Rotary Hammer for driving rebar?

[NewfieToolGuy]

First of all love the site and the videos.  First time posting but been watching/viewing for quite a while.

 

I'm looking at getting a SDS MAX rotary hammer to primarily drive rebar/ground rods into the ground.

 

would something like a DeWalt D25601k be able to handle this or would I need something with more impact energy or even a demo hammer?  

 

The ground is pretty rocky/hard around here.

 

Thanks in advance.

[RickyMcGrath]

That may be a little undersized for driving rebar into rocky soil. I don't think it has the weight behind it to do it efficiently.

[DR99]

Like Ricky mentioned its kind of soil dependent. You might be able to get away with a smaller one in sandy loam soils but hard clay you need a beast. You do have a 90 day no hassle return on Dewalt tools.

[dwain]

can someone explain this to me?

 

Why do you need such a big rotary hammer drill for clay/rocky ground, when we happily use smaller tools (and even cordless) to drill into concrete?

[comp56]

I would tackle this with my m18 fuel hammer drill 

[DR99]

Grounding rods are 8 feet long http://www.homedepot.com/p/ERITECH-1-2-in-x-8-ft-Copper-Ground-Rod-611380UPC/202195737

[RickyMcGrath]

Grounding rods are 8 feet long http://www.homedepot.com/p/ERITECH-1-2-in-x-8-ft-Copper-Ground-Rod-611380UPC/202195737

Some are longer depending on your jurisdiction. City of Houston requires 10' long >8' in the ground.

It's a matter of efficiency mostly. You could use the old hose method and word the rod into the ground with a hammer little by little, but a power tools makes the job faster with less effort.

You can build a house with hammer, nails and a hand saw, but do you really want to?

[PaulE]

I use a bosch 11316Eva and an sds Max ground rod attachment. Makes driving ground rods a breeze. I bought it to install some ground rods in a lab where swinging a hammer wasn't an option. Since then it is just another great attachment to my demo hammer. Even if you hit roots or thin rock it will blast right through.

[dwain]

Grounding rods are 8 feet long http://www.homedepot.com/p/ERITECH-1-2-in-x-8-ft-Copper-Ground-Rod-611380UPC/202195737

 

ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

[NewfieToolGuy]

well its a bit disappointing that a rotary hammer probably won't handle it, as a rotary hammer is cheaper than a demo hammer and I'd probably have additional uses for a rotary hammer where the demo hammer would pretty much just be for driving rods.

[PaulE]

I use a hilti awr3000 for any large amount of concrete

I use my bosch 11316 for most small concrete demo applications. Although it is impressive the power it has. Along with my ground rod attachment, i have a clay spade, a tamper attachment, a floor scraper attachment, and a bunch of chisels and point bits. Don't know how I ever worked without it.

I have a hilti te16 for drilling small holes. I use my handheld coring drill or my drill press mounted coring rig for any holes larger the 1 1/8"

To answer your question. If I was to buy one, it would be the bosch demo hammer Rent a jack hammer when the projects is to big for the demo hammer. I/ my guys are hard on my bosch and 3yrs later, I have not had a single problem. I would buy another in a heartbeat.