What Brand(s) cordless power tools do you go with?

[Eddo Rogue]

I like dewalt for one reason, they have kept the batteries the same for decades or at least offer adapters to use new batteries in older tools. Alot of cordless tool companies change battery designs every few years and then stop selling the older ones so even if your drill is perfectly fine, you can no longer buy batteries for it and have to replace it.

The milwaukee fuel tools are awesome though, but who knows how long they will maintain that line. My dewalt drill and circular saw are almost 20 years old and still going strong and I can still buy batteries for them. Dunno if you'll be able to do that in 20 years with a milwaukee.

Good choice! If I wasnt already Makita, I would go Dewalt. They have come a long way, have some useful tools, and probably the only one whos nailguns actually work. The Makita nailers are mostly junk.

My buddy that does HVAC switched from Milwaukee to Makita, due to lack of durability in the tools and longevity in the batteries.

 

[Dirtman]

My buddy is a full time mechanic and one of those guys who spends half his paycheck on new tools. God love him... But he bought pretty much every milwaukee fuel tool made. Im talking grease guns, ratchets, impacts, drills, you name it he owns it. They are amazing tools, power wise best I've ever used.

But electric tools aren't air tools, air tools have a pretty much indefinite lifespan if you care for them and air will almost always exist. Batteries do not. I am a frugal guy so if I pay a couple hundred bucks for a tool it better last me 20-30 years. I don't trust milwaukee to meet that goal.

Im actually a huge fan of Makita for corded tools. The motors are rebuild-able. Again i like things that last and can be fixed cause I'm frugal. I'll pay hundreds more for a tool/anything with a lifetime warranty and or parts backing to fix it over the years than a cheap thing I need to keep buying every 2 years.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

Kobalt from Lowes. Worked there in hardware/tools for 5 years part time. First and most important, they will honor the warranty without question, including batteries. Even if out of warranty for a bit, they may still do you right.
Milwaukee would have been my first choice, but their stuff is really expensive, and for a simple DIY'er like me, Kobalt.
I do have a 12 year old set of Porter Cable thats still going good, but when batteries go I won't re;p[lace cause new batteries are more expensive than new tools with new batteries.
Almost everything, including DeWalt, is made overseas. Only a few high end items are made in USA or Canada.
Crapsman, ugh, I mean Craftsman is garbage. Wouldn't buy there stuff on a bet. 25-30 years ago, yeah. Now, nope.

I think US/Can its pretty much Snap on, Hilti, or Matco =$$$$$ nice stuff though...

 

[Dirtman]

A ton of snap on stuff is made in china. The laws regarding putting the "made in USA" tag on something are so lax you only need to do something like 10% of the manufacturing in the states to use it. So they have 90% done in china, ship it here and just assemble and brand them and call it american made. Not saying snap on doesn't make great tools, but the made in usa stuff means nothing.

 

[mikkelstuff]

I don't - cordless that is. Oh I have a few I was given or bought on the cheap: 1/4" DeWalt, a 1/4" Robi, and a big Milwaukee hammer drill. The Milwaukee is by far the best but too large for most of my work around the house.

I really really hate those keyless chucks. They won't hold a standard drill bit and they constantly come loose even with hex drive drill bits.

I'm sticking with my corded Milwaukee drills.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I got a big set of Dewalt 18V tools about 10 years ago. Hammer drill... impact driver... 4 inch grinder... sawzall... circular saw and a flash light. I use them nearly every day... sometimes all day. Never let me down... no reason to change.

 

[racsan]

I prefer dewalt, Ive had a couple skil drills and they werent as good as the dewalt. my newest drill is a lithium battery drill from harbour freight, yeah I know- but its a 1/2” hammer and so far has been awesome. One thing with lithium, they just dont “go down” on battery. they work until they dont. This drill though has a battery level indicator, with a button-push I can see how my battery life is. My biggest complaint is that battery, charger & tool are all sold separately. Everything else Ive seen comes as a “kit”, in a nice plastic box as well. I cant recall what I paid but it wasnt cheap, so far Im happy with it.

