Cordless hammer drill to drive rebar?

[LittleJack]

I was looking at the Litebrite rebar hammer, which is a bit of overkill for my needs (plus our Village is a no generator zone). Most of the hammer drill vs drill driver discussion I've seen is about lag screws, but rebar works great for my monkey hut so I intend to keep using it.

My question is if a cordless (18V) hammer drill will drive rebar 12" into the playa.

Anyone tried this?

[some seeing eye]

1 ePlaya is a big proponent of lag screws

2 I think cordless combination hammers will not have enough energy. I would suggest >5 ft-lb energy. They often require >10 Amps @120V. So you are into a generator, which has many uses. You probably already know about ground rod driver bits.

[LittleJack]

Thanks. You seem to be suggesting exactly what I said I wasn't going to do - lag screws and a generator.

Good info re: the 5 ft-lb, though.

[Papa Bear]

Er, you do know that lag screws have been tested for monkey huts and worked just fine, right?

If so, carry on. It's just that a cordless hammer drill seems unlikely to drive rebar well, we *know* the cordless impact driver/lag screw combo works, and it seems like they'd be about the same cost, so we suggest the proven solution over one we know nothing about.

Though honestly, for something as small as a 12" length of rebar, why bother with power tools at all? Not criticizing here, I'm just a bit mystified.

[Token]

Unless you are driving in hundreds ... what is wrong with a simple 3# hammer?

[some seeing eye]

Once you have a demolition hammer with a ground rod driver, you will decide your home needs more ground rods. That's not a bad thing, because old grounds can loose effectiveness as plastic plumbing infiltrates your home. For safety and noise immunity, more grounds are always better. I think in our area, code is 3 ground rods.



I owe my introduction to rebar to http://www.litebrite.org/rebarhammer/ in 2004. He had a Star Wars land speeder art car and graciously lent me his hammer.

[Ratty]

Little Jack. Go to Golden State Lumber in Newark. (That's near you, right?) they will order lag screws in any size. Very cheap too. In fact they have 12" ones in the store. I just got my 16 " ones for $1.50 each.

[Captain Goddammit]

While bringing a generator is great, you don’t need to just for charging a cordless driver. That can be done from your vehicle, either with a charger that works on 12VDC or through a small inverter.
Or at a friendly neighbor’s camp. Most people who have power running won’t mind if you ask to charge a battery, it’s a negligible power draw.
You can install and remove a whole bunch of lag screws on a single charge with a good driver, you might not even need to recharge, but don’t leave the charger at home.
I’d bring a ratchet and socket to fit just as a worst-case-scenario backup. But then, I recommend bringing all the tools you possibly can anyway.

[Token]

SSE’s video is dandy and all, and a demo hammer is slick for this ...

But...

There was a stated energy problem; desire to use a battery powered device.

I had a battery demo hammer and it is awesome for small scale stuff like drilling in an old 1855 built brick building.

These are designed as rotary hammers and their 1/2 to 1.5 ft-lb impact force works great for masonry drilling. But for chiseling concrete or just impact mode ... much to be desired. Just not enough juice.

Top of the line LiPo batteries are doing 100Wh per Kg, and that’s high-end applications. Ye ole power tools get way less.

Id say if you got one already lying around, give it a try. 1-2 ft-lb might be enough for the Playa.

What I know for sure is that a good old 120V 10A Bosch Bulldog barely gets it done on my ranch in hardened clay soil. I generally pre-drill then hammer the rest of the way.

[LittleJack]

Okay, after spending ALL morning reading the lag screw threads, I'm a convert.

I'll be using a DeWalt 885 impact driver at 116 ft-lb (converted from their stated 1400 in-lb) of torque, and charging the batteries on my solar Yeti 400. I'll be using 1/2" x 24" for the monkey hut (I've been using 2' rebar for 8+ years just fine, so 2' of lag screw should be just as strong), plus I've modified a bunch of other stuff so that it can use lag screws.

And to answer the earlier question, there's not a thing wrong with a hammer. It's what I've been using for years. I've got a fantastic re-bar puller that I was gifted by the Civilized Explorers, so getting re-bar out of the playa is as quick and easy as walking up to it with the tool.

I just love new toys and wouldn't mind not working quite as hard to setup. Mostly though I just love new tools, and blowing the minds of my village mates.

[Papa Bear]

Mostly though I just love new tools, and blowing the minds of my village mates.

Heh. Well, if they haven't seen/used lags before, I'd say you stand a good chance of doing so.

My first year out with the yurt, a DPW friend I'd camped with several times many years ago (and with whom I'd driven/pulled a lot of rebar) came by around the time I was taking it down. He'd heard of the lag screw idea, but had never seen them, so asked if he could borrow my impact driver and try removing one.

So I handed it to him, and he removed one... and then another... and another... and so on, his smile getting bigger and wider with each new one removed. I had 21 18" lags holding that thing down, and he pulled them all within about 5 minutes.

I kinda felt like Tom Sawyer watching the other kids whitewash the fence.

[FlyingMonkey]

Unless you are driving in hundreds ... what is wrong with a simple 3# hammer?

THIS!

I was wondering the same.

If your using rebar whats wrong with the old hammer & vice grip for removal?

I have never had the battery die on my hammer. Just say'n.

[Ratty]

I have been a fine proud rebar user up until this last burn. I bring vice grips and a pipe wrench. I could NOT get them out. They had been in the ground for only 2 weeks. It had been hotter than usual. What ever the cause they wouldn't budge. I bought lags. I'm going to use mule tape and washers. I'm getting the best power tool.

[Popeye]

I have been a fine proud rebar user up until this last burn. I bring vice grips and a pipe wrench. I could NOT get them out. They had been in the ground for only 2 weeks. It had been hotter than usual. What ever the cause they wouldn't budge. I bought lags. I'm going to use mule tape and washers. I'm getting the best power tool.

If your rebar is stuck pour a little water down the side of the rebar. Go have a beer. Twist and pull rebar.

I use vicegrips and a straight claw framing hammer. Hook the claw under the vicegrips and there has always been enough leverage to pull wet rebar easily.

[Ratty]

Great advice. I give it all the time. Nope. I don't know what the trouble was. I'm not the only one that took a shot at these stubborn rods. The great playa powers were trying to tell me something and I got the message.

[LittleJack]

Vice grips are okay, I guess. I have an actual stake puller that makes even the toughest rebar pulling almost effortless.

[Token]

At the end of the day, these are all tools and methods that have a time and place on the playa.

We can argue finer points on any particular application till we blue in the face, however in reality both are Playa tested and approved.

Both need knowledge of pro and con.

Besides, one of these years we will get a dry winter without freeze-thaw cycles and the top foot of playa will be soft and flaky ...

Bring both just in case. Have the rebar purposefully longer than needed.

[danibel]

Little Jack. Go to Golden State Lumber in Newark. (That's near you, right?) they will order lag screws in any size. Very cheap too. In fact they have 12" ones in the store. I just got my 16 " ones for $1.50 each.

Dang. Golden State is too far from me. I am going to see if my local lumber place will order some. The best price on 16 by 1/2 that I Can find online is $2 per plus shipping.