How Many Battery Platforms Are Too Many?

[Renegade1LI]

I have found that it’s impossible to be limited to only 1 or 2 platforms. It almost seems like a conspiracy amongst the tool manufacturers, everyone makes something a little different and they’re all pretty good. I thought i was done and now i just bought a craftsman 20 volt tile saw with extra batteries, not I’m looking if there’s anything else craftsman to get. It doesn’t help being a gc and always trying new tools, but you end up with every platform in the end. The good thing is they all cost about the same so really it doesn’t matter buying more of one or the other, just have to keep the correct batteries with the tools. It just never ends, which is not a bad thing!

 

[mike93lx]

I run three, Dewalt 20v, Milwaukee m12 and ego 56v. Getting comfortable with using multiple has allowed me to get very useful tools.

I am unlikely to add a fourth, but I'd do it for the right tool

 

[fordgasm]

I did Milwaukee 12v & 18v and Ryobi 18v. Ryobi makes a lot of things Milwaukee or the other brands don’t. I have a lot more Ryobi than Milwaukee.

 

[GeoBruin]

Battery adapters are finally starting to become a thing. There are exceptions, but you can adapt almost every mainstream brand to almost every other. In my case, I have Dewalt 20v and Milwaukee 12v but I added a couple specialized m18 tools. One came with a battery so I have 1 m18 battery but instead of buying more, I got an adapter and now I can run my big dewalt 20v batteries which is nice because this thing is hungry...

 

[FMB4]

Two here (a drill and a line trimmer). The rest are corded.

 

[Handyandy23]

I have DeWalt 20v, Milwaukee M12, and Ryobi 18v. All around I prefer DeWalt, but there are some things they don't make, and other things I want a cheaper option.

M12 line I'm mainly into for the auto mechanic tools, stubby impacts, ratchets, etc. Also picked up the Fuel Surge which is a great impact driver for wood, and it's a lot quieter when I'm working inside one of my wife's clinics.

Ryobi I got for stuff that I can deal with it being a little lower quality and save the money. Shop vac, inflator, OPE, etc.

I've got 4+ batteries for each brand, and the fast multi-chargers for each one, so I never run out of juice. But I don't see much value in going with more flavors than that. One 18+v premium line, one 12v, and one 18+v store brand line.

 

[mrjaw14]

I have milwaukee 12v, ryobi 18v, and Rigid 18/24v. I bought into rigid back when they had 24v and they discontinued it. I'm considering getting rid of what Rigid stuff I do have and trying to go Milwaukee 18v instead. Costs a lot though so I am hesitant to make the change.

At home I also have some Ryobi 40v for blower and string trimmer. works well for quick touch ups between more involved lawn care with gas.

 

[humpty]

I agree that 1 platform is pretty hard to settle on.

For medium duty you certainly could get by on Ryobi, their stuff is decent, cheap-ish and they have lots of things. My buddy has a whole herd of the stuff, the only complaint he ever has is they are not compact with the big damn battery.

I have the Milwaukee stuff in M12 and M18, they **** you in and you end up with both voltages. The nice thing is you can run the combo charger which is nice. Price is the bummer, I dread to know what I have invested in it.

I also have the Echo 56V for my mower. Milwaukee didn't have a mower so I picked one, this one has been great and I love it.

humpty

 

[humpty]

I have milwaukee 12v, ryobi 18v, and Rigid 18/24v. I bought into rigid back when they had 24v and they discontinued it. I'm considering getting rid of what Rigid stuff I do have and trying to go Milwaukee 18v instead. Costs a lot though so I am hesitant to make the change.

At home I also have some Ryobi 40v for blower and string trimmer. works well for quick touch ups between more involved lawn care with gas.

I can understand your dilemma, I wouldn't have dove into Milwaukee if my old DeWalt stuff wasn't past it's prime and needing replacement.

