MakitaHM1307CB 35 lb. Demolition Hammer, accepts 1-1/8" Hex bits, Blue

Well I got tired very quickly of digging in Texas clay. Have to dig some holes for tree and plants to go in, also a trench to expand my irrigation lines. After spending hours with a pick and shovel and making little progress I decided it was time for something better. I went and rented a SDS-Max hammer. It sure helped and it sure make my back sore. If you're going to do digging, get something made for digging, not drilling or removing tile. I took it back and got the Makita HM1307cb. I decided quickly to purchase one vs $50/day rental fees.What a difference. Not only are you standing up and in a better position to dig it simply tears through the ground. I fired it up and it immediately planted the spade full depth in about 5 seconds. The 1 1/8 hex makes the tool very sturdy and great for levering the spade up once its embedded. I was digging vertical walled 2 foot diameter by 18" deep holes in a 10th the time and 1/100th the effort. If you only going to be digging holes 1foot across and 6" deep the a SDS-Max should be sufficient but if you're really going to be doing some digging then this is the only way to go. Once you do the sides all thats left is loose material you remove with a regular shovel.The tool is heavy but not unmanageable. At 35lbs it has sufficient weight to go into the ground and not so massive you can't get it out. The controls work fine and are positioned well. The plastic case with wheels is a dream. I would not recommend any similar tool that did not have a mobile case. All in all I'm happy with the tool and how it performs.I did notice my neighbor taking an interest in how fast I was digging......

I used a couple of different sizes of rented demo hammers several years ago to break out a badly poured concrete slab that needed replacing and to cut new footing trenches when I needed to put a more substantial perimeter foundation under part of my house. I live on a hilltop, which means that only a few inches of soil lie atop bedded clays and sandstone. You cannot dig footing trenches with a shovel in this stuff, or even do ordinary landscaping. Recently I decided to do a lot of garden redesign in my yard and after struggling with posthole diggers and a heavy iron digging bar for a few days, I went to the computer and ordered this 35-lb breaker with a supplementary clay spade and, for good measure, a cold chisel attachment. I should have done that the first day and saved myself some long hours and a couple of blisters. I cannot recommend this tool enough for landscaping in hard or rocky environments.The hammer itself comes with a heavy point that is ideal for crushing concrete slabs or breaking up irregularly shaped boulders. For other applications you will need the clay spade, the cold chisel, or the wider stripping chisel. (I didn't bother to order that last one, but I know where to get it if the need ever arises.)The clay spade made easy work of gouging out planting pockets large enough to put in the new plants (some quite sizeable) as well as enough potting soil to get them growing before their root systems had to deal with the clay.There is quite a bit of power to this mid-sized demo hammer. It should be more than good enough for personal use around a home or even light commercial use in a profession. Breaking up big slabs will go more quickly if you get a bigger and more powerful breaker, but if you don't have to do that all the time, just rent a larger tool for the two to three hours you need it. If you do demo work professionally, you already know how big a breaker you need.This is an excellent brute force tool that, with a little practice, can be used effectively by the previously inexperienced. If you haven't used a tool like this before, don't just power it up and drive the point or spade straight into the hard earth as far as you can; you will end up stuck. Just pound the spade in a couple of inches and pull back to break up the hard material. Slow and steady wins the race. If you have used breakers before, you probably knew from the description that this one would be a good light to medium duty tool.Recommended.

I originally bought this hammer for a backyard drainage project. I had some concerns about dropping this much cash on a tool that I thought I would not use that much. What I found is that having this tool handy let me attempt jobs that I otherwise would not have even started. It has been the centerpiece of at least 5 projects. (1) Backyard drain project. Used as a digger with 5" spade and for removal of old cool deck. Saved hundreds of dollars even after considering the cost of the hammer. (2) Tracing a pool light conduit to underground break. Used as digger and concrete breaker. Likely saved a thousand dollars, if anyone would have even agreed to try this repair they would have charged time and materials with no guarantees. (3) Multiple planting / replanting projects in Arizona caliche type clay. Used as digger. Likely saved hundreds and my back. (4) Removal of old concrete fence pillars. Used as concrete breaker. Saved hundreds. (5) Troubleshoot and fix septic system at rental property. Used as breaker, digger, and tamper attachment. Septic company quoted me $9K for new leach field, after finding the problem myself I only ended up paying about $800. (6) Laying electrical wire for gate sensor using flat asphalt cutter tool. Saved hours of digging.For a tool I thought I may just use once I have been amazed how many times it has been out in the past year. If you don't have one the guys that have these charge hundreds of dollars to do the work. What a time and money saver! It's hard work lugging a 35 lb hammer, but always the same job would be even harder without the hammer. I thought about getting the 42 lb version, but so far have found this one to be sufficient. If you will mostly be using the tool for breaking concrete I would consider the 42 lb breaking hammer. The extra weight would be useful. If using for multiple tasks not having the extra 7 lbs makes a difference.You should also consider a nice cord for this tool. I have the 100 foot 10 gage yellow jacket cable also from amazon.Overall, great tool. You can't go wrong here if you like DIY.2020 Update: I still live this tool and have since added the 27 lb AVT hammer. I remodeled my whole front and back yard using these. We redid irrigation, landscape lighting, added more drainage, etc...

They are using a plastic part on the interior that continues to break...second trip to the Makita shop, with less than 2 hours run time. Bad design.