How did you choose your "battery platform"?

[Deej-79]

As an Amatuer I had craftsman, got into construction full time and the impact driver died. Went to ridgid and that impact driver was a turd, it got so hot doing minimal work it was uncomfortable to hold. It died just past 90 days and they weaseled their way out of a warranty.

Broke down and spent a bunch on makita after seeing a coworker literally beat his stuff and it kept working. I've picked up piece after piece and now have a ton. The original impact, drill and batteries are almost 4 years old and the only problem I've had is the clutches in the drill are slipping.

 

[Deej-79]

Fwiw, I recommend ryobi to any amateurs or new guys on a budget

 

[ProfessorTexas]

Bought Hitachi —sucked. NiCad batteries were short-lived.

Purchased Dewalt 20v Max on a really good sale. Good enough for this DIY old fart, so I’ve stayed with that platform.

 

[clintoaster]

I started with Ryobi because they were so inexpensive and I've stuck with them and added on over the past five years or so. I love the variety of tools and how affordable they are for the average homeowner.

 

[LeeG]

I was all DeWalt for years. I started soon after the 18v XRP battery systems came out. When they came out with the 20v lithium - which was kind of a turnoff for me because they are really 18v like the rest of them - they promised a converter to allow us long time users to buy the new batteries and use them in our old devices. After two years of waiting, I gave all my DeWalt stuff to my nephew and replaced it all with Milwaukee. I don't ever plan on buying another yellow tool again.

 

[skruft]

I started with various brands that in the old days were not much good (Craftsman, PC) and then long ago settled on DeWalt 18v. They worked well. Then I adapted, in part, to their 20v Max batteries because I am getting old and only a hobbyist woodworker, so that it does not make sense to buy a new set of tools when mine work fine. Also, I am accustomed to using corded tools or air tools for heavy tasks, so I am not completely reliant on batteries.

 

[wornoutoldman]

All this and no survey?

 

[WWheeler]

I was all DeWalt for years. I started soon after the 18v XRP battery systems came out. When they came out with the 20v lithium - which was kind of a turnoff for me because they are really 18v like the rest of them - they promised a converter to allow us long time users to buy the new batteries and use them in our old devices. After two years of waiting, I gave all my DeWalt stuff to my nephew and replaced it all with Milwaukee. I don't ever plan on buying another yellow tool again.

Guess you just couldn't wait for it because Dewalt definitely did come out with that 20V batt to 18V tool adapter. It works great (so do the ~$18 knock-offs) but I still have several +10yr old 18V Ni-cad batteries still going strong also.

I got started with Dewalt cordless in a roundabout way in the early-mid 90s. I already had several corded Dewalt tools, 3/8 and 1/2 drills and a reciprocating saw, all of which I still have and have been bulletproof for me, when I picked up an 18V Firestorm drill. A friend/coworker that was with me at the time gifted me a Dewalt 18V charger and a battery to use with it. Stanley Black and Decker owns Dewalt and it was pretty common knowledge at the time that the Dewalt battery was interchangeable with the Firestorm, both worked with the drill, and the Dewalt charger was miles and miles better than the Firestorm trickle charger which didn't let you know when a battery was charged or not and just kept trying to charge it - seemed it was designed to kill off those Firestorm batteries in no time. As it is that drill is still alive and kicking to this day.



Then not long after I bought a 5-tool 18V Firestorm kit for under $100 (also came with a nice studfinder/laser level), assuming I also could also use the Dewalt charger and batteries. Turns out they changed to a sliding battery design so the Dewalt batteries would no longer work in the Firestorm tools, but after a bit of head-scratching I was able to still use the Dewalt charger after making an adapter by modifying a cheap 2-prong extension cord. The firestorm tools weren't great, but I sure did put that drill to work, and the light too, and all of them still do work. I've no doubt all of them would long have went in the trash bin if it hadn't been for figuring out how to use that Dewalt charger.



Sometime a few years later, late 90s, I ran across a deal on a Dewalt 18V drill and recip-saw combo that I couldn't pass up. These have been workhorses for 20 years now.



