Which battery powered tool set to buy?

[davidfite1978]

Don't have the money right now (too much remodeling and truck problems...) but I am starting my research into the next 18/20V tool set to buy into.

Currently, I have the following-
-DeWalt 18V NiCad drill/sawzall/circular/flashlight (5 years old)
-DeWalt 18V lithium ion impact driver (3 years old)
-Brand new Ridgid corded circular saw (Man I love this thing)
-Hitachi corded hammerdrill
-Skilsaw (cord is currently cut in half. need to fix and keep for concrete/demo)

The DeWalt batteries seem like they are starting to wear down pretty quickly anymore. Plus I f-ing HATE removing them. They are a pain for some reason to release from the tools. I probably will sell the DeWalt NiCad stuff, but keep the li-ion driver.

So far I've narrowed my brands-of-choice down to (in no order)
-DeWalt
-Bosch
-Ridgid
-Ryobi
-Makita
-Milwaukee

It seems like DeWalt is pushing all the 20V stuff more than the 18V li-ion. I guess that is there new "norm" ?

My immediate wants would be
-Drill
-Impact driver
-Sawzall/reciprocating saw
-Jobsite radio
-Jobmax/multi tool

In the future, I want a series that has lots of options. I like the Ryobi OnePlus system (50+ tools), but I picked a few up in HD the other day and some of them seem really cheap. Some were decent.

I was researching radios and some definitely seem to be good, and some seem to be crappy. Plus I never realized that only a couple of them actually charge batteries. I figured they all did. I want a radio for the shop, taking on jobsites, and to take to the drive-in with the kids. I guess the charging thing is not a must, but a nice-to-have.

I'm not rich and I don't do construction for a living, just a lot of DIY/remodeling on my house and friends' houses.

The Ryobi stuff would be perfect, cost-wise, but not sure how strong/durable it is. The Ridgid stuff is probably my favorite look and feel. I really like their lights that come on when you squeeze the grip. Ridgid has the lifetime warranty.

I figured the drill/impact driver combo will be $199, and then buy the other tools as needed. Not looking for $400 single tools or anything like that.

Ugh. Any thoughts/suggestions?

 

[bcradio]

Milwaukee Fuel is tops right now. But they are pricey... you get what you pay for.

 

[Super Sport]

Just so you know, the Ryobi stuff is the same as the Cman C3 line. You will probably be able to find more reviews on it that way. I'm personally a big fan of the line, because I think it's pretty good quality (for DIYer use) and compared to the other brands you mention, is a lot more affordable. The Ni-Cd batteries Cman uses are junk, but if you get the lithium, they are pretty good.

 

[franzdom]

Sounds like you would love the DeWalt 20V stuff. They battery disconnect is really nice, the tools are really comfortable in the hand, and they are durable. I am making the switch from DeWalt 12V Max & Milwaukee 18V (older style) to the newer Milwaukee M12 & M18 but I can't say the batteries are particularly easy to remove on the Milwaukee.

 

[davidfite1978]

Sounds like you would love the DeWalt 20V stuff. They battery disconnect is really nice, the tools are really comfortable in the hand, and they are durable. I am making the switch from DeWalt 12V Max & Milwaukee 18V (older style) to the newer Milwaukee M12 & M18 but I can't say the batteries are particularly easy to remove on the Milwaukee.

I honestly don't have any lean towards the DeWalt stuff, it's just what I have currently. It was on sale when I bought it. Plus Lowe's is close to my house, Home Depot is farther, so I usually see more DeWalt/Kobalt stuff.

 

[creativecars]

I am subscribing.. I too have my old Skil set that I really like and it does everything I ask it to, but it seems they are re-engineering this set. I like that I have been able to switch to li-ion batteries in all my old tools and would like for my future set to do so also. Power wise it has been great.. I can drill (1/2") through railroad ties ten times before a recharge. I thought that was pretty good for a 250.00 set.

 

[franzdom]

I tried to stay with DeWalt but the Mil. Fuel system was irresistible. They have so many tools available as well.

 

[davidfite1978]

Just so you know, the Ryobi stuff is the same as the Cman C3 line. You will probably be able to find more reviews on it that way. I'm personally a big fan of the line, because I think it's pretty good quality (for DIYer use) and compared to the other brands you mention, is a lot more affordable. The Ni-Cd batteries Cman uses are junk, but if you get the lithium, they are pretty good.

What exactly do you mean? Are they both made by the same company or something? I tried to look up what tools are owned/made by what company and it seems like a big mess. Isn't Ryobi like a sub-company of Ridgid or something too? I thought HD owned both of those or something.

 

[kingnba6]

Milwaukee hands down. get the m18. you can opt to get the Fuel tools or the regular tools.

 

[J.A.Varela]

Chase the best warranty because they're all junk.

 

[diggerrick]

There was an earlier thread about the difficulty in incorporating a charger into a radio because of electrical noise. That's probably why Milwaukee's radio/charger combo is so expensive. I know when I plug my charger in on my basement workbench I can't get FM on my receiver down there.

 

[dclassical]

I got the Ryobi impact driver/drill combo (18V). It was $99 a few months ago at Home Depot. I do not use these tools very often, but I really liked the impact driver. Drove 300 stainless steel screws (3-1/2" long) without any problems. Did not get too hot.

