The Milwaukee addiction thread! :)

[kctyphoon]

I have an m18 brushed drill/impact kit & sawzall, and the gen1 fuel counterparts too.. The brushed tools are nothing to shrug off.. They are very well made, just use the older technology. My feeling is the more important choice is going with lithium batteries, which you are.. Everything Milwaukee makes these days is only available with lithium batteries compared to Dewalt who is still selling the same tools they did 20 years ago in their 18v platform. Your already looking at the M18 platform instead of the M12 , which is a good choice IMO. Your getting a lithium platform - another good choice.

Most of the guys in here don't NEED the fuel line.. It's just this is what we like spending money on and are willing to spend extra for the cool factor.

 

[Caparris]

I definitely got the Milwaukee addiction. I went all in on the "to me" terminal tackle power tools in 18V Fuel. I can see a 12V 1/4" driver and rotary tool as well as a few more 18V batteries in my future. But for now I'll be working with:
Hammer drill and driver
Circular Saw
Sawzall
Grinder
12 pc Blade set, Cobalt bit set, shockwave bit set, and a 5 pack of #2 + heads.

Added it up after searching a jumping on deals ove the last new weeks. I've given $797.34 for 5 tools, 2 5Ah batteries and a multivolt charger.

Nice!

 

[Bremon]

Looking forward to putting a 9.0 battery on my grinder and Sawzall but definitely not looking forward to the $250 CAD the crooks want for them. Insane pricing on M18 batteries these days.

 

[jetdawg]

Is there a reason you buy Milwaukee

Lots of people like the color red, seriously. However they're decent tools but not meant for heavy construction use. The innovation is good but it is usually at the cost of the quality/durability of the tools.

 

[Bremon]

Maybe heavy construction means something different to you. The hundreds of sites I've been on red is a pretty common color, especially with electrical, plumbing, and HVAC guys. They don't usually look pretty so I'd hazard a guess they last pretty long. I've got enough red at work to know Milwaukee hangs with the best of them.

 

[Chromdome35]

Lots of people like the color red, seriously. However they're decent tools but not meant for heavy construction use. The innovation is good but it is usually at the cost of the quality/durability of the tools.

If Milwaukee isn't meant for heavy construction use, what brand is? Dewalt? Makita?

 

[Bremon]

Hilti is what the tool snobs and elitists usually rattle off as the brand for pros lol. The service is nice. Tools are good. Price is insane.

 

[JettaGetUpandGo]

Hilti is what the tool snobs and elitists usually rattle off as the brand for pros lol. The service is nice. Tools are good. Price is insane.

90% of our subs (residential construction) use Milwaukee cordless tools with some Dewalt/Bosch/Makita sprinkled in there. Corded tools are all over the board.

 

[firworks]

Lots of people like the color red, seriously. However they're decent tools but not meant for heavy construction use. The innovation is good but it is usually at the cost of the quality/durability of the tools.

90% of our subs (residential construction) use Milwaukee cordless tools with some Dewalt/Bosch/Makita sprinkled in there. Corded tools are all over the board.

Well quit hiring "tiny whimpy baby" construction workers then!

 

[jetdawg]

Maybe heavy construction means something different to you. The hundreds of sites I've been on red is a pretty common color, especially with electrical, plumbing, and HVAC guys. They don't usually look pretty so I'd hazard a guess they last pretty long. I've got enough red at work to know Milwaukee hangs with the best of them.

The reason you see lot of it on the site is a) they do a great job marketing and b) are very generous with their industrial sales reps being reckless in all of their promises of tools for cheap to construction companies. They are more prevalent amongst electricians and plumbers because they have dedicated tools for those tasks that dewalt and makita do not. You could hazard a guess but then you'd be wrong, milwaukee failure rates are the highest of any brand.

If Milwaukee isn't meant for heavy construction use, what brand is? Dewalt? Makita?

