# good Ground Rod Driver??



## mattsilkwood (Sep 21, 2008)

We have one for our TE-56. It takes all the work out of it.


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## VersaJoe (Nov 19, 2009)

I use an adaptor for my Bosch hammerdrill. The adaptor slips over the end of a ground rod and you just pull the trigger. Works good unless you hit solid rock. It seems to be able to blast through shale just fine. I also use something called a buster bar. It's a heavy thing that has an adaptor that slides on top pf the ground rod, you slide the shaft up and down and literally smash the rod into the ground. Both work well and beat using a sledgehammer anyday.


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## Marcus (Mar 30, 2010)

do Hilti make an adapter for this purpose? I have a TE40 Combihammer and was wondering if there was a way to use it to drive in my electrodes.

I found this one on ebay and it says it is SDS MAX which is apparently the equivalent to Hilti's TE-Y but my TE40 is TE-T. What's the difference?


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## VersaJoe (Nov 19, 2009)

I am sure someone makes one for a Hilti... Google it... thats how I found mine..


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## waco (Dec 10, 2007)

I use the big Bosch and can usually get it done without an adapter, but sometimes 5/8 inch ground rods will get jammed in the Super SDS chuck. Somebody got my driver adapter, but I have also used a 1/4 inch drill to put a guide hole in the end of the rod and then use a driver point. Works pretty good.

The ground rod driver worked best.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

If you intend to drive ground rods, do not buy anything with less than a 10lb blow energy. If you have rocky soil, you're really going to need one with a 20lb blow energy or greater. Sorry for the bad news...


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## nolabama (Oct 3, 2007)

Hilti has a new driver accessory that sorta clamps to the rod in the middle so you dont have to put the driver on top of the rod. I cant find it online but its in the print catalog.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

nolabama said:


> Hilti has a new driver accessory that sorta clamps to the rod in the middle so you dont have to put the driver on top of the rod. I cant find it online but its in the print catalog.


Yeah, 480 Sparky has one of those. Keeps you from having to start the ground rod standing on top of a ladder.


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## nolabama (Oct 3, 2007)

It must suck to have to use such a thing. I rarely even need a maul to drive them. Mostly by hand with some water.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

nolabama said:


> It must suck to have to use such a thing. I rarely even need a maul to drive them. Mostly by hand with some water.


Yes, indeed. If you've ever spent a half an hour to an hour sledgehammering in ground rods on each service upgrade, you'll start to appreciate your soil type you have down there. Around here, you can't stick the tip of your shovel in the ground anywhere without hitting a rock. Shale sucks too. That's about like driving a rod through concrete.


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## nolabama (Oct 3, 2007)

Maybe thats one reason you get a few more bucks for your service upgrades.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

nolabama said:


> Maybe thats one reason you get a few more bucks for your service upgrades.


Around October of last year, I got a call specifically to install ground rods for an older gentleman who did his own service upgrade (legal in many jurisdictions in my area). He saw me somewhere putting them in with a rotary hammer, and decided he just didn't want to go to the effort of putting them in himself with a sledgehammer. 

He actually did a really nice job on his service upgrade. He spent some serious time making it picture-perfect. He had me look it over as a "preinspection", and I could find no fault with his work. He was sort of a tinkerer in his retirement, so he spent a great deal of time researching exactly how he wanted it done.


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## nolabama (Oct 3, 2007)

cool - its nice when anyone takes the time to do something picture perfect. I rarely have the approved time to do it. However the company I am with now does afford more time than others to do it pretty.


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## NolaTigaBait (Oct 19, 2008)

nolabama said:


> It must suck to have to use such a thing. I rarely even need a maul to drive them. Mostly by hand with some water.


:laughing:...I can almost drive them half way by hand...then add a little water and you can get it down. I had to use a maul the other day on one...


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

NolaTigaBait said:


> :laughing:...I can almost drive them half way by hand...then add a little water and you can get it down. I had to use a maul the other day on one...


Then I can see why some guys can't understand the temptation to saw off a ground rod. When you've been beating on the same rod for a half-hour with a sledgehammer, even a strong-willed man's mind starts to contemplate sawing that last foot off.

