Big Box tools question...

[cosmopedro]

Hello all! It’s that time of year again, when we’re thinking of gifts to give and receive, and a question arose around the ‘water cooler’ today I was hoping to get some feedback on: a colleague of mine says that big box tools are built differently from ‘pro shop’ tools and that’s why there’s a price difference...

I’m looking to upgrade to the 21st century and buy a Makita 18V Lion drill/driver, impact driver, charger, two 2.4AH batteries and a hard case from Homer D. Poe for $299 so I can get two more 3.0AH batteries to go with...

DOES Makita make different tools for Homer than they do for, say, a local hardware/lumber/tool supply house? And what about the other players?!? I know from experience in the building trades that companies like Delta and PricePfister do this, where externally identical fixtures are not interchangeable from Homer to plumbing supply, so...?

If this is already being covered exhaustively in another thread, please inform me and bury this one.

Thanks!


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[sberry]

He doesnt know squat, if they are the same model number are the same tool. In some cases even different number same tool.

 

[dacan23]

Funny, people have asked me this about Milwaukee. Same answer, if the model number is the same its identical sold anywhere.

TVs, appliances, some electronics are sometimes this way. But the model numbers are different even in those cases.

 

[mudflap]

This is a good question...I know Dewalt has a homeowner grade, and a pro grade (XRP).. Milwaukee has homeowner grade, then the Fuel line for pros.. Makita i know used to do the same thing..white/black tools were homeowner..their blue/black was their better line.. Then there is alot of this in other industries.. The John Deer riding mower you buy at lowes is nothing compared to the ones you will find at an implement dealer...The Mossberg shotguns at Wal-mart have stamped internal parts to bring them in at a price point. The ones at your local gun shop are a few bucks more..but have much nicer machined internals.

 

[cosmopedro]

Well THAT’s good to hear... after having experienced the plumbing issue I mentioned in my first post I was really hoping for better luck w/tools!

Thanks, all!


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[f121]

Make sure you compare like for like . Our big box stores often sell cheap kits for diy guys, which have a low spec drill - cheaper, less accurate, less powerful, heavier brushed motor, etc.

In the UK makita also do a different 18v range that isn't compatible with lxt batteries, think it's something else rebranded.

Colour is meaningless, ive seen blue, black, white, pink pro tools and diy tools in the same colours.

 

[Nineeightyone]

Make sure you compare like for like . Our big box stores often sell cheap kits for diy guys, which have a low spec drill - cheaper, less accurate, less powerful, heavier brushed motor, etc.

This is the big thing to watch out for! My best friend got a Dewalt DCD985 hammerdrill and I fell in love, so I went hunting for a kit to get me started. Well, all the kits offered a lower-end drill, typically paired with a driver (which I didn't care about, after all I've got a drill) and some smaller batteries. Nobody seemed to offer the nice, higher-end hammerdrill as anything but a bare tool.

Eventually I found a deal for 20% off the bare DCD996 hammerdrill, and wound up getting batteries in a kit with a charger, bag, and a regular drill for $99, far less than it would've cost me to get started on the 20v platform otherwise, and now I have two drills -- one that can be fitted with a driving bit, and one with a masonry bit. pimpflash

Now I'm on the lookout for a 20v circular saw and the 1/2" drive impact...

 

[f121]

all the kits offered a lower-end drill, typically paired with a driver (which I didn't care about, after all I've got a drill)

You definitely need an impact driver! Much nicer than using a drill for screwdriver duties. Pick up a bare impact driver for not much, doesn't even need to be brushless.

My impact driver is my most used 18v tool, probably most used tool period. Despite having many drills, I've not used any as a driver since I bought the impact driver.

 

[Nineeightyone]

You definitely need an impact driver! Much nicer than using a drill for screwdriver duties. Pick up a bare impact driver for not much, doesn't even need to be brushless.

My impact driver is my most used 18v tool, probably most used tool period. Despite having many drills, I've not used any as a driver since I bought the impact driver.

Mind if I ask why? My general usage case is screws into wood, or tapcons into block. Typically decking screws with a phillips head and a PH1/PH2 driver (depending), and for the tapcons, I use a 5/16" magnetic driver for the drill and simply run them in. I didn't have any issues with my little corded Hitachi 10v drill, but cordless is a huge plus for me -- I hate trying to run extension cords where I need them.

