Cordless Power Tools - Escalating Costs

[Haoleguy]

A little bit of a rant on my part after tool shopping yesterday. I'm in need of a close quarters cordless right angle drill to drill and fasten some parts onto my narrow vineyard tractor. I was figuring that if I found a good right angle attachment at either Sears, Ace Hardware, Lowes, or Home Depot that would fit onto my current aging drill(s) it would be my best result. My alternative is to justify a true cordless right angle drill to replace 3 cordless drills that have their own issues. Did not find a right angle attachment so I looked at a new drill. Well kits aren't available at these stores so you basically piece everything together drill, or body and head, battery, charger, and a soft case if you want. Well when I put together either a Ryobi or Ryobi-HD combo the price was over $200 without the case. Mind you we are not talking top of the line stuff here. Since the selection wasn't great at any of these stores, especially disappointed with Sears, and the price was high I felt it was better to do my research online and make a purchase from an online dealer. In the mean time I will disassemble a few things to get a clean shot at the area I need to currently work on. Corded power tools seems to be a bargain. In some situations, where there is no power, a small generator and a corded power tool seems to be a cost effective solution. What astounded me was that some batteries for cordless tools are more expensive than the tool itself. Where do you guys shop online?

 

[OldMasterTech]

Ace Tool Ace Tool | Milwaukee Tool, Klein Tools, Festool - Milwaukee makes right angle tools and adapters from 1/4" hex right up through all the common chuck sizes.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm a HUGE fan of Makita and started buying them online, but over the last couple of years, Home Depot has gone from just carrying the drills to just over a dozen different tools for a very competitive price for the bare bones tool without a battery. I still go online to find the best price on batteries with Amazon being where I start and then I search to find a better price.

For a specialty tool, like what you are looking for, I'd probably go with corded if I had power available. I have a small Honda generator that is great. I've had bigger generators, but they are a pain to get out into the field, where the little Honda is light enough to carry with one hand and it starts easy every time. I'm currently using it to power my small air compressor that I'm using to shingle a gazebo I'm building out at my pond.

Eddie

 

[Gary Fowler]

I don't buy the Ryobi, Makita etc brand name stuff. It is just too expensive and as you said the batteries cost more than replacing the drill. Even the high dollar batteries go bad after a while and then you are stuck with a 200-300 dollar bag of useless junk the cost as much to replace the batteries as the tool cost. I suppose if I were a professional and used them daily, it would be cost effective. My use is occasional and the batteries don't last any longer with only occasional use as with daily use. I especially don't like the "buy each piece separately" idea. When I buy something, I want a battery, charger and tool that I can use, preferable with 2 batteries out of the box.
My last purchase was a Kobalt drill driver from Lowes with a 2 year free replacement warranty so I thought I would give it a try. So far so good after about a year of light use.
As for a right angle drill, I bought an air tool from Harbor Freight for about $20 for use if I ever need one. So far I have not needed it, but it stays in the draw with the rest of my air tools,(air ratchet, impact gun, 3" straight grinder, 90 degree angle drill) just in case I need them. I do use the straight die grinder with some cobalt rotary files to clean out holes or ream them. Very handy tool and fast.

 

[ace10]

If you go cordless a) you have to stick with that brand for additional tools and accessories else it doesn't makes sense financially, and b) you wont go back to corded for 80-90% of the stuff the average person does around the house.

I'm a Makita cordless guy. Twin pack of batteries are usually $150 at AMZN. Sometimes they go on sale. Aftermarket batteries are about 2/3rds the cost.. Unknown quality.

If you start with a combo pack, you get a couple of basic tool bodies, a couple of batteries and a charger for reasonable $$. Then you just add the bare tools as you find a need for them.

I have about four batteries and two chargers. Small circular saw, impact driver, cordless drill, blower and recip saw. I use corded for big torque applications and drywalling.

