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!

The pole saw is great, the just came out with a brush cutter head and a power brush that I will be getting

Had a Dewalt 18 volt drill/recip saw kit for years. Went with a big Dewalt 20 volt kit for my 40 year service award gift a couple of years ago. Have since added 1/2” impact, hedge trimmer and side angle grinder. Dewalt has an adapter to use the new 20 volt batteries on your older 18 volt tools!

I have had Stihl battery lawn mower, hedge trimmer and weed wacker for a few years now. I would never go back to gas for those purposes.

I wanted to hate the Milwaukee chainsaw

But I can’t, it’s great.

We just finished building a couple 6' x 400' piers with decks, stairs, rail and a 16' X 40' boathouse, all over saltwater. We ran almost exclusively Milwaukee Fuel tools. For a short time there was a roughly equivalent set of Dewalt tools. The Dewalt stuff got the job done when needed, but there is a noticeable difference in speed and power.

I Can't brag enough on the Milwaukee stuff. For instance the 1/2" drill / hammerdrill drilled hundreds of holes with a 5/8" X 16" auger bit, the 7/4" circular saw made thousands of cuts through dimensional lumber and the 1/4" impacts ran thousands and thousands of 3" stainless screws. Two of those impacts have also been on the bottom of the bay. It smokes the battery when they splash, but a freshwater rinse, some PB Blaster and they are still screwing off.

We didn't have a single tool fail over the course of two large projects in a really harsh environment. Needless to say the cordless stuff has changed the way we work. No more generators, cords, etc

The new generation drill and hex driver are supposed to be insane.

Tool porn. Gotta love it.

I use Makita 18v and Milwaukee 12v. They all work great. My Makita multi tool gets used a lot. Love it.

I can tell you from experience that the Milwaukee impact driver (and battery) will outlast the Ridgid impact driver about 8 times. The tool doesn't hold up, nor do the batteries.

I feel I'm kinda stuck with very low hour 18V DeWalt stuff. The batteries sucked, need to replace with adaptors & 20v. The tools are just too newish to throw out.

But with a do over I'd go Milwaukee. A good friend builds pole barns & used Craftsman till Sears started splitting up & parts got iffy. He switched to Milwaukee & has had damn good service from his tools.

I ran a full kit of Dewalt 18v Ni-Cad tools commercially from 2004-2008. We bought a Home Depot brand for another set (forget the name, tools were red but NOT Milwalkee). We destroyed that set in 6 months. I had the Dewalt set rebuilt around 2010 and ran it for the next decade until I got their new 20v lithium tools. I love how much lighter and powerful they are, batteries seem to last forever.

My biggest disappointment has been the 80v Kobalt tools from Lowes. They stopped selling and supporting the whole 80v stuff a year after I got into them.

I use the Makita 18V LXT stuff.

I have both Milwaukee and Dewalt tools. Not much difference between the two, until you get to impact wrenches, then it's Milwaukee all the way.

My needs are simple so light duty stuff works fine. I began with a B&D 20v weedwhacker and added a pole saw, hedge trimmer, cordless drill, and lastly a pair of compressors for the cars. The first trimmer started giving me trouble after five or six years, so I replaced it. Everything uses the same batteries, and the batteries are all still working fine. I think I have about six now, and have purchased tools sans the battery to save money.

When I needed an impact wrench, I looked at the reviews and went AC.

That’s what I have used for five plus years. They work fine for me.

I have all MIlwaukee. I have 18v as that's what they had when I started buying them. They have a 5 year warranty. I've had to send in 2 tools for warranty repairs. That couldn't be easier. I got on their support page and entered the info for a repair. If you registered the tool, the warranty info immediately pops up. They will email a prepaid shipping label so just box it up and drop it at UPS. 3 days later, I get an email that they have it. 2 days after that, I get another email that it's repaired and on the way back.
I sent them a drill with a trigger problem and they put a new chuck on it while they had it.

DON'T FAIL TO REGISTER YOUR TOOLS. If you don't, the 5 year warranty is worthless.

I finally picked up a dewalt 20v chainsaw, that thing is impressive!

It is hard to beat the lifetime Rigid warranty on everything including batteries. I do, however, love my Milwaukee impact wrench. It is a beast.

Dean

I have an old Rigid drill and recip saw combo. It came with 2 batteries and after a couple years both died. They had a non-standard type of batteries and Home Depot quit making them so they weren't replaceable. I think all the Rigid tools now use the same batteries. In the meantime I switched to Milwaukee and won't go back.