 

[MikeG]

Bought a DeWalt 9.6 volt drill in the late 1990s that just recently gave up. Don't know how many batteries it went through. Did everything from drilling holes, driving screws, through mixing concrete and mortar. Amazed it lasted this long. What's wrong with it now is the switch finally wore out, but if it runs, it still runs.

 

[Shran]

I started with 18v DeWalt. Over the years I collected just about every tool on that battery system including some oddballs like the caulk gun and band saw. Still have most of them, some duplicates, I think I have five grinders. They are great tools and they get worked hard but the batteries are showing their age.

After that I started buying M12 Milwaukee stuff. Their little 3/8 non Fuel ratchet is IMO the best power tool ever invented - have a bunch of others too, drills, impacts, lights, saws, and some speciality tools.

Now I'm into M18... I bought the mid torque 3/8 and 1/2 impacts plus the high torque 1/2 and 3/4 impacts, small leaf blower, hammer drill and a couple others I think. Love em. The impacts in particular are slightly overrated and I don't think the plastic quality is all that great (batteries wear and get loose) but otherwise they are king as far as power goes - still use air tools a lot but these cordless tools work great.

I did find that you can get M18 to DeWalt 18v adapters. These are super cool. I can't believe how much better my DeWalt tools work with M18 batteries - they seem to hit harder and the batteries last a LOT longer than the DeWalt ones ever did. I'll probably keep using most of my DeWalt tools until they are worn out.

I've also used some 12v and 20v DeWalt tools that my dad and a good friend have. Not impressed with the 12v tools at all. They seem fairly well made but they have no power. I'm sure for the homeowner who needs to drill a hole once a year they're fine... definitely NOT professional level. 20v DeWalt seems to be fine in the power department but IMO they seem kinda flimsy and a lot less rugged than the older 18v tools.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

Seems like most guys run Dewalt. And I stick to that would be my choice as well if I wasn't running Makita already.

I tried taking a pic of my collection to post, but only got about half before I got tired of digging out and staging stuff.

I dont have the caulking gun, but do have 2 bandsaws, 3 grinders (two are brushless) leaf blowers, a weedwhacker and a chainsaw.

I starting going brushless went that happened.

Then came the 12v stuff. I got the brushless screwgun because it is noticeably lighter than the 18v on a tool belt all day.

My buddy got the 12v Dewalt impact screwgun, it convinced me I could get away with 12v at work.

Starting to think I have a Makita problem. But if I didn't, it would be a Dewalt problem.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

I am surprised nobody mentioned Bosch, they seem legit, and I heard they have the best cordless jobsite radios.

 

[Shran]

I'd probably have Makita now if I didn't already have so much DeWalt and Milwaukee. They are definitely more focused on construction trades though - I think Milwaukee has the best selection of automotive/mechanical repair oriented tools at the moment.

I have nothing against Bosch except that they have changed battery systems often, kinda hard to find and their tool selection is limited. But if you just need a drill it's a moot point - anything will probably suit your needs.

 

[Dirtman]

My dad is obsessed with black and decker for some reason. He buys every battery powered garden tool they own. He has to replace everything about every 3-4 years because that's roughly how long the batteries last and by the time they need to be replaced they have discontinued them and have a whole new line of tools. I simply do not understand his logic.

 

[Shran]

My dad is obsessed with black and decker for some reason. He buys every battery powered garden tool they own. He has to replace everything about every 3-4 years because that's roughly how long the batteries last and by the time they need to be replaced they have discontinued them and have a whole new line of tools. I simply do not understand his logic.

People like him are the reason why B&D and other companies keep doing that...because they sell. Not my thing. A lot of times those old batteries can be rebuilt at Interstate or Batteries Plus though.

Seen a lot of cheap cordless tools in the thrift stores, seems to be the charger that usually goes bad. I have an 18v B&D chainsaw sitting on my bench right now for that reason. I'll probably re-power it with M18 batteries.

 

[sgtsandman]

Black and Decker isn’t what they used to be. They never were a higher end power tool but they were decent. What they put out now, I wouldn’t buy them.