replacing my 14.4v milwaukee drill

[frascati]

I don't use my tools professionally, so I find myself the owner of a perfectly serviceable 14.4v milwaukee drill that is no longer cost/practical to buy batteries for.

So I'm shopping for a new drill for the first time in almost 10 years.

A few questions...

My entry level milwaukee drill had an aux side handle, carbide inserts in the chuck jaws, and enough torque to never, ever, let me down in a decade of use.

Shopping Milwaukee, Makita, Dewalt, and Ridgid.

What happened to the side handles? Only available on the highest priced models anymore. I'm hogging a 2" hole between two joists I need a side handle to save my knuckles. Really? Do most guys just find this unnecessary anymore?

My entry level 10 year old milwaukee has carbide inserts in the chuck jaws. I never, every had a problem with slippage. Now this feature is dropped and only available on the top of the line models. Makita doesn't offer it at all. I can't speak from experience with these, yet, but will I miss my old milwaukee chuck?

Probably most inconveniencing is the protective circuitry that has been added. A fine idea. But DeWalt seems to be, from all that I've tested so far, the only drill that pulls like my old milwaukee. The 18v 2606-20 milwaukee brushed model that is most equivalent in 2017 to my old model can be stopped, in high gear, by my bare hand on the chuck. Fully charged battery. In low gear the circuitry stopped the drill when bearing down hard on a 1/2 inch twist drill in steel. I was really disappointed.

Any input (without flames please... i never said I was a pro) on these questions? Side handle not necessary? Carbide inserts overkill? Experience with early cut out protective circuitry? Should I just go Dewalt and call it all good? But still wish they'd have added a side handle dammit.

 

[PelicanPines]

I was dewalt yellow but recently drank the red koolaid of Milwaukee. Very very happy with Milwaukee fuel brushless. A side handle would be nice... I have corded tools with side handles.

 

[kctyphoon]

Milwaukee... my guess is the lower models aren't throwing out crazy torque specs like the big boys are to really need a handle. You can just hold the base of the drill. You should really LOOK at the difference in torque specs (which will be hard with dewalt cause they use specs NOBODY understands) and see what the difference is between the entry and fuel models. The overload protection is there for a reason..

I also invite you to spend some time on YouTube watching the plethora of demo videos posted on these tools. It'll give you a much better idea.

 

[ishiboo]

All my Milwaukee hammer drills have the side handles. I haven't noticed any issues with the chucks. And the Fuel M18 drills will out-power your old 14.4 drill all day long. You probably had it in the wrong mode.

 

[Ign]

You're right OP.

As much as I'm a Milwaukee fan boy and that's all I own I couldn't recommend a Milwaukee to you today given your previous experience (and thus expectations) above.

The new Milwaukee chucks will disappoint you.

IME the drills without a side handle don't need it, but that tells you how powerful they are.

The Fuel (and non-Fuel brushless) is really twitchy on its protections. Anyone who won't admit they are - at a minimum - a minor inconvenience is lying or brain dead. Some would argue a major inconvenience.

The only Milwaukee that MIGHT make you happy is the M28 0726-20. But I can't in good conscience recommend anyone buy into M28 because Milwaukee does not give a **** about that platform anymore, at least not here in the States.

I know nothing of the other brands so I can't help you there.

 

[MarkG]

You are the only one who knows what kind of use you will need the drill for, so it's probably not real beneficial to get a bunch of stranger's opinions since we don't know how you'll be using it, etc. Are you drilling a LOT of large holes on a regular basis? Access to outlets? Then I'd still go with a corded drill. Smaller jobs? I'm very happy with my Hitachi 18V drill. IMHO, if you 'need' more power than that, the weight/convenience trade-off becomes too great and I'll just use a corded drill that will be more powerful and lighter than some 100 V mammoth! :S

 

[gahrajmahal]

Frascati, sounds like you use your tools about like me. I have a corded Milwaukee hole shooter that does indeed have all the torque you need. But the difference between a corded and cordless (besides the cord) is when you let off the trigger when your drill bit catches. On a cordless the drill stops almost immediately and on a corded it coasts to a stop often bashing your hand or really twisting your wrist and arm. That being said, you will need to resolve that the type of drill your old Milwaukee is/was does not exist anymore so you just has to take your chances.

