Battery Powered Tool Brands

[Loaderman22]

I've had a 18v Makita drill & impact driver set for well over 20 years, still works amazing, drives 6" timber lock screws just as fast as my buddies brand new 20v DeWalt (we raced). I also have their pole saw, hedge trimmer, weedwacker combi kit and it came with the free electric chainsaw. I wouldn't use it for logging or firewood processing, but it's light and guaranteed it starts, so it's great for trail clearing or the occasional downed limb. I use Stihl for the heavy work.
For automotive work, it's hard to beat Milwaukee, they have the best high torque impact guns for lug nuts or stuck bolts, plus their 12v line of ratchets has no equal. Fit in tight spots, good torque and you can use them as a hand ratchet to break free or snug up.
For woodworking I have all Ridgid tools. Since I don't use them all the time, they are perfect quality for me, and you can't beat a lifetime warranty, which also now covers the batteries. Tools available at Home Depot, so very convenient to buy more tools. I have maybe 15 different tools in the line and really no complaints except the drill driver combo kit is too slow for me, I guess I'm just spoiled by my 20 year old Makita mentioned above!!

 

[Little Red Tractor]

I'll add my 2 cents worth even though I only own a couple Black and Decker battery tools--which have served me fine. I have a buddy who owns almost every DeWalt tool there is...and loves them. My son owns a bunch of Kobalt, and swears by them. My brother's tool room looks like a Ryobi advertisement. You have to balance out price, quality, use patterns...a whole bunch of stuff and make the decision accordingly.

I will make a comment on DeWalt chainsaws: unless they have fixed the issue, there is a problem with the bolt holding the clutch. A couple of my friends have their saws go down on them due to that bolt coming out and disappearing. It's a left-hand thread, so you can't just get it at the hardware store.

 

[chim]

All current battery tools have come a VERY long way since my first experience around 1970-ish. There may have been others before it, but the first cordless drill I used was a Black & Decker. IIRC it was a 6V single speed no frills. In the late 70's we got our first batch of B&D Kodiak drills and thought we really had it made! The torque and run time were head and shoulder above the old 6V models, but still pitiful by today's standards. They were supposed to be for drilling holes, but we recognized that they'd be handy for running screws. For driving screws we would either use Yankee screwdriver bits or cut-off screwdriver tips. It's hard to imagine that nearly 50 years ago it took us a while to discover phillips head screws

 

[tulenutn2o]

For hardcore mechanical work….milwaukee for me. Carpentry jobs, I have majority dewalt. My Milwaukee stuff runs circles around my dewalt stuff.

 

[Balazar]

All of the brands are roughly equal, even Harbor freight Hercules stuff is great. If you didn't know, there are really only a few major umbrella companies that all of the tool brands exist under. They all have their tools manufactured by the same OEMs in China.

All of the 19, 20, 21, and 22v lithium batteries have the same cell configuration and nominal voltage. You can get adapters to put any brand of battery on any brand of tool in that 20v lithium range.

Committing yourself to one brand is foolish. Pick one brand of batteries and get adapter for your tools. I use the Harbor Freight Hercules batteries on 5 different brands of cordless tools. I used to rebuild batteries with new cells when they went bad, but he Hercules ones are so cheap when they are on sale that I don't bother with that anymore.

 

[TxSam]

Ridgid here with some Milwaukee stuff. My big recommendation is that whatever brand you get is to make sure to get the tools with 'brushless' motors. I think this is key to more power and battery life per charge. I know Ridgid offers both brushed and brushless, but I'll only buy 'brushless' - not sure if the other brands are exclusively brushless or if they offer both types as well. I'm very happy with the longevity and warranty of my Ridgid tools. The downside is they don't offer as many tool variations. If you're sticking with the primary tools and not as many specialty tools, then I'd say Ridgid is top tier with those others mentioned here. If you're looking for a greater variety of available tools, I'd lean toward Milwaukee.