Cordless Tools vs. Other Options

[jjp8182]

Remember when all of our cordless power tools were diesel? Oops, wrong thread.

On a more serious note, oldest son (ChemE) will be 25 on Halloween. He has no tools and wants some..specifically power tools. He lives in an apartment and likes it that way. All I can think of is a drill and maybe a reciprocating saw. The sets all have useless junk, imho.

I'd recommend Milwaukee M12 line - enough power to do most tasks, a fair variety of tools, and compact enough to be very portable/handy.

I bought my wife (then fiancee) an M12 tire inflator (M12™ Compact Inflator ) to keep in her car trunk so she didn't have to go searching for working air compressors at various gas stations. That combined with a USB charger/power source (M12™ Charger and Portable Power Source) would be helpful for just about any/every apartment dweller who owns a vehicle. ....particularly since the M12 batteries aren't much larger than a small/medium size bottle of pain killers making them very easy to carry around on a daily basis (if needed) which means the USB charger/power source can also replace purpose built USB power packs for things like smart phones.

Otherwise the Ryobi line tends to be cheap and seems to be good enough for most DIY'ers. I recently expanded into the Ryobi 18V line do to someone on this forum illustrating the utility of their cordless pressure washer with a 5 gallong bucket as the water source. (which seemed useful enough I went an bought one myself for light cleaning duty).

 

[jjp8182]

So in addition to the above my collection of cordless tools/batteries now consists of a mix of Milwaukee M12 & M18, Makita 18V LXT, and Ryobi 18V ..... and that mix of lines seems to cover most all types of cordless tools currently made.

Makita 18V LXT is what I have the most of (and started with on cordless tools), but the Milwaukee M18 line was added due to their extremely high torque impact wrenches, and their larger 18V reciprocating saw having an orbital cutting setting (in addition to the standard straight-line reciprocation). The M12 line was added for the compactness and tool selection, and the Ryobi was just recently added for the (low pressure) pressure washer, and narrow crown stapler.

At this point I have very few corded tools most of which are more stationary use (e.g. compound sliding miter saw, table saw, router, etc) as all the outlets on my property are either in the house, or in my (small) storage shed (which doesn't have much workspace).

If I had a larger collection of corded tools one of the "battery generators" would hold quite a bit of appeal to reduce the need for extension cords, but my property largely drove me toward using cordless tools several years ago (have started to replace/supplement most outdoor power tools with cordless versions as well).

Though as cheap as corded tools are now ...there could also be a case for getting a battery "generator"/power pack and a bunch of corded tools if starting out fresh - with my first inclination being to look at ones (in the 1800W to 2000W range) using either the Milwaukee MX, Ryobi 40V or EGO batteries since each of those battery lines also has it's own line of tools to work with the batteries used on the 120V power pack.

I may perhaps need to look into if/how any of them could be used as/like a UPS for some of my always on electronics ...

 

[LD1]

I know its hard to switch once you are committed....And in all fairness there are several good options. Dewalt, Makita, Hitachi, and Milwaukee all make top notch stuff.

Having worked with all of them in various professions and settings over the last 10 years....I have to give the edge to Milwaukee. I think they have the battery tech locked down bar none. And 5-year warranty on batteries AND tools. That would have been unheard of a few decades ago for cordless stuff.

And Milwaukee M18 has a HUGE tool lineup. Pretty much anything that can be had with a cord, can be had cordless. Miter saws, concrete drills, mag drills, knockout tools, etc. All kinds of good stuff.

I have 2 drills, 1/4 hex impact, 3/8 impact, sawzall, shop vac (super handy especially for inflating air mattresses and rafts), and a leaf blower. Next I want a 4-1/2" grinder and a 1/2" impact.

The hex drivers...you can run pole barn metal screws in almost all day on a single 5AH battery. Or build an entire 10x12 deck with handrail and steps with just two batteries in the driver.

Going from old nicad to modern stuff...you will wonder why you didnt invest sooner. Just as good as corded tools but without the cord. And if you have one tool and a pair of batteries....you will never run out because they charge faster than you can run them dead for most tools

 

[jjp8182]

..of course the other option to a prepackaged power pack system would be building one from deep-cycle batteries and an appropriately sized inverter.

(have been tempted to do that too - and ties it to few small solar panels)

 

[RoostersGarage]

With my Milwaukee hex impact, I throw on a 1/2" adapter and take the lug nuts off my truck. I use this more working on vehicles and equipment than I do in any construction, but knowing it can do both was a no-brainer to be one of the first tools to buy in my switch. My Makita tools just weren't up to these tasks, but I think their new stuff is. The switch is very expensive and I hate debt so trying to pace myself is my hardest challenge. I want to just go out and buy all the new shiny tools.

