Inexpensive bolt extractor

Greg Barnes wrote: 
Also you may notice that the bolt below the fragmented one had the sleeve installed backwards, that's how it was in the hole.

Crazy!

Patience can be key with successful removal. We pulled 4 wedge bolts on sunday and the first one had me a bit discouraged. It took about 15-20 mins of active work because the clip kept re-engaging the cone (that, or it never truly disengaged). I’d spin it for a bit, then try to pull with the Hurley Jr but it would tighten up, so I’d tap it back in and continue spinning. I think it only came out because the hole widened enough as I wobbled it around in the hole some while spinning. It was the one on the left. The other 3 came out much faster. A friend of mine pulled the one on the right that the cone broke off, so I don’t know what went wrong there but the hole should be deep enough that we can reuse it anyway

Love seeing these old bolts removed intact. We have come a long way, but still have more to do!

When replacing wedge bolts with hand power i.e. in wilderness areas, any tips on spinning the bolt to create the ridge to disengage the cone?

Ken Duncan wrote: When replacing wedge bolts with hand power i.e. in wilderness areas, any tips on spinning the bolt to create the ridge to disengage the cone?

Also super interested in this... I have been trying to learn rebolting at Pinnacles and no power tools are allowed.

Dan Merrick and Bruce Hildenbrand did some some wedge bolt spinning by hand in the lab and in the field. It takes a bit of elbow grease, but it is possible. 

Gregger Man wrote: Dan Merrick and Bruce Hildenbrand did some some wedge bolt spinning by hand in the lab and in the field. It takes a bit of elbow grease, but it is possible. 

Were they using a socket wrench? Certainly can't match the speed of a power drill but I can't think of anything that would allow you to turn it faster.

Also got a few questions of my own after another attempt at rebolting today. I had trouble on 2 bolts today, both externally threaded. I'm pretty sure one of them was a wedge bolt because it would rotate inside the hole. The other one is either a wedge bolt or one of the rawl lock bolts (externally threaded sleeve bolt) I'm not sure. I tried spinning both, but my power drill would bind on both of them.

So I tried using the hurley jr after attempting to spin only to have both pull maybe a centimeter out before the threads stripped. This isn't the first time this has happened so I think either something is wrong with the hurley jr or I'm just cranking too hard on it because the past 4-5 times I've tried to pull a bolt with it, it just strips the threads. I'm almost considering buying a die to bring with me, but that isn't excactly solving the root problem.

The other issue is that the wedge bolt wouldn't spin with the power drill. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. What do you do in order to get wedge bolts to start spinning?

Add water. If the hammer mode doesn’t release it, is an actual hammer. Then screw on the spinner tool and see if you can rotate it with a crescent wrench to get it going. 

Gregger Man wrote: Add water. If the hammer mode doesn’t release it, is an actual hammer. Then screw on the spinner tool and see if you can rotate it with a crescent wrench to get it going. 

Tried water and also hammer mode. So what you're saying is that I need to screw on the spinner tool and turn it with a crescent wrench until it wont turn anymore and then put in the drill and spin it? I just want to make sure I understand correctly so I don't just strip the threads even more. 

No - I'm saying use the crescent wrench to get the entire bolt to turn after hitting it in with a hammer. If the bolt is in a shallow hole, you can usually tell when you hit it that it feels too solid. Those are often a lost cause. If it gives a little, see if you can hammer the bolt in just a little bit. If you still have enough threads to leave the nut on and add the spinner tool, you could use the crescent to turn either direction by opposing the nut against the spinner. I have had success this way without stripping the threads, but I have also had the bolt just break off if the collar won't let go.
I would check to see if your spinner tool has damaged internal threads - sounds like that might be the case.

edit to add: once you get it to turn, proceed as usual with the spinner and drill.

Ken Duncan wrote: When replacing wedge bolts with hand power i.e. in wilderness areas, any tips on spinning the bolt to create the ridge to disengage the cone?

Some guys with CASA have developed a technique for removing wedges in a wilderness area using only a hurley jr. style puller tool. They have a video somewhere showing the technique!

Gregger Man wrote: Dan Merrick and Bruce Hildenbrand did some some wedge bolt spinning by hand in the lab and in the field. It takes a bit of elbow grease, but it is possible. 

Here's the video of their first removal - fast forward to 1:45 for the start of the removal:

​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a0oBTF4UFs​​​

Greg Barnes wrote:

Here's the video of their first removal - fast forward to 1:45 for the start of the removal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a0oBTF4UFs

Ok, this is interesting. And of course, I have a question: Having never seen any of this hardware (other than the 1/2" U-joint, socket, spinner handle, etc), how is the piece that screws down onto the bolt to be removed actually firmly attached to the exposed bolt such that it can be turned CCW to try and "back it out"? Did I see some allen set-screws to grip the bolt with? But I didn't see them stop to tighten them. 

The speed of the video is deceptive. I think they are actually turning clockwise. Slow it down to 0.25x speed and you can tell some of the time.
Since the working end of the bolt has no threads in the rock, it makes no difference which direction you turn it. 

Greggor, what is the name of the hydraulic tool they use after scouring (the one with which they use thr spacers in the video with bruce, clint, and john at pinnacles?)

It looks smaller than a similar device ive seen in another one of your videos.

depending on price, i might just buy one

Isaiah Foulks wrote: Greggor, what is the name of the hydraulic tool they use after scouring (the one with which they use thr spacers in the video with bruce, clint, and john at pinnacles?)

It looks smaller than a similar device ive seen in another one of your videos.

depending on price, i might just buy one

I think it's called the greenlee punch driver. They ain't cheap. 

googling... holy **** looks like im making an inexpensive bolt extractor!

You can get a knock off version.  I have this one, works fine.

http://ez-tools.us/spd/K-8E/Hydraulic-Hole-Puncher-Set-22-60-mm-7-8-2-3-8

The hydraulic tools have plenty of pull for the job, but they all have about a 1.000" travel. That means adding spacers to pull any bolt longer than 1 inch, which can be a pain in the ass in practice. I have a knockoff Greenlee that I got for ~$120, but I just leave it in the truck as a backup tool in case I wreck my Doodad. 

Pulled my first wedge bolt today. 

Also figured out what I was doing wrong with previous wedge bolts. I had been using the nut to tap the stud in with a hammer in order to disengage the cone, which consistently left me with not enough threads outside the hole to get the spinner tool on correctly. Today I used hammer mode on the drill instead to disengage the cone.

The first one actually spun all the way out and I had to put the bolt back in the hole and use the hurley jr because I wasn't able to get the bolt off of the spinner tool. Expanded the hole to fit a 1/2" ASCA bolt and then put the lowering hardware back on. This success was soon undercut by an unexpected failure, however.

I started spinning the other anchor bolt and I think it was almost ready for the hurley jr when the drill battery died. I couldn't even get my spinner tool off the bolt. Unfortunately, it was late enough in the day that I knew that if I tried to recharge the battery and come back it would be too cold outside (the cliff is east facing). So I had to just leave my spinner tool up there for another day. Good thing nobody climbs there this time of year, though.

Do y'all usually carry more than one battery when you go out to do some rebolting?