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Old July 19th 07, 12:48 PM posted to rec.radio.amateur.antenna
Brian Kelly Brian Kelly is offline
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 45
Default Do hammer drills really work for driving in ground rods?

On Jul 16, 8:26 pm, "Rick (W-A-one-R-K-T)"
wrote:
This afternoon I went down to the local tool rental place to see about
renting a hammer drill. They have one that's considerably larger than the
ones recommended here (e.g.http://tinyurl.com/33zcrr) for rent for US$60
per day. I showed the guy a printout of the nut driver adapter
(http://tinyurl.com/2bohkg) and asked where I could get one, and he looked
at me like I was from Mars.

So, I'm looking for a nut driver adapter... went to Home Depot and they
told me where to try and I'll call them tomorrow.

I'll tell you, though, even the big rental unit sure doesn't look like
it's up to this job, to say nothing of the much smaller ones at Home
Depot. I'm fairly good sized (6 ft 2 in and 230 lhs) and using a standard
sized two-handed sledge hammer I can't move this rod more than a tenth of
an inch, at most, per strike. Are you guys sure that a hand-held hammer
drill will do the job?

I guess it's worth $60 plus the cost of the nut driver adapter (if I can
find one) to find out...


There's a hassle-free & cheaper "ground rod driver" available. Home
Depot sells fence post drivers (garden & landscaping dept.) for twenty
bucks apiece and they work well. I'm a 160 pound geezer and I can
drive an eight foot rod six feet with just 8-12 strokes in the heavy
loam and clay soil we have here in eastern PA. I drive the final two
feet of rod with a hand sledge. No 110 vac or tool rentals needed.

Brian w3rv