Which demo hammer should I buy?

[Shiftless]

I’m planning to dig out a few old fence posts that were set in concrete 30 years ago. And demo a 2 foot high wooden retaining wall and carve out about a foot of heavy clay dirt in back and put in a drainage tube and gravel.

Being a LOT less young than I was when I built this fence I figure its time to buy a power tool to help with digging.

I saw these at HF and HD. I plan to equip whatever I buy with an SDS shovel to augment the standard chisel.

Do any of you guys have experience with one of these? I have other Milwaulkee tools and of course I imagine it is probably the best but I’m not gonna bust up a whole driveway…just dig through and sculpt hard dirt and loosen soil to help my clamshell post hole digger make some nice deep post holes. And then about 30 feet of shallow trenching to run solid tubing out toward the city storm drain.

 

[oldschoolcraft]

No experience with any of those but I can say Hercules is their highest quality and most expensive in-house brand that HF puts out. So if you can afford it, I would generally go Hercules if you are buying something from HF. And I would wait for coupons.

 

[Robinson1]

The Milwaukee you picture is for large diameter holes and chipping tile. The $269 Hercules is in the same category.

If you’re limiting yourself to SDS max tools you want something in the 23 pound range.

Another option is a Bosch 16-30 uses a 1-1/8” hex shank chisel. They are pretty much the industry standard of small demo hammers. Street price on a new one is about $1100.

This is Harbor Freights option.

 

[Hakeem]

The Milwaukee you picture is for large diameter holes and chipping tile. The $269 Hercules is in the same category.

If you’re limiting yourself to SDS max tools you want something in the 23 pound range.

Another option is a Bosch 16-30 uses a 1-1/8” hex shank chisel. They are pretty much the industry standard of small demo hammers. Street price on a new one is about $1100.

This is Harbor Freights option.

23lbs is overkill for hole digging, nevermind a full size breaker. Sure it’ll dig into the clay quicker but pulling that big hammer back out gets old fast. Those are for breaking concrete, and only if needed.

The 14lb hammers do just fine for digging and they are far more maneuverable and pleasant to use. Keep in mind, you’ll spend a lot of time using these in a less-than-ergonomic position so a lighter weight tool goes a long way.

I dug these 2’x2’x2’ holes for footers w this Boschhammer by myself, took about 1-2hours a hole, and that’s through sticky limestone clay. Sometimes I had to dig through an existing footer, and that took longer. The nice thing about the clay spade is that it cuts the soil into large, intact slices which makes for easier removal by hand.


(Yes the footers are crooked, yes this brings me great shame long after they got covered by concrete)

I have to put fences up a few times a year and i dig out the 36”x12” holes for fence posts in 20 minutes or so, and the bulk of that time is for excavating the loose dirt. With two people, one on the hammer and one to remove the dirt, you’d cut that time in half.

Man it’s 4:30am and you’re making me want to dig some holes LOL. It is just that satisfying to do with these, though.

 

[zendriver]

Have the Bauer that I used to bust out rockhard mortar around basement windows

Work great and well built enough I see no need for an upgrade.

Everyone else spend their money as they fit

 

[Retired dozer fixer]

Sounds like you need to rent a small excavator

 

[RTM]

I have a Bosch 11203, which I bought for digging trenches under the house, so as noted above, a small lightweight hammer was my goal. My SIL has used it to plant bushes in his yard, and it will be coming home soon for more similar work. I once used a bigger hammer to demo a 6' tall by 2.5' wide cinder block wall, filled blocks with rebar. I was beat at the end of the day, mostly from wrestling the hammer up to a height where I could work on it. A Sawzall with a rebar cutting blade would have been a nice to have back then.

 

[tarmy]

This works great…not on your list but you will use it more than you think. Tools that vibrate and pound the **** outa thing I go with the best you can get. Everybody I know recommend this or a version of it…

 

[mike93lx]

I love my Bosch Sds plus (recip saw style) but would grab something from Harbor freight if I needed a bigger one.

 

[Shiftless]

Thanks for all of your guidance guys.

I bought the smaller Hercules from HF.
Along with the 4 1/2 inch wide clay spade it works great even on our hard clay soil where if you stand on a shovel, it doesn’t penetrate more than half an inch. The weight of the machine helps pull up the chunk of soil you just loosened.

Yes, I used my 20% off at HF

 

[Wamsutta]

Get a demo hammer big enough to power a digging bit in case you need to go into some hard pan someday.

 

[Doubled33]

Look at the Makita’s. They are powerful and well priced. Close to HF in price if I remember

 

[Shiftless]

In post #10 I showed what I bought to get the job done. The 4 1/2 inch wide clay spade works great even though right now it’s powered by a relatively low power demo hammer. A younger stronger guy might want a heavier machine but I don’t need to bust up concrete..l just dig some clay soil or hard pan. Here is the tool I bought at HF for $42.99

 

[FTG-05]

I bought this one a couple years ago, mostly for driving fence T-posts and ground rods:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TUJMJNI/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I bought the grounding rod driver separately, then made my own fence post driver bit:

 

[LOW1]

Ever going to use this thing again? If no, why not rent one that is better than what you would buy?

 

[Shiftless]

I have rented tools in the past, but unless the whole job can be completed in one day or maybe a weekend, by the time you pay for the rental for more than that, you have just about paid for the small tool. If you buy it, you start with a brand new tool instead of one that is half worn out and might not function properly through the whole job. Plus you get the luxury of knocking off after a couple of hours of hard work instead of forcing yourself to work when you’re tired and more prone to injury in order to meet the deadline of the store closure and a rushed drive to get it back on time.
If I keep it for a few months or a year and don’t use it or loan it out to buddies, I could probably sell it for half of what I paid.

 

[Shiftless]

Ever going to use this thing again? If no, why not rent one that is better than what you would buy?

Here is the cost of an admittedly “better” demo hammer but it is heavier so each time I pulled it out of a hole, I’d be lifting more weight. The size and weight I bought seems optimal for the job at hand. And this rental doesn’t not include the clay spade that I needed. They probably don’t rent bits but force you to buy them. If they do rent bits, I bet they rent for half retail.