Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Cordless drill questions

In the next week or two, I plan to get a new cordless drill.
Was going to get a half inch, 18 volt NiCd battery model.
Co-worker said I should get a drill with the new lithium ion
battery pack. Someone else talked about a third battery type,
I forget the name of it.

Anyone have any suggestions/comments on the new crop of cordless drills.

I'm a huge fan to the Milwaukee tools.

I am NOT a carpenter/builder and do not use one every day, but do a lot of stuff and have had several over the years. Never have worn out the drill motor/apparatus. Always the batteries go kaput first and most are too expensive to replace efficiently. So, I buy a new drill and batts cheaper than replacement. Hate it !!

Regardless of price, there has not been any big diff in the performance of the various drills themselves - except for some good features on some - but there has been a diff in the quality of batts.

A friend who uses every day told me to most def go to the L-ion next time for several batt reasons. He got a deal on a Makita setup like that and loves it. I have not owned a Makita.

I don't yet know of a new/third batt type. Somebody here will.

That is why I always buy a $30-50 drill. You can get an 18v for that price, and by the time the battery dies, you just get a new setup. I have used $150 drills, and they perform exactly like the $50 drills. I think expensive cordless tools are one of the biggest scams out there...

+1 go red tools...

Bosch

+1 The cheaper ones are the best value to me. The damn batteries are more than the drill.

Another Milwaukee fan here......

I love cordless tools but, having said that, it's not a bad idea to have at least one corded drill. I bought a 1/2" Milwaukee corded drill because I don't use it very often and don't have to mess with charging the batteries before I finally get to use it. Plus, it can run all day without skipping a beat.

We had a similar discussion here a couple weeks ago. I have a Ridgid from Home Depot. LIFETIME WARRANTY ON THE BATTERIES. I don't think the Lithium batts will hold a charge quite as long as the NiCad, but they charge really fast in comparison so it doesn't make any difference that way.

A lot of drills use Ni-Cd (nickle-cadmium) batteries. They've been around for a long time. Their biggest drawback is the memory effect. Be sure to run the battery all the way down before recharging.

NiMH (Nickle-metal hydride) are used in some drills but not very many that I've seen. AA-sized NiMH batteries for electronics are great rechargeables. They don't have memory effects of charging.

Li (lithium) ion batteries have a pretty long life and don't have memory problems. It's what your cell phone has. They cost more though. But, the price of Li ion batteries keeps dropping.

Li ion is, IMO, the way to go if you are using the drill everyday - you will have less downtime. For homeowner use, you can probably do fine with a lower cost Ni-Cd if you stay aware of battery condition and have a charged one ready.

It is expensive to replace drill batteries. A less expensive way is to open the battery compartment and replace the innards from a battery store rather than buying a new, fully cased battery from HomeyD.

I can't say expensive cordless tool's are a scam as I've never owned any myself, but several years back I bought a off-brand cordless drill at Rural King on special for less that $20 and so far it still works fine for the occasional fix-it or DIY project.

Milwaukee and Makita make great cordless drills and Dewault runs a distant third if your on a budget. If you dont use it everyday you probably wont notice much difference.

While I have never had much luck with Ryobi tools,
maybe I should just go to Home Depot and get a cheap
18 volt Ryobi drill. I have a Ryobi chop saw and it
sort of still works.

Anyone have a Ryobi drill ?

Get the 1/2" for sure and then get a Ryobi.
Great value and all the 18 volt batteries interchange
no matter what tool and no mater what type

I asked this same question a couple of weeks ago. here is a link to the thread.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...rdless_drill_suggestions_my_#Post5261431

PM did a review of 9 Li ion drills:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/reviews/power-tools/4292657

Also, go to your local library and find the May 2010 issue of consumer reports where they reviewed 55 cordless drills and 13 impact drivers.

Id say Milwaukee. We use the drills and impact guns at work. I build military vehicles and believe me these guns get used hard!

We used to run Makita. Batteries wouldnt last at all. You'd be lucky to get a full day out of them, where as the Milwaukee's are lasting 2.5-3 days. We switched to Dewalt after Makita, and they werent too much better. Switched then to Hilty. The batteries lasted alot longer at first. After a months use or so, the Hilty batteries would die in a matter of a few hours. The clutches on the Hilty's wouldnt lst either. Have since switched to Milwaukee and except for an odd battery or two here and there, have been perfect. One trigger went bad. Other than that the Milwaukee's have been perfect.

The biggest difference in how long the batteries last will be the charger.

I have some dewalts and some milwauke stuff and I took the stock charger and just turned it into a contact cradle and use the battery charger I charge my batteries for my rc planes that cost around $200.

Beat the hell out of cordless tool on a daily basis doing commercial concrete jobs. If you're going to abuse it go with Milwaukee or Makita Lithium Ion(I prefer Milwaukee we seem to be busting a lot of Makita drills at work lately, but let me reiterate, we beat the HELL out of them). For strictly home use, in the garage, those around the house projects even a Black and Decker will get the job done for years. It really does depend on how much abuse it has to take. MY personal cordless tools are Milwaukee M18 series.

Ridgid has a lifetime warranty, which includes batteries. Never have to buy any more batteries if they fail to hold a charge. Can't beat that.