Your favorite cordless tool brand?

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donnyj08

donnyj08

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Just for fun I figured I'd start a thread about our favorite brands of tools and why they are our favorite. I've been in the construction trade in some form or another for about 10 years now and I've had good luck with a few brands and a few I just haven't cared for.


Cordless;

Hitachi- I started out using these tools and they always seemed to hold up fairly well and were generally priced pretty fair. I'm still a Hitachi fan but I don't own many today.

Milwaukee- I owned the M18 and M12 stuff for a couple years and it was good stuff, cutting edge and overall durable. Definitely spendy but I think they are some of the top choices. I sold my Milwaukee tools a few months ago and bought Ridgid stuff. Milwaukee tools still worked well, but my father wanted some additional tools so I passed them along to him for a very nice price since he too has other Milwaukee tools.

Ridgid- after selling my Milwaukee stuff to my father I considered Makita, Bosch, Hitachi, Ridgid, and DeWalt. I ended up going with the New Brushless Ridgid stuff in 18v and so far I'm more pleased than I thought I would be. We will see how they hold up to a couple years of Commercial abuse.

I generally buy new cordless tools every couple years to have tax write offs and to try out other brands. After a couple years I've worn them down to just colored shells anyway.

Corded;

For corded tools I own almost all Bosch stuff with the exception of a Ridgid miter box and porter cable Pneumatic tools.

I haven't bought anything DeWalt for a while other than one corded hammer drill.
 
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Cordless:
Makita- I especially like their 1/2" impact wrench; it makes track days and tire rotations much easier.
 
Doesn't Rigid have a lifetime warranty.

Anyway, I just have a collection of Ryobi tools. They're rather cheap, but I only use it for occasional homeowner or repair type work so they don't get that much usage on an annual basis. The kits are usually cheap on Black Friday. They usually end up disappearing when someone borrows it and then doesn't return it.
 
Makita and Hilti, looking at the new 22v Hilti impact and drill now in fact to replace the 18v.
Hilti customer service is the best in the business, if it breaks someone will come and get it, leave a loaner and get yours fixed or replaced then bring it back to you.

Worst CS goes to Milwaukee, they are one of if not the worst I have ever experienced, I will never buy another tool from them.
 
I have been buying dewalt 20v brushless stuff from cpo outlets lately. Nothing bade to say about them. Refurbs are 1/3 the price of big box stores and I can't see how they aren't actually new.
 
Craftsman 19.2. My first cordless tool was a Craftsman drill. It had plenty of power, and the battery life was outstanding. Then the batteries wore out and a new pair of batteries was as much as a new drill. So, I bought a new Craftsman 19.2 Was quite disappointed. The batteries didn't last anywhere near as long as the first drill. And for a guy that may not use a drill for a few weeks, the batteries would go dead between jobs. So I gave it to my son.

Milwaukee Fuel. Our maintenance shop at work converted over from DeWalt to Milwaukee cordless tools about 3 years ago. The DeWalt tools just hadn't held up to the satisfaction of the techs and their manager. And you could never tighten up a drill chuck tight enough to keep a bit from spinning. At least not the first time. Now we have about 8 sets of drill / drivers, and at least one 1/2" impact. The techs love them so far.

I've used them on occasion, and was impressed enough that I decided that this was my next set of tools. I've had my set about a year now, and am very happy with them. For now at least, I plan on staying with Milwaukee cordless tools.

Because of recommendations here on BITOG, and the great warranty, I tried out the Ridgid tools before buying my Milwaukee. While I really liked some features, such as the light built right into the drill chuck, I didn't like the feel of them in my hand. For me, that was a show stopper.
 
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Originally Posted By: DemoFly
People will recommend whatever they've invested in.



Not necessarily. I had quite a few Milwaukee tools but wouldn't recommend them even though the tools themselves are okay but based on CS.
I don't own Fein or Metabo but have used them and know people who own them and would recommend them to anyone.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: DemoFly
People will recommend whatever they've invested in.