 

[BHD]

Ridgid makes what they call the job max, and it is a multi tool, and the head of it can be corded, battery, or air, the base tool is a Oscillating Multi-Tool, with different heads, and one of the heads is a 90 degree drill head, (my guess is it is not a super powerful tool but it may do what you need), I bought a oscillating tool of a different brand before these came out, and it does some amazing things that no other tool could do, home Depot sells Ridgid and so does Amazon caries the Jobmax.

https://www.ridgid.com/us/en/jobmax

I am not recommending it but saying take a look at it, it may fit the need,

 

[oosik]

I have Craftsman, Makita and Bosch cordless drills. For the heavy duty work out on the property I load my generator into my Polaris ATP and use corded tools. About the time my work gets serious my cordless batteries run out of juice. Cordless is great for small projects but where I need really brute power I go to corded.
And yes, the new 18 & 24 volt lithium ion cordless batteries are VERY costly.

 

[jaotguy]

look in the air tools ( el cheapo) and disassemble the air motor side of an angle drill ... slip the armature into the regular drill and put the bit into the angle drill chuck ..... or look for a corded angle drill ( still expensive )

yes, no matter which cordless tool you buy , expect max of 3 -4 years out of the batteries before they are toast .... and expect to buy new tools cause the models and voltages will change .....

my old 12V drill batteries packed it in ... a small 12v sealed battery , a cigarette lighter socket , and an extension cord attached to the drill makes it run for hours ... just have to unplug it from the fanny battery pack and slip it in the belt holster ....

 

[Verticaltrx]

I've gone back to many of the 'original' cordless tools (brace and bit, hand saw, etc) for many of the same reasons as mentioned above. Either that or I take my small generator and corded tools. For most fence building I now use a brace and bit, I have yet to find a cordless drill that can run ship auger bits for any length of time and hauling around a generator got cumbersome. The one thing I used to use cordless drills a lot for was screwing down metal roofing and decking. I now just use my trusty 1/2" corded Milwaukee drill and pay attention to how deep I drive them. I don't have much patience for things that cost an arm and a leg and still don't work well.

 

[whistlepig]

It's whatever is the most convenient for me to get. Right now it's DeWalt. That could change if I have difficulty getting DeWalt. Cordless tools are a necessary evil for me. For working on outbuildings and fencing. Also a cordless work light when the power fails. I do have a portable generator but the hassle of hauling this out to the field more trouble than it's worth to me. And a cordless battery a lot less maintenance cost than a portable generator. The cordless batteries are very expensive. The price of convenience I guess.

 

[DFB]

Milwaukee 12v right angle cordless drill is one of my next additions to their other tools I already own. Bare tool is only $79.00 and the Milwaukee 2415-21 12V Cordless M12 3/8 in. Right Angle Drill Driver Kit can be often found for less $129 reg price. from CPO or HD.
Watch for a father day sale.

I don't think anything in their 12v series can be beat for the price. Just gave a bunch of them a workout yesterday I needed to reframe a handicap bathroom that wouldn't meet Mass code inspection. Was installed wrong by some out of state Pennsylvania builders my boss hired to build a barn style building to be a new store at the orchard before Christmas. They skipped on inspections. That was just one of the corrections I need to make to get a CO for the building. He got a good screwing there.

The impact drivers both 3/8 and 1/4 " hex along with the hammer drill, reg drill, hackzall all performed great. Hammer drilled a series of half inch holes in concrete for wedge anchors to attach new pt sills, tightened in seconds with the 3/8 impact driver and deep well socket, counter bored all my bottom plates with 1" spade bit using the drill. 1/4" hex driver to remove all the screws to strip the existing sheetrock, hackzall to cut leftover framing nails and to free the door frame during demo. Plus rocked all afternoon to the radio, and tossed most all of them all into the xtra large carry bag when I left to go home. I'll use their ultra light hex driver to set new sheetrock screws after the framing inspection next week.

If there is a drawback I would say its that most kits are fitted with the smallest of the battery options 1.5 amp, so also the shortest run time. Not much of prob with multiple batteries tho. Accordingly they are also pretty cheap to buy.

 

[amigauser]

I use all Milwaukee cordless (and corded) tools, some old 14v and 18v. Generic replacement batteries are cheap on eBay.

 

[oosik]

I would be at a loss to complete projects out on the property without my corded tools (ex- Milwaukee Hole Hog) and portable generator. Fortunately, everything fits in the bed of my Polaris ATP.

 

[Redbug]

Over the years, I have slowly reverted back to corded tools. They are always dependable. I just load up a small generator and use whatever hand tools that will help if away from an outlet. I just got tired of depending on batteries that are undependable, expensive, and need periodic replacement.

