Smooth jaw pipe wrench

[AJHD]

Does anyone use smooth jaw pipe wrenches? Specifically for large hydraulic fittings and adapters?

Pipe wrenches with 2"+ capacities seem to be generally smaller and cheaper than comparable adjustable/Crescent wrenches with similar jaw capacity.

But there are also fewer options for smooth jaw. A traditional pipe wrench will chew up the fittings.

Just curious if there are any advantages or disadvantages using one over the other. Opinions?

Milwaukee 12 in. Smooth Jaw Pipe Wrench 48-22-7186 - The Home Depot

Choose a great tool for all your plumbing applications by selecting this extra ordinary Milwaukee Smooth Jaw Pipe Wrench. Ergonomic handle prevents fatigue.

www.homedepot.com

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

That's not a pipe wrench, and despite the marketing ****, the design is over 100 years old

That or a big crescent will usually do fine, bit sometimes you need a big crow foot.

 

[redwrench60]

Yes. I have a Ridgid and a couple old Crescent and Diamond. They work great for a holder wrench or primary tightening up big fittings in tight quarters. I always grab one with whatever other wrenches I need when attacking a bunch of JIC fittings or flare copper

 

[KnurledNut]

Ridgid 31400 Spud Wrench here...

 

[Zewnten]

Yes, with a cheater pipe or by itself. Great for hydraulics or cylinders after being broken loose.

 

[DAustin]

Isn't that just like a Monkey Wrench?

 

[AJHD]

That's not a pipe wrench, and despite the marketing ****, the design is over 100 years old

That or a big crescent will usually do fine, bit sometimes you need a big crow foot.

I will pick up a set of large crow foot wrenches at some point. For now I'm just looking for something that can handle a variety of sizes and only needing to carry one tool. I need something that can handle 2" and larger. Options start to become limited and expensive at those sizes.

Yes, with a cheater pipe or by itself. Great for hydraulics or cylinders after being broken loose.

I don't see any reason it won't work to loosen as well. All be it limited experience, hydraulic fittings and adapters/couplers are not high torque applications.

Isn't that just like a Monkey Wrench?

Yes, just an updated design. I personally like the Milwaukee design more than the Rigid.

 

[plinker]

I have a couple Diamond "monkey wrenches" that came in handy from time to time, I also have one of these Ridgid "hex wrenches" in 10" that was useful. https://www.ridgid.com/us/en/hex-wrenches

Easy enough to tighten with a larger wrench once snug with one of them. The 8" wide jaw Channelock adjustable got a lot of use as well.

 

[Tools4Me]

I agree with you about how expensive adjustable wrenches get as the size goes up. 15" adjustable wrenches are often surprisingly inexpensive and they allow you to work on fittings up to around 1-3/4" in size, but the prices go up very rapidly for anything larger than that.

A Ridgid "spud wrench" (which is technically a wide jawed monkey wrench), is a great tool for clamping and bending distorted metal parts, and for use on softer fittings that benefit from the turning force being spread out across a wider jaw to minimize distortion or damage to the fitting. It's a relatively small tool though.

For steel fittings or fittings that require more torque, I usually grab a Ridgid hex wrench. Ridgid used to make them in several different sizes, but now they only make a small light duty E-110 (for under-sink plumbing work), or 17" (31275) or 25" (31280) versions for heavy duty work. Because of the way a hex wrench jaw opens dimensionally, in addition to hex or octagonal fittings, it can grab large square fittings properly (as long as you are pushing on the wrench handle in the correct direction) even though the jaws don't appear like they would be able to. Great tools, but due to the way they are designed (the jaws are thinner than the body of the tool) they have the same limitations Knipex Pliers Wrenches have, in that they don't work well in situations where you are dealing with a bolt head or a fitting that's sticking up from a flat surface or located right up against a large flat surface. For situations like that, adjustable wrenches, service wrenches, or crowfoot wrenches are better suited for the job if they can handle the torque you need to apply.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION- Ridgid specs say a model 25 hex wrench is for 1-2" pipe. That means it will work to grab any fittings associated with 1-2" trade sized pipe, not that the wrench can only handle hex fittings up to 2" in size. My Ridgid 25 hex wrench has jaws that can physically open up to 3-1/2" flat-to-flat. Any larger, and the adjustment nut threads will start losing full engagement with the floating jaw. My Ridgid 17 hex wrench has jaws that can open up to 2-1/2" flat-to-flat with full adjustment nut thread engagement.

 

[pizza]

that's not a pipe wrench. a pipe wrench must be able to grip round surfaces. right?

how about knipex pliers wrench XL 400mm

https://www.knipex.com/products/pipe-wrenches-and-water-pump-pliers/pliers-wrench-xl-pliers-and-a-wrench-in-a-single-tool

3+3/8" jew capacity

 

[nadogail]

My father, long deceased, had a Trimo Spud Wrench that seemed very big about 75 years ago

 

[Coach James]

I use smooth jaw adjustable pliers (Superior Tool Company) and smooth jaw monkey wrenches to work on urinals in my building.

Coach

 

[lasagna]

I know the Knipex Cobra XS has a 3/4" jew capacity. Is that the same as the jaw capacity for the pliers wrench?

 

[bigfunwmu]

Does anyone use smooth jaw pipe wrenches? Specifically for large hydraulic fittings and adapters?