They are marketed as such but have the highest failure rates we've seen by far.

 

[Bremon]

Lol jetdawg. My guess comes from experience with them. I've never had a Milwaukee die on me. You state they have highest failure rates by far without any conclusive evidence or stats. Sounds like a difference of opinions more than a meaningful discussion. Especially since the other make I own is equally disingenuous with their marketing of 20 and 60 volt tools.

 

[jetdawg]

Your experience is one data point, I have about 500 LOL!! I have pictures of mountains of broken fuel tools on my phone. We fix lots of power tools you don't have to believe a word I have to say if you choose. It's great you've had no issues and I hope that continues to be the case. I used to be a big milwaukee and porter cable fan when it was all US made but sadly they're not the same companies they once were. PC has been demoted to homeowner grade tools. New milwaukee stuff is cool and nice to use but durable they are not. They should tone down the marketing a few notches and focus on quality again.

The new m12 flashlight is impressive, might have to get that and the new 6.0 batteries. Compact fastback is my go to knife for now.

 

[Bremon]

Good to know, until you posted that you fix tools I had no point of reference to understand your point of view.

 

[jetdawg]

Yes it's my fault, I visit the service center frequently as well. They have a 5 year warranty because you'll need it! I always rec the high torque impact and sawzall which are fantastic tools. The portabands are great too just all their accessories pretty much **** including blades. Their lighting game right now is on point with the radius and other one coming out that may be out already actually.

 

[Bremon]

The 5 year warranty is what got me on Milwaukee initially. Plus it was easy to find videos of the 2604 smoking competitors years back when I bought that. Pretty happy with my 2704 now despite the Makita being more powerful.

 

[Al Bundy]

The reason you see lot of it on the site is a) they do a great job marketing and b) are very generous with their industrial sales reps being reckless in all of their promises of tools for cheap to construction companies. They are more prevalent amongst electricians and plumbers because they have dedicated tools for those tasks that dewalt and makita do not. You could hazard a guess but then you'd be wrong, milwaukee failure rates are the highest of any brand.



They are marketed as such but have the highest failure rates we've seen by far.

So how do you determine failure rates?

 

[Ign]

The 5 year warranty is what got me on Milwaukee initially. Plus it was easy to find videos of the 2604 smoking competitors years back when I bought that. Pretty happy with my 2704 now despite the Makita being more powerful.

I would NOT get hung up on torque specs for something that provides continuous torque like a drill. Impacts, yes, absolutely.....but much less so with drills unless you have a specific task that requires uber torque and thus simultaneously hyper-vigilance so as to not hurt yourself.

You don't always need a new CTD to haul a gallon of milk.....

 

[dacan23]

All tools are prone to failure if you do not take care of them, guy I sold a 2704 has a bad clutch & trigger, but he treated it like a rotten piece of meat. Its hard to gather and understand all the data points on what leads to a failure.

 

[dacan23]

FYI the new Milwaukee Jobsite Offset Scissors are great for cutting open Milwaukee clamshell plastic packaging.... for people that buy a lot of Milwaukee they should give a pair of them away for free...

 

[dacan23]

Guess the rolling tool boxes are not HD exclusive anymore.

http://www.acmetools.com/shop/tools/milwaukee-tool-cabinets

 

[kctyphoon]

Lots of people like the color red, seriously. However they're decent tools but not meant for heavy construction use. The innovation is good but it is usually at the cost of the quality/durability of the tools.

This is completely inaccurate...
Before I was a lineman I worked for a stone mason company that did all the marble and granite work for large mausoleums. Most of the drilling was done with Milwaukee a d Hilti drills.. I had days where I seriously spent the entire day just drilling holes into marble, granite, and concrete.. don't know how much more heavy duty you want then that (and exactly why I DONT do that work anymore). I suggest you spend a minute or two on the Milwaukee site and actually look at what they make. Not everything is cordless.

