What triggered you to align with a certain manufacturer for your cordless tools?

[wrcsixeight]

Often it strikes me, that We should be appreciative that we have, and have had,
so many different options.

 

[FordFETruck]

About 8 years ago I bought a Milwaukee M18 cordless drill and impact driver combo on sale, it came with 2 batteries and the deluxe M12/M18 charger. I pondered between that and the Ridgid equivalent that was also on sale but the Milwaukee had a better feel to it and a way better feeling trigger, so I bought the Milwaukee. I've since added a 1/2" drive M18 (non fuel) impact, and a M12 electric ratchet and M12 3/8 (fuel) cordless impact wrench. Since I got the deluxe charger, I've just bought the bare tools and aftermarket batteries. Still super happy with the original drill and impact driver I got, the original batteries still hold a great charge even in the dead of winter. Anything is better than that 6-7 volt black and decker crap I grew up with, no power, poor battery life and wobbly chuck right out of the box. I had a coworker of mine help me build a porch, and he brought his Ryobi 18? volt cordless drill. I kind of laughed at first since he said he bought it because it's green, but I used that drill a lot and really like it too.

 

[facility1]

Masterforce works will,nice feel ,good warrenty at Menards,,decent price,also Craftsman has good belt sander,excellent backup with manufacture if problem occurs. affordable too

 

[HangFire]

Often it strikes me, that We should be appreciative that we have, and have had,
so many different options.

Agreed. Of all my tool purchases, the Lithium era cordless systems have to be among the best, most-used, most reliable, and highest value for the buck.

My first cordless of note was the 12V Skil drill driver in the late NiCad era. It was mediocre at best, and it ground down to a halt from internal friction a few months after I purchased a second battery for it (as the first one was dying, and they cost a fortune back then). Even though I felt burned on the second battery purchase, I did get a lot of use out of it, including driving most of the screws for a large deck (with pre-drilled holes from a corded drill). With two batteries and only one extension cord to manage, I felt very productive.

 

[Trav]

I can't remember the name but there's some specific chuck that a member here changes on every tool. That particular chuck is maybe almost a magic chuck. Maybe it would solve your problem if you figure out which brand chuck.

Röhm, the chuck that come on most tools is crap, there are some exceptions with higher end units, some have very nice chucks both keyed and keyless, the ones on TTI Milwaukee are pretty sad but they don't consider cordless hand drills to be precision drilling tools so that is the reason.
A good chuck and good cobalt 35 (for hand held drills, cobalt 42 for presses) with a 135° split point bit using cutting fluid for metal will drill like magic and greatly prolong battery life on cordless.

 

[D60]

Röhm, the chuck that come on most tools is crap, there are some exceptions with higher end units, some have very nice chucks both keyed and keyless, the ones on TTI Milwaukee are pretty sad but they don't consider cordless hand drills to be precision drilling tools so that is the reason.
A good chuck and good cobalt 35 (for hand held drills, cobalt 42 for presses) with a 135° split point bit using cutting fluid for metal will drill like magic and greatly prolong battery life on cordless.

Increasingly I use step bits when possible. But quality of step bits is all over the map and sizes are limited, etc

 

[D60]

The other problem with Milwaukee-provided chucks is that if they get over-tightened (which is arguably necessary just to get them to hold) it essentially destroys the chuck. Once you finally get it to back off it's stiff and makes bad ratcheting or clicking noises even when it should basically spin freely, eg rapidly opening or closing to adjust the size.

But as I've said, my latest 2904 said "Germany" on the back of the chuck but I didn't even give it a chance to disappoint me (fool me twice, shame on me....) and immediately swapped for a Rohm

 

[Trav]

Increasingly I use step bits when possible. But quality of step bits is all over the map and sizes are limited, etc

Same here mostly on body panels and brackets.

 

[burbguy82]

milwaukee has dominated plumbing trade for decades

 

[dgc76]

Years ago, I had several battery drills of varying brands. When the batteries died, I could buy a new drill with batteries for less than a replacement battery. Bought a Ridgid with the lifetime battery guaranty. Lasted about 3 years. When I went to Home Depot for a replacement, they told me that they no longer made those batteries and was told that there was nothing they could do. To this day, I never buy any tools at Home Depot.

