The Mac Tools is the pick for best overall among the telescopic magnets, with
the best overall record in the group. It never won a single
test, and that is exactly the point: it placed third on shielding at 23.98 g,
second on shaft sag at 0.63 inches with a 100 g load, and second on side pull
at 2.65 lb, while lifting 11.53 lb against a 10 lb rating. The MAG-MATE,
Ullman, Proto and Matco Tools finished close behind, all bunched between 5.2
and 5.7, and any of them is a defensible choice. At $34 the Mac Tools is not
cheap, but nothing in the lineup is expensive in absolute terms.
For value, the $4 Pittsburgh is remarkable on raw pull, holding 21.29 lb
against a 15 lb rating and finishing third on that test behind two tools that
cost more. It sags badly and it bleeds 68.43 g sideways, so it belongs in the
toolbox for open retrievals rather than tight ones. Buyers who want a specific
strength rather than a good all-rounder are well served: the $8 Enbar for raw
pull at 29.47 lb, the $19 GearWrench for threading past metal at 1.29 g of
bleed-through, the $34 E-Z Red for reaching 37 inches into an engine bay
without wobble, and the $23 Blue Point for its 0.5-inch head where nothing
wider will fit.
Two things are worth carrying into a purchase. First, advertised pull ratings
are close to meaningless here. Most tools beat their numbers, several by
multiples, but the KapOD fell from a 30 lb claim to 25.23 lb, the NoCry from
25 lb to 19.33 lb and the E-Z Red from 18 lb to 15.65 lb, so a rating cannot
be used to rank one brand against another. Second, on the rolling sweepers,
the $50 Central Machinery is the sensible buy: it collected 7 lb of washers,
the same as the $75 Grip and the $85 Neiko, and only 1 lb behind the $189
Master Magnetics. The Master Magnetics is the better machine, with metal
wheels on bearings, an adjustable head angle and 17 lb of pull, and it is
worth the money for anyone sweeping a shop floor regularly. The 24-inch
Toolwiz and Tuffiom trailed the wider sweepers on both measures, and width
alone did not decide the outcome either, since the 36-inch Neiko collected no
more than the 30-inch machines.