And from there well, the 20V platform arrived and they just keep making better and better tools. Save for the M12 ratchet I'm pretty solidly on cordless team yellow.

 

[evercl92]

Im surprised that there isnt more mentioned about ridgid. Im not pro/daily use, but certainly more than average diy. Ive not had a single issue, with a variety of tools and accessories that i have of theirs.

 

[kythri]

There's certainly some Ridgid fans here on the board, but there's also a lot of folks here who have been burnt by Ridgid, having been shafted by the LSA, which was a key factor for a lot of people buying the brand.

I went Ryobi. I had a Dewalt 12V drill that was pretty decent, but by the time I decided I wanted a wider range of power tools, most 18V systems had dusted previous 12V or 14.4V stuff, so that's where I aimed. I had a corded Ryobi variable speed drill that had performed marvelously, so I had some faith in the brand. Home Depot having it as their house brand didn't hurt things either.

The ultimate factor, however, was simply cost. I bought a combo kit that they called the "Workshop" at the time (early 2006), for $300, which had:

Circular Saw w/laser guide
Reciprocating Saw
Jigsaw
10" bar Chainsaw
"Torque IV" Drill
Right Angle Drill
Impact Driver
Corner-Cat Sander
Dustbuster
Flashlight
Large Carry-Bag (holds all tools)
Small Carry-Bag (holds 3-4 tools)
2 Ni-Cad batteries
Charger

They were also running a promo, so I got a free 8 1/4" mitre saw due to my purchase of the above kit.

For me, it was a fantastic decision. The stuff has held up phenomenally, I've added a ton more to my stable. Ryobi has taken care of the end user with constant new additions to the lineup, as well as enhanced batteries, and, I've saved a ton of money.

I'm not using my tools "professionally", but I would in a heartbeat, no questions - a belief in these tools that's reinforced by seeing this brand in tons of contractor carts, bags and joboxes over the past decade-plus of my day job.

Ryobi is the best deal in cordless power tools.

 

[jgromada]

My primary battery platform is DeWalt. I had done the research and concluded for my needs I liked the DeWalt brushless tools more than Milwaukee or Makita. Has been a very good choice almost 3 years later.

I later picked up some Ridgid tools after i found the hybrid fan for dirt cheap at the Direct Tools outlet. https://www.directtoolsoutlet.com Since then got a few more Ridgid tools including a cordless Ridgid nailer the small vacuum and maybe a few more things. Most of them from the outlet.

I was looking to get the Milwaukee M12 ratchet so that when Home Depot ran a special I got another drill, driver, hackzall and the ratchet for $199. So now got 3 platforms and don't regret it at all.

 

[ChrisLS8]

I got the M12 strictly for the stubby driver and 3/8 impact. I had Ridgid for a while and now I'm swapping for ryobi for work/home due to performance for the price and range of tools

 

[ChrisLS8]

I'm curious what else they will release under the rebadged DeWalt Craftsman 20v lineup

 

[Locker537]

My parents bought me a M12 drill, driver, and OMT kit when my wife and I bought our first home. Kit served me well and still does, so when I needed additional tools I looked at Milwaukee first. I own quite a bit of M12 and M18 tools at this point. No complaints. Good customer service and warranty as well. I've only had to use it once.

 

[Rabid Badger]

When it came time to replace my Milwaukee 18V nicad kit I went with Makita because it was the only brand I'd never heard anyone bad-mouth in a decade of building houses.

 

[Mgdoug3]

I was wanting an electric grease gun. I don't remember the exact price difference but the Dewalt was more expensive and I wasn't impressed with my cousin's Dewalt grease gun. I went with the Milwaukee kit and just stuck with the 18v tools. I've been happy with them and won't change until my batteries are obsolete.

 

[Professional Tool User]

Milwaukee. They simply have way more tools, have a better warranty than most, and they are constantly release new tools.

