Drill advise

[cubby]

I'm in the market for a new cordless drill. I have had a snap on 18volt that worked very well and really powerful but now the batteries won't hold a charge for more then a couple hours when not in use and it is a tank of a drill. So then I went and bought a $70 craftsman and it crapped out already and plus it was not made for what I do with them. I need a good 18volt that is powerfull enough to at least turn my snowmobile jack up. What is your guys reccommendtions for drills?

 

[skibreeze]

I have 2 Makita cordless drills, one is over 20 years old.

 

[mold]

I love my dewalt.

 

[AZ800]

Dewalt's kind of a tank, but I have a "Home depot special" 18V I bought on sale as a pkg deal with a saw becasue it was only slightly more than buying 2 new batteries. It's lasted for years, going thru it's 2nd set of batteries now.

I'm in heavy highway const so we beat the cr@p out of cordless tools worse than most and the top 3, in order, are Hilti, Makita, Milwaukee, IMO.
Dewalts don't last on the jobsite like the others mentioned.
The new Lithium batteries are pretty cool too. Really downsize the weight and bulk of the drills.

 

[cubby]

Great advise so far more are welcome to join in. I could read about this all day instead of the boo hoos of the election

 

[hockeyb4]

I gotta say either Milwaukee or dewalt the makitas that I have had sis not last at all

 

[mold]

My Dewalt DCD780 20V Max is the smallest and lightest drill/driver I found that has good power. Not sure why it would be considered a tank? The Lithium battery has really good life. To each his own.

 

[Wheel House Motorsports]

buck up and get higher end stuff, i got a cordless set of milwakee drill impact and sawzall + light and they are much bigger/heaver, dont have the power and batteries honestly suck compared to all my buddies makita tools or my dads dewalt stuff. Dewalt's new tiny batteried stuff is awesome, they are so light. i really enjoy light little tools as long as they hold a half decent charge. also seem to break less as when you knock em over they dont smash down so dang hard.

 

[Mafesto]

Look at each manufacturers complete line-up of cordless tools.

Which ever most of the tools you would eventually like to get is the one you should go with.
You really don't want 3 different brands or sizes of batteries, chargers etc.

 

[94fordguy]

I work in commercial construction and by far the most popular drill & impact drivers I see on site that we and most of the other contractors/subcontractors use are the new Makita drills with the 18V Lithium-Ion batteries. SPENDY units, but they are GREAT tools. We use them for everything, including Metal Stud framing... so they get used all day long every day.

I have a Milwaukee set that I purchased about 6 years ago for my personal use and it's been pretty dang good, I'm happy with it and have no complaints whatsoever... but if I had to do it again I would go with the new Makita stuff now.

 

[cubby]

Well get this, and no I have not researched this info at all so take it for what it's worth. I went to the local ACE hardware to check out some drills today and I happen to like the crew they have working there everyone seems to be willing to help you and has all the answers I'm looking for. Any ways they carry makita, milwaukee, and dewalt tools so I talked to the guy and asked what he thought. He told me that dewalt sold out to black and Decker a few years ago enough said about that. He then went on to tell me that Milwaukee was bought out buy Stanley tools enough said there too. Then he tells me about the customer support that makita has and that the japanese figured out that they could ship parts easier then units so yes all parts are from there but the units them selves are assembled in the US. He also mentioned that they are (ACE HARDWARE) a pro tool dealer for makita and that if I have problems in the first 3 years I just bring it in for a direct replacement no questions asked. After the 3 years is up I can bring it in and most likely have the parts in just a couple days. WOW what can I say he sold me on makita tools from here on out. I wound up buying a combo pack makita 3/8 hammer drill and a 1/4 inch impact with 2 Lithium IOM batteries, a charger, a hard case and a mail in rebate for a 3rd free battery all for the low price of $379 I think I got a fair deal. Sorry for the long read but wanted you guys to know what I learned today.....

 

[donbrown]

Good luck with those Makita tools ... very overpriced.

The Makita BDF451 18-Volt LXT Lithium-Ion Cordless 1/2-Inch Driver-Drill Kit comes in a very close second to the DS18DL ... and the Makita is 3 yr mfg warr and is almost twice the street price.

I went with a Hitachi DS18DL with two 3 amp Litium Ion batteries for under $150.
Has adjustable max 570 in-lbs of torque and a variable speed of 1,800 RPM

This Hitachi drill is guaranteed forever since I am a consumer

Or as Hitachi says 10 years or more when we run out of parts.

I used several sites to evaluate drills but started with this website:

http://www.cordless-drill-reviews.com/hitachi-ds18dl.html

 

[sandorsnow]

Over the last 20 yrs. I have tried them all. I currently have 12 Makita combo packs on all my crew trucks. They are used everyday heavily. I still have other brands at the shop sitting on the shelf, and I let my guys choose.
I still have the first 2 cordless makita drills I bought 17 yrs ago, no problems yet.

 

[XtDoo]

Panasonic make the best cordless drill in my opinion, batteries last forever and the charge also last a long time. Ive had bosch, makita, porter cable, and dewalt. I have about 11 dewalt drills and impacts, batteries last about 1/3 of what panasonics do, second best is probably milwaukee, have about 9 of those, but all the guys like the panasonics the best. They are a higher end drill, more $ than the rest and don't make all the other tools to go with battery

 

[HOOCH256]

Popular mechanics magazine did a test of all 18v cordless impact's by driving a 1 1/4 x 3" lag screw in to a 4x4 block and repeated till batteries died here are the results....

Bosch - 128
Craftsman - 108 "heaviest"
Dewalt - 100
Hitachi - 76
Makita - 128 "lightest"
Milwaukee - 138
Porter cable - 90
Rigid - 52
Rockwell - 57

There ya go now you can choose based on a real world test! I'd go Makita but that's just my personal fav!



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[m8magicandmystery]

the best "screwdriver" is a female chauffeur

 

[srx_600]

I have had a few different Dewalts and have had nothing but great luck. I have broke one by dropping it from a roof. Also have a 18v impact driver, as well as a 18v impact that i like as well.

 

[AKM208]

I had a marketing class in college (20 years ago) and the professor did some consulting for Black & Decker. They really wanted to get in on the heavy duty/commercial market with the tools.

The marketing consultants advised them to change the color of their tools to yellow and advertise them with some tough construction guys using them, and they came up with a new name to break into the market ... "Dewalt". No internal changes were made. Everyone loved them.

I really don't know if this is 100% accurate but that's what he told us as he said he was the marketing consultant.

My choice is the Makita. I have over 15 different Makita tools and have had only one failure which was fixed free of charge by repair center.

Fast recharge time also. Makita has a line up of about 45 tools that all use the same battery. My primary uses for them are residential construction.

(not to mention "Miss/Senorita Makita")

 

[snow_god]

I work commercial construction and we are hard on tools. Our drills get left in the rain drop 15-20 feet at times and believe it our not ive seen guys use them as hammers. They take a alot of abuse. Weve had most popular brands Dewalt, makita, panasonic, and milwaukee. I would rate them Panasonic first, milwaukee a close secound, then makita, and dewalt way at the bottom. IMO

 

[polarisfornow]

I have a bunch of Bosch hammer drills. Nice stuff IMO.

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