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Does anyone have horror stories about Milwaukee’s “Hole-Hawg?”
One time I was attending a morning “briefing” and someone asked me how I broke my glasses. I was on top of a ladder drilling through drywall backed by plywood – between the studs – and I hit a nail and the bit stopped and the Hole Hawg spun around and hit me in the face, knocking my glasses off.
My other incident occurred when I was using a 1 1/8″ auger bit at an angle and the bit jammed and the Hawg started turning instead (of the bit) and hit me in the jaw.
And ALL the other fellows had their own stories of how they had been injured by this machine.
One mentioned that someone was killed when its torque threw him off a ladder from an upper story.
I think the DeWalt version has a built in safety clutch and/or an electronic sensor mechanism to prevent such disasters.
It is not so much the power or torque that is the problem but the unexpectedness of it. After all, a horse is a lot stronger than a man and when it kicks – watch out.
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Hole Hawg in empty bucket(set on high speed).
50# bag of thinset adhesive dumped in bucket.
1 gallon of water poured in on top of thinset.
Hit the trigger.
One broken arm!!!
15 months later............
Repeat performance by same "victim".
15 months and 1 day later??
Apprentice looking for a new job after he sucks everything out of the seemingly endless Workmens Comp Cookie Jar.
If the employer does not read the dangers of the equipment and draw the pictures to the "newbies", the first incident is a gimmee.
The second time, it can be chalked up to just plain stupidity.
At least that is the way the Industrial Commission looked at it.
As far as I am concerned the "Widowmaker" Milwaukee Hole Hawg is a man's machine up to any task you can give it. From a 30 gallon drum of sand, cement and lime to turning over an air driven starter with clutch on a silo conveyor.
Just like a woman:
If you don't treat her with the respect she deserves, she just may turn on you and bite off the family jewells.
Milwaukee Hole Hawg??......not typically found at Lowes in the Wallpaper Department.
*As a proud owner of that "manly" tool, I use it whenever my red blood cell count is feeling low. While I haven't broken any bones using mine, it has tweaked my wrists. I put some interesting wrinkles in a bit extender attachment, while using a 4 inch hole saw. It took 20 minutes of hydraulic press work and hammering to get it straight enough to use again. The tool demands respect and I certainly would NOT let a raw recruit use it without an explanation of why it has an 18 inch auxiliary handle sticking out the side of it.
*In the late seventies a guy I know broke his arm drilling holes for blowing insulation. The planetor bit went through the sheeting and the flat face of the bit struck a stud and stopped. When the drill turned the other way his arm (radius and ulna) snapped. He was done insulating and they hired me as his replacement. Broke my right arm twice but it took more than the Hawg to do it.Joe
*The hawg is just like any other powerful tool. You have to know the dangers, and "adjust" for them. You know not to stick your finger into a saw blade, right? Seriously though, I have never used a hole hawg, but I have used an Echo gas powered drill while jetting pilings for a pier. It was pretty powerful and would twist. All I did was let go. It's scary to watch is spin a few times before stopping, but it beats the hell out of a broken wrist, or being thrown to the water (or ground for land based work).
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try drilling for 6" dia. split ring connectors into timber using a 3/4" Milwaukee Hole Shooter...makes the torque of a Hole Hawg seem pretty minimal.
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A whole weeks worth of Safety Classes?
Hey Fred?
I betcha my chevette will leave your pinto in the dust.
Got $5.00?
I don't think the spirit of the thread was about whose Johnson was bigger, I think it was instead a warning of the danger of equipment that was underestimated by the newbie.
Go burn some rubber with you 3/4 Fred.
I feel "minimal" considering your experience.
Jeff
*Not a horror story, but yesterday I was watching an electrician use a long 1" auger in a "Hawg" to drill through a 3/4" subfloor..."Well dang!!,,, Hum,, Duh... it's not going through...."Once he withdrew the bit, you could see that he had hit a joist and wrappeed up a 16p nail around the auger like a cork screw. What was interesting was that it didn't phase the bit a "bit"! that musta been a $100 bit to hold up like that!
*Everone has there "heavy duty drill" stories. the worst ones were the ones with the trigger lock on them. Saw a skinny plumber once go thur a frame wall with one. We all watched as the drill wrapped the cord up until it pulled free
*Saw a guy once useing an ancient BIG drill once that had a toggle switch, thats just asking for trouble, obviously made long before the current rash of liability suits. Chuck
*I crawled under a deck that was about 16" off the ground to drill holes through the bands and run some pipe for a dryer vent. I borrowed a 4" hole saw and the Hog from a plumber on the job and made my way under the deck. I began boring carefully knowing it would grab. When it did it pulled one arm up with a force that lifted me off the ground in a verticle position and pinned my arm between the drill handle and deck. My shoulder has nagged me for years and I suspect it was some injury caused by this incident.
*I always see which way the torque will throw the drill body, and brace one of the handles against something solid before drilling. - jb
*While we're on the subject of 'Hawg stories, anyone have any experience with the DeWalt right angle drill (big one)? From what I read, it has a torque limiting clutch on it (at least on low speed). Seems like that might be a good safety feature. Sam
*One time, while standing on top of a ladder, probably above the safe limit, and reaching high over my head to drill a hole with a ships auger, the pilot on the bit started and then the chuck slipped. The chuck key is on the end of the cord, but if I pull it up the drill will come unplugged. I can't back the bit out because the chuck is slipping but not enough to get the drill loose. I can't let go because the bit won't hold the drill and it will fall on me. I started yelling for help, but it seemed to take forever to get there.
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Does anyone have horror stories about Milwaukee's "Hole-Hawg?"
One time I was attending a morning "briefing" and someone asked me how I broke my glasses. I was on top of a ladder drilling through drywall backed by plywood - between the studs - and I hit a nail and the bit stopped and the Hole Hawg spun around and hit me in the face, knocking my glasses off.
My other incident occurred when I was using a 1 1/8" auger bit at an angle and the bit jammed and the Hawg started turning instead (of the bit) and hit me in the jaw.
And ALL the other fellows had their own stories of how they had been injured by this machine.
One mentioned that someone was killed when its torque threw him off a ladder from an upper story.
I think the DeWalt version has a built in safety clutch and/or an electronic sensor mechanism to prevent such disasters.
It is not so much the power or torque that is the problem but the unexpectedness of it. After all, a horse is a lot stronger than a man and when it kicks - watch out.