Pipe wrenches with 2"+ capacities seem to be generally smaller and cheaper than comparable adjustable/Crescent wrenches with similar jaw capacity.

But there are also fewer options for smooth jaw. A traditional pipe wrench will chew up the fittings.

Just curious if there are any advantages or disadvantages using one over the other. Opinions?

Milwaukee 12 in. Smooth Jaw Pipe Wrench 48-22-7186 - The Home Depot

Choose a great tool for all your plumbing applications by selecting this extra ordinary Milwaukee Smooth Jaw Pipe Wrench. Ergonomic handle prevents fatigue.

www.homedepot.com

Crescent C718 is what you want.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KL7N2W/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Gets daily use in our shop on the test bench for lines from 1.25" to over 2" and works great.

 

[Meursault74]

Imagine if there had been a typo.....................

Smooth Jawed Pipe Wench................. she services the other kind of pipe.......................... great name and byline for a ***** flick.

 

[Zewnten]

I don't see any reason it won't work to loosen as well. All be it limited experience, hydraulic fittings and adapters/couplers are not high torque applications.

FYI ABN 1/2 drive crowfoot set covers 1-1/16 to 2 and runs about $100, holds up fine to start out.

Correct you don't torque them much but they can require a lot to break them free. I had a remote oil line on a 740 wiggle wagon even with a 36" long 3/4 drive ratchet I couldn't break the OFFS loose. Used a blunt air chisel move it. No idea why but it happens all the time.

 

[AJHD]

I ordered the Milwaukee wrench I linked in my 1st post. It should be here tomorrow. We'll see how it does when I get a chance to use it.

The other day nothing myself or my buddy hand on hand would fit a leaking Stucchi coupler on a CAT 320... Including 18" adjustable wrenches, both those and other tools we had were all too small.

Another tech ended up finishing the job after we left or the next day, but I read his work notes today and it appears he also had issues removing it. Not sure of the details though.

Anyway... More larger tools will come. As I venture more into hydraulics work, the more tools I will need to buy because I simply don't have them.

 

[RedneckWelder]

I ordered the Milwaukee wrench I linked in my 1st post. It should be here tomorrow. We'll see how it does when I get a chance to use it.

The other day nothing myself or my buddy hand on hand would fit a leaking Stucchi coupler on a CAT 320... Including 18" adjustable wrenches, both those and other tools we had were all too small.

Another tech ended up finishing the job after we left or the next day, but I read his work notes today and it appears he also had issues removing it. Not sure of the details though.

Anyway... More larger tools will come. As I venture more into hydraulics work, the more tools I will need to buy because I simply don't have them.

Quick couplers for hydraulic lines are huge pains in the ***. Leak easily, hard to couple/uncouple, and just generally aggravating. And then sometimes when you finally get them broke loose you discover the threads are distorted.

I do use a smooth Jaw ridged 10” angle wrench for hydraulics. It does work well but has the limitation of only good for certain angles and the nut and such gets in the way sometimes.

 

[AJHD]

Quick couplers for hydraulic lines are huge pains in the ***. Leak easily, hard to couple/uncouple, and just generally aggravating. And then sometimes when you finally get them broke loose you discover the threads are distorted.

I do use a smooth Jaw ridged 10” angle wrench for hydraulics. It does work well but has the limitation of only good for certain angles and the nut and such gets in the way sometimes.

That they are, even with my limited experience. I was setting up a German drum cutter a few weeks back before I got sick and I installed quick couplers on all 3 of the lines.

Rather annoying if I'm being honest. They were a bit smaller though and I managed to get them installed with a few adjustables.

 

[BarrelRoll]

Crescent C718 is what you want.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KL7N2W/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Gets daily use in our shop on the test bench for lines from 1.25" to over 2" and works great.

I picked up the 15" version. It's been handy for big hydraulic lines though it's a bit clunky and better than nothing. It replaced the 15" adjustable wrench in my tool bag.

 

[AJHD]

Wrench was delivered yesterday. 1st impressions are it's well made and solid for its size. On par with Milwaukee's other pipe wrench offerings.

My only complaint is the overall size at only 12". This will definitely see frequent use where I work, but I wish Milwaukee made a version with a longer handle, maybe 18", as they do with their other pipe wrenches.

 

[redwrench60]

The beauty of that 12”er is it’s a good size for smaller fittings and bushings, especially in tighter spaces. Then when more leverage is needed add a 20”-24” piece of schedule 40 and you got a real problem solver.

 

[housewolf]

The beauty of that 12”er is it’s a good size for smaller fittings and bushings, especially in tighter spaces. Then when more leverage is needed add a 20”-24” piece of schedule 40 and you got a real problem solver.

I (plumber) used to always say “5 million sprinkler fitters can’t be wrong”. I’d see those guys screwing 1-1/2” & 2” pipe together using 10 & 12” pipe wrenches with a piece of conduit formed on for an 18” (or more) handle. I have a little 10” set up like that still. Lighter, smaller, just generally easier to use.

 

[AJHD]

The beauty of that 12”er is it’s a good size for smaller fittings and bushings, especially in tighter spaces. Then when more leverage is needed add a 20”-24” piece of schedule 40 and you got a real problem solver.

Can't use cheater bars at work, unfortunately. Improvised and home made tools are a no-go... Most I could get away with is to smack it with a dead blow.

 

[Snapped-off]

Used the piss out of Ford wrenches for all kinds of unions.