rotary hammer or demo hammer?

[Plumb Level]

I've seen a lot of pictures of hammers used to drive the rebar. What hammers are recommended by people that have actually used them? If you can be specific with model number, that would be great.

I had one shop recommend a Bosch 11247 Rotary Hammer which is 10 amp and 5.2 lbs impact energy. Just not sure that is big enough, but anything would be better than swinging a sledge.

Also - what about drills recommended? I thought a rotary Hammer drill would also drill, but it isn't rated to drill in wood, only concrete. Is the Milwaukee Hole Hawg a big enough drill for the job.

[lilbluehonda]

You need a demolition hammer not a rotary hammer and that size Bosch is way too small and the hole hog is more than enough,

[loghousenut]

Demo hammer for pinning logs. The rotary hammer won't have enough "POW" factor. The difference would be like trying to drive a nail by lifting the hammer only 2' as compared to a full swing.

[lilbluehonda]

I was just looking at the Harbor Freight web page and they don't have any demo hammers listed anymore but there are two used ones on Ebay

[DoubleJRanch]

I was just looking at the Harbor Freight web page and they don't have any demo hammers listed anymore but there are two used ones on Ebay

Amazon had them, fairly reasonable, the big names like De Walt etc are pricey. But there is a few harbor freight grade ones I would consider. In fact, I have one in my cart.
Look under demolition or jackhammer

I think a good one for 200-300 mark, they have them for 100-150, not sure I'd trust them.

[rawson]

Amazon had them, fairly reasonable, the big names like De Walt etc are pricey. But there is a few harbor freight grade ones I would consider. In fact, I have one in my cart.
Look under demolition or jackhammer

I think a good one for 200-300 mark, they have them for 100-150, not sure I'd trust them.

I bought one of the $150.00 demo hammers now years ago off Amazon. Came with 2-bits, also bought the spade bit. Took the advise from others to remove all screws, coat the threads with lock tight and tor-ck em tight. Did that. Also recommended replacing the electrical cord, did not do that no problems with the cord or the hammer. Got plenty of use out of the spade bit for all kinds of digging assistance. Concrete demo's a bunch of that. Cut the point off of one bit, attached hydraulic hose to the end of the bit to drive rebar pins into the beams for a modest post and beam addition add-on. Never had a performance problem with it. It gets a-lot of use and still in service. It was a gamble buying it as with most purchases it is a decision and budget constraints to boggle ones mind with.

[StressMan79]

I noticed the same thing. They seem to have been discontinued. Luckily, I already have a couple, and you can get them off of ebay easily enough.

-Peter

[loghousenut]

You might check the store in person. I noticed one the last time I was in about two weeks ago. It is worth snagging if you can. I really used the heck out of mine. SSSOOOOOOOooooo much easier than pounding by hand the way Skip taught us.

[emersonelk]

Thanks for the tip guys.After reading the above,i checked the website myself and found nothing,so i jumped in the truck and went to my harbor freight just a short few minutes drive from work here.They checked their system,and they are indeed being discontinued,the big one and the littler one we use.They had one left so i grabbed it at 139.99.Now all they have left is the display model with no box or bit/accesories.I asked the fellow if that one would be even further discounted and he said yes.I'm thinking about going back tomorrow to low ball an offer.Seems to make sense to have a backup on a build site.The california warehouses do not have any left,so if you are gonna need one even if its for the future, like i did,nows the time to go shopping.Thanks again guys, number 3032 reason why this forum rocks.

[loghousenut]

I hope you are using your 20% off HF coupon. Most any Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Hot Rod, etc magazine has them. Of course they will probably replace it with something else but, to be safe, now might be the perfect time to stop in at your local Harbor Freight and snag the last one or two.

I'd hate to loose the $100 demo hammer option almost as much as I'd hate to go back to pounding rebar by hand.