 

[intillzah]

I started out with Black and Decker, the Matrix system of tools. It's not bad tools, but not great either (too many compromises). I also bought into the WORXS platform too (just have a blower and a weed eater) Otherwise I sold the B&D and moved on to the Milwaukee M12 line..

No regrets at all on my decision...

 

[bigtiger]

I chose Milwaukee simply because their power tools are more geared towards auto mechanics, plumbers and all kind of trades specialized tools.. Unlike Dewalt which has no 12v support or any good auto power tools, let alone plumbing tools.. I used to have Dewalt 18v nicad stuff for long time and we got screwed by Dewalt who abondoned us by not providing good lithium conversion kit.. The one they came out way later is ****.. And now Dewalt is doing same thing with flexvolt stuff.. Even ryobi stuck with one standard fitting.. And am glad I switched over to Milwaukee.. I used to be in Bosch 10.3-12v camp tools but they started losing ground to Milwaukee.. Hopefully Milwaukee stays loyal to users..

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[CKS1955]

Bought Hitachi —sucked. NiCad batteries were short-lived.

Purchased Dewalt 20v Max on a really good sale. Good enough for this DIY old fart, so I’ve stayed with that platform.

I did just the opposite switched from DeWalt to Hitachi. This was about 15 years or so ago. The Hitachi in my humble opinion was head and shoulders better. The DeWalt batteries at the time were terrible and I ended up chucking the whole lot.

Jay

 

[TrailHawkZ71]

I grew up around Dewalt, so that's what i've naturally leaned towards for home-side cordless. Professionally I have been using Snap-On. Word to the wise, Snap-On 14.4V stuff is outstanding. 18V? Not so much. My 18V 3/8" impact gun lost it's balls after 2 years of moderate use (just out of warranty too, figures...) but the 14.4V stuff (1/4" impact driver and 3/8" ratchet) run great and work super well, with wven more abuse than I put the impact gun through


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[scrapmetal57]

I handled all the tools I could in the store and picked whichever one felt best in my hands. I debated between the big ones, DeWalt, Miluakee, and Makita.

 

[cgrandahl64]

When I saw 75% of contractors in residential and commercial applications slinging Milwaukee it was an easy call for me. Plus the market saturation of M18 tools allows me to score some craigslist/etc deals and gives me comfort in long term support.

 

[Dirtydan69]

I started with Makita 7.6 and 9.2 back in the infancy of cordless tools. Then black and decker professional. Mostly corded tools then for years. Changed professions for a decade so didn5 have much need. When I remodeled my house Ryobi. Back into the trades again checked out a fe2 different tool brands. Dewalt in my opinion is just overpriced Black & Decker, which is who they used to be. Now I have a fairly extensive collection of Bosch 12 volt impacts and driver/drills. They are great for cabinet and finer work. The rest is all Red. Due to the extensive selection of tools. I still have a Ryobi blower for job clean up as well as a couple nailers. A pin nailer, a cordless router (I do quite a few doors) and a narrow crown stapler. When Milwaukee comes out with those I’ll be the first one to buy them. I’ll take a good cordless tool before dragging out my damn compressor again. But I still have one as well as the tools that go with it. Just in case. Gotta have back up.

 

[thin_concrete]

A buddy of mine who was a contractor recommended DeWALT when I got my first place and it’s grown ever since. It’s done everything I’ve asked it to do to date, so I have no reason to switch. I have the 20V drill, driver, leaf blower, weed whacker, and chainsaw. I also have their corded circular saw.

Every now and again I want to try a different brand, but the moment is fleeting because everything I have is in great shape.

 

[dodge610]

I had the craftsman 19.2 line to start then they quit adding to that line. Switched to the Ryobi 18 line and have never looked back the Ryobi put a new deck on the back of my house and various other jobs and have not missed a beat Very happy with the ryobi line.

 

[Ign]

So I realize the thread is ~9 mos old but I started in Milwaukee V28 'cause it seemed revolutionary to me. It was, TTBOMK, the first li-ion platform or at least the first to be mass-marketed w success.