 

[ybnormal]

It almost seems like a conspiracy amongst the tool manufacturers,

I'd agree with that. I bought a drill/saw/sawzall Porter Cable set with 18v NiCad about 8 yrs ago on Black Friday. store says "oh yeah, they're coming out with a lithium battery for this next year. it'll plug right in. you won't have to upgrade to the new Lithium tool line coming out in a few months"
new year......lying sacks of scum. it's an 18v LiIon battery for the 18v set ONLY. the new 20v LiIon tools take a different battery altogether

Battery adapters are finally starting to become a thing. There are exceptions, but you can adapt almost every mainstream brand to almost every other. In my case, I have Dewalt 20v and Milwaukee 12v but I added a couple specialized m18 tools. One came with a battery so I have 1 m18 battery but instead of buying more, I got an adapter and now I can run my big dewalt 20v batteries which is nice because this thing is hungry...

if I knew then what I knew now, I'd probably have gone Ryobi with ONE+

I'd like to see those adapters

 

[dacan23]

Unless you're a pro or do serious DIY then M12 is all you need, plus an OPE platform. I have just about every cordless tool available and use my M12 stuff more than anything. Most of the time I am choosing size over power, no need to break out the big drivers or drills, no biggie that the M12 takes extra seconds on a pilot hole or hole saw, have to pay less attention to overdriving a screw or stripping it out. When I break out the bigger tools its usually for jobs that average joe not on GJ will never be doing. Heck I even probably use hand tools more than 18v.

I remember way back a friend just got a Ryobi 18v set for , not a very handy person, as a first task he wanted to tighten some screws on kitchen cabinets, stripped every head and screw hole on ones he touched and made the situation worse.

 

[619DioFan]

For me it is 2. mostly ryobi including my weedeater. I also use ryobi at work ( not a mechanic by trade ) some of my ryobi stuff is 12 years old and still work great. when I decided to add a cordless impact to my home shop I went with the milwaukee fuel line in both 1/2 inch and 3/8. the 1/2 is is the big 1400 ft lb one as I wanted something that would handle anything , which it has.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Funny, but you could almost get away with Ryobi for home, there new stuff is pretty good, just not sure how it would last being used every day. The bearings went in my Ryobi cordless sander in less than 2 yrs. I think the one platform I will never get is Bauer, just doesn't seem up to the task & I think Ryobi is a step above. Really depends what you are doing, I love the 12 volt stuff, but you still need the 18 & 20 volt, the hardest part is working away from home & remembering all the different batteries.

 

[Zebu Fellenz]

I have Milwaukee M18, a few M12 tools and Bosch 18v. As the Bosch tools wear out I'm replacing with Milwaukee. Years ago I also had some 10.8v FLEX tools, they've been replaced with M12.

I'm not a fan of having multiple systems, hopefully soon it'll be all Milwaukee.

 

[Git]

Two - Makita 18v and Milwaukee 12v. Very pleased with the Milwaukee 12v stuff. I went with Makita first because of they had a lot more stuff available - cordless blowers, etc.

 

[Vwpower]

Two - Makita 18v and Milwaukee 12v. Very pleased with the Milwaukee 12v stuff. I went with Makita first because of they had a lot more stuff available - cordless blowers, etc.

Haha. Yes! I’m makita at home and in my work van. Thinking about adding some Milwaukee m12 for mechanic type work at home.

 

[jonshonda]

Try having kids, tools, and other hobbies that require batteries! I have so many different chargers at my house I really just need to sit down and make a charging station. Only problem would be is it would be the size of my kitchen table to fit all the devices!!

 

[Walkers]

I haven’t really found a reason to stray, as Makita has pretty much every battery tool I have wanted. I must admit, the battery adapters make other tools look more inviting.

 

[bobg03]

I bought into the 18V ridgid line long ago, they have held up well. A few years back i tried some M12 tools that ridgid didn't make and really like them. My seldom used tools like sanders are Dewalt corded (sale..).

I should be all set but if any of my Ridgid stuff should see an untimely demise in the future, I will probably just stick to the M12 platform to replace them.

 

[mrvm]

Battery adapters are finally starting to become a thing. There are exceptions, but you can adapt almost every mainstream brand to almost every other. In my case, I have Dewalt 20v and Milwaukee 12v but I added a couple specialized m18 tools. One came with a battery so I have 1 m18 battery but instead of buying more, I got an adapter and now I can run my big dewalt 20v batteries which is nice because this thing is hungry...

