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If you’ve never used a spud wrench, the pointed end looks like overkill until the day you’re lining up bolt holes on a hitch or implement mount that won’t quite match up. That tapered spike is for exactly that — you slide it into the hole to align the plates, then use the ratchet or wrench end to actually tighten the bolt. It’s a two-tool job that this MAXPOWER 3-piece Spud Wrench Set turns into one.
The set is three pieces: a ratcheting spud wrench, a socket-style spud wrench, and a spud-tip adjustable wrench. All three live in the tractor toolbox, not the main shop box, because that’s where I actually reach for them — hitch pins, implement mounts, anything where bolt holes on two separate pieces of steel need convincing to line up before they’ll thread.
The ratchet head is the one I use most. Being able to align the hole with the spike and then ratchet the bolt home without swapping tools is the whole selling point, and it works like it should — no slop in the ratchet mechanism, no cheap feel when you’re leaning into it.
The adjustable wrench end is the one I didn’t expect to like as much as I do. It’s not a replacement for a real adjustable wrench in the shop, but on the tractor — where you don’t want to carry six tools for one job — having a spud tip and a wrench jaw on the same piece of steel means less walking back and forth.
At $38.99, it’s not the cheapest three-piece set out there, but it’s priced right for what it replaces: buying a spud wrench and a separate ratchet and a separate adjustable wrench individually would run more than this and take up more room in the box.
If you’re running any kind of tractor or heavy equipment with attachments — post hole diggers, box blades, whatever bolts to a three-point hitch — this is the kind of tool you don’t think about until the one day you desperately need it, and then you’re glad it’s already in the box.