Best Cordless Power Tools

[bigredd]

I noticed Dewalt has finally entering the competition in brushless hammer drills with the DCD995M2. It has 4 amp-hr battery and one youtube review has it as the new top dog over the Milwaukee 2604. The Milwaukee 2797 combo set is the best out there IMO. Many retailers are now offering a free tool with the 2797 set.

 

[memory]

Cerran, I am not sure which type of Dewalt I have. How can I tell the difference?

After reading a lot of these posts, I think my next set is going to be Milwaukee. I would be buying the combo set, circular saw, sawzall, drill and maybe an angle grinder. I just have to wait until I can afford it.

BTW, how do you quote a post with this new setup? I did not see an option for it anywhere unless I am blind. I seen all the buttons in the lower right corner of the post but nothing for quoting the post.

 

[bigredd]

You will not regret going with Milwaukee. Once you get a tool kit with new batteries, you can bid on new bare tools from Ebay and get them well below retail from sellers breaking up kits. Just about everything in their Fuel Line is best in class.

Milwaukee does not require an original receipt from an authorized dealer to get warranty service. If you don't have a receipt, then the warranty period is determined by the manufacture date in the serial number. It's easy to determine that date. The 4th and fifth digits are always "AD". The first two numbers after "AD" is the year, and the two after that is the week. Here's an example of a serial number: E42AD131002393. The manufacture date is tenth week of 2013.

 

[bigredd]

I just received a new Milwaukee Fuel 2764-22; 3/4" High Torque Impact Wrench yesterday. Have had a chance to try it out briefly. This thing is really impressive. Here is a brief video on the 2764 in action.

 

[DavidBrown1212]

Am I the only one who is sorely dissapointed with the Milwaukee Fuel? I have had two, the hammer drill and the basic drill. The basic drill was crap, no good. They gave me a new one, but I chipped in to make it the hammer drill, because the components are heavier. Its OK, does not blow me away like the Dealt 20V Max. I have two of those now. I use my drills in boilermaker/pipefitting. Long running brushing welds off, drilling hard metals, this is where the Dealt shines. If you you are drilling screws, lots of short burst, the Fuel is great, otherwise it gets hot. Not designed for fast continuous discharge at all.

 

[XSKIER]

Hey Bigred,
Sweet video: no wrench to hold the bolt, no torque reaction in the users hand, which breaker bar 1/4" drive? I get that your happy with your fuel, but show us for real what it can do?

 

[bigredd]

Yea, I'm looking for something to challenge this beast. We were able to get the nuts off by hand without a wrench on top after hitting it with the impact. It would be great for tractor lugs. It has 1200 ft-lbs nut breaking power, and two fastening modes, 750 and 375 ft-lbs.

 

[bigredd]

Hey Bigred,
Sweet video: no wrench to hold the bolt, no torque reaction in the users hand, which breaker bar 1/4" drive? I get that your happy with your fuel, but show us for real what it can do?

Here ya go.

 

[zogger]

Hey Bigred,
Sweet video: no wrench to hold the bolt, no torque reaction in the users hand, which breaker bar 1/4" drive? I get that your happy with your fuel, but show us for real what it can do?

Here ya go.

Man, that's nice!!

 

[jerseyjeff]

I went cordless a long time ago with a 14.4 dewalt nicad, and thought it was the bomb, for a good long time, eventually I graduated to a 18 volt kit, and liked it too, but it was heavy and the batteries did not seem to hold charges well. While running the dewalt kit, I needed a right angle driver , and found myself with a rigid 12 volt kit too. I would classify myself as a prosumer, who runs tools weekly, and will do a few decks, a few kitchens, and lots of furniture in the span of a year. At some point about 10 years ago I saw my first impact driver and 24 hours later had a makita nimh kit, I beat the tar out of those little tools, and they would not die, eventually, I sold them off and picked up a blue lithium ion kit.

I have been super impressed with the makita stuff and have been slowly adding tools to the kit, the batteries have a decent life, but if they get overheated, kiss run time goodbye. I recently switched up to the brushless impact driver and it is SWEET, tons of power, way more run time, usiually I give up before the battery does. My original hammer drill has something stripped in the gear box, but still runs, so I bought a bare tool for it. I was going to get the brushless, but it seems like the original, brushed hammer drill was a bit more robust.
I like the ergonomics on the makitas, but, if all of my stuff went poof tonight, I would be hard pressed not to get the m18. the brushless drill is very sweet and the impact driver is almost as good as the makita, and they have a brushless recip saw too which will be really great.
I did get the makita right angle drill and 1/2 inch impact wrench. The impact wrench is hysterical. I have yet to meet a fastener it cannot budge. It is very handy on frozen to be thrown out stuff (like old sinks) if you can get the socket on it, it is coming off. I also used it on 3/4 inch hardware to hang flitch plates, and it made lots of work go very fast. It is VERY loud, but, works great.
If makita can come up with a better brushless drill, I will stop lusting for the red stuff.

This is a silly vid of pulling heavy stuff with drills, but I have seen the brushless makita go poof and give up lots of smoke in other tests too.

