It’s hard to believe that five or six years ago, we didn’t have one cordless ratchet in the shop. Now, it’s hard to do a project without using our Milwaukee Extended Reach Ratchet of some variation. Back in October, we published a video review of the Milwaukee M12 FUEL Extended Reach ratchet, including the 1/4″ and 3/8″ drive sizes. This time, The Home Depot sent us just the M12 FUEL 2560 which is the 3/8″ extended reach as part of their THD Prospective program. They wanted us to share our thoughts and feedback on the M12 FUEL ratchet.

Milwaukee 2560 Extended Reach Ratchet – 3/8″

During the video review a few months ago, we left with somewhat of an open-ended question. With the standard reach and extended reach ratchet, which would be the go-to if we could only choose one? At the time, I really couldn’t answer this, and I thought that I was leaning to the 1/4″. After months of usage in the shop, it’s definitely the 3/8′ extended reach ratchet that gets the most use. So, if you can only choose one, we recommend the 3/8″ M12 FUEL extended reach.

Some may say that the 55 ft-lbs of breakaway torque is a big feature. Personally, I think torque is really not the huge benefit in a cordless ratchet. I look for torque in impact wrenches, but not so much cordless ratchets. With that said, in June, we’ll see the release of the new Milwaukee Right-Angle Impact Wrench with 220 ft-lbs of torque. Cordless ratchets are more of a nut-runner or bolt taker inner and outer. The cordless ratchet needs to also hold up with some manual grunt behind it as well, hence when you’re finishing a brake job and need more force on the bolt that what the ratchet will apply. Be sure to watch the video for more information.

You can find the Milwaukee 2560 M12 FUEL Extended Ratchet at The Home Depot for $329 for the kit, and $239 for the bare tool.