I'm not talking whacking a rod with a fist maul. I'm talking home run swings with a 12 pound sledgehammer. It makes you pretty tired.


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## NolaTigaBait (Oct 19, 2008)

MDShunk said:


> Then I can see why some guys can't understand the temptation to saw off a ground rod. When you've been beating on the same rod for a half-hour with a sledgehammer, even a strong-willed man's mind starts to contemplate sawing that last foot off.


Nah, I understand it...I was putting in a temp pole across the lake(northshore lake ponchartrain) and I was beating the ground rod for at least 10 minutes...I felt like cutting it off for sure. Yeah, I was using the 12 pound sledge.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

At least twice now in my time as an electrician, I've installed the ground rods, only to go back down into the basement and find it sticking out through the basement wall. :laughing:


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## NolaTigaBait (Oct 19, 2008)

MDShunk said:


> At least twice now in my time as an electrician, I've installed the ground rods, only to go back down into the basement and find it sticking out through the basement wall. :laughing:


Whoaaa...You must not know your own strength...That's what makes me nervous about driving those things, you don;t know what's beneath it...I try to be really careful.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

NolaTigaBait said:


> Whoaaa...You must not know your own strength...That's what makes me nervous about driving those things, you don;t know what's beneath it...I try to be really careful.


Rightfully, we're supposed to call for a utility markout before driving ground rods. I never do. I just go in the basement first to see where the water and gas come in.


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

Hammer them in?
I thought you were supposed to bend a 90 on each end and put a kick in the middle so it wont fall over before you bury it.


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## nolabama (Oct 3, 2007)

my current foreman said he was told by an inspector to bend a 90 in rods if the ground is to hard


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## Grimlock (Aug 4, 2009)

nolabama said:


> my current foreman said he was told by an inspector to bend a 90 in rods if the ground is to hard


:laughing: How do you drive a rod if it has a 90' bend in it?


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## nolabama (Oct 3, 2007)

You bury it in a trench and the 90 sticks up like it was driven:thumbup:


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

Hilti TE905/805 is the only way to go.

It will destroy a ground rod before it gives up.








































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## Grimlock (Aug 4, 2009)

Dang 480, you have all the cool toys! :thumbup:


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

Grimlock said:


> Dang 480, you have all the cool toys! :thumbup:



I think the longest it's ever taken me to drive a rod with that puppy is about 2 minutes.


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## nolabama (Oct 3, 2007)

You would be shoveling that hammer and attachment out of the mud if one were to try that here.


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## Grimlock (Aug 4, 2009)

480sparky said:


> I think the longest it's ever taken me to drive a rod with that puppy is about 2 minutes.


What's the impact energy of that beast? I know my Bosch does 18 lbs (11316EVS) which has always done a pretty good job in the past.


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## manchestersparky (Mar 25, 2007)

I had a job that had 75 ground rods. The ground was so darn rocky I used a 90lb Jackhammer to drive 70 of them! I had an operator lift me up in the front bucket of the backhoe, put the jack hammer over the rod, hit the lever,and as the rod was driven the operator lowered the bucket. After the first 2 or 3 we had it down to a perfect science.


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## shocked_sparky (Jul 24, 2009)

manchestersparky said:


> I had a job that had 75 ground rods. The ground was so darn rocky I used a 90lb Jackhammer to drive 70 of them! I had an operator lift me up in the front bucket of the backhoe, put the jack hammer over the rod, hit the lever,and as the rod was driven the operator lowered the bucket. After the first 2 or 3 we had it down to a perfect science.


That's Awesome!!!

And thank you all for sharing, now I just have to muscle past my automatic stinginess reflex and actually shell out some $$$


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## Marcus (Mar 30, 2010)

480sparky said:


> Hilti TE905/805 is the only way to go.
> 
> It will destroy a ground rod before it gives up.
> 
> ...


Hey mate what is the part number on that thing? We may not be able to get those things here in Australia as I asked my Hilti rep yesterday (My wife is SOOO happy that the Hilti guy just oved into in our street haha) and he said he had never heard of it but if I gave him a par/model # he might be able to chase it up.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

Grimlock said:


> What's the impact energy of that beast? I know my Bosch does 18 lbs (11316EVS) which has always done a pretty good job in the past.



