ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Rotary hammers and ground rod drivers

Hello all,

I've seen ground rod drivers that are meant as attatchments for rotary hammers. I was wondering if anyone here has had experience (good or bad) with using these and if so, what type and size hammer were you using with it?

I'm planning to buy myself a new rotary hammer but I don't want one that takes a body-builder to lift. I'll mainly be drilling holes 1 1/2" or smaller and maybe doing some light chipping work. I would appreciate any recommendations you may have.

Thanks,
Jim

Heh, call me crazy, but I bought the Milwaukee spline drive groundrod driver, but I don't have the rotary hammer to drive it yet...

I've been able to borrow rotary hammers in the past, or rent them, so it does make a little sense to own the attachment first!

I do plan to buy a Milwaukee 1-1/2" Spline drive Rotary Hammer along with an 1-1/4" bit, a 1-3/4" Core Drill and a 2-1/2" Core drill in the near future tho'...

I have not had the chance to use the driver yet, however...

[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 04-10-2003).]

We use the old Black & Decker Macho II series drills. We have two of them and they have been worked very hard from day one. An excellent, durable drill and virtually bulletproof. Do they still make these?

Jim, if you are going to drive ground rods with any electric hammer, use an attachment.

The repair on the heads are expensive.

We actually use demolition hammers to drive rods, not rotary drills.

As far as good overall Rotor hammers, we have Bosch, Hilti, Hitachi, Makita,and Milwaukee and they are all dependable if maintained.

So I would say out of these, shop for price and warranty

Roger

I own a Kango. Its great. I core bore 2 9/16" holes with no trouble. Yes I have a ground rod attachment (its nice). I ordered it from Coastal Tools in Hartford CT. They were one of the few places that carried Kango in the USA. Bosch dominates the rotary hammer market from what the sales person said.

I appreciate the replies guys. Now to complicate things further, how about SDS vs. Spline?

b.t.w. - Sparky, I don't think you're crazy, I've got a collection of bits and no rotary hammer. I've been having to beg, borrow and rent them myself.

Jim

Hilti T72 with ground rod driver attachment works great.

jb,
I use a Hilti TE-25, with an attachment, that looks not unlike a long ratchet socket, it's real good for driving them 6 foot Earth stakes!

Ground rod driver bits are available on E-bay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2316432553&category=20795

Trumpy, You only have to drive 6' stakes?

That doesn't seem fair

Roger