 

[bigredd]

Nice vid. Makita does not have the overload circuit protection that the Milwaukee has. A Milwaukee will shut off if overloaded. Both are great drills for normal use though.

 

[bassjam]

I picked up a Bosch 18v Lithium Ion drill/impact set on Amazon a year and a half ago for $200. I think the combo is closer to $300 now, but I love both, especially the impact driver. I was coming from a DeWalt 18v NiCad and couldn't justify the cost of new batteries. I spent a lot of time on various forums and the same names came up, all with about the same reviews: Dewalt, Milwaukee, Bosch, and Makita. From all my reading, the Miliwaukee and Bosch seemed to edge out the other two. Actually, DeWalt seemed to come in last. A lot of contractors use their stuff, but a lot have to replace their stuff too. I think DeWalt spends a little more on marketing which gets them a little better brand loyalty. The only reason I picked Bosch over the Milwaulkee set is because there's a lot of German in my blood!

I'm a homeowner and shade-tree mechanic, so these don't get used every day but probably do get pulled off their shelf every weekend. The impact is used for everything from driving deck screws and lag bolts to working on my car and truck. And I've drilled a lot of holes through both aluminum and steel with the drill. I'm more than happy, enough to buy a cordless circular saw to match the set.

 

[jughead500]

Check out the new dewalts.theyre being assembled in the USA out of global maferials though.my pos el cheapo porter cable drill batteries went bad not even a year after I bought it.went to lowes to get a new drill so I got the dewalt 20v max set up with the impact.im happy sure beats the porter cable.

 

[Oliver1655]

As with many brands, a lot of the big names in tools when I was younger, no longer have the same quality. Porter Cable, Black & Decker Industrial, Dewalt, Craftsman, ... If I can find these older tools at sales working I have no hesitation buying them up.

I started with the 9.6 volt Makita line & use them for several years. When the 18 volt lines came out & my batteries were once again needing to be replaced I looked around with 3 thoughts in mind: 1 - Variety of tools sharing the same batteries, 2 - Price of replacement batteries, & overall cost. 3 - Staying power in the market. I wanted them to be around for years. In the end I chose the Ryobi 18 volt system & have had no regrets.

Some of the different types of 18v Ryobi tool I have: 3 speed hammer drill, 2 speed hammer drills, 1/2" & 3/8" drills, right angle drills, angle grinders, routers, dual action sander, spiral cut saw, orbital jig saws, circular saws, reciprocal saws, chain saw, caulking gun, flash lights, radio, wet/dry vacuum, "Dust Buster" looking vacuums, buffer, 1/4" & 1/2" impact guns, hedge trimmer, pruning saw.

(If you haven't used a cordless caulking gun, you have missed out! Variable speed, smooth/even flow, & when you are putting Liquid Nails on floor joist, a real arm & time saver!)

I had a stapler but it required a 4-5 sec recycle time & it went back. The chain saw turns too slow, at least with the old ni-cad batteries. I probable should try it with the 4 ah lithium but I really don't need it, it came with the combo kit I started out with.

The primary source for the Ryobi line is Home depot. If you keep an eye out they have great sales on a regular basis. For example: This summer, 3/8" drill with 1/4" impact gun, 2 lithium batteries & charger for $99. At Christmas time for $79, 3/8" drill, choice of circular or reciprocal saw, 2 batteries & charger. Home depot also will give a 10% military discount.

 

[bigredd]

Will be receiving a DEWALT DCN692M1 20V MAX* Brushless Framing Nailer next week and will post a video review soon.

 

[stihl sawing]

My pet peeve with cordless tools are the battery, when you do finally need to buy a couple, they are usually out of date and not made anymore, or more expensive than a new tool set. I have had a few different sets from all of them except Milwaukee. I currently have a Ryobi set. It works great for what I need it to do and the replacement batteryies are 70 bucks for two. not too bad. Now when mine go bad, are they still going to have them for that price? who knows. I do like the lifetime warrenty ones.. if they are legit.

 

[Oliver1655]

My brother-in-law had a Rigid who's batteries was suppose to be live time warrantied. He gave up on getting the batteries replaced & switched over to Ryobi.

The Ryobi line is well established & I don't for see any problems with finding replacement batteries in the near future. As Stihl Sawing said, battery prices are "not too bad" compared to others. Alot of times with sales you get extra tools for the price of 2 batteries & the charger. I haven't seen other major name cordless tool brands doing this.

 

[bigredd]

Got the new Dewalt DCN692 today and man what a beast this thing is. I don't believe the DCD692 is available for sale anywhere yet because its not even listed on Dewalt's website. The DCN690 is available but not sure what the difference is.

P.S. Spoke with Dewalt Product Development Manager today and the difference is that the DCN692 has a dual speed selector, which provides a higher number of shots per battery charge for smaller sized nails.

 

[bigredd]

Here's my videos of the new Dewalt DCN692 Framing Nailer. Just an awesome machine.

 

[Snowd]

+1 on the Ridgid drill/driver 18v lithium with the lifetime warranty. I bought them in 2008 and they replaced the batteries in 2012 with no hassels. I'm an avid DIYer doing most of my own repairs/remodels at my house & cabin.