Specifically it seemed to me back then it addressed my two biggest complaints w cordless tools:
1) no battery memory
2) fade-free power

The on-board fuel gauge was icing on the cake.

V28 turned out to be **** but was promptly corrected w M28 which uses the same battery chemistry we use today. (yeah V18 users got screwed)

 

[rmsg0040]

First power tool I had was a 18V ni-cad drill from Mastercraft. Only cordless Mastercraft I owned.

Purchased a Makita 18V lithium drill and that turned me on to quailty. It was the only Makita cordless tool I owned.

I then moved on to Dewalt 20V, kijiji was flooded with their tools and cheap batteries.

I then seen Milwaukee's direction in terms of mechanic related tools, I sold off all the dewalt and have been a Milwaukee convert since. That was around 2012.

I purchased the first gen 3/8 impact wrench and the 2763 high torque in 2013, bought as a pre-release in which they gave a good discount. Paid 169 for the 3/8 and 209 for the 2763, which is still cheaper than today's prices.

 

[GRB]

Interesting comment about how Makita 7.2v from 1970s sucked as I’m still using one 7.2v trim saw after almost 40 years and my son’s cordless drill to learn on is also a 40 year old makita 7.2v.
Between business and personal I own more than 100 cordless tools. Majority are Makita 18v but also a lot of Bosch 12v. A few Bosch 36v Sds drills. Some Milwaukee 12v and 18v that don’t exist in other platforms and I get them for free as a supplier to Milwaukee. All the Dewalt 18v tools have died or more accurately the batteries are ****. Only reason to exist is nobody else has come out with a decent corded/cordless vac at a decent price.
Just to confuse things, my personal cordless stuff includes Festool as their drills have no equal on light precision work. And the production assembly used 20 year old Panasonic.
The first 2-3 companies that standardize on a platform gets most of my huge yearly tool budget.

 

[f121]

Common story, started out with dewalt nicd, when all the batteries died I swapped to makita lithium range. It was mostly because that's what my buddies were using so I could borrow kit from them. I bought a bargain kit while I was in the USA one time, saved about 50% versus buying in UK, then bought a battery every pay day for a few months.

Over the years the collection has grown, the chainsaw and weed wacker are brilliant, the big impact wrench is epic, but it's the little impact driver with a 2ah battery that gets picked up most days.

I also use a dewalt 12v max kit for woodworking, keep a drill with a countersunk bit in, etc. It's nice kit but feels like dewalt have let it stagnate over the last few years, the range is nowhere near as broad as the m12. I mostly bought the dewalt for the 3/8" impact wrench, which is about as powerful as an air ratchet...nice knowing I can hand it to my wife and know she won't snap anything! Right now I'm wishing I'd bought m12, but back then I'd never heard of milwaukee.

 

[BroncoAZ]

Two of my buddies have commercial fabrication shops, all Milwaukee M18 tools. I work safety in car dealerships, 50% or better of the techs are using Milwaukee M12 or M18 for one or more tools, very few Makita/Dewalt/Bosch, lots of Snap-on/Mac.

I was Dewalt the first time around (late 1990’s), Makita the second time around (2004), Milwaukee the third time around (2011), and Milwaukee the fourth time around (I upgraded all my cordless tools this year).

 

[Magnum440d100]

Blue, red, yellow, orange or a sticky plaid thing that nobody ever heard of...what opened your wallet?

I will be right up front and state that I'm full on DeWalt. Their TOTL tools are second to none and will serve for decades with a good service/parts network to back them up, but the same can be offered equally by the top competitors as well.

Having been a long time out of the game I looked, lurked and never wanted to pull the trigger on a new platform remembering the 7.2~12v Makita stuff from the 70s and how it sucked. I was on the phone with my brother one day talking about cordless tools and how I wanted a serious cordless impact but I wanted to "buy best, buy once".

His reply to me was, "You know the company I work for owns DeWalt (and a lot of other prominent brands)...right?"


The rest is history and his employee prices could make ya cry! Black/Yellow for me!

