Your favorite cordless tool brand?

[Food Scientist]

I only have one Makita, but in general have always been impressed with them. Can't post a link since this guy cusses a lot, but check out the aVe channel on YouTube. He buys tools and tears them apart and does the most detailed analysis of tools I've ever seen. So far of the videos I've seen Makita is his favorite, Milwaukee and DeWalt are the next two.

Festool is over engineered, and has the same parts in certain places as the cheaper stuff leading to similar failures. Metabo is good quality, similar to Makita, but isn't worth all the extra money.

 

[tc1446]

After losing my Porter-Cable drill and other good tools when my shop was broken into quite a few years ago, I bought a Dewalt drill with 2 Batts. Both batts stopped taking a charge after a year or so. Dewalt wouldn't honor a warranty and a new batt was about $60 or more. The drill was not used much.

Since then I have used Harbor Freight $20 drills. Both still work and hold good charges, but one won't reverse so I got a second one. They are fine for my casual use.

 

[Astro14]

Makita. Hands down.

I've had Makita cordless tools for 20+ years. They practically invented the concept.

Hard to get decent 9.6v batteries for my oldest drill, but that Makita runs like it did on day one. I've got the 18v Li-ion set: recip saw, driver/drill, impact driver and oscillating multi tool. Oh, and the radio, so I can run it for days on the 18v batteries if the power goes out. As happens after hurricanes and storms..

I've got a really sweet little 12v Bosch driver/drill. Very nice, very compact.... but everything else is Makita.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: DemoFly
People will recommend whatever they've invested in.


Not really, I started with Milwaukee and it was a great drill, but then the batteries died, and they want a fortune for new ones...
So I switched to Rigid with the lifetime replacement warranty. They've replaced the first set of ni-cad 18v batteries with lithium ones, and the drill itself has been used and abused beyond what most people do. Stuff like flooding the pond for skating with a 2" drill pump uses an 80% full throttle duty cycle for 2 batteries in a row...
For Harry Homeowner who isn't going to wear the tool out, getting just one set of new batteries is reason enough to go Rigid IMO. Any other features don't matter enough for occasional use.

 

[apwillard1986]

As a capable homeowner I like Ridgid. Nice quality and and an unbeatable warranty.

 

[donnyj08]

Great hearing all your responses, I think most of the major brands are very good. We will see if my Ridgid tools hold up to commercial Restaurant repair over the next couple of years.

Ridgid wasn't at the top of my list when I went shopping to replace my tools at first. I decided to give them a look after doing a repair job at one of our clients stores with our plumber. He had a ton of Ridgid stuff, and he spoke highly of them. He was using some pretty beat up looking X4 gen cordless Ridgid and he said he has had great luck with them. He said a lot of their plumbers use either the Ridgid 18v stuff or Milwaukee M18 stuff. He uses both.

So far I'm happy with the performance and build quality of my Brushless Gen5x stuff. Seems to be really durable. I do think the Impact is overrated on torque however. It's rated at 2250 in lbs but it really can only handle loosening things up to 140 ft lbs which is closer to about 1700 in lbs

 

[JHZR2]

The other big question imo is what company will provide the same battery and connection interface into the future?

I had a dewalt drill and driver of the 18v type that I really liked. But tge 18v Nano batteries that came with it are no more. Still you can get 18v li-ion and aconverter to make the new slide on 20v units fit the old 18v connections.

Not sure how other companies will deal with obsolescence, and how lifetime warranties work if batteries are no longer made to fit. The ridgid stuff does seem to be good in many circumstances, though I prefer my 12v Bosch impact driver to his ridgid. We both have and like the push to operate ridgid palm impact.

 

[Delta]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I had a dewalt drill and driver of the 18v type that I really liked. But tge 18v Nano batteries that came with it are no more. Still you can get 18v li-ion and aconverter to make the new slide on 20v units fit the old 18v connections.


You can still get the regular 18v DeWalt batteries quite easily. Just saw a 2 pack at Lowes today for $99; was actually tempted to pick up a set for myself.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
The other big question imo is what company will provide the same battery and connection interface into the future?

I had a dewalt drill and driver of the 18v type that I really liked. But tge 18v Nano batteries that came with it are no more. Still you can get 18v li-ion and aconverter to make the new slide on 20v units fit the old 18v connections.