 

[mike528]

We have the standard m18 drills and batteries at work and we kill them about every 2 years. We have a 20v dewalt at the other plant and it can't quite keep up with the Milwaukee. Considering we typically use them to drill holes up to 1" dia. In 1/8 to 1" thick steel we don't complain when they burn up after 2 years.

 

[jetdawg]

This is completely inaccurate...
Before I was a lineman I worked for a stone mason company that did all the marble and granite work for large mausoleums. Most of the drilling was done with Milwaukee a d Hilti drills.. I had days where I seriously spent the entire day just drilling holes into marble, granite, and concrete.. don't know how much more heavy duty you want then that (and exactly why I DONT do that work anymore). I suggest you spend a minute or two on the Milwaukee site and actually look at what they make. Not everything is cordless.

It's not like I sell milwaukee tools or anything so I'm sure you know more about their product lineup than me. It's also not like me being in the industry trumps your singular experience either

 

[dacan23]

Presale now $99.95, looks like MSRP is $166 as nothing ever sells for MSRP... except in Kohls..

Think there's fineprint that if your name is KCTYPHOON you can only order 1...

https://www.ohiopowertool.com/p-16397-milwaukee-m18-search-light-2354-20.aspx

Also found the M12 flood for preorder now at normal retail price $79.

http://www.toolbarn.com/milwaukee-2...Vj9qHE_pcrid_90615788774_pkw_PLA_pmt_b_pdv_c_

The search light is only $99 as a bare tool???
Edit.. only place I see it for sale is for $166...

 

[dacan23]

9.0 battery in stock a few places now, $199, this could lead to the first ever promo where you buy the BATTERY and get a FREE TOOL like a non-fuel $100 tool.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwauke...gclid=CLKl9d2ylM8CFVRbhgodI5QIlA&gclsrc=aw.ds

Also a few places have the 6.0 in stock $149

https://www.ohiopowertool.com/p-162...137024228170&gclid=CKOPrqqzlM8CFcFehgodaVoJgA

 

[kctyphoon]

Presale now $99.95, looks like MSRP is $166 as nothing ever sells for MSRP... except in Kohls..

Think there's fineprint that if your name is KCTYPHOON you can only order 1...

https://www.ohiopowertool.com/p-16397-milwaukee-m18-search-light-2354-20.aspx

Also found the M12 flood for preorder now at normal retail price $79.

http://www.toolbarn.com/milwaukee-2...Vj9qHE_pcrid_90615788774_pkw_PLA_pmt_b_pdv_c_

Ha.. ordered... thanks.

One of our vendors showed up today with 4 of the m18 tower lights and a bunch of chargers and batteries for another location... I was joking around with him saying "so these are all mine I guess?".. he told me text him a list of whatever I wanted - so pretty sure the radius light will be in my future too..

 

[dacan23]

My pleasure.

I will take a multi head tower light, 9.0 battery, and Fuel 1" SDS Rotary... thanks lol

Ha.. ordered... thanks.

One of our vendors showed up today with 4 of the m18 tower lights and a bunch of chargers and batteries for another location... I was joking around with him saying "so these are all mine I guess?".. he told me text him a list of whatever I wanted - so pretty sure the radius light will be in my future too..

 

[firworks]

Presale now $99.95, looks like MSRP is $166 as nothing ever sells for MSRP... except in Kohls..

Think there's fineprint that if your name is KCTYPHOON you can only order 1...

https://www.ohiopowertool.com/p-16397-milwaukee-m18-search-light-2354-20.aspx

Also found the M12 flood for preorder now at normal retail price $79.

http://www.toolbarn.com/milwaukee-2...Vj9qHE_pcrid_90615788774_pkw_PLA_pmt_b_pdv_c_

Wow shipping from Ohio Power Tool feels kinda high. 13$ to ship. Most places would be in free shipping territory at 100$. Very tempting though... Can I justify it?

