Bare-Tool Makita BTW450Z, Love it!
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Love it!
I hestitated to buy this as I’ve heard stories from friends that many of these beasts don’t have much torque to them. Well, I shouldn’t have waited, this model is pretty much what I was hoping to get. It’s got great battery life and plenty of torque. The ergonomics are good, but be pre-warned about the weight of it, it’s pretty heavy. It’s built like a tank, and I guess that I wouldn’t want it any other way. It is easy to use, although the toggle switch to power it does take a few minutes to get used to. The first few minutes of using it, I found myself not paying attention to which way I was pushing the toggle and going the reverse direction to that which I intended. That was my stupid mistake, with any new tool you need to pay extra close attention to it the first few times you use it.
Edit to add that if you are working on some very tough/tight bolts, make sure that your battery is fully charged. These batteries are not supposed to show that property, but apparently they do when pulling a heavy torque. Well, at least I’m seeing it. I’ll have to check the manual again to see if it mentions that.
Update (5/18/2012): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen. I also found some auctions for this item here.
The featured review for this product, Bare-Tool Makita BTW450Z High Torque Impact Wrench Tool Only, No Battery Tools & Hardware, was written by WI DIY’r.
The average rating for this item is out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.
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Reviews (3)
WI DIY'r
February 16th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
Love it!
Rated 5 stars.
Brotherbud
February 18th, 2010 at 6:44 am
Not my style
I didn’t like this. Too big, too heavy, and not powerful enough. I bought the WR18DL from Hitachi instead and love it!
David G. Collins
March 10th, 2010 at 5:30 pm
If you’re looking for power, this is the one.
PRO’S:
* Extremely powerful, comparable to many of the best air-powered impact wrenches but without the hassle of a hose.
* Uses Makita’s super lightweight 18V lithium battery.
* Forward and reverse are built into a single trigger. The top of 1/3 of the trigger activates reverse, while the bottom 2/3 operates the wrench in forward. No need to press a switch or button before changing directions.
* Seems very wellbuilt: Has a shock absorbing base to protect the battery, solid feel, and sockets are easy to change.
CON’S:
* It’s heavy - plain and simple. Although that is probably to be expected from a powerful impact wrench.
* It is unbalanced because the top is so heavy while the battery is very light.
* Dual-use trigger takes a bit of getting used to (but is a better design once you’ve done it a few times).
Overall, this is heavy-duty and efficient unit that makes a good addition to the already outstanding line of Makita LXT tools. We use it for lawn mower repair in my landscape business, and it is definitely the preferred tool. It would be great for automotive work and will spin the lugnuts off of a verhicle in a flash (we tried it on a trailer wheel).
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