Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Cordless drills and impact drivers

I've got the 18v Makita. It seems to a little better quality then Dewalt but not as strong as the Milwaukee Fuel. If you can find the Milwaukee for similar price, I'd jump on it. Seems like they are all on sale around Christmas

I had one of those. A battery crapped out and they sent it in for repair at least 2 years ago since they no longer sold that battery. I'm still waiting to get it back.

Milwaukee fuel 18 volt

Makita. They have a great 18v system.

+1 on the Ryobi ONE+ line of 18V tools. Plenty good enough for what you are going to do. Heck, if you didn't have one until this project anyway you clearly are not using it. Plus with the Home Depot Black Friday sale you can get a drill, an impact driver, 2 chargers, and 2 batteries for $99

Have a 18V Milwaukee at home I’ve been using for 7 years. Still going strong, battery life excellent.

Use 24V Dewalts at work because they’re free. Battery life is half of what I’m used to and the drills themselves only last about 6 months.

This.

I have Ryobi 18v too. Works for my hobbyist purposes. Nice thing was when they went to the One+ system the Lithium batteries work in my older 18V which was a HUUUGE improvement in battery life. I made some bird houses the other day with the kids and my drill was ready to go and honestly i cant remember when the batteries were charged last, it's been a few months at least

Ryobi. I've had Makita, and they are fine until the batteries go bad. The replacement batteries are super expensive. I bought a couple of the Ryobi high capacity batteries with a fuel gauge for $49 for the pair. I have three drills, a drill-driver, a circular saw, a sawsall, a palm router, a halogen spotlight, an LED lantern, an incandescent work light, and an 8" chainsaw on a 8' pole that all use the same batteries. They all work great.

bosch has a replacement policy

I build/remodel for a living. We use the impact drivers daily for something. Lots of weeks they see some heavy duty workouts. I have Porter Cable set that has held up like a champ for several years and still going strong. Also have a Milwaukee set that's a couple years old, no complaints at all. Can't go wrong with Makita.
Ryobi is good stuff for the money. DeWalt batteries seem to crap out and not hold a charge. I prob won't ever by anything with the Rigid name on it again.

I bought the Bosch combo set 5 years ago. The impact quit this summer, but the drill is still strong. I replaced the impact with Milwaukee, mainly because of warranty. The Bosch was 1 yr. versus 5 yrs. on the Milwaukee. The Bosch is nothing to sneeze at. It did a lot of large jobs including several metal roofs and 300' piers. It paid for itself on the first one. The Milwaukee has more arse though.

They all come from the same factory in China. I don't see any point in paying a bunch of money for what used to be a great American brand like Milwaukee or Dewalt. Go to Harbor Freight, get what you need to build your porch, and pay closer to what the tool is actually worth. If it craps out before you get the porch built, they will give you another one under warranty. Chances are it won't. If it tears up down the road, pitch it and go get you another one. I have found that Harbor Freight stuff lasts a long time sitting in my garage waiting around for the occasional project. I have not had to throw anything away yet and some of it is pushing 10 years old. I see cordless tools as kind of disposable anyway because as Rock Chuck says, the batteries cost as much to replace as getting a new tool.

If you want "quality" all I know is the guys who I know that used to be big Milwaukee guys have gone to Metabo. But honestly, if I were going to "invest" in a tool like that it would be corded.

With Harbor Freight's Chicago Electric brand, their tools all use the same battery so you don't need a half dozen chargers and spare batteries lying around. Their batteries are NiCad 18v but they're also only $17 instead of 60 or $70 so you can afford to have a couple extras ready to go.

I have a Ridgid recip saw. They don't carry batteries for this particular one any more and the 1 I have is getting weak. Amazon carries some Chinese after market batteries for it but they're $70 each. I'll likely replace the saw from Harbor Frt when the time comes. I don't use it enough to justify $200 for a Milwaukee.

There are Youtube videos about rebuilding these batteries if you have the time and interest.

Here's one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAzLpS1b5L8

Impressed by the Milwaukee warranty. Had a 18v drill/hammer drill that broke the gearbox.
I was just going to pitch it because it had more than paid for itself at work. Driving by the
service center one day I stooped in and had them look at the drill. They said it was 5 years
old and they sent it in to the repair shop no questions asked.

About 6 weeks later it came back with a new motor, gearbox, and chuck. It is now a home
use tool as I found a really good deal on a Fuel impact / drill combo set for work.

Always been a fan of Milwaukee, but started using Porter Cable 20volt tools. Priced great and work great. Lowes carries them.

I believe that Milwaukee has a plant in MS.

Not all is made in china.

Most things, these days, are made in China. The spec they are built to, and the design, however, is often domestic, and it differs from brand to brand.

I have the 18v Ryobi set that came with the Drill, circular saw, recip saw, flashlight, charger, and extra battery. You can buy the whole damn thing for $120 at Home Depot right now. Not sure for homeowner use you can get a better deal.


https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-1...s-Super-Combo-Kit-4-Piece-P883/203466914