Ridgid ProPress 200B In-Line ProPress 43428

Ridgid ProPress

The trend over the past several years has been moving more and more towards pressing copper pipe rather than traditional sweating methods. These connections are more secure and there is less room for error/leaks that will cause trouble down the road. We don’t have any exact figures to go on but our feeling from talking with plumbers daily is that this is a growing trend, but there is certainly a large portion of the tradesmen population that has yet to commit the investment needed to get a press tool and continue to sweat pipes. We recently announced 2 new Milwaukee Press Tools to hit the market, which must mean Milwaukee sees an opportunity for growth here. The new Milwaukee models feature a similar inline design which offers some advantage over the traditional gun type tools. Ridgid, now looking to be one-upped, is striking back with their own compact Strait Line design tool ProPress 200B ($1837, Ohio Power Tool).

The new design allows the 200B to fit into a few more awkward spaces than the compact ProPress 210B ($1989, Ohio Power Tool), even though both units do feature the 270 degree swivel head. The actual ProPress and PEX jaws are compatible with both Ridgid ProPress units and both compact units press with the same force, 5,400 ft lbs. We hope to get a chance to use one of these shortly and expect them to be available sometime before the end of 2012.

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