I have two of these 36" Ridgid pipe wrenches:
I want to keep one and sell another. My question is which one is better. Aluminum one is a lot lighter, but is it as strong? Or does it matter?
I am not a plumber, but once in a while I need to turn something that does not want to turn, like a stuck engine etc. This is my use.
i
I am just an amateur home plumber too, but I do see that the aluminum wrenches command higher prices. They are a lot easier to lug around. I doubt you would ever be able to break or bend either.
I would mention that if you are actually working on pipes, you often want two similar wrenches to apply opposite torques on either side of the joint. Otherwise something might come undone that was not supposed to. That said, you would have to have some pretty big iron pipes to really take advantage of these.
a) you'll get more money for the Al wrench, and seeing as how you're not lugging it all over the place every day, the extra weight of the iron wrench shouldn't be a problem. The Al wrench is plenty strong.
b) If it was me, I'd keep both. I did a minor change to the steam heating pipes in my house and thought I'd be OK with one 24" and one
36" wrench. I would have been way better off with a pair of 36" wrenches.
Keep the aluminum one. Less likely to get you in trouble, plus, you aren't getting any younger...
Joe
I agree with everything you said except the last item. Getting 1 1/2" iron steam pipe unstuck would simply not have happened if I had a wrench shhorter than 36". If I ever have to do this again, I would consider renting a pair of 48" wrenches.
I used a 36" on a 4" heating system header with no real problem. After I put a 6' cheater pipe on it, making it about a 96".
--Vic
I have a pair of 36" wrenches. One is bent like a banana. Had something to do with the eight foot pipe I used for a cheater bar.
Karl
Hmm.
If subject to too much torque, the aluminum wrench will bend, the iron wrench will break. "Too much" is probably greater for the cast iron wrench. How much greater, I know not, nor whether it matters in the real world.
Thanks. I have a 14", 24", and now I have a 36" one. I think that I will be OK with just one 36 incher.
iOn 7/13/2011 4:06 PM, Ignoramus23641 wrote: ...
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I can't count otomh them, but if you don't want it, send it here; I'll find a time it will undoubtedly be used....
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If I had to only have one, it'd be the aluminum one, just because of the weight. But you really need two if you're doing plumbing, you HAVE to have a backing wrench unless you like twisting fittings off. For barring stuff over where I've got a huge nut or flats, I've got a wagon nut wrench, similar to a monkey wrench. Doesn't leave divots like a pipe wrench will. You'll see them at farm auctions, they usually go for little or nothing in a bucket with similar tools. A crescent wrench kind of does the same job, but the wagon nut wrench is a lot heftier and not so prone to shift size by itself.
Stan
Many years ago I did quite a bit of pipe fitting in a chemical plant. We did manage on 2 occasions to break a 48 inch Ridgid aluminum pipe wrench but never a steel wrench. In fairness, we had 3 guys pulling on the wrench with a 12 foot cheater bar when it broke. Most of the time the same 3 guys and
12 foot cheater just got the job done without incident, regardless of whether we were using a steel or aluminum wrench.FWIW, I doubt a single person could break a 36 inch aluminum wrench by himself without resorting to extreme measures. Also FWIW, for home owner use, I've never had to use a pipe wrench larger than a 24". (Though there were a few times I wished I had a bigger one!)
We had 48" wrenches on the pipeline, aluminum ones. Two guys and another if you're using the 6' cheater....
Aluminum.
Your conjecture seems logical but real-world experience is the opposite. The aluminum wrenches will break, the "iron" ones will bend. We commonly call them "iron" but I believe they are actually forged steel. Possibly malleable or ductile cast iron would make a passable wrench, but not common cast iron. Especially for a pipe wrench, one of the most-abused tools there is. Cheater bars, slugging the handle with a hammer,(or another pipe wrench!) pulling handle with a come-a-long, etc. I've seen plenty of them bend, but few break. The aluminum wrenches will break far more readily.
I'm thinking if you are going to swing it at someone, the aluminum one would be better. Less inertia but a heavy enough end to get the job done.
I believe that the iron ones are ductile cast iron. They do bend. My iron one is slightly bent.
i
I'd keep the aluminum. So much easier to lug a round where you are working, etc.
Maybe so; maybe no.
If a pipe wrench isn't quite long enough, folks find a section of galvanized pipe to increase the leverage.
Reasonable qualify steel is stronger that most aluminum.
If you don't use either tool routinely the weight doesn't make much difference. Were I the OP, I would "sell" the aluminum wrench; it would likely fetch more money and the steel wrench would likely tolerate abuse like using a galvanized pipe to increase the leverage.
Which suggests that the ferrous one would be preferred to the aluminum one if you are going to put that big a cheater pipe on it.
Enjoy, DoN.
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