I've been on 4 platforms for years as each brand has some unique feature. Over time the batteries age and lose endurance so rather than buy replacements I picked up some battery adapters between 20V Dewalt/18VMakita/18VMilwaukee. The adapters don't weigh much and I get to cycle through all the batteries. Packing up the older 18V Dewalt set for my son to spread the GJ addiction to tools...LOL

 

[Renegade1LI]

I have an old Makita cordless miter saw I think it's a LS711D, the nicads died & it was cheaper to by a drill driver set w/2 batteries & get an adapter. I have to say Makita makes a really nice drill & impact driver, just seems very well balanced, now I want to get more Makita tools. Even the batteries seem to really hold a charge well, maybe better than milwaukee & dewalt.

 

[crewchief888]

I have 2.
Ridgid 12v & 18v. (All with batteries that won't hold a charge)

Milwaukee 12v & 18v both in the house, and in my service truck. Wife has Milwaukee 18 v stuff as welll

 

[Robinson1]

90% of my cordless tools are Dewalt 20v. Hitachi/Metabo makes the best cordless nail guns. And I have a 12v Bosch "installation" drill. So thats 3 battery systems that go out on jobs with me

Ive got some 18v Bosch, a 12v Hitachi drill that I paid like $50 for new and a 12v Bosch screwdriver that never leave the shop.

But I guess 5 systems total.

 

[Showkey]

2 ……..but same brand. Example M12 M18

No on multiple brands……..have an older Makita 18v “too good to throw away”…..but almost never gets used.

Prior has Porter Cable and Bosch……..they are gone.

 

[JradM]

I think there are various ways to tackle this question. Probably no one should follow in my footsteps. I've got:

1. Dewalt 60v
2. Dewalt 20v
3. Dewalt 12v
4. Porter Cable 20v
5. Black & Decker 20v
6. Ryobi 18v
7. Bosch 18v
8. Bosch 12v
9. Milwaukee 12v
10. Worx 20v
11. Ridgid 18v
12. Craftsman 60v

Basically I'm not loyal to anything. I have little reservation about adding yet another platform if they have a tool I want or are the best deal.

If a person wanted to have only ONE brand, I'm starting to think Ryobi could be the frontrunner (see what I did there?). With the HP tools, Ryobi is dipping into tools that can be considered pro-grade. The tools are usually cheap. Most important of all, they are legion. If you're after something neat an innovative, Ryobi probably has it.

That said, most of my tools are either Dewalt or Bosch, so I'm not even taking my own advice.

Having so many platforms can be a challenge. I built a wooden toolbox-style holder that holds most of the chargers I need all together though. E.g. A single Dewalt charger handles the 60v, 20v and 12v batteries. My Bosch charger has slots for 18v or 12v. Ryobi and Ridged are mounted externally to the ends, I don't actually use Black & Decker batteries - my Porter Cable batteries slide right into the tools.

That leaves Worx (I only have one tool currently, the powerwasher, anyway), Craftsman v60 (I don't need to pack my OPE batteries around often) and Milwaukee 12v. I would like to add the M12 charger to my toolbox kit, but I ran out of room... maybe a signal I've reached the end?

In many ways I think three platforms would make the most sense: 1) to be your main pro-grade option (e.g. Milwaukee or Dewalt), 2) Ryobi (so you don't feel left out when something cool comes out), and 3) M12 - because small tools are handy.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Great, now I have to get dewalt 12volt.

DEWALT XTREME 12V MAX 3/8in Extended Reach Ratchet Brushless (Bare Tool)

DEWALT XTREME 12V MAX 3/8in Extended Reach Ratchet Brushless (Bare Tool) - DCF503EB

www.acmetools.com

 

[Bucko]

Battery adapters are finally starting to become a thing. There are exceptions, but you can adapt almost every mainstream brand to almost every other. In my case, I have Dewalt 20v and Milwaukee 12v but I added a couple specialized m18 tools. One came with a battery so I have 1 m18 battery but instead of buying more, I got an adapter and now I can run my big dewalt 20v batteries which is nice because this thing is hungry...

Same thing I do so I can run a few old ryobi thrash tools on my Dewalt 20v. Bought several adapters for my father-in-law so he can run the 20v Dewalt in most of his stuff as he has a mix master of various yard and tool items on multiple platforms.

 

[ybnormal]

anyone have a link to these battery adapters? or did I miss it in the thread here?

 

[mike93lx]

anyone have a link to these battery adapters? or did I miss it in the thread here?

Search on Amazon and eBay. Lots of people making them.

 

[ybnormal]

Search on Amazon and eBay. Lots of people making them.