 

[Firebrick43]

When your 14.4v drill was sold it was a PRO tool. Same with the dewalt 14v tools. Homeowners normally didn't have cordless tools. A 14.4 volt tool was developed pre 2000 and the lion v18 tools were out in 2005? So your drill was designed 20 years ago! Found an add in popular science touting the new 14.4 drill and its heavy duty feature in August of 1997.

Now makita, dewalt, and Milwaukee offer several grades. Light duty homeowner. A prosumer model and a pro model. If you expect similar features you need to look at the pro models.

Also remember that pro model cordless drills are nearly the same price then as now. I couldn't find a 14.4 v 1/2 drill price but popular mechanics did an 18v comparison in 1999. The list them Milwaukee dual speed nicad with (1) 2.0amphour battery as a retail price of $440 and a street price of $260.

I couldn't find a 2704 with single battery combo but a 2704-22 which has two 5.0 amp hour batteries can be found at acme tools for 279 or as a bare tool and battery seperate (no charger) for around $200. When you take into account inflation the newer dewalt/Milwaukee pro grade tools are much cheaper now than 20 years ago.

 

[WittHay]

I bought a cordless Milwaukee Fuel 2703-20 1/2" drill earlier this year. After using Makita spade drills for years, I consider the Fuel as a entry level drill because I wouldn't want anything less powerful. use it for drilling metal up to 1/2" and it has met my expectations.

The only issue was the chuck, drill bits kept slipping and when I tightened it felt like it was going to strip or break. Ign and others helped me understand how much to tighten it and that it is not a industrial quality chuck.

My advice is to compare the most powerful non hammer DeWalt to the Milwaukee Fuel and see which one you like better

 

[jonesg]

Maybe you can swap the old Chuck to a new drill.
I have a brushed m18 1/2 inch Milwaukee and it does everything I need.

 

[ocloc24]

My Milwaukee M18 Fuel Hammer Drill has a side handle, but I'm less than impressed with the chuck. I drill steel on a daily basis with mine, it may not be as bad for general use. A lot of people do remove the chuck and put a higher end one on, it's not that hard or expensive to do. The drill was one of the things that brought me into the Milwaukee family, the newest hammer drill has a MUCH higher torque spec than any of their competitors.

The 2704 is the drill I'm referencing, with 1200in/lb torque

 

[jake00]

I don’t use my tools as a pro, I had the desalt 14.4v line, I went with the m18 fuel a few years ago when home depo had the deal. Mine came w side handle. I love the power

 

[redmondjp]

Maybe you can swap the old Chuck to a new drill.
I have a brushed m18 1/2 inch Milwaukee and it does everything I need.

^This^

Swap that chuck! There may be a retainer screw inside of it (which also may be LH-threaded) that has to be removed first. Then, chuck up a long-handled allen wrench and give it a few whacks with a hammer and it should spin the chuck loose.

Oh, and I know this won't be a popular answer, but I still recommend the Ryobi one plus 18V tools - right now you can go to Home Depot and get two of the largest lithium ion batteries for $99, which is half off. They keep coming up with new tools that use the batteries - my latest purchase is their camping lantern with built-in USB charger - I've been using it for automotive work lately.

 

[frascati]

Thank you very much y'all. Good thoughts here. Probably especially the perspective from firebrick43. That makes sense. I do recall that my 14.4 was probably on par cost/wise with level of models that still have the features I mention.. carbide insert chuck jaws, side handle, power to spare.

Heck, For a bit more I can include hammer mode. But of the Dewalts I'm looking at presently in the big box store the non-hammer model would be far wiser for me since it's a full 1.5 inches more compact in length, 100 dollars less, and I only use the hammer mode about 1 percent of the time.

That's the dewalt dcd791d2. If it had a side handle I would hit all my marks! Ok, no carbide in the jaws, but I'm probably overthinking that one anyway.

Thanks again