing I get after that set will probably be a 1 inch Armstrong ratchet. That should be a quality ratchet, and I have a local resource for warranty of that brand, if necessary.

edit: I also love how HF's text description says 3 1/3". Just the other day I was thinking damn, I could really use a 3 1/3" socket

I've noticed that too. I always assumed it was a typo, but that still leaves me wondering what the next size up is. I'm going to guess it's either 3 1/8 or 3 1/4. Odds are only one of those is a real size, but I don't know which.

 

[SCscoutguy]

I went to my states train museum and noticed in the area where they were restoring a steam engine they had several really unique looking huge wrenches. I asked them where they got them and the guy said that the museum works off donations so they could not afford to buy the huge wrenches they needed so they got a local metal place to donate the slab steel and then got the local technical college to draw up the wrenches in CAD and then laser cut them on the CNC machine for free. I thought it was a pretty neat solution to their problem.

 

[sparky5982]

The shop provides 3 ft pipe wrenches, and considers that an adequate solution. ... If the job can be completed with the pipe wrench presently in the inventory of shop tools, that is the method I am expected to use.

Talk about pound-foolish.

 

[KinzeMech]

How about 1" drive breaker bar and sockets, then cheater pipe as needed?? Company SHOULD be providing these tools all around anyway.

I do not disagree with you, but I do not wish to engage in public discussion about my boss's decisions. The fact is, if I want to be well equipped for the work I have to do, there is no one I can count on to make that happen, but me.

Your buddy cutting tool and fabricating something that will hold two guys jumping up and down on it to break loose nut is just INJURY (and subsequent lawsuit) waiting to happen. Company likely on bleeding edge also of a surprise visit from OSHA.

Also, COMPANY could just as easily provide 1" drive impact tools and impact sockets with very little injury risk to the employee. This would be my vote for best tool for the job, along with torch first to loosen up stuck bolt.

The torch was not an option, as the tool was not built to loosen the fastener, but to tighten it. I was out on a service call the day this tool was built and used, so I didn't see it in person, but I'm sure the guys were not "jumping up and down" on it. Doing something like this is not automatically dangerous, depending on how you do it.
I think the root cause of the issue was a malformed locknut. Locknuts on bolts that size always drive hard anyway. The nut/bolt in question is holding two halves of the implement frame together, and there is no conceivable reason that fastener should ever have to be loosened over the life of the machine.

 

[sberry]

I think if it was rather rare and no one was watching or cared would go to the pipe wrench if it worked.

 

[Ign]

I've noticed that too. I always assumed it was a typo, but that still leaves me wondering what the next size up is. I'm going to guess it's either 3 1/8 or 3 1/4. Odds are only one of those is a real size, but I don't know which.

The product specs online say 3 1/8". But I happen to have the set sitting on my shop floor so I looked; the biggest socket is indeed labeled 3 1/8"

 

[monomach]

Looks like about $548. for a Wright Black combination wrench in 3" and probably is about 3 feet long

A "satin" silvery 2 and 3/4" one shows $370 but doesn't look like the "satin" ones go above that size

Get it while you can! "Closeout" on Epstein's: 2 and 9/16" SK combination wrench@ $178. (before shipping) I think it is new old stock probably an excellent alternative to a loaded barbell If you don't have a bolt that big

I went looking again. Found a US-made Williams one for $270 shipped! HOT DEAL!

Not available in full polish. That kills it for all of the guys around here who like to shine their wrenches and stare at them.

 

[rsieracki]

When I was working in Texas City TX (between Houston and Galveston) a few years ago there were some decent (proto, willians, SK etc) 2" +/- wrenches in various pawn shops around town for $20-30 each IIRC.. I considered hoarding them for a 'just in case'... then factored in shipping back home to Chicago and the fact that i have no need for anything that large and i passed...

MY POINT: Your location isn't mention (that i noticed) try pawn shops for items that 'walked' off the job site if in a largely industrial area (mining, oilfield, Railroad etc) where something like that may be common

 

[KinzeMech]

I did pick up the 1" Harbor Freight socket set. It was cheap enough with a 25% off coupon to be worth the gamble. It has that horrible harbor freight smell to it worse than most things that come out of that store. I think I may spray half a can of brake cleaner in the metal box, and close it up for a week.

The sockets are not pretty. On the inside, there are dark spots on some of the sockets where apparently there was casting sand stuck to the sockets when they were chromed. After they were chromed, the casting sand fell off, exposing a dark, unchromed part of the socket. That goes a long way toward making the chrome look about like silver spray paint.

The ratchet mechanism doesn't feel like anything that's going to earn my confidence. I'm definitely going to be careful when putting any meaningful torque on this thing.

I did notice on the box where it says the tools are "carbon steel". I didn't realize it, but I've bought several things from them in the past assuming they were better material than that (a 3/4 socket set which has since been replaced with chrome vanadium craftsman sockets, and wrenches ranging from 1-3/8" to 2 1/2" which are still in service and have never shown a failure). Looking those items up again on harbor freight's website, these all show to be carbon steel.

I think I'm still going to keep an eye out for a bargain on used wrenches in sizes above 2 1/2", and I guess I should also begin keeping an eye open for a deal on a good 1" ratchet. I think the sockets have a fair chance of standing up to what I'll be doing to them, but the ratchet I don't have high hopes for.

 

[Ign]

Oh yeah I've never trusted any of these cheap 3/4"+ ratchets. I just use the breaker bar and then some other means. Obviously if you've got a quality 3/4" ratchet just get an adapter to step up to 1" for use after breaking with a breaker bar. Do post up if you manage to destroy a socket. Like you, I always figured they'd be good enough for the rare times I encounter fasteners this large.

 

[OutsideMachinist]

Yeah the cheap 3/4 and 1'' ratchets are useless. You could look into a ratchet adapter. Proto ones are good.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

All you guys talking about jumping on 6' pipes and such...time to start looking into Torque Multpliers...

Slightly exagerating for the purposes of illustrating the concept...but using nothing more then a 1/2" Standard Ratchet you can crank 1,000 ft/lbs easy and more...much safer, no hernias, no broken bones.

 

[OutsideMachinist]

All you guys talking about jumping on 6' pipes and such...time to start looking into Torque Multpliers...

Slightly exagerating for the purposes of illustrating the concept...but using nothing more then a 1/2" Standard Ratchet you can crank 1,000 ft/lbs easy and more...much safer, no hernias, no broken bones.

That is true. I wonder if anyone has used the one Northern Tool sells?