Valve Wrench

When it comes to controlling or shutting off the flow of liquids or gases through a pipe, nothing does the job quite like a valve wheel wrench. Valve wheels can be found on pipes in a variety of industries, including the oil and gas industry and water works. Valve wheels come in all sizes and the larger ones need a bit of effort to tighten them down or open them up and thats where the leverage of these tools comes into play.

These tools are specifically designed to make the job of opening stubborn valves and closing a valve wheel much easier. It is a long handled wrench with a special head design that allows the user to get a secure grip on the valve wheel. Longer handle lengths provide more leverage, grip and allows the operator a solution for handling hard to open valves. Depending on the size of the wheel there are a variety of different wrenches from small 8" - 12" Reed Mfg refinery wrenches to large Gearench petol wrenches.  These tools are usually made of cast iron, steel or non sparking aluminum which are safer.   With a variety of options and styles of wrenches available we have defined the different styles below.

How to use a valve wheel wrench

✅ Step 1: The wrench should fit over the wheel of the valve rim completely. Make sure the rim of the wheel is in direct contact with the top of the wrench before attempting to use any pressure to move the wheel.

✅ Step 2: When starting to wrench brace your feet firmly on the ground and pull rather then push to release or close the valve. If pushing is necessary use an open hand to push instead of gripping the wrench.

✅ Step 3: To avoid any slippage, keep the wrench in the same plane as the valve wheel rim when pulling.

✅ Step 4: A "cheater bar" is highly NOT recommended, using excessive force can break the tool or the wheel itself.

✅ Step 5: Never strike wrench with a hammer or other objects.

Types of Wrenches

Double End Valve Wrench

These wrenches offer a better grip on the rims of valves and are double sided, which means you don't need as much force. They use leverage to open and close the valves.

Adjustable Valve Wheel Wrench

These wrenches have a valve wheel end that grips the top of the wheel of hand-operated valves and provides secure leverage for opening or closing. The opposite end has a standard screw style wrench, which adjustable jaws it can securely grip different sizes of fasteners with an easy turn of the dial.

Valve Wheel Pipe Wrench

These pipe wrenches come with a valve wheel end for turning the valves open or closed, on the opposite side it has a pipe wrench head allowing the user to not only open a valve but clamp down on a pipe.

Petol Refinery Wrench

Made by Gearench in Texas, the gearench titan valve wheel wrenches offer a full line of tools for the oil and gas industries. Surgrip wrenches have a special shaped opening which lessens the chance of slippage and gouging the wheel rim when working overhead or tight spaces. The titan surgrip valve wheel wrench allows even more protection against slippage during operation.

Reed Valve Wrench

Reed Tool makes 8", 10" and 12" service valve wrench that has become the industry standard, their most popular is the Reed Rf10 refinery wrench. This full line of tools covers the needs of most pipe line and water works industry needs.