Best Ground Rod Driver

bhe

I am looking to purchase a ground rod driver. I only have experience with two methods. One being a sledge hammer and the other being a 3/4" hammer drill w/driver. Does anyone have any recommendations for something more sophisticated than a sledge hammer and something a little cheaper than purchasing a 3/4 hammer drill?

mdshunk

Yes, see the first picture in this thread:

bhe

Thanks MD, I am mostly interested in a manual driver, similar to the first picture in your post. I tried to search "ground rod drivers" on this site and didnt have any luck. Thank you for the link.

mdshunk

Yeah, you can buy that manual one's, pre made at a Tractor Supply, Central Tractor, and places like that. They're made for driving T posts. They're not nearly as heavy and hard-hitting as my home made one in my picture.

bhe

I am actually looking at a buying one specifically made for driving ground rods. It is called the REM 2000. It weighs about 30lbs. I will let you know how it works out.

mdshunk

Got a link? My local utility has one they use, specifically for ground rods. It has a "chuck" of sorts, and you can use the driver anywhere along the rod. You don't have to slam it on the end of the rod. I don't know who makes it. I have examined several of them before, and could find no manufacturer.

fridaymean

We just use an old Bosch hammer(whatever) Those mini splined jack hammers. It works great and drives a rod in about 15ish seconds.

A.W.Davis

How the hell did you manage that?

I worked for three hours driving a 8' rod in today, damn I am sore and have blisters all over my hands from sledgehammering

It doesnt help that the ground was sandstone

I tried my Bosh Rotohammer and it did absolutely nothing!!!

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Sparky Joe

15 seconds is a bit of an exageration. That may be true in solid sand, but for driving a rod into earth using a roto hammer, 15 minutes is more like it.

The driving force of a roto hammer is much less than what a man can do. The trade off for less work with your arms is more time holding the roto hammer.

daveselectric

I have a Makita demolition hammer with a ground rod driver attachment. The hammer weighs around 40lbs and I can drive a ground rod through rock in one minute. My average time is less. It takes longer to roll out the cord and set up the hammer than it takes to drive the rod. I highly recommend it. The downside is $800.00. If you drive allot of rods it's worth every penny.

bhe

Sorry I havent posted sooner MD, work has really picked up and I have been really busy. I just recieved my ground rod driver today. I bought it off of ebay for $41. It is a REM 2000. I think they might have gone out of business because I have been unable to find an active web link. It also doesnt help that the rock band REM has an album called Driver. Their website is REMDRIVER.com, maybe you may have better luck finding a link than I did. I let you know how it works out.

fridaymean

Ok, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. 30 seconds at the most. If you lean on the hammer, it goes down very fast. If you have done this and it took you 15 min there may be a problem. I am not talking about a hammer drill or one of the cheep things they sell at home depot. It shouldn't even take 15 min if you use a sledge.

ABLE1

Interesting thread. I have found a trick that seems to work for me the first and only time I ever used it.

I have Dewalt 1/2" hammer drill. I took a garden hose and opened the spigot to give small flow of water. Let it trickle on the spot for the ground rod. While I was climbing my ladder with the 8 foot rod I placed the tip of the rod on the spot and started the drill. Went down about 2 feet in about 10 seconds. I backed off a bit to let some water trickle around the rod. Then started again. This process took about 2 minutes and my rod was at a full depth.

The set up and clean up took longer than the actual insertion of the rod. I may have been lucky and did not hit a rock. But I found that this method was far better than I had ever used before. Also if I had hit a rock I feel that I could have easily pulled out the rod since the ground was so soft and tried another location with out any extra effort. If I would have not used the water I know that this would have been next to impossible since I have tried in the past with out any luck what so ever. Had to cut off 18" the rod to make just above ground level.

Hope this little trick helps others here. I found the trick on another site.

Les

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ABLE1

vtmarksman

i prefer any of the 300 series cats the last two houses i did were on a bed of shale. i had the excavator dig me two holes.. took me 1.5 minutes to set in all the rods.. it was impossible any other way...

doug

sparkysteve

My favorite ground rod driver is Dave our crew apprentice.

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JohnJ0906

Ah, takes me back to my apprentice days! The young'ns around here have it easy-most jurisdictions around MD require CCE's, so ground rod driving is not as common anymore.

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All replies based on the 2008 NEC

Sparky Joe

The way it should be and has been done for generations

y0manda

garden hose and a 10' 3/4 steel pipe with a 1/2" nipple as a hydro jet. easy!

Speedy Petey

How good of a ground will that provide? I mean having a ground rod loose in a hole.

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Magnettica

Does it go through abandoned oil heat tanks, gas lines, and sewer pipes too?

This sounds like the machine I need. I have a ground rod now that I am thinking of that's only gone down about 20-30". Supposedly - and I am told - that these grounds I am working on used to be a coal factory of sorts. That might be BS though. All I know is I need to get this ground rod sunk and fast!

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