Worlds largest wrench?

HUMPHREY MACHINE · Apr 10, 2015

I recently came to own this large wrench and while far from the
worlds largest it spiked my curiosity about just how large the largest
wrench ever made may have been? (working wrench - not trade stimulator
or advertising piece).

A quick Google search did not come up with much. I see that
Joe mentions nuts measuring 12 inches ‘across the flats’ in another
thread. So what is the largest nut and or wrench which our members
have encountered either in the real world or historic photographs?

Here is a related discussion at Smokstak

Old picture - biggest bolt and nut in the world! - SmokStak

The photographed wrench measures 59 inches high and accommodates
a 6 ½ inch nut. It has a galvanized finish.

SteveEx30 · Apr 10, 2015

Yup that's a big wrench !

cvairwerks · Apr 10, 2015

Wrench for a prop dome runs in the 10-14" range, depending on what prop it is. Not your typical wrench, as it's struck with a mallet rather than turned by hand. There are some though, that are driven by a Sweeney torque multiplier.

paracongo308 · Apr 10, 2015

Maybe you never seen a Rigid 5 foot pipe wrench, I broke one many years back.

BobRenz · Apr 10, 2015

Ship propellers are generally held on with ONE large nut. Each ship carries it's own prop nut wrench, which is usually supported by a crane hook, and struck by a battering ram in the shipyard. It's been years, but as I recall, sizes over 24" were fairly common.

BigHoss · Apr 10, 2015

Big, Bigger, Biggest . . . . It's harder than I want to work . . .

HUMPHREY MACHINE · Apr 10, 2015

This link shows a propeller nut wrench from the Queen Mary.

Queen Mary pics... in the spirit of happy thoughts...

Mud · Apr 10, 2015

Y'all have mine beat. I inherited this one, 4-5/8 opening. I was told it was for adjusting tracks on a Cat, but it's too big for anything that's been owned here. I have seen photos of wrenches that look like this hanging on old tiller wheel Cat 70s, it's possible that's what this is for.

Joe in NH · Apr 10, 2015

paracongo308 said:
Maybe you never seen a Rigid 5 foot pipe wrench, I broke one many years back.

A recent job assignment brought me to Beaumont, TX which is right in the heart of oil refinery country (and humidity)

Craigslist is an addiction and I can't help myself even in a motel room - and I was surprised to learn that some of the oilfield tools have made it to Craiggie, including a 7 foot pipe wrench.

Sadly, no pix. But $125 for the wrench.

Joe in NH

lathefan · Apr 10, 2015

lathefan · Apr 10, 2015

...I have a 600 lb ft torque wrench that says Snap On on it...it's only about 4 feet long...but it put the world's biggest hole in my wallet...

Mud · Apr 10, 2015

lathefan said:
...I have a 600 lb ft torque wrench that says Snap On on it...it's only about 4 feet long...but it put the world's biggest hole in my wallet...

I have one of those too. I sent it in for calibration last year and got told they can't because they have no parts for them anymore.

lathefan · Apr 10, 2015

Mud said:
I have one of those too. I sent it in for calibration last year and got told they can't because they have no parts for them anymore.

...well...that figures...they want to sell us a new one...

jdavi581 · Apr 10, 2015

I have not used it, but the papermill in Shawano, WI where I worked has a locknut wrench for one of their yankee dryers that the nut fits onto~18" shaft to hold the bearing on. THe wrench fits the nut, and is installed with what they called a "hoist wrench", about 12' long. The hole in the end of the wrench was hooked to a hoist to tighten. The larger wrenches of this type could not be lifted by men, much less turned. The nuts were used to drive the tapered bore helical roller bearings up the shaft the taper to set the clearances in the bearings. Now hydraulic nuts are used to set the clearences, and the wrench is to snug up the nut.
Joe

Mud · Apr 10, 2015

Mine is an old micrometer style, new in the 80s. I discovered there are plenty of people out there servicing them.

dcsipo · Apr 10, 2015

HUMPHREY MACHINE said:
I recently came to own this large wrench and while far from the
worlds largest it spiked my curiosity about just how large the largest
wrench ever made may have been? (working wrench - not trade stimulator
or advertising piece).

A quick Google search did not come up with much. I see that
Joe mentions nuts measuring 12 inches ‘across the flats’ in another
thread. So what is the largest nut and or wrench which our members
have encountered either in the real world or historic photographs?

Here is a related discussion at Smokstak

Old picture - biggest bolt and nut in the world! - SmokStak

The photographed wrench measures 59 inches high and accommodates
a 6 ½ inch nut. It has a galvanized finish.

That is not a big wrench it is a coke can from this shop

dee
;-D

lathefan · Apr 10, 2015

John Garner · Apr 10, 2015

Back in the early 1970s, I was shown a 1/2 inch drive socket wrench extension that was 1) 25 foot long, 2) tubular, and 3) designed to float vertically with between 6 and 12 inches of its length sticking out of the water. The socket was locked in place with a through pin and O-ring-ish-retainer band. The person who showed the socket extension to me said that it was designed and built for one of the local campuses of the University of California, to tighten holddown bolts at the bottom of a deep pool of very hot water, eliminating the need for divers wearing insulated suits with cooling-water umbilicals.

michiganbuck · Apr 11, 2015

If I remember right think I read someplace that Vikings liked big wenches.

LKeithR · Apr 11, 2015

Mud said:
Y'all have mine beat. I inherited this one, 4-5/8 opening. I was told it was for adjusting tracks on a Cat, but it's too big for anything that's been owned here. I have seen photos of wrenches that look like this hanging on old tiller wheel Cat 70s, it's possible that's what this is for.
View attachment 136566

She could use that to tighten up my.................. :eek:

...oh, never mind....

Well, somebody had to say it...

Worlds largest wrench?

Cast Iron

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Titanium

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Hot Rolled

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Stainless

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