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Pulled the trigger on electric impacts


REKIII

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After joining a FB group for High end tools, new and used classified, I learned a lot more about the world of cordless impacts.  I had been slowly coming to realize the horror, that I may very well have to buy Milwaukee to get anything decent.  It was pretty much unanimous that Snap-On and Matco sucked.  Some people liked Dewalt, but that is a no-go for me as well.

As I'm seeing these threads, I'm seeing more and more how, the general attitude is that, you HAVE to buy Milwaukee, it's the best, all others suck, if you don't buy Milwaukee, you are at best, retarded and should die.  It was actually making me upset, thinking that I would have to buy these obviously good tools, but then be in that group of complete douche bag owners.  I was starting to hate myself for considering!

Then, another brand started popping up, Ingersoll Rand.  I knew the brand, but never considered them.  It seemed they had equal or higher torque than the milwaukee, were decently priced, had a good warranty, and the batteries were long lasting.   The downside was that the batteries were unique to the impacts, but I didn't care about the flexibility of the fuel from the get go.

There were a bunch of very positive reviews, but the best part of the reviews was that the reviewers admitted the Milwaukees were good but they wouldn't say better.  The reviewers weren't asswipes saying to buy IR or burn in hell.  Very cordial.

So, I sent the paypal out today for 3/8" and 1/2" IR Impacts, each with 2 batteries, cases and they through in a flashlight.

The salesman asked if I was sure I didn't want Milwaukee, that he sold a lot more.  I told him my opinion on the matter, and he agreed, it was kind of like a cult, he said he actually had to sue a tech once because he had bought a milwaukee a few weeks prior, then saw him demo-ing a snap-on to a guy, the milwaukee tech grabbed the snap-on and smashed it on the ground, then picked it up and chucked it into the salemans truck denting 3 big tool chests.  He said he wouldn't work with anyone who didn't buy Milwaukee and to take that other shit out of here.  Seems to have confirmed my point fairly well, haha.

I'll let you know how they work.  Milwaukee can suck it.

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Glad you made a purchase. IR makes great tools, they're the best for anything pneumatic. I had co-workers at Wilde Toyota that would take wheels off with the 3/8 IR impact.

As you said the Milwaukee batteries are really the only big difference but I plan on having other cordless tools and don't want 5 chargers taking up workspace.

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The Milwaukee is "THE cordless impact to have" trend really seemed to pick up with the introduction of the M12 Fuel and especially the M18 Fuel model cordless impacts. The small size of the tool, its power, batteries, no challenge too great, angels singing when you use them, etc. I was working my way through a case of tool envy after seeing a couple of these in the paddock and like you I trolled the power tool forums/reviews for a while. Crazy to read all the love/hate for the various brands. Finally decided I'd spend money on other things.      

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jealous! I was thinking about dropping some coin on a 1/2" Bosch impact. (have some Bosch stuff already that I love) but that IR has twice the torque for slightly less money. curious to see how it works for you so report back please! 

also, I neither hate nor love any brand in particular. its all about value for me. Its hard to consider getting something higher end that is battery powered, because the batteries will die before the tool and its very possible replacements won't be available anymore at that point.

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I never would have thought to shop IR.

I also never knew how much I needed a cordless impact until I got one. Holy crap, im pretty much looking for excuses to use it. 

I have the Milwaukee M18, I also drive past the Milwaukee Tool Corporate office every day. I hear a Bald Eagle scream, put my hand over my heart, the other hand is changing bits on my M18 cordless and Uncle Sam gives me a fist bump with a 3rd hand that I somehow grew to make this story cohesive. Makes me proud to be in Wisconsin, even though its all made in China. 

 

But yeah, welcome to the wonderful world of cordless impacts. 

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My first pneumatic impact was an IR 2135TI-max that I bought with money I got from my great grandmother for graduating UTI.  I loved that gun.  I've been a huge fan of IR for a long time but i'm dealing with some issues with guns we bought from them for work.  Good news is they have a 1 year warranty, bad news is IR says life expectancy is about 6 months, worse news is they've been on a quality hold for about a month now and I have impact guns failing in the most catastrophic way and shops without guns.  We're talking about 140 or so impact guns that we purchased with many that have failed and the others just ticking time bombs.