If I ran my converter program right, 44.96 lbs.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

Marcus said:


> Hey mate what is the part number on that thing? We may not be able to get those things here in Australia as I asked my Hilti rep yesterday (My wife is SOOO happy that the Hilti guy just oved into in our street haha) and he said he had never heard of it but if I gave him a par/model # he might be able to chase it up.



Hilti Ground Rod Kit. Model Number is 00373362.


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## Voltech (Nov 30, 2009)

nolabama said:


> It must suck to have to use such a thing. I rarely even need a maul to drive them. Mostly by hand with some water.


Same here, at worst you might have a foot of oyster shells to go thur first.

But when I was in TN, you had to have a large hammer drill with an adapter


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## 220/221 (Sep 25, 2007)

A demo hammer is a great tool to have. If you do lots of service upgrades, the grond rod driver is a must. Mine is a Makita. I think it was about $600 at The Home Depot many years ago.













The ground can be brutal around here but this tool usually drives them in about a minute. _Once in a while_ it will hit a rock and just flat ass stop. That's when the Dewalt cordless vertical adjustment tool comes out.


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## mattsilkwood (Sep 21, 2008)

220/221 said:


> A demo hammer is a great tool to have. If you do lots of service upgrades, the grond rod driver is a must. Mine is a Makita. I think it was about $600 at The Home Depot many years ago.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 You know that house is going to burn down now, and probably take out the southwestern grid to. :jester:


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

mattsilkwood said:


> You know that house is going to burn down now, and probably take out the southwestern grid to. :jester:



And cause flooding all along the northeast seaboard.


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## rnr electric (Jan 29, 2010)

I made one,cut a chippin hammer bit in two then had a 3/4" socket welded to it ... works great :thumbsup:


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## Grimlock (Aug 4, 2009)

480sparky said:


> If I ran my converter program right, 44.96 lbs.


That's got some power behind it, have you ever tried digging with it, using a Clay Spade bit? It must be pretty heavy with that kind of power.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

Grimlock said:


> That's got some power behind it, have you ever tried digging with it, using a Clay Spade bit? It must be pretty heavy with that kind of power.


Hilti's clay spade is more rounded on the business end.










Yea I have. Broke up a bunch of clay digging up some URD. Make short work of it.

I also let one of my builders use it with a flat bit to pull up a small store's worth of flooring that had been glued down. He bought the $130 bit and gave it to me when he was done as payment. (lower bit in the image)










As for the weight, yes it is kind of a brute to lug around, but that's small potatoes to the work it saves.

I scrounge ebay once in a while looking for bits on and off, and have managed to get a couple chisel bits (upper part of picture above) for about $10 each.

If I had a video camera, I'd do a quick video to show how the ground rod kits works, and how freaking fast it is.


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## notmyFault (Apr 2, 2010)

What is the benefit of a demo hammer above a similarly sized rotary hammer which will both drive ground rods and core larger holes in cement which might be necessary for pipe to come thru?


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

​


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## nolabama (Oct 3, 2007)

Ok wow - I have never driven a rod off of a ladder - it never occurred to me how they are started. That sucks.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

notmyFault said:


> What is the benefit of a demo hammer above a similarly sized rotary hammer which will both drive ground rods and core larger holes in cement which might be necessary for pipe to come thru?


Just a hunch, but a demo hammer will probably have more power to drive a rod than a rotary hammer set to hammer only..........if it has a hammer-only function at all.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

nolabama said:


> Ok wow - I have never driven a rod off of a ladder - it never occurred to me how they are started. That sucks.


That's the beauty of the Hilti TE set-up. No ladder. I've driven 10' rods standing on the ground.


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## nolabama (Oct 3, 2007)

If I ever move that will be the first tool I purchase.


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## notmyFault (Apr 2, 2010)

nolabama said:


> Ok wow - I have never driven a rod off of a ladder - it never occurred to me how they are started. That sucks.


Instead of getting a ladder, I have always taped the trigger closed, put the chipping gun on the end of the rod and tilted the rod up with the chipping gun on top. Then plugged the chipping gun in and held the cord to give a little control. A minute later the chipping gun did it's work and drove the rod in deep enough for me to reach it from the ground.