Not sure how other companies will deal with obsolescence, and how lifetime warranties work if batteries are no longer made to fit. The ridgid stuff does seem to be good in many circumstances, though I prefer my 12v Bosch impact driver to his ridgid. We both have and like the push to operate ridgid palm impact.


I believe for Ridgid, they actually have a lifetime warranty on the batteries which is somewhat unusual.

 

[NJ_Car_Owner]

As a homeowner I've been unhappy with any cordless because the batteries don't last as they don't get used as they should. I do own a Rigid that is nice and powerful enough to drive decking screws easily until the batteries died and for some reason they wouldn't honor my battery warranty. I bought another battery to use the stupid thing but I tend to go for the corded drills. If they honored the battery warranty I would think they were the best thing out there.

 

[donnyj08]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
The other big question imo is what company will provide the same battery and connection interface into the future?

I had a dewalt drill and driver of the 18v type that I really liked. But tge 18v Nano batteries that came with it are no more. Still you can get 18v li-ion and aconverter to make the new slide on 20v units fit the old 18v connections.

Not sure how other companies will deal with obsolescence, and how lifetime warranties work if batteries are no longer made to fit. The ridgid stuff does seem to be good in many circumstances, though I prefer my 12v Bosch impact driver to his ridgid. We both have and like the push to operate ridgid palm impact.


I believe for Ridgid, they actually have a lifetime warranty on the batteries which is somewhat unusual.


One feature I like about Ridgid is the batteries will fit most generations of Ridgid tools as they have the same lock in. The downside is the batteries are a little larger than the 18v units from Hitachi, Makita, Milwaukee,and Bosch.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: NJ_Car_Owner
As a homeowner I've been unhappy with any cordless because the batteries don't last as they don't get used as they should. I do own a Rigid that is nice and powerful enough to drive decking screws easily until the batteries died and for some reason they wouldn't honor my battery warranty. I bought another battery to use the stupid thing but I tend to go for the corded drills. If they honored the battery warranty I would think they were the best thing out there.


I think you needed to register it and keep the receipt in order for them to honor it. Now everything is lithium ion and they should last longer or not suffer so much if you don't use them for a while.

 

[NJ_Car_Owner]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: NJ_Car_Owner
As a homeowner I've been unhappy with any cordless because the batteries don't last as they don't get used as they should. I do own a Rigid that is nice and powerful enough to drive decking screws easily until the batteries died and for some reason they wouldn't honor my battery warranty. I bought another battery to use the stupid thing but I tend to go for the corded drills. If they honored the battery warranty I would think they were the best thing out there.


I think you needed to register it and keep the receipt in order for them to honor it. Now everything is lithium ion and they should last longer or not suffer so much if you don't use them for a while.


I don't remember what the reason was. I did register the drill with them ... never thought I needed the receipt, makes sense.

 

[donnyj08]

Originally Posted By: NJ_Car_Owner
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: NJ_Car_Owner
As a homeowner I've been unhappy with any cordless because the batteries don't last as they don't get used as they should. I do own a Rigid that is nice and powerful enough to drive decking screws easily until the batteries died and for some reason they wouldn't honor my battery warranty. I bought another battery to use the stupid thing but I tend to go for the corded drills. If they honored the battery warranty I would think they were the best thing out there.


I think you needed to register it and keep the receipt in order for them to honor it. Now everything is lithium ion and they should last longer or not suffer so much if you don't use them for a while.


I don't remember what the reason was. I did register the drill with them ... never thought I needed the receipt, makes sense.


The Lifetime service agreement aside all Ridgid tools and batteries carry a three year warranty which is what most other brands offer. Milwaukee has a 5 year warranty I believe on the tools but only 2 on the battery. I did register my Ridgid stuff, but I didn't buy them for the warranty. If they end up not holding up under abuse I'll sell them and go buy Milwaukee again Or Makitas. If the cordless stuff ends up being as good as the corded stuff I have that's Ridgid they will be probably be pretty good long term.

I'll admit most all of my corded stuff is Bosch. I really considered their cordless line, but it just seems dated compared to almost every other brand as far as hammer drill/impact kits.

 

[GMBoy]

My vote is Milwaukee. We use them in my GM plant and they get hard daily use and the batteries last even with multiple charges thru each of the 3 shifts we run. We ditched DeWalt years ago - battery life sucks and they batterys are too much money to replace. I gave my Dewalt stuff away last year and bought all new Milaukee stuff and could not be happier and they are reasonably cheap at Home Depot with sales.

