Just curious of what's best mag drill out there and best track torch. Thanks I like pictures of them if you have them.
Ive been tossing the idea of a mag drill around for a while. The most popular one Ive seen is the milwaukee one but its pretty large and pricey but Id be interested to see what everyone else is using too.
I run a Hougen. They've got alot broader selection than Milwaukee and I've never had an issue. Not sure on the track torch but I'd love to have one.
I was looking at them, which one did you buy? The one I was looking at was the low profile one thinking it would make short work of busted track hardware but it looks like they only accept annular drills
Milwaukee has a chuck attachment as an option
All Hougens I've been around have a chuck that comes standard in the case with the drill. Mine did. I'll have to look at the numbers on mine. They do work awesome for drilling out broken bottom roller bolts.
dmax, sorry I your picture took longer to load than your post. I see which one you got this is the one I was looking at http://www.hougen.com/mag_drills/hmd150/hmd150_low_profile_mag_drill.html Thats the exact job I was thinking of. How well does it fit under a machine? PS sorry Jatreecompany for hijacking your thread
I have a couple Milwaukee's, they're great for using a regular drill bit but they are quite heavy. I have 3 Hougen's, I don't remember model numbers but one is a frame drill. They all use annular cutter bits which will drill holes like nothing else. If you are drilling holes through plate ect. then the annular cutters are the way to go, but you can't drill a blind hole like you can with a drill bit. 02Dmax, do use the chuck and regular bits in your Hougen? I've never tried that.
A word of caution when you use a mag drill in a horizontal application. Have it tethered to something. A loss of power, power outage, co-worker accidentally kicking the cord loose, and that expensive puppy is on the ground with a thud. Tether the drill to something, even if you use a simple rope to do it.
Track torch I have only ever dealt with bug-o and they are awesome. The one I used could accept oxy/fuel or plasma torches. The portable magnetic ones are the way to go. It will climb vertical or if you ever had the need could cut overhead. I'm not sure what they cost new but a friend of mine has one and I love it Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
Lol. I was waiting for someone to say something. I took that pic right after I drilled the hole and had already removed the safety chain. Yes, ALWAYS use a tether.
It works fine on the holes toward the center but if its the very front or very back roller you have to split the track. I'd like to have the low pro someday when money allows.
Ya I've used the chuck quite a bit on it. Obviously its not as quick and painless as an annular cutter but its 100 times better than drilling by hand. I'll take some more pics of the set up today.
koike or bug-o are the Cadillacs of track burners, Hougen is the top dog i use them exclusively in my shop
I have a really old Milwaukee with a big chuck. A luxurious must have. I keep running up EBay prices on the Kioke handy auto and Beetle. But have not gotten lucky. Bugo needs a track but gives vertical capacity.
I have a Victor track torch, VCM-100 I think is the model number. I had no issues with it even though I got it well used. As for mag drills, I have both a Hougen and a Miluakee. The hougen is much smaller and lighter than the Milaukee, I use it mostly with angular cutters and drill bits to 3/4" The Milaukee powers my home made line boring machine and I will use it to drill large holes as needed, it has a 3/4" chuck.
Finally got a pic using the chuck on my Hougen.
I got a jancy engenering to drill out the rollers on our vermeere t455's. It was the shortest one I could find at the time and it works great.
I have a 3/4 inch Milwaukee I bought new in 1980. Replaced one chuck to date. Weighs 56 lbs. I looked at a new 3/4 Milwaukee on display recently and it weighed only half as much. I bought a slugger attachment to chuck into mine to use annular cutters. At work we use all Jancey's. They have been reliable also.
I don't think you can go wrong with any brand of mag drill, I bought mine used off ebay a long time ago, not sure what brand or how old it is, maybe a Jancy, probably more than 30 years old, but when you need it, its worth many times over what you'll ever pay for one, if you ever own one, you'll never be without one again, that much I can tell you, make sure you can chuck regular bits along with annual cutters in it, mine only came with the drill chuck, not the annular cutter attachment, at the time I didn't think I'd ever use them, a big mistake on my part. Laughed when I read willies comment on the tether, a local shop here bought a brand new millwaukee and the first week, when it was on its side about five feet off the ground, a coworker came along and needed the extension cord, I was told 800 bucks later they had it back again, wasn't covered by warranty, imagine that, to this day, the tether cord is never taken off the mag drill, even if its set upright, its tethered at all times, its even tethered to the shelf where it sits when not in use, I guess some lessons are never forgotten no matter how long ago you learned them. I'm not sure on any other brand, but mine is variable speed and I love that feature, we use it all time, wouldn't buy one without it, in case that matters any.
It is a must to have variable speed. The bigger the bit or cutter the slower you need to turn it to keep the cutter speed down in the right range to keep from burning them up. I would be surprised if someone made a constant speed mag although with cheap imports they might be out there.
Theres one of these for sale on the Welding Web right now. 700$ cash. If I could figure out how to drag links I would.
Heres the link, as far as I can tell the guy is in texas. Thanks RZuker http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?396481-magnetic-drill
That would be it. Looks almost new. Im wondering if its better than my Milwaukee. I have a couple of those Black and Decker 1/2" drills that are just bullet proof.
Think this is a good deal? http://www.kijiji.ca/v-tool-other/c...ill/598853942?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true Do you think its too big for undercarriage ?
Randy88, a friend of mine told me once that he was working in a shipyard and they had 5 Milwaukee mag drills working (untethered) and someone came along and tripped over the main power cord. All 5 ended up in the water.
Andrew, get the model number off it and price it new, then go from there but by the looks of it, to me, I'd buy it a heartbeat if it was in good working condition. Excavator, Ouch, that would have a tendency to ruin a foreman's day, not to mention how to get things done without them.
Got the price to $400, needs cleaned and is missing the support for the annular cutters but the guy is going to look around and call if he finds it. My best price was $1250 locally for the same model but that included case and the rest of the kit. For what I want it for though I will be ok with just a chuck for now. I can get the support when the time comes. Defiantly need to get a ratchet strap for it though by the sounds of it. Cheap insurance.
Andrew, I don't think you'll ever go wrong with it for that price, as for the rest of the kit, I wouldn't get too shook up over not having it, on mine we welded the key to a length of chain and then bolted the chain to the handle, that way you can't lose it, and then we take a bolt and hook the chain to whatever is handy for the tether, if it won't reach we use a short rope and tie it.
Randy, I've got to go and buy a chuck for my cordless drill tomorrow and Ill be buying a key for it as that was missing too. Sounds like a good idea to chain it to the machine. If he cant find the support and annular adapter I wont worry about it. I can deal with that down the line.