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## notmyFault (Apr 2, 2010)

480sparky said:


> Just a hunch, but a demo hammer will probably have more power to drive a rod than a rotary hammer set to hammer only..........if it has a hammer-only function at all.


I see. 

It just seems expensive to have two tools when they make one that does both pretty well.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

notmyFault said:


> I see.
> 
> It just seems expensive to have two tools when they make one that does both pretty well.


Yea, but I could also strip 14-8 with my linesmans as well, but I use a stripper instead.

Of course, you could always go all-out and get one of these puppies.


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## notmyFault (Apr 2, 2010)

480sparky said:


> Yea, but I could also strip 14-8 with my linesmans as well, but I use a stripper instead.


True, but a pair of good strippers cost about $13.

A demo hammer costs considerably more. If you could buy a rotary hammer which will do both, it seems like a good deal. In all my years with many different contractors, I can't remember ever using a demo hammer, all of them have been rotary hammers.

To each his own, eh?


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## 220/221 (Sep 25, 2007)

> Instead of getting a ladder, I have always taped the trigger closed, put the chipping gun on the end of the rod and tilted the rod up with the chipping gun on top


 

Uhhhh......why? 

Seems like you could get a ladder in about 60 seconds.


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## Voltech (Nov 30, 2009)

nolabama said:


> Ok wow - I have never driven a rod off of a ladder - it never occurred to me how they are started. That sucks.



I was amazed the 1st time I saw a rod go into the ground here. (south MS). The guy looked at me funny when I asked him if he wanted the hammer drill. He drove it in mostly by hand and the rest with a hammer.


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## nolabama (Oct 3, 2007)

GTFOH no way - frozen ground sux move south


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## notmyFault (Apr 2, 2010)

220/221 said:


> Uhhhh......why?
> 
> Seems like you could get a ladder in about 60 seconds.


If one is available. And if it's 60 seconds away.

Or I could throw that bad boy up above my head and have it driven in the first 2 feet in that same 60 seconds.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

nolabama said:


> GTFOH no way - frozen ground sux move south



Naaaa. You just drive a rod with gloves and a coat on.:whistling2:


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## 220/221 (Sep 25, 2007)

> It just seems expensive to have two tools when they make one that does both pretty well.


Actually, you do get two tools. A ground rod driver and a demo hammer. Once in a while I have to take out concrete and it would take forever with a small hammer.

The smaller roto hammers will work but they are much slower (see the vid). With the wieght behing a demo hammer behind it, it is MUCH faster. And, when you get inr=to really hard stuff, the smaller roto hammers don't quite cut it.



> If one is available. And if it's 60 seconds away.


If you own a hammer drill, you own a ladder


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## Voltech (Nov 30, 2009)

480sparky said:


>


I have seen linemen with this tool as a hand held. Those hydro tools are top notch.

The guys doing lightning protection at an airport job we are doing have something like that on a small backhoe.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

220/221 said:


> Actually, you do get two tools. A ground rod driver and a demo hammer. Once in a while I have to take out concrete and it would take forever with a small hammer.
> 
> The smaller roto hammers will work but they are much slower (see the vid). With the wieght behing a demo hammer behind it, it is MUCH faster. And, when you get inr=to really hard stuff, the smaller roto hammers don't quite cut it...........



Exactly!


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## notmyFault (Apr 2, 2010)

220/221 said:


> Actually, you do get two tools. A ground rod driver and a demo hammer.


 Ok, so you would get 3 tools with the rotary hammer...


> Once in a while I have to take out concrete and it would take forever with a small hammer.


 That's why you use a bigger tool.


> The smaller roto hammers will work but they are much slower (see the vid). With the wieght behing a demo hammer behind it, it is MUCH faster. And, when you get inr=to really hard stuff, the smaller roto hammers don't quite cut it.


I'm not talking about the smaller rotary hammers or hammer drills, I am talking about the big boys.



> If you own a hammer drill, you own a ladder


 Who says that ladder is 60 seconds away? I am also talking from an employee standpoint, when I go on a job with 30 other electrician and only 25 ladders, I still have to get the job done.


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