Your Story?

I have a few different brands, kinda eclectic collection. Black and decker pecker wrecker and craftsman were given to me by a dear friend when he got too old and had to move back east. Those are in my box and I use them for around the house.

I had a dewalt 20v impact given to me as a Christmas gift.

When I had to tour the US working on McDonald’s, I bought a dewalt 20v cordless hammer drill for ~$150. Just the drill motor. No battery. I already had a battery from the impact and another battery and charger I bought.

I used that dewalt for 16 hours a day, 7 days a week for almost 2 months. That $150 drill made me well over $20k.

Dewalt for life here!

I’ve tried makita, ryobi, Craftsman, black and decker, even those $20 drills you used to be able to get at the auto parts store....

I will always have dewalt. Period.

 

[phillyrube]

I'm stuck between two worlds. Have the old blue case Ryobi kit, with circ saw, sawzall, and light. Drill got lost somewheres. Been buying blue batteries, but then for Christmas a couple years ago, wife got me Milwaukee drill and driver set. %$$#%%!!!! So I splurged for a couple LiIon cells for the Ryobi. Now I needed a new charger. Found a grass and hedge trimmer at a yard sale, so got them, with a new battery and charger. Then found a used shop radio, and this Christmas got an area light. Meanwhile, the Milwaukees keep chugging along.

 

[WildwoodChuck]

I had DeWalt 14.4 for years. The 20v were just new on the market so the 18v was still the full line from DeWalt. I looked at Craftsman C3 but ended up going with Ryobi. I needed something a little smaller for drilling under 1/4" holes. I bought 2 sets of the Masterforce 12v drill and impact with a right angle add on later. Got talked out of both sets by my aunts so I bought Milwaukee 12v so the shop helpers have trouble with the 18v stuff.

 

[vaultdweller]

Initially I stuck with 18v porter cable because I got a decent deal as Lowe’s was closing them out. The fact that the nicad batteries can be had cheap on eBay is nice, and I can always jump over to their 18v lithium for the price of the battery and charger. I’ve got the drill, 1/4 Impact, circular saw, sawzall, light, and inflator in that line.

Then I’ve got a 12v Lithium Mac drill, 20v powertorque (oreilly) brushless 1/2” Impact, 12v PT 3/8” ratchet and 3/8 impact, and then 14.4 snappy 1/4 impact, and an el cheapo HF 9.6v Dremel wannabe.

Then in my “indoor” set I have the 12v lithium Ryobi Drill and auto hammer. Got the pair with 2 batteries for $15, so it was hard to pass up.

I buy what I find at decent prices. Having a couple extra chargers doesn’t bother me much.

 

[Empty Pockets]

When I went cordless, some 20+ years back, I went with the DeWalt 18 volt platform. They have served me well over the years.

As time has gone on, the batteries are starting to go, I'm starting to look at the 20 volt DeWalt Platform. I hope they serve me as well

 

[Greg85mcss]

My first "real" cordless tool was a ratchet and Milwaukee was the only decent one you could get without paying tool truck money. I liked the quality, warranty and assortment of the platform so I've stuck with them.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

 

[77thor]

Mainly on advice from friends.
But also noticing what brand contractors use.
DeWalt.

 

[dsimatt]

When I went cordless, some 20+ years back, I went with the DeWalt 18 volt platform. They have served me well over the years.

As time has gone on, the batteries are starting to go, I'm starting to look at the 20 volt DeWalt Platform. I hope they serve me as well

Is the new battery platform backwards compatible with a adapter?, that would be really nice if it was and you just could update batteries.

 

[Psychwarfare]

I had several of the blue 18v ryobi pieces that my ex's parents generously bought me as a Christmas present when they first came out.

Fast forward several years, and the new gf bought me an 18v Dewalt drill that I liked very much...my only Dewalt until the 20v came out and I found a good deal on the drill/driver/cooler package last year...and that's where it all started. Now I'm using the drill/driver/circular saw/recip saw/jig saw...and plotting expansion of the line