Bosch makes some of the best power tools in the world and the Bosch Bulldog Rotary Hammer is a perfect example. Right out of the box, the first item we noticed was the case and the big Bosch logo. When opening the case, we noticed a lot of room, more than enough to carry bits, chisels and screws.This is a nice feature. We know it's only a case, but the extra room for peripheral tool parts saves trips back out to the truck.
After picking up the tool, the first feature we noticed was the weight. The Bosch Bulldog rotary hammer was very light and weighs in at 6.25 lbs. I was a little surprised, I thought it would weight more. The Bosch was very easy to handle as the balance between your front hand and rear hand is nice. On the front of the tool, you can change back and fourth to drill, hammer or rotary hammer with a well placed dial. The handle is a "D" handle, meaning it gives a user more control when using it over your head or on the ground. The "D: handle is a very nice feature because control is important when using this type of power tool. The only downside to a D handle is sometimes its harder to get into tight spots, but that's not a bad trade off! We really like the SDS system. The bit locks into place by pulling back the chuck and dropping it in. The SDS system is nice if you are using a variety of different bits or chisels. The down side to an SDS system is that the bits tend to be a little more expensive, but we think they are well worth the extra cost.
Power Hand Tools
We ran the Bosch Rotary Hammer through some tests. We used a chisel to break up some brick and drilled holes for Tapcons. We performed some other tests, but these were the main two tests we wanted to monitor.
The first test was using a chisel to break up some brick that was laid in a cement walkway. Again with the SDS bit system, the chisel locked right into place with no hassles. We set the dial to Hammer and went to town. The D handle was very nice as we could control the Bosch hammer very easily. We busted up about half the walk way rather quickly (18 minutes) and we didn't feel a lot of strain on our backs. The tool ran rather cool as we didn't feel a lot of heat produced from the Bosch Rotary Hammer. After we were half done, we tried another Rotary Hammer (Different brand name that we will put into another review). This one didn't have a D handle and we could tell from the start this made a big difference. When we finished the last part of the walkway, we were a little more tired for two reasons. (By the way, it took us 26 minutes to finish the second half). First, we were a little more tired partly due to the absence of the D handle. Second was the power transfer. On the Bosch we couldn't tell how much power it was transferring to the work, but after using another manufacture for the last half, we could really see that the Bosch was transferring more of the power to the chisel instead of back into the power tool. Over all the Bosch was a great tool for this job. Great balance, but the best discovery was how much power it transferred to the work instead of your body.
The next test was to put anchors into concrete walls. For this we used the Condrive 1000 Tapcon system. This was a no- brainer. The Bosch Bulldog Rotary hammer knocked this out without breaking a sweat. Again, when we did it on the ceiling, wall or floor, it was very easy to control. As long as you match the bit to the right screw, you could fly through this without stripping a screw. Once you set the depth on the Bulldog, it was no problem.The only minor obstacle we ran into was the screws. When we used the tapcon screws, we could really get them to bit and hold with no problem. The off brand screws wouldn't always hold or the heads broke rather easily, but this is more due to the screw or human error, not the Bosch Bulldog.
We ran a couple more tests to rate durability, but we had a hard time getting this tool to run hot. It runs very cool. Over all this is a great Rotary Hammer. So if you are looking at getting a Rotary Hammer, definitely take a look at the Bosch Bulldog.
Pro's
D Handle, good transfer of power, SDS system, great power
Con's
It depends on what you are using this hammer for. If you are looking to get into tight areas, its not bad with the D handle, but could prevent some movement.
Professional Power Tool Guide Rating
Value
You get a lot of power and a lot of tool for the price. This was a test on the 7/8", for a little more money you can get the 1" SDS which might be better.
Performance
The are no questions about the performance. It Does everything you want. More than enough power.
Ease of Use
As with most of Bosch power tools, this is very easy to handle and also has great balance.
Features
With the Hammer, Drill or Rotary hammer, there are more than enough ways to get the job done. The trigger is very easy to hold to get the right speed.
Balance
This tool has good balance. The forward part of the power tool has a good balance by itself. With the D handle you can easily control your work. You will end up getting tired because of the ability to keep on working with a well balanced tool.
Feel
This is an extremely solid power tool. When you pick this rotary hammer up, you can feel the balance. It doesn't seem cheap. Just one of those good power tools to hold in your hand.
Overall
Overall we are giving this a "5 Blade" The Bosch rotary Hammer has great balance, lots of power and the SDS system makes it easy to change bits on the go. The case has more than enough room to store bits and screws, which is a nice feature.