Ditto here........just a DIYer......

I’ve been getting more and more Milwaukee cordless and the schit is unbeatable.

For those not aware Ryobi and Milwaukee are the same company.

Ryobi is their DIY/Homeowner line and Milwaukee is the commercial/pro side.

Lots of adapters available to swap between battery voltages and even brands.

I’m a mix of 18 and 20 volt Dewalt with some Ryobi thrown in the mix.

Son Jake's 20V DeWalt impact is amazing.

Next they will have cars that run on batteries.

Milwaukee here. M12 and M18. The fuel motors are the best yet.

I have one Older DeWalt hammer drill I got when a Brother and law passed. Not a bad drill. Better than the new ones by the looks and feel of them.

Just bought the Super Charger for my High Output batteries. Well worth the money.

We ate a Cluver's yesterday, they used a battery vacuum, much better around all the tables, and chairs.

Last time I looked, Milwaukee, Ridgid and Ryobi were owned by the same company. My company issued tools are Milwaukee and my personal tools are Ridgid. I like them both, but there are some Ridgid features that I like better.

Milwaukee has more tool options. Than any other company that I'm aware of. We have an 18V pipe threader at work that is simply bad ass. Also 18V Hole-Hawgs, shop-vacs and work lights.

My personal Ridgid tools were my daily tools in the field in my previous job and they held up fine, plus the drill still gets put to regular use on winter weekends when it gets used as an auger motor.

If you happen to see a Milwaukee shop vac, go ahead and grab it.

It will be the only shop vac you enjoy using for the rest of your life.

I shot a match Tuesday and one guy had the Milwaukee version of this on his gun caddy. Pure genius.

Usually buy Milwaukee Tools, have a 12V drill from the 90s.

Sears had a Fathers day sale, saw all, saber saw, drill, circular saw, light,
batteries and charger for $100, if you were over 50. Had Dad pick it up,
too cheap to pass.

For my use, the tools have been great over 18 years.
But, the batteries have ruined me on cordless.
Originally ni-cad, those lasted a good while, bought another drill
to get new batteries.

Lithium ion came out, bought another drill to get those batteries and chargr.
Bought more batteries on sale.
They haven't lasted for crap.
They might sit for weeks before I need them, then get used a bunch, to
sit again later. Individual batteries might sit a month or more. I think
that's the problem.

Some Google leads me to think maybe in sitting they have went to
dead to be charged. Need to try the jumpstart thing, see if it will work.

Got this one for the RV. It really sucks.

40 CFM's

This one blows 450 CFM's @ 120 MPH




Both great tools!

I don't have one of those. Will try one.

These were on sale here a month or two back for $169.00 with a free 5.0 battery.

Love it.

I got the 5.0 battery with my blower, I bought the vacuum as tool only.

I’ve got 4 Milwaukee cordless nailers, from an 18g to their framing nailer. They’re a game changer for sure.

I’ve got DeWalt and Milwaukee circular saws and drills and drivers. I can’t tell a whole lotta difference between them. They’re coming out with a Fuel tracksaw that I’m excited to try.

FWIW, there’s a noticeable difference in the older batteries and the new high output batteries.

The 6.0HO will run circles around the standard 5.0.

I have a Dewalt 14.4 that I have been using for 16 years, the damned machine just won't die! Just shot 4 of the 3 inch screws with it this morning. Six years ago I used it to build the addition to my house, 850 sq ft, I shot over 100 pounds of screws with this drill. Unbelievable quality.

I also have a plug in DeWalt circular saw and a 7 inch disc grinder. Great tools by DeWalt.

Opinion on chain saw for light use?

Since this was taken I've added the other metal cutting circ saw, a nibbler, grease gun, the new big 1/2 impact, the 7-1/4 direct drive circ saw, finish nailers, the Japanese version of their new 1/4" hex impact, the cordless ratchet, and bought my wife the leaf blower, chain saw and hedge trimmer.

I use these tools hard, especially the impact drivers. I originally chose Makita for the quality of their lithium ion batteries. For a long time they were the best in the business. Makita has an exhaustive offering of tools and for the bigger stuff they allow you to use 2x 18V LXT batteries. You don't have to buy a bigger dedicated battery like with the other brands. I see Milwaukee has become pretty popular, they have a 1" impact that my neighbor raves about.

