Best 3/4 Inch Impact Wrenches: Hercules, Milwaukee, and Three Amazon Wildcards Tested

Introduction

Serious work in the trades often happens at 3/4 inch drive, because nobody wants their sockets chewed up doing heavy fastening all day. We put Harbor Freight’s latest Hercules 3/4 inch impact, built on its Gen 2 Ultra Torque platform and the most powerful cordless impact the brand has ever released, up against Milwaukee’s M18 2967 and three budget-oriented Amazon 3/4 inch impacts. The results include a clear value winner, a few surprises, and one tool that badly undersold its potential.

Why 3/4 Inch Drive Matters

Hercules claims 1,615 ft-lb of bolt breakaway torque and 1,100 ft-lb of tightening torque for its new flagship, and it arrives at $199, roughly $100 less than the closest competitor from Metabo HPT and more than $100 less than Milwaukee’s current 3/4 inch offering. One quirk worth knowing: the hog ring on the Hercules is heavily overqualified for the job, and the tool holds onto even well-used sockets with real determination.

Milwaukee M18 2967: The Benchmark in Red

Milwaukee’s Gen 3 high torque 2967 remains a little monster, but the 3/4 inch version is still built on the previous generation platform. In our working torque test, an industry standard 5-second run in forward, the M18 put up 587 and 574 ft-lb on consecutive runs. In maximum 10-second reverse testing it reached 801 ft-lb. It is a strong, proven tool, but the competition has been catching up fast.

Hercules 3/4 in Impact (Gen 2 Ultra Torque): The Value Champ

In the same 5-second forward test the Hercules made 559 ft-lb, right in line with what a generational change usually delivers. Where it really shines is reverse: 749 ft-lb in the 10-second maximum test, passing Milwaukee’s current 3/4 inch model, and 832 ft-lb in best-case testing. With a 12 amp hour battery it climbed to 897 ft-lb, nearly cresting 900.

Its tightening torque held 94% of the advertised rating, the best figure we measured today. It scored 442 points overall in our ranking, placing it just below Metabo HPT’s latest, which made 900 ft-lb with a standard battery but costs around $300 bare. For $200 kitted, the Hercules can beat any current 3/4 inch Milwaukee, DeWalt, or Makita LXT offering we tested.

Ewor RB 819: The Diamond in the Rough

We bought the most expensive, highest torque-rated no-name 3/4 inch impact we could find on Amazon: the Ewor RB 819, rated up to 1,500 ft-lb breakaway and a wildly optimistic 1,350 ft-lb tightening. We paid about $290, and the kit includes a canvas bag, charger, and a 6 amp hour battery built as a 3P configuration, three groups of cells in parallel, a smart way to get discharge amps out of generic cells. The pack is Makita-style, so the tool also accepts LXT batteries.

It made 470 ft-lb in forward, then 759 ft-lb in reverse, and a best-case 868 ft-lb, beating both the Hercules and Milwaukee’s current 3/4 inch model. Strangely, even our custom high-discharge Makita-style pack managed only 830 ft-lb, less than the included battery. The RB 819 scored 411 points, placing it above Milwaukee. You could mentally add 30 points if you ignore its torque claims, which would put it equal with the Hercules, but its advertised 1,350 ft-lb tightening figure is how it sells, so that is where it gets dinged. It is also the nicest to hold of the Amazon picks, with rubber over-molding and a less plasticky feel.

Vicki and FSYA: Two Twins from One Factory

We also bought the Vicki 3/4 inch high torque impact on viewer requests, and the FSYA 3/4 inch high torque because the two looked nearly identical, sharing roughly 95% of the body molding and even the same panel gap near the trigger. Almost certainly the same factory. The key differences: the Vicki kit runs about $180-190 with a proprietary 4.2Ah battery that is not cross-compatible with Makita LXT, while the FSYA sold bare for about $145 and runs on DeWalt batteries, including Stack Packs.

In the 5-second forward test the Vicki managed just 330 ft-lb, a figure a half-inch Milwaukee beats at 38. The FSYA with a DeWalt pack made 435 ft-lb. In reverse the gap flipped dramatically: the Vicki managed 599 ft-lb while the DeWalt-battery version did 459. The Vicki’s internals clearly house a larger motor bottlenecked by its generic pack.

The FSYA’s best trick is what happens with better DeWalt batteries: with a 5 amp hour Power Stack it jumped to 773 ft-lb, and with a 9 amp hour FlexVolt pack it climbed to 798 ft-lb, into Milwaukee territory and above DeWalt’s own current 3/4 inch offering. The motor is clearly built with more potent battery capability in mind. In the rankings the FSYA scored 382 points and the Vicki 269, the standout for the opposite reasons.

Milwaukee’s Placement in the Field

Milwaukee’s M18 2967 remains excellent but found itself beaten in reverse by both the Hercules and the Ewor. It scored below the Ewor in our overall points system. Until DeWalt releases a 3/4 inch version of the DCF 900 or 961, Milwaukee holds its ground with proven performance, but the value race has clearly moved on.

Overall Rankings and Buying Advice

Converting our dyno runs into points, with length, torque-to-advertised ratios, and price factored in, the totals came out: Hercules 442, Ewor 411, FSYA 382, and Vicki 269. Length-wise, all three sit close together at 91.4, 88.6, and a chunkier figure for the Hercules, which still suggests a modern design rather than an old-school brick.

If you want the best value, the $200 Hercules is the safe bet: strongest tightening efficiency, strongest reverse gains with big batteries, and a price $100 under its nearest real competitor. If you already own DeWalt batteries, the FSYA is a fascinating budget play that climbs to near-premium numbers with better packs. The Ewor RB 819 is the surprise of the bunch, a kit-style Amazon tool with a genuinely good included battery that beats a lot of brand-name competitors, as long as you take its advertised torque claims with salt. The Vicki is the one to avoid unless you enjoy bottlenecked motors and proprietary batteries.

Conclusion

The 3/4 inch cordless impact market is more interesting than it has been in years. A $200 Hercules now beats most brand-name flagships in our testing, an Amazon no-name shocked everyone by out-reversing Milwaukee, and the DeWalt-battery FSYA shows how much a motor can be held back by the pack it ships with. Match the tool to the batteries you already own, and check the real measured numbers before trusting the box claims.