Suggestions for cordless reciprocating saw needed

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elric

elric

ArboristSite Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2020
Messages
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Location
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Well, I have spent three months this year since mid-April waiting for a waranty replacement for a SKIL [actually Chervon] RS5884-1 20v saw. First one took six weeks, and it died in mid-September. Waiting for six plus weeks [seven?] and all customer support can say is backordered. Our Red Chinese overlords are busy, so I'm not expecting Chairman Xi Xingpin to slide down my chimney with a gift-wrapped replacement.

Looking for a non-Red Chinese cordless reciprocating saw, 20v or so, decent vibration control, and available replacement parts...

Any suggestions?
 
Mad Professor said:
I've had a Milwaukee M18 I've been pleased with. But I think they are chi-com.
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I looked, and a number of names have fallen to the Red Menace. Flex WAS a German company, but Chervon bought 'em [and SKIL].
Metabo HPT [High Power Tools] is the former Hitachi, made in the PRC. Just because something has "German Engineering" does not mean "Made in Germany"...

On another down note, today was the last day of Woodcock season... No Woodcock were harmed in the filming of the "2021 Woodcock Season", at least by my production company... Cold Gun or rubber stage prop, there was no difference...
 
I
elric said:
Well, I have spent three months this year since mid-April waiting for a waranty replacement for a SKIL [actually Chervon] RS5884-1 20v saw. First one took six weeks, and it died in mid-September. Waiting for six plus weeks [seven?] and all customer support can say is backordered. Our Red Chinese overlords are busy, so I'm not expecting Chairman Xi Xingpin to slide down my chimney with a gift-wrapped replacement.

Looking for a non-Red Chinese cordless reciprocating saw, 20v or so, decent vibration control, and available replacement parts...

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
I think that you are stuck with made in China, at least to an extent. Go with any of the big 3. Milwaukee, Dewalt, or Makita. From my experience, Milwaukee makes the best cordless. I am heavily invested in Dewalt 20v and Flexvolt so that is where my cordless sawzall is from. Dewalt claims to assemble a lot of their stuff here from “global” materials. Just my opinions.
 
I did some work for a dentist and he busted out a M18 Fuel Milwaukee and it made short work of the rebar we needed to cut. It felt solid and I was impressed. The battery was full charge and the saw was pretty newish, though, so I can't speak to the durability.
 
I own/run a small construction company. I personally use Milwaukee and so does my foreman. One main reason I picked Milwaukee was the diversity of having (at least) extremely competitive carpentry/construction tools, but also the best (everyone's opinion) mechanic focused tools, on the same battery platforms. My brother has Dewalt XR (their professional stuff) and while it's obvious they make good tools, they always feel like a toy when I pick one up compared to my Milwaukee Fuel. I would probably consider Makita or Ridgid before Dewalt, personally.

I am not interested in having 6 different battery types & chargers for my tools, so while I still pay attention to what the other brands offer, I am not going to buy any of them.

Milwaukee makes, without question, the baddest cordless reciprocating saw out there right now. They call it the Super Sawzall. I've used one and it's flat impressive. I have a Fuel Sawzall and it is great as well, does what I need it to do every time, and cost me a lot less.

Yes Milwaukee cordless tools are mostly made in China, and the brand is part of a technology giant conglomerate called One-World Technologies, so those two things both often bother me when I think about what my $$ is supporting. It's very hard in todays world to truly know what agendas you may or may not be supporting.
 
Wombat Ranger said:
I am not interested in having 6 different battery types & chargers for my tools, so while I still pay attention to what the other brands offer, I am not going to buy any of them.
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That is the correct strategy -- do not go out to buy a single tool, you buy the entire line. For me the choice has been Makita tools using its 18 volt LXT batteries, and I am happy with that choice. But I am a bit put off by Makita coming out with a new lineup that uses 40 volt batteries. It seems as if these companies are all committed to making their own products obsolete every few years, although for now there are far more tools using the 18 volt batteries than there are using the 40 volts.
 
Yep, except Ryobi. I started with them and used them a few years. Their top end brushless stuff works pretty darn well out of the box. Within 6 months though usually I've caught the tool on fire or broken something internal and critical. Then I have to drive over 100 miles or ship it to a service center for warranty, then they take a $35 deposit and tell me the parts are backordered, then 7 months later I get the tool back (at least they return ship it for free) and more than once I've been lied to about what was replaced. So the wife has them now, and I gave a "starter" set to our newest crew member to get him by until he can hit some good Black Friday sales for something better.
 

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