As far as shop vacs go, I'm spoiled. I have a whole bunch of Alto WAP vacs.


Put yourself a box like this together and a 1/4" Hex impact will be your most used tool.

I bought this Impact last Fall, it's saved me a busted knuckle or two.

Milwaukee 2767-20 1/2" High Torque Impact Wrench


It was around $325 with a 5.0 ah battery but it's a real time saver on the heavier jobs I seem to continually be requested to do or help with.

My blower is the bigger battery consumer, but it gets used for longer lengths of time.

Dewalt ruled the Ni-Cd market. Their XRP batteries were fantastic. I'm still running some in 14.4 and 18V, because they won't die. These are left over from when I had employees, the tools were abused. They were supplied with Dewalt, because too many batteries would disappear and you could buy two or three Ni-Cd batteries for the price of one lithium ion battery.

I don’t know how anyone can run through this thread, also look at the advances EV’s have made in the past decade, and continue the “EV’s will never work” chant.

18/20 volt cobalt stuff has treated me well.. Milwaukee 18 v grease guns all 4 we have have been sent back under warranty

Flexin'


I take it that's the oscillating tool next to the grinder?
I get a lot of use out of mine.

One of the least common blades to see on the shelf but quite useful....


LINK

The one DeWalt tool that I despise is the 20v drill I have. POS chuck on that thing. I don't know who designed it but he should be hanged.

I started out with Porter Cable -- this was a long time ago. NiCad. Batteries went bad. I was shocked at how much replacements cost. Went with Ryobi. Bought a bunch of 4 amp hour batteries on sale for $49 each. That can't be touched by any other brand. Now I have a crap ton of Ryobi tools. The only one that failed was the chainsaw-on-a-pole that they replaced. The only one I really don't like is an older - blue- circular saw that is pretty weak.

I still have a bunch of corded tools from other brands. One of my favorites is a corded Makita biscuit joiner. It's a joy to use. I also love my DeWalt router that came with both a fixed base and a plunge base. The soft start feature is a must-have.

I can see where it would come in handy. but I have a couple of firearms that would need drying if they got close.

But, put one down the end of the range "building" and cool the whole place down some..............Yep.

I may have to remember to bring ours next time out.


Hey, did you ever post your resume for that dude?

I can think of a couple of times in the past that ^^ would have come in really handy.

I've got a trip to the big town coming up in a week or two, I'll have to look for one up there.

If I have one in the tool box........................perhaps I'll never need one again?

Those batteries were really easy to repair.
The power wire burned off the terminal inside the battery, it was easily soldered back into place.

It was like the over-heating fuse link. Kept a dozen of them working for around 20 years, don't think there was one outta the bunch that I hadn't repaired a time or two.

I had 4 of the Porter Cable circular saws and a half dozen 1/2 inch drills. Probably built better than any tool on the market today.

Dewalt bought them out and bastardized the entire line of tools, turned it into a low end Ryobi competitor.
If you can't match the quality, buy them out and destroy it.

Take that chuck off and toss it!

Harbor Freight
1/2 In. Jacobs® Keyed Chuck $8.99

TURN HARD RIGHT!
Put on your righteous suit and flame the Devs.
Derail ahead!


Well remember my first use of a 7volt Makita drill.
Pilot holes in old, dry, Locust fence posts.
(Cant drive a nail in them, especially with porcelain insulators)

We ran out of battery pretty quick, and they were integral then.
Thought the concept was great. In use, it sucked.
Lucky it was a small lot, we changed jobs, finished after a couple hour charge.


Comparing that to cars, it's obvious the concept is solid.
Execution and tech just needs developed.

No one, absolutely no one, ever would have thought a battery
circ saw or chain saw would be worth a crap.

Now we have guys climbing 100' up a tree with a battery trim saw.

A drill motor battery thats charger plugs into my wall is a world away from an EV truck that can tow a boat. Who said that they will never work? It’s going to take a lot of coal to charge all those EV batteries and a power grid that doesn’t currently exist.

Wow, thanks man!

I'm going to do that.

But there is no cord to tape the key to! 😂

Good point...

I didn't know you could swap out chucks that easily.

The early keyless chucks were pretty weak.
It was difficult to get a bit locked into one securely.

I stripped them off as soon as I bought the tools and replaced them with a quality keyed chuck.

The newer ones are considerably better but I do have one on one of my Milwaukee 1/2 drills that is beginning to fail.