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5 hours ago, patsbimmer1 said:

My first pneumatic impact was an IR 2135TI-max that I bought with money I got from my great grandmother for graduating UTI.  I loved that gun.  I've been a huge fan of IR for a long time but i'm dealing with some issues with guns we bought from them for work.  Good news is they have a 1 year warranty, bad news is IR says life expectancy is about 6 months, worse news is they've been on a quality hold for about a month now and I have impact guns failing in the most catastrophic way and shops without guns.  We're talking about 140 or so impact guns that we purchased with many that have failed and the others just ticking time bombs.

That's sad to hear.  The one thing I have going for me, is I'm not a shop.  I just play in my shed, so even with a 'ticking time bomb' it ticks REALLY slow for me.

There was a few other guys buying the IR's when I did.  We'll see if any of them have issues.

Next up, hopefully a tool chest.  Really looking at the deeper Snap-On or Matco.  Seems the off brands (which would be fine for me) are 25" deep max, I'm looking for something closer to 30.

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9 hours ago, KaiserRolls said:

I didn't know this was such a big issue

It really isn't. Usually it's just a matter of tool size and max torque. 
REKIII just has a massive bias against Milwaukee for little reason XD 


I will say that the IR 3/8" Impact does have quite a lot of torque, though that does appear to come at a cost. 
Any difference in body size compared to the Milwaukee m18 equivalent?


Edit: was the thread title intended to be amusing?

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1 hour ago, GunMetalGrey said:

It really isn't. Usually it's just a matter of tool size and max torque. 
REKIII just has a massive bias against Milwaukee for little reason XD 


I will say that the IR 3/8" Impact does have quite a lot of torque, though that does appear to come at a cost. 
Any difference in body size compared to the Milwaukee m18 equivalent?


Edit: was the thread title intended to be amusing?

You should see the threads on this in the different facebook group.  There is a HUGE issue with it.  The pro Milwaukee guys, are violent, belligerent, arrogant, etc.  It's really sad, especially since the Milwaukee tools appear to be REALLY nice.  Let the tools speak for themselves.

I don't have the IR yet, and when I do, I won't have a milwaukee to compare it too, although I could run down to Neu's to see.

I had an original title that was close to this, then tweaked it a bit to make it funny.

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5 hours ago, REKIII said:

That's sad to hear.  The one thing I have going for me, is I'm not a shop.  I just play in my shed, so even with a 'ticking time bomb' it ticks REALLY slow for me.

There was a few other guys buying the IR's when I did.  We'll see if any of them have issues.

Next up, hopefully a tool chest.  Really looking at the deeper Snap-On or Matco.  Seems the off brands (which would be fine for me) are 25" deep max, I'm looking for something closer to 30.

What width are you looking at?

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1 hour ago, REKIII said:

You should see the threads on this in the different facebook group.  There is a HUGE issue with it.  The pro Milwaukee guys, are violent, belligerent, arrogant, etc.  It's really sad, especially since the Milwaukee tools appear to be REALLY nice.  Let the tools speak for themselves.

No kidding. I don't know how you could get arrogant about it. If reliability was poor on some other tools that would be a bit more opinionated than just numbers, but even at that it's no real reason to get angry about. 
Numbers sold me my M18 Fuel 3/8", and that's what should sell most people on tools. Le numericals 

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33 minutes ago, REKIII said:

Depends....60-ish.  I'm a little open right now.  A friend had a macsimizer that I used all the time, trying to get him to tell me the width so I have a basis of comparison.

Check out Waterloo.  They have a 56" that's 30" deep.  Most products are madr in the USA with comparable quality to snap on or mack at a cheaper price.  I've had Snap-On boxes and when I got out of the shop I traded my last one for a harbor freight box plus cash that was slightly smaller.  It holds tools just like a toolbox should.

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