Harbor Freight Downgrading Tools? vs Viewer UPGRADES, Ryobi & Amazon

Today we try out Harbor Freight's Gen 2 Hercules HCB84B2 "compact" and the Ryobi PSBIW25 up against SeeSii's 3/8" compact and a viewer's own modded Gen 3 M18 compact impact. Very different ends of the impressiveness on this episode!

~We may earn from qualifying purchase via the links above~

As always, the creator of this channel works in product development for Astro Tools, always consider multiple sources when looking at a tool!

[TorqueTestChannel]

TTC is on winter break next week. See you guys in the new year!

[Darwin.B]

I am loving these Frankenstein/modified impacts. It's fun to see what is capable w/ parts already available or with what you are willing to make work together. Keep it up!

[ByGraceThroughFaith]

Mine was free with the purchase of the 5amp battery and a charger. $99 total... hard to beat at that price imo.

[Neukom]

Thanks Derick!!! That was awesome to see! Thanks again for sending it in!

[randy]

My local Harbor Freight hasn't had the old Hercules model in stock for about 2 months and I got tired of waiting for it. I ordered the Ryobi from Amazon. Looks like the Ryobi was the better choice.

[andyroid]

Dear Harbor Freight: _"If it's not broken, why fix it?"_

[loudneon]

I’ve been using the 3/8 SeeSii since June. It works for what I need. Getting bolts out after breaking loose, tightening 14mm cap screws before final torque, and breaking loose 50nm torqued bolts. I also have the green 1/2 inch SeeSii. It’s not bad for the price, but does lose to a co-workers Kobalt 1/2 inch.
My use case is pulling apart, assembly, and setting up injection molding tools. The 1/2 inch works well for breaking bolts loose up to 240 ft/lbs, but struggles if someone used an air impact and over tightened. The 3/8 inch works great for 10mm and smaller bolts or as a get it started before grabbing the torque wrench. Battery life seems to be very good. I’d be up for testing in a manufacturing environment if the need arises. I’ve been in skilled trades for over 28 years.

[JoeTheDIY]

Glad to see a Ryobi back on the dyno. Nobody regrets those deep discounts when they come around.

[lumpofnicoal]

Woah, thank yall for putting HF to the test, I am very happy I picked up an old model while they are still on clearance now, saved some money and some regret. Keep up the good work ❤

[VoskCoin]

Love the hellspawn — really respect the effort you put into all of your content, I know that’s a ton of work!

[prototypea]

2953 motor appears to be wound with two wires in parallel. This is often done as a single large strand of wire of equivalent resistance is exponentially harder to wind with. This likely means fewer turns per arm of the stator and likely results in a higher rpm/volt and lower internal resistance. The downside to higher rpm/volt is typically a less efficient motor but higher power density.

That said, I know these things as I used to rewind brushless motors for r/c aircraft. I had not really considered rewinding a power tool motor. Looking at the messy factory windings, I'd bet some gains could be made with a hand wound motor.

[Evan-hmtz]

Thank you guys for your unending dedication of bringing us quantitative numbers!

[willie]

I wonder if a spring spacer could remedy the hammer skip, and what that would do for the max torque

[TheOriginalJub]

O boy, I'd love to see how the ryobi 12 Ah stacks up against the 4 Ah and the old 9 Ah on more tools. Almost 20% gains on this tool translating over to their high torque or 4.5" angle grinder could make getting one of those big boys a worthwhile purchase if you already have the tools.

[TheSaw]

Gotta say, I have all the Ryobi stuff you'd use for "home" (we have 4 cars) automotive work, and I couldn't be any happier. For the money I spent vs the actual use I put it through it's an excellent value and more than enough power. For extra umph I have a breaker bar and a pipe, hahaha, but haven't found a need for that in the last few years with the P262 impact.

[jonalowe]

Thanks for testing the Seesii. I'd been looking at the Milwaukee 3/8" M12 for awhile since I have other M12 tools, but couldn't find a price I could stomach for a bare tool. I saw another review of sorts on the Seesii, and bought it during the Black Friday sales for cheap. I've been pretty impressed with its capabilities for the price, and it's nice to see that backed up with real world testing. The size is great, even if it is an 18-21v tool.

[dtacherra]

I would love to see a review on the new Hercules 3/4" Impact Wrench!

[PhillyFixed]

Welp, looks like we need to slap a square anvil on the Hercules impact driver since HF dropped the ball here.

[banzaiib]

At half the cost of the ryobi, the new Harbor Freight still seems like a good deal. I got one, as I don't need more than 300 lb ft of torque for what I do, and it was the cheapest, readily available option that does that. It's been great so far. Ripped off some stubborn bolts from my old trans-flex-plate, and even got the yoke nut off the pinion (235 ft lb torque spec)

[DUKE_of_RAMBLE]

I would've called the Milwaukee Mod _"Hellboy"_ 😊 You know, due to being red _and_ having a giant rock hand that hits *really* hard! Of course, I'd be remiss to not mention he's also quite a handful almost all of the time... 😏

Anyways... End of the year, and just wanted to say how glad I am to have found you guys back when you were still under the radar! I don't have any need for the results you generate, but I do love the science! As well as the fact you are keeping manufactures in check.
So, again, thank you all for doing what you do. Your videos are not just informative, but *comical, * and we all need a laugh at the end of the day... ♥️🤘

_HERE'S TO 2024!_ 🍻 I look forward to even more, and even bigger, shenanigans by you guys! Hopefully that'll involve some similar home-brew frankenfreaks similar to _Hellspawn (Hellboy!)_ over there... Maybe some cross-brand swaps, or manually adding more windings??? 😈
Happy New Year 🎉 _(even if this _*_isn't_*_ your last vid of the year)_