# Hammer Drill Recomdations



## Chris Simms (Oct 23, 2007)

I need to purchace a hammer drill and attachment for driving ground rods
Any suggestions? Around 500.00
Thanks 
Chris


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

A lot of good ones out there but for my money nothing beats a Hilti. Been around a long time, quick service.


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## dowmace (Jan 16, 2008)

brian john said:


> A lot of good ones out there but for my money nothing beats a Hilti. Been around a long time, quick service.



HILTI or nothing :thumbsup:


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

From Washington DC to Tulsa Oklahoma, and I bet the boys in Florida, Maine, California and Washington State would agree (well some of them)


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

I'd prefer to use HILTI, but I have no local vendor, and buying local and getting local service is very important to me. For that reason, I pick the next best thing; Milwaukee.


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## chenley (Feb 20, 2007)

Have been using a Milwaukee for the past three years. Drove hundreds of ground rods, also have a jackhammer bit for it. It is still good as new.


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## Chris Simms (Oct 23, 2007)

What is the best model for the buck?
Chris


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## Ecopat (Apr 17, 2008)

As long as it's over 900W & a recognised name, you cannot go wrong imo.


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## randomkiller (Sep 28, 2007)

If you are only buying one for all around use I would go Hilti. I will look at the models we have in the shop and post the numbers.


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## slowforthecones (Sep 13, 2008)

Hilti is the only way to go.


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## amptech (Sep 21, 2007)

I have had a Dewalt spline drive rotary hammer and a Bosch SDS Plus. Surprisingly, the Bosch crapped out on me last summer after only a couple of years of service. A friend who is in charge of maintenance at the local hospital told me they had just bought a Hilti and he was surprised at how competitivley priced Hilti was compared to Milwukee, Bosch and Metabo. He gave me the rep's number and I called her. She came out to my shop with several models to demonstrate. I went with the TE16C for around $600.00 and it is awesome! I am really pleased with every aspect of the TE16C. I set a lot of 5/8" Redheads as well as some coring 1-1/2", 2", and 3" with thinwall core bits. Check them out online.


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## piette (Feb 7, 2008)

I have a Hilti TE75. Boy that thing will drive a ground rod threw frost like nothing. I love it.

Jeff


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## Chicagoguy (Jan 30, 2008)

I have used the Hilti TE56 and it is great!


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## Speedy Petey (Jan 10, 2007)

I wouldn't say Hilti is the _only_ way to go. They are unbelievably expensive. Now I am all for buying the best you can afford. Buy quality and buy it once.
When it comes to Hilti though I draw the line. Little old one man shop me cannot afford that kind of cash for some of their tools. The other thing is parts and service. I have two broken Hilti drills. A TE-72 and a smaller 1/2" hammer drill. JUST the armature for the 1/2" drill cost MORE than a complete Bosch 1/2" hammer drill. 
Ask me why I have them. Because someone gave them to me 15 years ago because they could not justify fixing them.

I have a Makita HR4000 and love it.


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## Thayer (Sep 22, 2008)

Eveyone I work with has always used Bosch or Hilti. The one advantage to the Bosch is that it accepts multiple brands of bits in the chuck. The Hilti on the other hand will only accept Hilti brand bits. I have the Bosch 11255VSR and love it. Its nice and light. *:thumbsup:

*


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## slowforthecones (Sep 13, 2008)

Or just get a ex-felon to manually make those holes for you.


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## randomkiller (Sep 28, 2007)

Thayer said:


> Eveyone I work with has always used Bosch or Hilti. The one advantage to the Bosch is that it accepts multiple brands of bits in the chuck. The Hilti on the other hand will only accept Hilti brand bits. I have the Bosch 11255VSR and love it. Its nice and light. *:thumbsup:*


That maybe true of the older Hiltis but the ones we have accept an assortment of bits.


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## Thayer (Sep 22, 2008)

That's great! I hadn't realized that Hilti had changed their chuck design. It used to be a major drag when you had to call the Hilti rep for bits.


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## seo (Oct 28, 2008)

We've used Hilti's for over 30 years and have had great luck.


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## fnfs2000 (Jan 31, 2009)

Hilti is great, but a same quality lower cost option is Metabo.


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## randomkiller (Sep 28, 2007)

Thayer said:


> That's great! I hadn't realized that Hilti had changed their chuck design. It used to be a major drag when you had to call the Hilti rep for bits.


 
We have a bunch of TE 17s that will take an SDS plus but their bit won't go in anything else.


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## randomkiller (Sep 28, 2007)

fnfs2000 said:


> Hilti is great, but a same quality lower cost option is Metabo.


 

I work in a shop where more then half the guys have the "I am only here for this job" mentality. They can and will break any tool they use, abuse, drop them off ladders/scaffold, etc. I have never seen Metabo other than angle grinders make it from the job it started on back to the tool crib without a repair in between. Like most tools, it all depends on the user. Many posts on here say Bosch doesn't hold up, I have had just the opposite results but, the ones on my truck get used by me and apprentices working directly with me. I love Milwaukee but, find their hammerdrills don't last for me at all.


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## electro916 (Jan 16, 2009)

I have a Bosch rotary hammer model 11236VS that gets used and abused, not only by me but my helpers too. It has never let me down, I have never had any problems with it and it is going to be 4 years old. Bosch tools do hold up, but there is still nothing like a HILTI, I'm just too cheap to buy one.


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## KayJay (Jan 20, 2008)

I hate to “break” it to you, but I’ve seen larger Hilti rotary hammers leave the jobsite on a stretcher before, so you can put the “indestructible” claims to rest. 
This is not to say they are not a fine tool, but they too can fall victim to age and abuse.
For me, Bosch always used to represent the best value overall for rotary and breaker hammers. I still have at least one old spline-drive from 15 years ago that works fine and has never even been repacked. Unless they have truly gone downhill over the last several years, I can’t see how this has changed.


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## mattsilkwood (Sep 21, 2008)

i think for most people a bosch or dewalt will hold up just fine, but if you need it to work all day, day after day then nothing beats a hilti. 

i know guys that have an old bosch and have used it for yearsbut i know from personal experience that they just wont hold up to extended heavy use.


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## iaov (Apr 14, 2008)

I have a Bosch Bulldog Extreme. Has anyone used these for driving ground rods and if so,where would I get a bit/fitting to do this??


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## KayJay (Jan 20, 2008)

iaov said:


> I have a Bosch Bulldog Extreme. Has anyone used these for driving ground rods and if so,where would I get a bit/fitting to do this??


I don't own that model, so can't say how well it works, but here is the info for the driver.

Bosch HS1924 SDS-Max ground rod driver, $55.00 + shipping.
Link: http://www.coastaltool.com/bosch/hammer_steel_sds-max.htm


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## electro916 (Jan 16, 2009)

iaov said:


> I have a Bosch Bulldog Extreme. Has anyone used these for driving ground rods and if so,where would I get a bit/fitting to do this??


I think the Bulldog Extreme is only a SDS-plus. I have never found a ground rod driver for an SDS-plus. I have a bosch 11236VS SDS-plus roto-hammer and I cannot get a driver for it.


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## piette (Feb 7, 2008)

Just picked up a nice Bosch 11222EVS today for $90 with about a dozen SDS bits for it as well. A guy I know called me and asked if I wanted it, he was trying to sell it and had no offers so he called me with a price he knew I couldn't pass up. That will pair up nicely with the HILTI TE75.

Jeff


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