HultaforsTools 820030U Nail Puller ATLE

This is a quality heavy steel (not cast iron) piece of equipment. I used it to pull rusted 5" spiral nails out of a deck. The heads of the nails had been set well below the surface of the boards.I had the most problem when I ran into smaller nails since their tops broke off. This tool gripped the smaller nails solidly but they were too rusted and thin to be pulled out cleanly.

I wanted to really like this since it would be a nice compact tool to replace my ancient nail puller. Problem is, it’s actually too small. More specifically, the strike face is way too narrow to reliably hit with a hammer. Normally this isn’t an issue since I’m used to hitting in tiny nail. However, the tool itself is extremely wobbly when you push it against the wall. It’s also long enough so the strike face is jittering left and right. Hard to hit.Second problem is the jaws. They’re way too flat. There’s too much surface area lined up against the wall/wood you’re trying to penetrate. So versus my older tool, I have to drive it in a lot harder to get the same level of penetration. And since the jaws are flat, you have to also penetrate a lot deeper to ensure the jaw gets a good purchase on the nail. Also… say you miss the nail, the flat jaws make it difficult to reposition the tool around the overly-wide crater you just created. None of these problems would exist if the jaws weren’t so flat.

Having used the slide hammer variety, i was dismissive of the small size and did not expext much performance wise. I was wrong! This fits in where the slide hammer puller wont. It has two leverage positions to get into those tight quarters. The small jaws are tough! They do minimal marerial damage, and they dont let go of the nail! I was and am blown away by this tool. Just removed 10 imbedded framing nails with relative ease worth every cent!

I was pulling very large coated nails from trim boards at the junction of cement fiber planks and brick. I was afraid to pry the trim, thinking I'd crack the planks and/or bricks. What worked best: drilling shallow 1/4" holes immediately above and below the nail head, then popping the ATLE into the drilled holes with a couple of light hammer strokes (this sets the ATLE jaws onto the nail head), then using the hammer claw to pry the ATLE with nail out of the wood. This made a very difficult job (for me) very easy. Note: the trim had become very seasoned after 30 years outside, and even with severe pounding it was difficult to set the ATLE jaws without drilling the holes first.

I'm in the process of salvaging the pickets off of my neighbor's old fence panels. They replaced their fence and were going to haul the old panels to the dump, but many of the picket boards seemed good. The pickets are tightly nailed with long nails which are difficult to pull out. This tool is doing the job and I like the fact that the pincer jaws are holding up just fine. Apparently there is truth the the legend that Swedish steel is very strong.