 

[JHZR2]

I am shopping for a multi-speed cordless drill to give as a gift.

As mentioned, I have Milwaukee fuel impacts (18V 3/8 and 1/2" high torque, as well as a 12V 3/8 impact and ratchet), because they came out with brushless first, and they had a more automotive oriented line it seemed.

I bought a DeWalt drill-driver kit when I found they had a brushless USA-made kit. Sold my old 18V nano set versus buying replacement batteries.

So I walked around in HD the other day... Ill say that Im partial to Makita corded tools, but dont own any of their cordless.

I would recommend Makita to anyone, but Im not as sold on their in-hand feel as I thought I would be.

In-hand feel and ergonomics goes, IMO to DeWalt first, but Ill say that I was VERY impressed with the 5G Ridgid stuff.

The DeWalt had the best chuck of any cordless drill there. Maybe there's a better metal chuck on some models not sold at HD, but the offerings from Milwaukee, Makita, etc. were all poor. DeWalt had the best chuck, the 5G Ridgid was next.

If I was buying automotive impacts today, Id probably buy the Makita 1/2" high torque XWT08 vs the Milwaukee Fuel. Makita does have the widest set of tools... And they do have a 3/8" impact and angle driver (not as handy IMO as the Milwaukee 12V ratchet). But if I were shopping for a drill or driver, I think Id still go DeWalt.

But in the end, while there are merits to having just one battery system, sometimes its better to have best of breed of a few sets, if you have space for the chargers. There are some downsides, but there are tools from each manufacturer that I have, which I dont think the competition has as good a set of options...

 

[DemoFly]

My favorite is Rigid. They are a quality product for being a (now) house brand.

If you take them apart they are the same as a Milwaukee, and they are just as good as any Milwaukee.

And that makes a lot of sense because they are both owned and produced by Techtronic Industries.

Used them in commercial building maintenance for years, never a tool failure, never a battery failure. Only negative to their cordless hand tools is that the rubber overmold on their grips will wear away after 5 years of daily use.

 

[user52165]

Originally Posted By: DemoFly
My favorite is Rigid. They are a quality product for being a (now) house brand.

If you take them apart they are the same as a Milwaukee, and they are just as good as any Milwaukee.

And that makes a lot of sense because they are both owned and produced by Techtronic Industries.

Used them in commercial building maintenance for years, never a tool failure, never a battery failure. Only negative to their cordless hand tools is that the rubber overmold on their grips will wear away after 5 years of daily use.


Do Milwaukee batteries fit Ridgid?

 

[DemoFly]

Originally Posted By: user52165
Originally Posted By: DemoFly
My favorite is Rigid. They are a quality product for being a (now) house brand.

If you take them apart they are the same as a Milwaukee, and they are just as good as any Milwaukee.

And that makes a lot of sense because they are both owned and produced by Techtronic Industries.

Used them in commercial building maintenance for years, never a tool failure, never a battery failure. Only negative to their cordless hand tools is that the rubber overmold on their grips will wear away after 5 years of daily use.


Do Milwaukee batteries fit Ridgid?

No they designed the battery casings differently. The cells are both Samsung and interchangeable if you're in a pinch.

 

[bchannell]

As a contractor, I use cordless tools every day. My thoughts
Dewalt-definitely good tools, but buy the contractor grade line unless you just don't use them much. I would not feel undergunned with them.

Hitachi-not one of my favorite, lack a lot of cutting edge features and definitely not the battery technology of the others.

Rigid-good stuff, although the lifetime battery registration is a hassle. Why not just guarantee the batteries period, no registration needed? Tools are powerful and batteries do seem to last well.

Bosch and Porter Cable-I've not used either much and have never seen another contractor using them, that probably means something?

Milwaukee-my favorite tools. For me, there's nothing bad to say. Brute strong, great batteries, ultra reliable. On some jobs, I don't even bother taking a charger, as the batteries seem to work forever, although I do often carry a spare battery just in case I have to admit, but can't remember needing it much.

My thoughts are that if you choose yellow, red or orange, you'll be fine, the differences are fairly minor. It's mostly personal preference, and my truck is red!