 

[kctyphoon]

I was tossing around ideas of what to have this guy get for our group at work. Figured if I told him to get a few of the tower lights, we'd still need chargers and batteries to keep on different trucks (I'm the only one with Milwaukee stuff) . I can already hear people complain about needing the keep batteries charged, and how many batteries and lights would disappear.
So instead I just asked him to try and get this for now.
http://www.pelican.com/us/en/produc...ms/remote-area-lighting-system/standard/9460/

12,000 total lumens, 7 hour runtime on high. We can keep it locked up and if anyone gets called in to work at night they can grab it before they leave. Just one for now, I'm gonna plan on trying to get another one later if it works out.. what's good is the long runtime for anyone that doesn't have electric on their truck, but you can plug it in also for the guys that have generators or inverters. $1500, buts it's cheaper than all the tower lights chargers and batteries combined.. it's rare to have 2 different emergency calls going on the same night, so two should be plenty so long as the morons don't leave it behind or run it over..

I will still be putting in my request for a radius light for myself..

 

[dacan23]

Holy cow thats a crazy contraption. If it does get left behind it will be right next to your lost gloves. For $1500 it should have GPS tracking.

I was tossing around ideas of what to have this guy get for our group at work. Figured if I told him to get a few of the tower lights, we'd still need chargers and batteries to keep on different trucks (I'm the only one with Milwaukee stuff) . I can already hear people complain about needing the keep batteries charged, and how many batteries and lights would disappear.
So instead I just asked him to try and get this for now.
http://www.pelican.com/us/en/produc...ms/remote-area-lighting-system/standard/9460/

12,000 total lumens, 7 hour runtime on high. We can keep it locked up and if anyone gets called in to work at night they can grab it before they leave. Just one for now, I'm gonna plan on trying to get another one later if it works out.. what's good is the long runtime for anyone that doesn't have electric on their truck, but you can plug it in also for the guys that have generators or inverters. $1500, buts it's cheaper than all the tower lights chargers and batteries combined.. it's rare to have 2 different emergency calls going on the same night, so two should be plenty so long as the morons don't leave it behind or run it over..

I will still be putting in my request for a radius light for myself..

 

[dacan23]

I'm hoping when the new lights hit Zoro they will not have them marked up so I can get a deal on them like their mistake they have on their M12 mag pricing. I'm waiting for BF or coupon deals before I get either the M18 search or M12 flood.

Wow shipping from Ohio Power Tool feels kinda high. 13$ to ship. Most places would be in free shipping territory at 100$. Very tempting though... Can I justify it?

 

[Bremon]

KTC you'll like that Pelican, their lighting solutions are like their cases: top quality.

I would NOT get hung up on torque specs for something that provides continuous torque like a drill. Impacts, yes, absolutely.....but much less so with drills unless you have a specific task that requires uber torque and thus simultaneously hyper-vigilance so as to not hurt yourself.

You don't always need a new CTD to haul a gallon of milk.....

I have a 2701, 2704, DCD796 and DCD996. Right tool for the job, and I'm definitely an advocate for compacts for most tasks. The Fuel is a great hybrid of big power and small size though.

 

[wafrederick]

Wrong
http://currentbatteries.com/index.html

Some of the parts can't be sent over here by law

 

[MikeF2316]

Your experience is one data point, I have about 500 LOL!! I have pictures of mountains of broken fuel tools on my phone. We fix lots of power tools you don't have to believe a word I have to say if you choose. It's great you've had no issues and I hope that continues to be the case. I used to be a big milwaukee and porter cable fan when it was all US made but sadly they're not the same companies they once were. PC has been demoted to homeowner grade tools. New milwaukee stuff is cool and nice to use but durable they are not. They should tone down the marketing a few notches and focus on quality again.

The new m12 flashlight is impressive, might have to get that and the new 6.0 batteries. Compact fastback is my go to knife for now.