 

[nc redneck]

I used to be a big Makita user, but a few years ago they priced themselves out of the market. I now use Ryobi with lithium ion and have had great luck. I have commercial and residential rentals so only average 3 days per week of hard use. Just a thought.

 

[oosik]

You know - thinking about tool use - I only use corded tools out and away from the house, with the generator, 3-4 time per month. The problem being when I do use them its long and hard - something a cordless tool can not stand up to. The cordless tools are used around the house where use is almost always less than half an hour. Any & all cordless batteries should stand up to that.

 

[Mendonsy]

I went to Ryobi also. The nice part about the Ryobi system is that the same battery works with everything so I can always steal a battery from another tool if I need one in a hurry.
I have not had a battery fail yet, but I have picked up a couple spares when they were on sale. The tools have also been very reliable, no problems at all with them. I have two Ryobi drills, an impact driver, a pole saw, and a weed eater.

 

[nc redneck]

Mendonsy
Thoughts on pole saw ? any input. I have been using Remington 120 volt electric that I have had for many years. It requires Gen set in truck or inverter installed on Kioti. Love to hear your thoughts on Ryobi pole saw. As I get older it seems to get heavier each time I use it.
Thanks
Scott
PS Impact driver does a great job.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

DFB's post about the Milwaukee M12 line of cordless hand tools since today is the first time I ever used one. We have a nice Kobalt 18v Lithium Ion set containing a LED work light, 1/2" drill, sawsall, circular saw that is about 3-4 years old. After battery issues for 30 years I love the Lithium Ion technology.

Needing a grease gun I decided to by pass the low end manual grease guns but then learned the profession grade were selling for $50-$100. After about reading for a few days I decided Milwaukee M12 and M18 grease guns were getting some of the best reviews in that price range. It was the Lithium Ion technology that closed the deal. I got the M12 for a final price of $185 new off eBay. For $85 more I would have went with the M18 line and had 18 volt base line to build from. All of my life I have over bought (63 currently) and as DFB points out there are places where over sized hand tools just do not work well so I forced myself to got with the M12 line. Today was the first time to put this Milwaukee grease gun to work and I loved the size and its performance. I have a M12 flash light on the way because we find with our Kobalt set we use the work like 100x as much as the other tools in that set.

Yes quality cordless tools cost money but they are so useful. After a storm like today we can grab the two Kobalt batteries and the reciprocating saw with a long wood blade and if we run into down limbs we can make enough cut to at least get through some of the small county roads.

We have corded tools and we just use them around the house area but as others have noted seldom do we run down a saw or drill battery. Cordless tools are much safer when like putting up gutters and working off of a ladder.

The old ones that saw the batteries die hard after about a year just make me made but not the Lithium Ion powered hand tools that we have.

 

[sodamo]

Been using craftsman 19.2 since 1998, used for much of my remodel in Ga and the drill and 1/4" driver were heavily used building this house, all the SIPs are screwed not nailed. Probably been through a dozen batteries and on the verge of getting lithium replacements. Also use the reciprocating saw and the 51/2" circular for most things, but also have coded if needed. The 3/8 angle drill is mostly used when I have a tight space. Got my 2nd 1/4 driver with 1/2 drill when the combo was on sale and I was in need of batteries and the kit was a much better deal, cheaper than just the batteries and charger, this was mid 2007 and last time I bought batteries. From time to time I read these threads and others, consider "upgrading", but in the end decide I have no issue with the tools as long as I have strong batteries. So now I'm about to buy my first lithium 19.2 batteries and see if life continues. I did have one drill Peter out, no longer has Hi Speed. Never seem to use the flashlights. Need to check, but have at least 1 drill I've never used. Never bought just a single tool, just combos on sale. Got my first 1/4 impact because I decided to do metal studs. I initially picked up a Ryobi, on recommendation from a fellow home builder. Was never completely comfortable with the cost of the driver, battery, and charger so hadn't played with the tool. One day, I happened to be in Sears for something else and there one special was driver, 1/2" drill, 2 batteries and charger for less money. I bought the combo and took the Ryobi back for refund. That was in 2007. Not sure that one Ryobi battery would still be working. I do have a corded Ryobi reciprocating saw I like as well as a Makita Circular saw and Ridgid worm drive for the bigger stuff.

David Sent from my iPad Air using TractorByNet