Unimpressed With Milwaukee Gen 4 Hammer Drill

[M635_Guy]

I have a $h!t ton of Milwaukee tools, both M12 and M18 to the point that I'm not even interested in looking at what they have to offer. The only time I have ever noticed a power difference by changing batteries was the M12 Hackzall. Going from the compact battery to an XC, which I think at the time the only available XC was a 3.0, made a world of a difference. In this case, the 5.0 battery should be more than enough to drill a 3/16 hole in concrete block. I do use 6.0 M12's in my SDS drill. Again, no power difference, but significant run time advantage vs. the 4.0.

I think some tools benefit and others don't.

My M18 right-hand circular saw (rear-handled/whatever) definitely did not appreciate 5.0Ah batteries. It would not cut as powerfully, and it was easy to observe. It seemed to prefer 8.0HO to the 6.0HO, but the difference was small or possibly in my head.

My Gen2 Mid impact seems to be about 90% as powerful with a 3.0Ah HO battery on it, which is great since that does 95% of what I need to do when configured like that and it's a great combo for size/weight/power. There were a couple subframe bolts that I did need to switch to the 8.0 to get (that's what was handy, so no idea if the 6.0 is any different. I doubt it.).

I can't think of anything else where I've observed a difference - the M12 Hatchet probably wouldn't see anything smaller than an XC 4.0, but guessing my 2.0's wouldn't make it happy. Similar with the Hacksall. Everything else mainly seems to be about runtime, not power.

 

[Dznutz]

Calling BS on this. Based on the link below it would take you eight minutes a 3/8” hole with a typical hammer drill. So you spent over three hours drilling holes. Unlikely.

James

Hammer Drill vs. Rotary Hammer – The Real Difference – workshoppist.com

Actually, I had one of my new employees do the drilling and it took him close to 5 hours to drill the holes. He fried one drill 1/3 of the way through the project because he was covering air vents. Brand new replacement through warranty, BTW. We went through 4 bits, hit rebar twice. I like to test the new guys mettle to determine if they're worth the trouble of training..

 

[kngelv]

Actually, I had one of my new employees do the drilling and it took him close to 5 hours to drill the holes. He fried one drill 1/3 of the way through the project because he was covering air vents. Brand new replacement through warranty, BTW. We went through 4 bits, hit rebar twice. I like to test the new guys mettle to determine if they're worth the trouble of training..

Dude you just made me laugh out loud and not in a funny way. You had some poor guy spend five hours drilling holes and burned up a drill too. Then you got it replaced under warranty under false pretenses when your guy burned it up. You claim you were testing him. If he was auditioning you as a boss then you would have failed my friend. Obviously these are only for very light duty. My point is that they are not marketed that way.

James

 

[Robinson1]

I have 3 rotary hammers

A Dewalt 20v SDS plus, a corded Dewalt SDS Plus and a 2 9/16" rated German Metabo SDS Max.

Hammer drills are a waste of time and energy

 

[kngelv]

In the first post, you make it seem like the drill wouldn't do it at all. 30 seconds to 2" deep is probably about what mine would be and probably not much slower than the 1/2" corded Milwaukee I was issued 25 years ago. If they made a hammer drill that worked anywhere near as well as a SDS, sales would go down on rotary hammers.

You are right of course. I think the only masonry holes I had ever drilled with these type of hammer drills were in brand new block, which is pretty soft. I tried using one many years ago in some old solid walls and thought they did a poor job. At work I only use various Hilti SDS's and for home use I have a Bosch rotary. I figured I would test it out since I had just picked it up and maybe these new brushless designs would work better. I did bring the Bosch just in case I needed it. I obviously was not expecting the Milwaukee to have the same power as a SDS but I did expect more than it had. It turns out of course that this is the expectation of these type of drills. I guess my venting is like the old man yelling at a cloud.

James

 

[tarbellb]

Nothing has changed

Hammer drills are still **** for anything but the lightest masonry work, SDS is still superior

Its marketing hype that Milwaukee (and the others) have become very good at


Long story short, get yourself a SDS unless you enjoy the pain and frustration a inferior tool brings

 

[jollygreengiant]

Long story short, get yourself a SDS unless you enjoy the pain and frustration a inferior tool brings

Well if anything this thread has swayed me into getting an SDS drill vs a hammer drill/driver. I was wondering what way to go after I seemingly fried my Makita 18v hammer drill/driver (not the cheap one either) putting in tapcons.

 

[Dznutz]

Dude you just made me laugh out loud and not in a funny way. You had some poor guy spend five hours drilling holes and burned up a drill too. Then you got it replaced under warranty under false pretenses when your guy burned it up. You claim you were testing him. If he was auditioning you as a boss then you would have failed my friend. Obviously these are only for very light duty. My point is that they are not marketed that way.

James

What's really funny is that in your storied experience you just realized that an sds is superior in this application. Enjoy your new drill

 

[tarbellb]

What's really funny is that in your storied experience you just realized that an sds is superior in this application. Enjoy your new drill

His post wasnt about which is better..... nutz

Its about if the hammer function could live up to the hype that the mfgs are advertising, and it didnt