Pulling, spreading, splitting and wedging – the jobs a spanner cannot do. A hydraulic puller takes a bearing, gear or coupling off a shaft in seconds without heat, hammering or damage to the shaft. A spreader gets into a flange joint that has rusted shut. A nut splitter takes a seized nut off without touching the stud. A lifting wedge gets under a load with 9.5 mm of clearance and lifts 18 tonne.

Every tool on this page is rated to 700 bar and comes out of the BOSS range. Some carry their own pump in the tool, some run off a separate hand pump so you can stand clear, and the pullers can be built up with tri-section pulling plates when the jaws will not reach.

One rule worth having on the wall: a puller under load stores an enormous amount of energy. Wind it up square, keep everyone out of the line of fire, and throw a rag or a blanket over the job before you take the last of the tension – when a bearing lets go it does not let go gently.