Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Battery powered tools

They are only getting better, more powerful and compact. Everyone is asking what cordless this or that to buy. Just pick a quality platform and expand your tools as needed. 20 yrs ago I decided to go with Milwaukee when they came out with their lithium ion 28 volt kit. Milwaukee revolutionized the cordless tool market with this line, and they still do. Chainsaws, weedeaters, impact guns, lawnmowers, air compressors, toilet augers (a very handy tool) nail guns, the list goes on and on. Dewalt and Rigid also make quality tools but it seems Milwaukee is always first to break new barriers. I just don't see the point in going with a battery powered tool where you can't use the battery for anything else. Which is also why Milwaukee gets my business the majority of there tools have stayed 12 18 and 28 volts.

I've got almost the entire line of DeWalt 60v stuff. No complaints.

The cheap ryobi stuff works a treat. I have half a dozen tools from them.

I just finished, this past week, rebuilding two dewalt battery packs NiCad DW9091 and DC9094 ... and it ended-up being not that bad. 2010 packs, I bought the replacement cells off of Amazon for $12 ... if you can solder you can crack open the old packs and and replace the cells. Anyways, that extended the life of a couple of 14.4 dewalt tools in my shop as I already had a couple of chargers. I've got newer 18v and 20v lithium stuff ... but I don't mind lending-out the 14.4 stuff to my Son and they also come-in handy keeping them in the side room in the #2 hay barn on the back-forty.

I recently invested-in some 60v Harbor Freight cordless stuff ... started with a pole chainsaw for topping small trees and big bushes and then a small chainsaw and then I bought this little power station that uses the same batteries.

I think Milwaukee just recently came out with a jobsite battery supplied 200v 20A power station but it is insanely expensive and backup battery packs are something like $250 each. It comes with 2 battery packs and a built-in pure sine wave inverter.

Yep, when I was in the trades Milwaukee took over a huge share of the market when they came out with the Fuel line. Up until then I saw more Dewalt and then maybe Makita more than anything else among the popular contractor grade tools. Milwaukee wasn’t better across the board but the battery system is excellent and it isn’t worth the hassle and money of swapping between several brands of batteries and chargers in a commercial or industrial worksite. I worked for a contractor with Stout brand portabands I liked them better than Milwaukee or anyone else’s but usually keeping gang boxes full of separate batteries and charging units wasn’t worth it.

I used to have Makita but have switched to Ryobi, much better ergonomics and more features.

I think I payed 800 dollars for my 28 volt kit when it came out, almost a months salary for me when I was starting out as a electrician apprentice. I was able to drill out a entire house on two batteries with a 1"auger bit. Needless to say it wasn't long before my boss switched over and we weren't dragging leads around anymore. With the exception of the drill that walked off the jobsite the tools are still going strong

I was an inside wireman though as you probably know at least half of the work is either outdoors or in non heated new construction industrial projects. Grain elevators, new scrubbers on coal powered power plants during the Obama years ect.

IBEW local 692. Unions get a bad rep. Sometimes deservedly so but in that line of work there were no paid holidays or paid vacation hours you “took off what you could afford.” The salamanders we’re called the layoff machines as in if you spent to much time standing around a salamander warming up in the winter months while working outdoors you would be the first to be laid off lol. Heath care was excellent and the pension was good. I miss the trades but I don’t miss all of the driving and travel. Our local covered the 2nd largest geographic area in the state next to the UP’s. We covered the Eastern half of the lower peninsula from Mid-Michigan to the Mackinaw bridge technically we covered half of the bridge but split it with the UP local on an every two years rotation.

I have 20 volt DeWalt

For home I use Ryobi, I like how I went from nicad to lion and my tools took the new and better batteries. At work we use Milwaukee and those work good. Chucks on the drills suck though.

That's what I have.

Got lots of tools that run on the power system too.

Grease gun, 1/2' impact, circular and sawzall, a pole saw, and 2 weed trimmers.

I think I have about a half a dozen batteries for all that.

Years ago when these tools just started to go mainstream, I bought some Craftsman. Little did I know that every couple years they would change the batteries and the replacements would cost way more than the tools were worth, and wouldn't fit newly bought Craftsman tools. I decided to get a Ryobi drill set and really liked it. After a decade or so, I was invested in Ryobi mainly because they never change their 18 Volt batteries and new ones fit my 15 year old drills. I now have about 10 Ryobi tolls I use regularly. Since they are lithium these days, you can get lighter batteries than the old Nicad type. I stick with Ryobi simply because I already have several tools and all the batteries are interchangeable. They have always served me we in my "weekend warrior" jobs through the years. I still have my original drill and I use it all the time. It makes no sense for me to switch at this time, even though some brands might be better.

Like a couple of the folks here, I'm with Ryobi. Got my first cordless stuff, a drill and a saw as I recall with a large tool bag, at the Costco. Decent price and I wasn't going to use them commercially. Happy Homeowner scheidt you know.

And like the other folks it was a blessing when Ryobi came out with the newer, lighter, more amp hr batteries that still fit the tools. All I needed for the lithium ones was a new charger that would still work on the NiCad as I recall. (those have died and no longer get any use)

Newest acquisition. A friend who has a booth at the Farmer's Market has one, my wife saw it and liked it and as she sometimes sits out on the deck I got one "for her". A day or so ago I was working in the garden from 10-Noon and sat on the porch with it running. Cools a fella down nicely. Got the chambray shirt a bit damp when the wind changed and blew the mist right at me, made it nicer for a bit when I went back out in the sun. Brother who worked construction in SoCal for 40+ years said he wishes they'd come out with these before he retired. He'd have found a way to strap one on the Pettibone!



They do put out some mist and get stuff damp though, even in our low humidity.

Oh, it can be hooked up to a garden hose too, not need for a bucket if a hose is handy.

I like my 18 and 20v DeWalt stuff.

MILWAUKEE only!

Ryobi tools aren't bad. I've had a Ryobi drill for 12 years or so. When the latest battery died, my wife mentioned to her son that she was going to get me a new battery.

Two days later, the Amazon truck delivered a DeWalt 20V compact drill set with two battery packs and charger in a hard case. Happy Father's Day from my stepson!

I didn't know they had those. I'll have to check them out. I like their LED lanterns, too. I use them for camping and blackouts from storms. They last for days with a 3 or 4 hour battery. I recharge them with the generator and use them all night after I shut it down.

Seems DeWalt does better in the construction side of things. Where Milwaukee is more mechanical..

I use a m18 3/8" & 3/4" impact, grinder, and leaf blower every day.... Changed out a clutch in my tacoma a while back. Used a 1/4" driver to do most the work. I was impressed.

Milwaukee gets my money

The Milwaukee m18 weed wackier is a beast. Can’t wait to add the 10” pole saw to the mix.

They are handy!