power tools: red, yellow, or blue. need help...

[Ducky's Dad]

The only non Dewalt in shop is a John Deere pressure washer, ... Wish I had bought the Dewalt .

I'm on my third big pressure washer, and my Dewalt runs rings around the Karchers.

Re OP's Makita purchase, the killer with Makita is the price of the batteries, so grab some whenever you find a good deal on them. Good deals on Makita batteries are few and far between. I am mostly Dewalt, and just this morning I scored three new 20V Max 5ah Li-Ion batteries with three new dual voltage chargers and three new Dewalt bags for $300. Don't need them right now, but when I do need them they won't be available at this price.

 

[Happykamper]

Yeah good point for my cordless dewalts I troll craigslist always new batteries and chargers for pennies on dollar. Always checkout Home Depot special section , they have unreal deals there. People buy those in bulk then turn around and charge a few bucks under retail for " new in box" on graigslist. The specials on line are not good in stores.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

Always checkout Home Depot special section , they have unreal deals there.

That's where I found the Dewalt stuff this morning. Also grabbed three 48" Johnson aluminum levels for $4.03 each. At that price, I can let other guys borrow them. The Home Depot clearance section is a crapshoot, but every once in a while there is a score.

 

[harlyalice]

Informative thread.

 

[JoeTRD]

Milwaukee.
I work as a commercial and industrial electrician. Milwaukee is all you find on jobsites now days.
Just stands up the best and has the best power.


I personally own makita at home but its all old stuff. if I was to go buy new stuff it would be milwaukee.

 

[HenryJ]

Was Makita, tried Dewalt...now everything Rigid. Lifetime warranty including batteries. Very happy.

 

[Hummelator]

I used power tools every day at work. Over the years I've gone through makita, Bosch,Milwaukee and now some dewalt tools. Have also used some hilti tools.
If I had to start over, I would purchase all dewalt 20v tools. Cheaper than Milwaukee, impact has nearly as much torque, and they have a huge tool line up. I have been really impressed with the few dewalt tools I do have ( cordless circular saw and cordless rotary hammer drill)
Don't get me wrong I like Milwaukee but when you drop a milwaukee fuel impact 4 feet and it breaks, replacing it for north of $200 (tool only) is a hard pill to swallow.
I would switch everything over to dewalt as my tools break but I already have so much invested in batteries.
Which every brand you chose ( well this is an older thread but for those seeking advice for a future purchase), do you research and commit to a brand. Buying an all new line up of tools and batteries for each brand get extremely expensive...

 

[hemifoot]

especially when the redesign the tool every couple years and the batteries don't fit anymore {hilti}

 

[Ducky's Dad]

now everything Rigid. Lifetime warranty including batteries. Very happy.

The Rigid warranty is a crapshoot. Some of my warranty applications have been rejected because they can't find my S/Ns in their database. Several times, on brand new tools purchased over the counter at Home Depot. The one time I tried to use the warranty on a faulty item, they could not find my warranty, even though that was one that I had registered successfully. I am not very happy, and not impressed, so I don't let the purported warranty influence my purchase decisions. FYI, Rigid, Ryobi and Milwaukee are all produced by the same company, TTI/Techtronic. That is why there are so many similarities between Rigid and Ryobi products.

especially when the redesign the tool every couple years and the batteries don't fit anymore {hilti}

I just don't see any compelling reason to ever buy Hilti again. Prices are high and repairs can be impossible. One of the things I like most about Dewalt cordless is the backwards compatibility of their battery systems. All my 18V Dewalts will run on the post-type NiCad and Lithium-Ion and Nickle Metal Hydride batteries, and can also run on the newer 20V Max batteries with the Dewalt adapter. My 9.6V and 12V and 14.4V tools will run on any combination of 9.6 or 12 or 14.4V batteries. A 12V NiMH battery on a 9.6V drill is a sweet combination, as is a 12V impact driver running on 14.4V batteries. I am not aware of any other tool line that gives you that kind of flexibility. And all but the earliest Dewalt NiCads can be easily rebuilt with fresh cells or converted to NiMH for better performance. Hard to beat.

 

[hemifoot]

we use dewalt,hilti and milwakee at my work and they all hold up pretty good,but for taking out manhole bolts with an impact,dewalt is king.

 

[hovenator]

DeWalt cordless tools have always been good to me. I use mine everyday in a construction type setting and they always just seem to work no matter what abuse they're put through. I have some tools that are 10 years old and still get abused daily! The other brands are very good as well, but you can't go wrong with Yellow.

 

[Joe917]

I've been a carpenter over 30 years. Milwaukee have been the best for us, but not by much over Makita and DeWalt. Ryoby was junk. That being said Ridgid is offering free lifetime battery replacement, I would look into that.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

Ryoby was junk.

Key word: "was." The new stuff is pretty decent.

 

[hemifoot]

some of the first cordless tools i bought for home use were ryobi because they were affordable.

 

[HenryJ]

The Rigid warranty is a crapshoot...

Be persistent. I had one purchased online that was somewhat "trying" to get approved for the lifetime warranty. In the end it was approved. All my over the counter purchases have been trouble free. It does take a while for approval sometimes, but worth it in the end. No where else can you get a lifetime warranty on batteries. Of all the cordless tools I have had the batteries were their demise. Usually the cost of a replacement battery exceeded the value to replace the tool.
My initial purchase of Rigid was for a roof lifting tool for the pop-up trailer. Rigid had the highest torque available. Turns out that once the wiffle tree was properly lubed , most any drill would do the job. Still I was impressed and now have four. Driver, 1/2" hammer drill, 1/2" drill, and the light. Six batteries including two of the big ones. Lots to like.