I would like to see pics of one of these mountains.

 

[170-3tree]

So I planned on going to Home Depot to gain access to this addiction, but they just didn't have what I wanted. Apparently it's an online only kit (3/8 ratchet kit).

I wish they had a kit configurator available to get EXACTLY what you want. I did find tool barn has this option, but it's all at full price and is missing some pieces of the puzzle for me. I don't think I'd ever use the light that all the kits come with, but I basically want
M12: 3/8 ratchet and the screwdriver.
M18: compact 3/8 impact, compact 1/2" impact, and possibly the high torque setup later on along with a hammer drill. I work in a shop and am getting tired of dealing with air hoses. I know I can't take them away from my work completely, but being able to mostly would speed my labor up and reduce my risks around the shop.

I currently have the dewalt 1/4 hex impact and a drill too, buy I'm pretty sure that the impact is getting tired after 3 years of continued abuse. The 9.0 battery looks awesome too.

 

[kctyphoon]

I would like to see pics of one of these mountains.

Me too.. All anyone needs to do is cruise eBay and search for the rebuildable or for parts power tools.. There are not many fuel tools on there - I'm betting in part do to the digital protection incorporated into the tools. I find it pretty hard to believe that some of the best made power tools that have been directly competing with Hilti, snap on, Ingersoll Rand, Greenlee ect - have "mountains" of broken tools laying around from failure. IF that were the case, the feedback on this thread would reflect that.

Not sure how you'd consider a 1 3/4" demolition hammer or diamond coring drills "not" heavy duty...

 

[kctyphoon]

So I planned on going to Home Depot to gain access to this addiction, but they just didn't have what I wanted. Apparently it's an online only kit (3/8 ratchet kit).

I wish they had a kit configurator available to get EXACTLY what you want. I don't think I'd ever use the light that all the kits come with, but I basically want
M12: 3/8 ratchet and the screwdriver.
M18: compact 3/8 impact, compact 1/2" impact, and possibly the high torque setup later on along with a hammer drill. I work in a shop and am getting tired of dealing with air hoses. I know I can't take them away from my work completely, but being able to mostly would speed my labor up and reduce my risks around the shop.

I currently have the dewalt 1/4 hex impact and a drill too, buy I'm pretty sure that the impact is getting tired after 3 years of continued abuse. The 9.0 battery looks awesome too.

The Milwaukee impacts are pretty great.. I have a few of them at home, but I use the utility version of the 1/2" high torque impact at work a lot. It's a de-tuned version with a 7/16 hex drive quick chuck. What this thing does is just incredible for an 18v battery.

It would be really nice if the 3/8 impact would gain some power in a future version now that IR has set a pretty high bar, but it its current form it's still great.. I only use it on my personal cars, but it just makes things so much easier then using a ratchet or dragging out a compressor and air hoses.

 

[170-3tree]

The Milwaukee impacts are pretty great.. I have a few of them at home, but I use the utility version of the 1/2" high torque impact at work a lot. It's a de-tuned version with a 7/16 hex drive quick chuck. What this thing does is just incredible for an 18v battery.

It would be really nice if the 3/8 impact would gain some power in a future version now that IR has set a pretty high bar, but it its current form it's still great.. I only use it on my personal cars, but it just makes things so much easier then using a ratchet or dragging out a compressor and air hoses.

Yeah. I have been debating heavily about snap on vs Milwaukee on this and the price is where snap on loses.

I'm not even sure I'd need the high torque one if I keep my ir air impact that I rarely use because it's low settings are way too strong.

 

[kctyphoon]

If you decide to get some, you should consider getting the protective boots also..

 

[170-3tree]

If you decide to get some, you should consider getting the protective boots also..

Probably the first tool I'd buy something like that for. And I do plan on getting "some". Or more than I need. I eyeballed the hackzall pretty good, but don't know where I'd use it that I shouldn't use a smaller air saw instead.