product question

[Charlie Bob]

Does anybody own a pair of Klein ratchet cable cutters?
The one i'm after is 63600. The one that can cut up to 600 MCM copper.
My question is whats the smallest you can use it for?
I guess all of them will cut 2/0 and smaller too,right?

 

[e57]

I imagine you could cut 14 with.... :roll:

 

[George Stolz]

I'd imagine it would cut anything down to tie wire.

I can't imagine spending $250 for a pair of ratchet cutters. How much is a sawzall blade, you know?

 

[Charlie Bob]

well i've been using sawzall blades, but i tell you it's not easy when you have a sawzall going crazy right there next to your fingers. I always have to hold the cable when i cut it in the service box. and besides the sawzall weights a ton with one hand.
I'm a firm believer in the frase: " you're just as good as your tools are".

 

[George Stolz]

Then get a better sawzall.

 

[Charlie Bob]

how much is that one George?

 

[George Stolz]

Click on the picture - I'm tricky like that.

 

[Charlie Bob]

Got it!:grin:

George, I got Two Electric Sawzall ( a ridgid, a dewalt), and a Cordless Dewalt too. And for small cuts and such i got a Rotozip.
I hate to spend that much money on another cutting tool..
THanks any way.

 

[hillbilly1]

They are nice to use in meter bases, where you don't have a lot of room to work in, but they are pricey. The first one I had, the ratchet broke a tooth out cutting 500 Kcmil (you better have a strong grip too). The second one my helper cut ACSR and put a nice gap in the the blade.

 

[growler]

I can't imagine spending $250 for a pair of ratchet cutters. How much is a sawzall blade, you know?

If you don't cut a lot of the big copper cable you don't need to spend that much. I have the Klien 63060 and they are only listed for 600 Al. but I have cut 750 with no problem.

It really depends on how much you will need to use them for big cables.

The ratchet cutters are much better to use than a sawzall. You just don't know how much you love those things until you have had a set for years. It's money well spent.

 

[e57]

It's a little unwieldy - but I use a bandsaw, sometimes just a hack saw.

 

[nakulak]

I keep the ratchet cutters in my glove box. they come in handy when doing a bunch of buckets, and it makes alum go quick an easy, when a sawzall would make a mess of it and also a pain if your wires are barely fitting in the lugs. also saves your knuckles from the old fashion cutters when your in tight spots. well worth the money.

 

[ohmhead]

Well i kinda use these!!
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt195/stringking/CRCC1.jpg

If you do commercial work and lots of gear you better have that tool .
The sawzall is for cutting gutters, kindroff and large pvc pipe doing underground work the band saw is for pipe like 2 inch Emt ,Rigid , IMC or larger conduit .

If you want to make money time and labor buy the correct tools for the job if you want too waste time and money use a saw to cut wire .

Our company has the electric cable cutters also there great when you have multiple parallel feeder conductors .


When you work MV or high voltage you dont cut any cable with a saw of any kind metal flakes & frags can make your splice or load break connection fail testing or could blow it out carbon tracking kinda . we dont even use a metal tape measure when we splice cable for the same reason . I use the old wood stick ruler when i measure and make up HV cables . I was trained by a old timer and we never had a splice fail ever .

 

[Vod-Vil]

I agree with Ohmhead.Buy the ratchet cutters.Using a sawzall is an accident waiting to happen.

 

[quogueelectric]

I bought a set of kliens in 91 and they look rag tag now but still keep ticking. They are indispensible to me on a day to day basis, yet a lot slower than big full sized rabbit guns when cutting lots of big feeder cables. If you need to go with the milwaulkee hatchet be aware that some are corded and some are cordless. http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38&_nkw=milwaukee+the+hatchet

 

[ohmhead]

Well i like these its real fast and the battery last all day http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt195/stringking/esc85.jpg

 

[George Stolz]

...they are pricey. The first one I had, the ratchet broke a tooth out cutting 500 Kcmil (you better have a strong grip too). The second one my helper cut ACSR and put a nice gap in the the blade.

1. Pricey
2. The teeth break
3. The blade can get nicked

I'd venture to say that half the ratchet cutters I've seen in the field are missing a tooth or have an irritating nick in the blade. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a mistake to buy a set, but I stand by my practice of using a sawzall. Why carry two tools that do the same job (assuming you're not doing something weird like MV, of course, I can't speak to that end.)

Then again, I don't spend weeks on end cutting large cables and large conductors; typically, it's one or two days a month or less.

JMO,

 

[ohmhead]

Well George i dont buy my company does that the best point i can make .

But if we buy our own tools and they break my company will repair or replace tool thats batt power or cutting types like cable cutters or batt drills or KO cutters nice of them .

One rule never loan my tools out ever if helper needs a tool he better have them or he goes to the house that day this rule keeps tools in good shape.

And you always have it when you need it .