I looked very seriously at what each manufacturer had to see where I was putting my battery-money, because that's ultimately what it comes down to. With what I do, Milwaukee was the clear winner, even if that means I'll have a mix of M18 and M12 batteries. My contractor friend has Ryobi and a while ago I bought a Makita to Ryobi battery adapter so I could borrow his tools. I still think Ryobi makes the best Pex crimper on the market for the price, and I'll probably just do the battery adapter for any of those tools to keep the batteries as consistent as possible.

 

[EarPlug]

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[deezler]

Hmm, good to know. So they last longer overall if you re-charge them before they are fully discharged. On the old NiCad stuff we had to worry about battery memory and make sure then were drained all the way. Not anymore.

 

[4570Man]

I’m honestly surprised how many cordless tool discussions involve nicad batteries. They’ve been obsolete for close to 20 years. Do you guys still watch movies on a VCR?

 

[RoostersGarage]

I’m honestly surprised how many cordless tool discussions involve nicad batteries. They’ve been obsolete for close to 20 years. Do you guys still watch movies on a VCR?

That's because most people tend to keep tools forever if they are still working.

 

[sea2summit]

I’m honestly surprised how many cordless tool discussions involve nicad batteries. They’ve been obsolete for close to 20 years. Do you guys still watch movies on a VCR?

 

[JohnnyMX]

I still have a corded DeWalt drill that comes out on many occasions when I'm poking tons of holes or going through steel. It has never failed.

You all have done little to keep me from spending money on some newer 20V stuff. I'd stick with DeWalt as I've never had issues with their other stuff in the past. XR or ATOMIC??

 

[Jchonline]

I have all Milwaukee 18v and 12v. I have used them for over 10 years now and they have been flawless. I use them daily, have never had a battery go bad thus far (although some that are a decade old are starting to show it). At this point I have so many batteries I never run out of power. Using Mitre saw, table saw, chainsaw, nail guns, angle grinders, circ saws, drills/impact/drivers, ratchet, sawzall....list goes on. Also even my 10 year old tools are still running fine. So far so good.

 

[Jchonline]

View attachment 717740

Yes I have a VCR tape full of GIFs and Emojis that I watch from time to time.

 

[newbury]

I still have a corded DeWalt drill that comes out on many occasions when I'm poking tons of holes or going through steel. It has never failed.

You all have done little to keep me from spending money on some newer 20V stuff. I'd stick with DeWalt as I've never had issues with their other stuff in the past. XR or ATOMIC??

Hang on for the new Powerstack.

 

[RalphVa]

The PC and now Kobalt and Ryobi hold their charges pretty well. Always keep a battery for each of them on the chargers.

Have a 120v drill for really heavy duty work but only use it for that. Cannot beat the portability of the battery tools. Now, stuff like lawn mowers and ZTs are good with batteries. Pretty soon, it'll be tractors. Would simplify things a lot. The Ryobi ZT and self-propelled mowers have no gear boxes and no belts. Tractors would just have motors on each wheel and for mid and rear PTOs. Could easily have motors for grapples and top links.

 

[kenmbz]

I had so many bad experiences with Kobalt. Drill bits breaking on soft metal. Battery vacuum that self destructed in use. Etc. That I will never buy that brand again. B&D also had some real fails early on in their battery line, stripped gears turning a small drill bit in wood.

I have the older Makita 9 and 12 v tools, they still work, get eebay batteries and use as my backup to the Milwaukee.

 

[sea2summit]

Would simplify things a lot. The Ryobi ZT and self-propelled mowers have no gear boxes and no belts. Tractors would just have motors on each wheel and for mid and rear PTOs. Could easily have motors for grapples and top links.

Would simply the question of weather or not to do your own maintenance for sure.

 

[PILOON]

I had good experiences with early NiCad drill drivers.
We built a 60 x 200 foot all metal clad structure using but 2 Makita 9.8 stick driver drills and 4 batteries.
OK, it was cool weather so perhaps that helped charging and battery life.
One drill/battery combo usually lasted 'til break and next 'til lunch.

And I still have them but batteries no longer hold charges for long.

I'll admit my 'go to' these days is my 20 volt lithium driver drill kit by DeWalt.
For HD applications I still prefer corded tools, like hole hawg and power saws.

One sad recent occurrence is current trend that uses battery powered tools to facilitate the theft of catalytic converters. Modern crooks!

 

[Sberry]

If you would have told me in 1992 I could work half a day with a 50$ drill on one battery I would have said ********. Run hundreds of screws yesterday with 1.

 

[Hughman]

I gave up on battery powered tools and went back to cords. I don't use any one tool enough to keep the batteries alive when I need them. The only problem I had was finding an impact driver that came with a cord. Ended up with a Makita.