I asked for a link so I don't have to shovel thru the chinesium **** that will inevitably pop-up. And I wouldn't want a 'people made' one as I'd rather have a quality company-built one.

 

[mike93lx]

I asked for a link so I don't have to shovel thru the chinesium **** that will inevitably pop-up. And I wouldn't want a 'people made' one as I'd rather have a quality company-built one.

They are all Chineseum ****. No oem makes them

 

[ste6168]

2 (or three, depending on how you look at it) here.

Milwaukee 12v AND 18v at the house/woodshop.
Bosch 12v in the service van.

Only battery tools I own are drills and impact drivers (12v and 18v of both at the house). I own one of those multi function Bosch installation drivers and a right angle driver, too… but both those are basically drills.

Everything else; grinders, table saw, bandsaw, sawzall, routers, oscillating tools, circ saws, etc are all corded. I do wish I had a battery operated heat gun in the service van, at times. I guess I could get the Milwaukee one since I already have the Milwaukee battery platform, but then I’d have to worry about keeping a charger battery in the van, I’ll prob just stick with the extension cord.

 

[Firebrick43]

Milwaukee is the only battery system I have. Has everything I have needed including some specialty tools like propex that no one else has.

Just out of a curiosity, I have not seen a house being built that when the tile goes in there isn't power hooked up already. So why the cordless tool? And as a GC, why the non pro tool?

 

[mike93lx]

Milwaukee is the only battery system I have. Has everything I have needed including some specialty tools like propex that no one else has.

Just out of a curiosity, I have not seen a house being built that when the tile goes in there isn't power hooked up already. So why the cordless tool? And as a GC, why the non pro tool?

Simply having power doesn't make cordless the wrong choice.

Not having to deal with cord at all can be quite nice. Trip hazards, extensions cords, etc

I only run my wet saw outside, so an outlet may not be all that conveniently located.

What is a pro tool? I'd say any tool that can produce a quality product and can make you money doing it is a pro tool. Doesn't have to be a certain brand or cost

 

[Firebrick43]

Simply having power doesn't make cordless the wrong choice.

Not having to deal with cord at all can be quite nice. Trip hazards, extensions cords, etc

I only run my wet saw outside, so an outlet may not be all that conveniently located.

What is a pro tool? I'd say any tool that can produce a quality product and can make you money doing it is a pro tool. Doesn't have to be a certain brand or cost

A pro tool is a tool that last to the work load and hours that the typical professional will use one. Craftsman has not met that standard in power tools in a very very long time, and hand tools from 2005 time frame on ceased to meet that standard(although there may be some that will say they never did, but not me)

I agree with your statements of cord/vs cordless to a point, but then why complain of the disadvantage of the cordless like the op did?

 

[Bucko]

I asked for a link so I don't have to shovel thru the chinesium **** that will inevitably pop-up. And I wouldn't want a 'people made' one as I'd rather have a quality company-built one.

I think what Mike is saying by "people making them" is companies, not Joe Bob with his 3D printer. You would also need to supply a little info like what tool to what battery if you want someone to find it for you.

I suggest using keywords for what you want, like " Dewalt 20v to Ryobi 18v adapter". I have bought about 8 different ones from various sellers on eBay and Amazon and haven't had a single issue with them.

 

[ybnormal]

They are all Chineseum ****. No oem makes them

aw, ****!

 

[ybnormal]

I think what Mike is saying by "people making them" is companies, not Joe Bob with his 3D printer. You would also need to supply a little info like what tool to what battery if you want someone to find it for you.

I suggest using keywords for what you want, like " Dewalt 20v to Ryobi 18v adapter". I have bought about 8 different ones from various sellers on eBay and Amazon and haven't had a single issue with them.

I'll try that and see what comes up

 

[James-W]

I have all Ridgid 18 volt stuff. I have not seen any real reason why I should get cordless tools of different brands. It just makes good sense to have all cordless tools the same brand so that all the batteries fit all the tools. Also, Ridgid has a lifetime warranty on their batteries as well as their tools. I had to replace one Ridgid battery, it was 9 years old and Ridgid replaced it at no charge. You gotta love that lifetime battery warranty, especially since battery prices are so terribly high.

 

[goldtang]

Bit of every thing Milwaukee M18 / M12 Mikita 18 and hitachi 18