Not necessarily. I had quite a few Milwaukee tools but wouldn't recommend them even though the tools themselves are okay but based on CS.
I don't own Fein or Metabo but have used them and know people who own them and would recommend them to anyone.


+1

I don't have any makita cordless but have used them and would recommend.

For the OP:

Ive got Milwaukee and dewalt cordless, Milwaukee for the auto tools (1/2and 3/8 impact, electric ratchet, and some lights), dewalt for drills and screwdrivers and impact drivers. At the time Milwaukee ruled the roost on the brushless 18v stuff). Had I timed it differently and perhaps smarter, I'd probably have gone all dewalt.
 
Depends which item I'm talking about. I feel most companies can make a decent tool but some are just better then others at certain price points/brackets.

If I had to pick one it would be Makita tho.
 
I have run the DeWalt 18V tools for about 12 years. I got them because all my contractors (industrial carpenters, electricians, ductworkers) use them. They are all still mostly using Dewalt 18V and 20V. My DeWalt 18V have performed well, especially when I got some Lithium batteries, which lightened them up a lot.

After using the DeWalt 18V tools I realized they are more than I need for most jobs.

I got a variety of Milwaukee M12 drills, drivers, saws, and an impact wrench and I LOVE THEM. They are small, light, and get most of my jobs done. However, I haven't had to deal with their customer service, but I don't expect much if I do.
 
Craftsman is now Stanley Black and Decker in case anyone here didn't know. I think they bought out Craftsman around a year ago or so.
 
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
Craftsman 19.2. My first cordless tool was a Craftsman drill. It had plenty of power, and the battery life was outstanding. Then the batteries wore out and a new pair of batteries was as much as a new drill. So, I bought a new Craftsman 19.2 Was quite disappointed. The batteries didn't last anywhere near as long as the first drill. And for a guy that may not use a drill for a few weeks, the batteries would go dead between jobs. So I gave it to my son.

Milwaukee Fuel. Our maintenance shop at work converted over from DeWalt to Milwaukee cordless tools about 3 years ago. The DeWalt tools just hadn't held up to the satisfaction of the techs and their manager. And you could never tighten up a drill chuck tight enough to keep a bit from spinning. At least not the first time. Now we have about 8 sets of drill / drivers, and at least one 1/2" impact. The techs love them so far.

I've used them on occasion, and was impressed enough that I decided that this was my next set of tools. I've had my set about a year now, and am very happy with them. For now at least, I plan on staying with Milwaukee cordless tools.

Because of recommendations here on BITOG, and the great warranty, I tried out the Ridgid tools before buying my Milwaukee. While I really liked some features, such as the light built right into the drill chuck, I didn't like the feel of them in my hand. For me, that was a show stopper.



I've had my 19.2v craftsman 1/2 inch drill for years and yeah the batteries will go south unless you use them regularly and charge them overnight once a month but now they have Lithium Ion 19.2 volt batteries now which are so much lighter and last alot longer and they are compatible with all the 19.2 volt tools


I have had my craftsman 12v driver's and drill and my lights for along time, amazing what the 12v lithium ion stuff does, not just craftsman but makita and milwaukee etc, the technology for batteries alone is getting that much better all the time.

black and decker stuff is ok.

but i've always heard good things about Rigid as they have a lifetime warranty on their batteries
 
Been using the same DeWalt 18v Impact, hammer drill, and reg drill for about 8(?) years now with the same 2 batteries that came with the drill. Never once had a problem with them. We use the same cordless set-ups at work in an industrial environment, we literally beat the snot out of them. The occasional trigger failure or brushes wearing out, but that's it. We've dropped several off conveyor platforms (10-30 feet in the air) and survive. Now that it seems 18v is getting phased out I'm not sure what we're ultimately switching to. We get them refurbished at a local shop. My boss did decide to throw a Ryobi kit in my new PM truck, along with about a dozen lithium batteries. Pretty sure they're not going to last like the DeWalt, but for what I use them for I'm sure they'll be fine.
 
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