Might replace it with the new style keyless, but maybe not.

Just remember when replacing a drill chuck, the retaining bolt inside the chuck has reverse threads!

Why the hell batteries weren't standardized across the brands makes no friggen sense to this consumer. No doubt there was the line of thinking "Ford excuse me I mean Makita-Ryobi- etc has a better idea" with their better idea likely being profit motivated?

I can go get a flashlight that operates on a certain type of battery, let's say C cell, and go out and get regular, alkaline, NiCad, lithium of various brands and they all make the flashlight work. The same could have been done for portable tools. Same goes for connectors for phone chargers etc.


Wouldn't it have been nice to have battery types that fit all brands of tools, then the only issue might be which tools are better?

As I and others have stated, the Ryobis are nice because they kept the same format/shape/connection battery when they switched to lithium batteries and newer better tools.

Freedom is great.....................but sometimes standardization works better.

Universal is best for the consumers but proprietary components and attachments keeps the consumer in one place buying a single brand.

I had a chance to buy a 16 inch Ryobi chainsaw the other day, I think it was 40 volt?

New in the box, with a battery, $125.00, flea market special.
Perfect for a RV firewood getter.

I passed, it wasn't red and it'd be the only odd duck battery in my collection of battery tools...

Proprietary strategies win again.

Love my Dewalt 20V tools. Just keep adding to my collection.

I finally started buying Milwaukee instead of Dewalt. You get what you pay for.

Got mainly Milwaukee. Only down side so far is they are very proud of their batteries. That said none has taken a dump, yet.

Wouldn't it be great if the electrical systems in every town was like that?

I prefer knowing that the cord on the lamp I bought will work wherever I move to in the US of A. I don't want to be like the Euro folks, having to have an assortment of adapters.

to the tune of that Broadway show song.

Tomorrow,

Tomorrow,

the battery will die tomorrow.

You're gonna have to speak english.

Not dumb fugk.

Maybe it would be clearer to you if it were in Douche'.

English should be capitalized.

Technically I believe 'dumb' as well as 'fugk' fall under the same rule, both should also be capitalized.

That makes for a trifecta of incorrectness in a 9 word post.

I think it’d be harder to keep track of than the angle grinder change tool.

Outta the half dozen or so grinders I have around here I don't think any of them ever came with that illusive little two pronged diddy of a tool.
That's what it seems like when I go looking for one anyway.

The cordless grinder is one of my favorites.

Grind wheel, cut off wheel, very handy.


Just as handy is the allen wrench removable head.

Been thinking about one of those.

We don't have a portable torch setup and that little cut wheel has been used a bunch on smaller ransom chit.

I really like it.

You seem to grasp his first attempt.

LOL

They're flat killer.

Been swimming in free schit since the day I got it.

Hahaha!


Universal Safe Combination

Hold into the catalytic converters!

Speaking of free schit,

Once the battery powered Sawzalls became powerful enough to be useful, outboard motor theft increased in my area.

Locks and bolts securing motors to their boats were bypassed by just cutting the transom of the boat out with the motor.

Pretty sweet, not only did ya lose your outboard your hull became useless at the same time.

Gotta hate a thief eh?

fuggers

The only issue I have with Milwaukee is its cheaper to buy a new tool and get the battery instead of buying a battery. So my collection keep growing. At least that's my logic to acquire new tools

I had a 235 Evinrude stolen off my Aquasport. They cut the cables and steering. I guess I was lucky they unbolted engine. Less than a block away from the Boynton, PD.

Master key.

Cordless skilsaw is also uber handy.

A while back I bought 2 5AH aftermarket batteries for my Milwaukee stuff. I think I paid $30 for 2 of them. They seem to work just as well as name brand Milwaukee batteries for about 1/4 the price. The only issue is one of them doesn't fit my sawzall very well. It's hard to get it to lock in. They're all made in China anyway.

It's actually another grinder. I've got several (one with a grinding wheel, one with a Lenox MetalMax diamond cutoff wheel, and one with a SS wire wheel.) Regarding oscillating tools, I haven't been able to convince myself to buy one of the Makita cordless versions as I've got five Fein multimasters, two electic and three pneumatic. I also tell myself that I'm holding out for Makita to design one that's less bulky, especially on the front end. That hook blade looks like it could be a game saver if you need it. I didn't know they existed. Thanks for the heads up.

I must have all yours.

Pick up one of these, if you haven't already.