Before that I had a Dewalt drill, but the cost of the batteries made it way too expensive for me to justify buying new ones, given how little I used the tools.

 

[davidfite1978]

Before that I had a Dewalt drill, but the cost of the batteries made it way too expensive for me to justify buying new ones, given how little I used the tools.

The cost of batteries was the main reason I started looking at the Ryobi set, and in turn looking at all of them. Now I'm trying to find a middle ground. Not too cheap to fall apart when I need it, but not super expensive.

diggerrick's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 879

Default Re: Which battery powered tool set to buy?
There was an earlier thread about the difficulty in incorporating a charger into a radio because of electrical noise. That's probably why Milwaukee's radio/charger combo is so expensive. I know when I plug my charger in on my basement workbench I can't get FM on my receiver down there

Does anyone else have a similar experience with this battery/reception problem?

 

[r22yu]

What exactly do you mean? Are they both made by the same company or something? I tried to look up what tools are owned/made by what company and it seems like a big mess. Isn't Ryobi like a sub-company of Ridgid or something too? I thought HD owned both of those or something.

Here you go. Ryobi is owned by TTI Industries, who also own AEG/Rigid and Milwaukee. This DOES NOT MEAN that the three companies share tool designs or manufacturing, nor does not mean that they do not. Based on what I've seen of their tools though I don't think they share too much. It simply means that the are owned by the same parent company and financially it all gets rolled back up into TTI Industries.

http://toolguyd.com/tool-brands-corporate-affiliations/


Anyways, my vote is for Milwaukee if you are starting a new collection. They seem to be the most innovative company when it comes to designing new tools or adding improvements to existing ones. I find that their tools tend to cost a bit more than DeWalt but if they come up with something that saves you hours of work it seems worth it to me.

 

[Vyse]

Milwaukee M18 gets my vote.

 

[mossyboy6]

Milwaukee m18 Fuel.

For the price, they are better than the competition.

 

[Vpick001]

Another vote for the Milwaukee M18 Fuel. The battery life on the entire line of tools is pretty great, not to mention they have an excellent selection of tools that use the M18 batteries.

 

[Tyberius]

I'll share my experience with Ryobi:

I bought a set; circular saw, mini vac, flashlight, reciprocating saw, and drill [ETA] all 18v.

I later bought an impact and then a jigsaw.

All of the above worked fine. Everything but the drill and the impact were stolen along with a charger. I still have two batteries and have purchased a third battery and another charger. These are the ni-cads. The original purchase was over 11 years ago.

When new, the circular saw would drain the battery after about 4 8foot rips. The drill is a good screw gun and will drive drywall screws all day. It will make a few holes in wood. The reciprocating saw will cut emt all day. The jigsaw will cut 1/8 panel all day. The impact will drive for about 2 hours (I used it to assemble shelves)

The batteries now need replacement.

Of the two things that I still have, the drill and the impact, I have dropped them multiple times. I have ruined bits, broken spade bits with them and shredded drill guides. They seem to have enough power.

After multiple falls, the drill is not perfectly round. There is endplay, though not a lot. If I want precision, I have other unmolested drills in the drill drawer.

I would definitely like to get a different drill driver and impact. If only to see what a "real" drill and impact would be like. I have used and abused the two of them and I have no complaints.

Of the things that were stolen I would most likely replace just the reciprocating saw. It is the only thing that I would use where there is the likelihood of no power; out in the yard with a wood cutting blade, or doing wiring conduit. The other items were not as good as their corded brethren.

 

[davidfite1978]

Wow it looks like Milwaukee is the favorite at the moment. I started looking up some reviews and videos on their stuff. Looks pretty good so far. I really need a radio so was thinking about maybe trying to get that first and go from there. Still have some evaluatin' to do though.

 

[theluke]

Makita is always a good buy. Not sure what all cordless tools they offer. As far as drills/drivers they are my fave

 

[Joeaksa]

Have been working with the Ryobi "tool set" (drill, impact, saw and charger bought at Christmas two years ago) for several years now. The NiCad batteries are truthfully terrible but the newer style lithium batteries seem to last longer, charge faster and are not dead after a years useage.

We use them at the house, hangar, on the road and so on and am so far very happy with them.

 

[davidfite1978]

What's everyone's experience with radios? Most all the reviews I have found say the Milwaukee one is awesome and gets great reception (I like a lot of AM stuff), while the dewalt one has pretty poor reviews, especially bad reception, and is really only an expensive charger.

Also, I see that the DeWalt sawzall has a multi-directional blade holder so you can cut in any direction, and get pretty flush with cuts, but I don't see that option on the milwaukee.

 

[elronin]

I have Bosch 18 volt set, it was a price mistake on Amazon a while ago, got the impact and drill driver, two batteries and charger for 97 dollars or so. Then got a Bosch 19 volt hammer drill for about 70 bucks tool only. Recently Lowes was clearing out 18 volt Bosch batteries got 2 more batteries and a charger for 53 bucks. So my total for 3 tools and 4 batteries are 230 dollars. They have been great so far...

 

[NorCalWrenchin]

Love my Milwaukee 18V non-fuel stuff! Had the drill and impact driver a while now, and use the HELL out of them. ..