I'm definitely open to the idea of getting a driver (an excuse for more tools is always good ) but I don't know what the purpose of an impact driver is, versus say a regular drill with appropriate driver.

 

[FigureItOut]

I don't know what the purpose of an impact driver is, versus say a regular drill with appropriate driver.

You'll know once you try it. My first power tools were a dewalt drill and impact driver combo kit, and I didn't even know until joining this forum that people used to use drills for driving screws. Borrow a buddy's impact driver sometime and spend a day working with it driving screws, I guarantee you'll never want to do it with a drill again.


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[Crazyjake8493]

I'd even go as far to say that an impact driver is far more useful than a drill for most tasks. I have my M12 impact driver on me for every job I do, half the time I don't even bring the drill (or 18v impact) unless I'm running hole saws or step bits, or drilling many holes in steel.

I'd definitely recommend an impact driver with different speed settings, vs one with a single speed and having to work the trigger.

 

[Citation]

For what it's worth, I have read that some of the Black Friday drills are often cheaper, "special" models just for the holidays. It's not that say DeWalt is making the same model number with different guts if you buy it from HD vs some other shop. Instead DeWalt will come up with a "special purchase" model for Black Friday that perhaps has a lower end motor or lower capacity batteries or low end chuck vs the model that is on the shelf year round. Thus in November you see a 20V drill for $100 that seems to be the equivalent of the drill that is normally on the shelf for $160. That is has a reduced motor, chuck etc would get lost in the fact that, like the standard model, it's 20V, (insert spec list here).

This is also something that is reported with BF TVs and computers. I've definitely seen it with laptops back when they first stated getting BF laptops under $400 then $300 price points.

My father has some recent experience with a John Deere mower. He ended up getting a ZTR mower from the tractor dealer vs the big store. The two mowers were variations of the same model but the differences were mix and match type things. The noted difference was the big box store used a more basic seat. The dealer's model had a high back seat. Other than that, same tractors.

So, in answer to the original question, yes, sometimes the big box stores are getting a cost reduced version of the same model (designated by a suffix or something else that was hard to notice). Other times the big store is getting a totally different, "special" model. I've never heard of a case where the full model numbers are the same yet the products in the box are different.

 

[plinker]

For long/large diameter screws an impact drivers works rather nicely. With smaller screws I tend to prefer something like a Bosch PS20 1/4 hex driver.

I've heard it said by some people I know that (for instance) Fastenal will have the "better quality/grade power tool", then say a box store. It's all BS when the model number of the tool is the same, the price is the only difference between the stores.

 

[WittHay]

The first thing that comes to mind is small Lincoln mig welders. Used to be when you looked at a Lincoln catalog or on the website the Home Depot models weren't listed. Lately John Deere lawn mowers are the same models but less features. A few years back, I thought Home Depot carried select models and the dealer the whole line.

The combination of sets is different between box and industrial stores. Industrial usually has less packaging. Local tool store bring battery packs in by the case. If you want say a Milwaukee 5.0 battery they reach in a box and give you one. Same battery but no individual plastic wrapping.

 

[thooks]

This faucet says it's made by Delta but isn't. It's only sold at Home Depot. There's a matching Roman Tub Faucet also.

I have the ability to buy Delta Faucet products for 30% of MSRP through a program. I sent this faucet and the Roman Tub faucet to my Delta rep and he said he couldn't get those because they are not Delta product and only sold by HD....not sold in plumbing supply houses or anywhere else.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Delta-P...in-Oil-Rubbed-Bronze-15984LF-OB-ECO/206503613




Yes, this occurs for many products, but if the model numbers are the same, it's the same everywhere.

 

[freudianfloyd]

The Mossberg shotguns at Wal-mart have stamped internal parts to bring them in at a price point. The ones at your local gun shop are a few bucks more..but have much nicer machined internals.

Do you have any info to back this up? I have heard it for years, but have never found definitive proof that it was true. I'm not saying you are wrong, I just have a hard time believing Mossberg would make a cheaper version of their most popular 500 without giving it its own model number, when they already have the Maverick 88 model.