I was at Sears one day and they had a sale on 18V set that had a 1/2 drill, reciprocating saw, small circular saw, flashlight and a sheetrock cutout tool. I thought that having several tools that use the same batteries, I could justify buying a replacement battery when the originals died. Later, when Dewalt went to the 20V lithium batteries, I bought adapters on eBay allowing me to use 20V on the 18V tools. The original tools all still work well. Being married to Dewalt due to batteries, I have continued to buy Dewalt. Bought my wife a string trimmer and a blower to keep the patio clean. I also bought 1/2 and 3/8 impact drivers, a 4 gallon sprayer, 2 right angle drills, 1/2 hammer drill and 2 inflators (keep them in my vehicles-very handy items). Had one 20V battery fail under warranty and it was promptly replaced by the retailer. A few of the 20V batteries are almost 10 years old and are still going strong. The tools all have performed well.

 

[bchannell]

People think it's ridiculous but the DRM Drama Drill ensured I don't buy Dewalt.

A private individual was gifted a black and yellow Harbor Freight drill which he then put up for sale on eBay. Dewalt had their lawyers force ebay to shut down the auction because the colors violated their trademark.

Why not pursue THE MANUFACTURER of said drill and not some random private citizen who had nothing to do with the production or color choices of the offending drill? Because that would make too much sense.

Can't make this stuff up.

Now 20 years later I'm pretty much over the absurdity of it but it's an example of stupidity costing a company money (hello Disney and Bud Light). Once I abandoned Dewalt and became invested in Milwaukee I stayed there and was happy. At the time I literally sold the three or four Dewalt tools I had (I was just getting started) and went looking elsewhere

I've never been a fan of DeWalt, but this just ices the cake, no DW tools for me.
I have owned them all, Makita, Milwaukee, Ryobi, Bauer, Hercules, Skill, and more, still have most of them, except DW and Milwaukee, as I gave all my Milwaukee to my partner when we switched to Flex for our everyday HVAC tools.

 

[mr_boring]

Back When Black Friday was in it's infancy, Sears practically gave away (first 18v then 19.2) stuff. I'd had a hand me down Makita drill that sometimes needed a whop to work, and one BF Sears had a Drill/Flashlight combo with 2 batteries and a charger for something like 19.99. I was pretty religiously using Craftsman hand tools, so that was an easy decision. The next year I bought another combo. It was an odd combo, something like a sawzall and some other cutting tool. I think it was 39.99 but the caveat was this set didn't have a battery or charger, still, $39 and I had 2 batteries and chargers. Then they went to 19.2 volt and 5 years later my 18v batteries were as worthless as old plugged nickels. I'd say I got my moneys worth out of the drill and sawzall. The drill and sawzall replaced my bathroom subfloor and when I put a roof on the house the saw got good use, plus the drill drove thousands of screws when I build my 20x20 shed from scratch materials. That flashlight is probably what killed the batteries. I used it many a night out on the boat.

Now I just buy what is on sale. I rarely use my tools, so I have a Black and Decker cordless chainsaw and a drill. A Kobalt weed eater and a pole saw - which I love. And a Ryobi hand me down impact, which I need a new charger for. It was last charged approx 2021 and believe it or not I used it last weekend. Go go Ryobi power. I was gonna toss it because I NEVER really use it and just wait on something cheap to go on sale at the Big Red HF , but that impressed me enough that I'll buy a cheap charger on Amazon for it. I also use a cheap charger for the B&D off of Amazon. I ran over the factory one.....

If I was a professional who used tools daily - I wouldn't be like that of course.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I'm in the Makita camp, originally based on @Trav recommendation. Pricey, but the best usually is. Love the impact.
I have a Milwaukee Fuel ratchet and 1/4" impact, but I am sorry I bought them as it is now my understanding they are products of China. I think Milwaukee may be manufactured in numerous countries; I know I don't have the whole story.
I do get a ton of use out of the little impact. The Makita is a lot dirtier now... And the leaf blower keeps the garage and driveway clean.

 

[R18Civic]

I don't have the money for big name brands, but I know kobalt makes good stuff. When I was in my mechanic classes a decade ago I ran into a few professional kids who swore by them.