Cordless Tool Recommendations

[Big Blue]

I'm not as brand loyal as I probably should be. DeWalt 20v hand drill, Kobalt 40v snow blower, Ryobi 40v mower. Always been a fan of DeWalt hand tools, this my second one. The snow blower I picked up while recovering from my transplant as the big 8 hp was too much to muscle around. Works great for thoughs little 3-4 inch every other day snowfalls. Just got the mower on a deal I couldn't refuse. A year old and the owner died. Only used it twice but liking it so far. If i replace my string trimer I definately look at Ryobi to share batteries.

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[Trigganometry]

I was a Dewalt guy a decade ago and was brand loyal. Then my son learned plumbing got licensed and started making his living. He started with Dewalt too then midstream he went over to Milwaukee. He said warranty work and life of tools were crap with Dewalt. Milwaukee has never been an issue for any claim. They just hand him a new one and off he goes. I do have to say I switched over too and am very happy with the full range of tools. Where I work they’re all over the plant here as well. Yes they do cost slightly more but it pays back in the long haul.

 

[9zero1790]

a less popular but great brand for cordless is panasonic. cost more yes, but they are tough, great warranty and last. used a friends panasonic cordless drill when my mill batts died. i was shocked how light and comfy it was in my hand plus it had more guts than my heavy 18v mill.

 

[Stage3Motorsports]

I am looking to get some battery operated tools. Mostly the basic stuff. I am your average homeowner workload, but we are going to be redoing some cabinets, so I will be getting a sander. I have a 1 ryobi 18v battery, leaf blower, and shop vac. But I am wondering if I should go with some higher quality tools (Milwaukee or Dewalt).

Ryobi definitely has the advantage in the sheer volume of tools to use with its 18 volt. Dewalt is probably a close second with its variety of tools. I have a corded milwaukee drill that is great, but I would like to have that when I need more power and use the convenient battery drill for quick work around the house.

Ryobi tools are quite a bit cheaper, but if you get into the brushless HP models the difference is less. I do have appreciation for Dewalt being made in America for a lot of its tools. Thanks for your help!

I didn't rear over all of the pages here, but as someone who has used cordless tools for many year across different industries and lots of times drilling cutting metal and spending money on every brand you can imagine my #1 vote is Rigid soley for the lifetime warranty, buy and register the tools and never worry about it again.

That alone beats out every other argument for every other company in my opinion, I do still have some Dewalt tools leftover from before I switched over and 2 random Ryobi that i wound up with but anything new i purchase is 100% Rigid.

 

[wanted33]

If you already have Ryobi, stick with it and get more tools and batteries. Since it is household stuff you will be doing, Ryobi will work just fine. I used to install cabinets and I used Porter Cable and had next to no issues

I was going to recommend Ryobi Andrew, but you beat me to it. The Ryobi tools work fine for me as I'm a shade tree mechanic at best. They'll probably last longer than I will.

 

[Langwilliams]

If you're still looking Lowe's has a BOGO sale on craftsman battery tools. Buy one with the battery pack an get a "tool only" for free. I got a 20V weed wacker an impact ratchet for a hundred bucks. They didn't have a stand alone drill or I would have gotten that. Other options were a grinder, sawz all, leaf blower an a few other things.

 

[Eskram]

You're essentially buying into the battery system, and what possible tools you may need within that sphere. Most any brand from a big box will work for home use, though I don't have much experience outside of Makita.

All my cordless tools are Makita, though I do have a corded Ryobi bandsaw and drill press that I use for knife making and woodworking. No complaints there so far.

 

[Clank]

As an update, i had decided to do milwaukee as I love my corded drill from them. However, I charged one battery and with the second battery, the charger read faulty battery. Tried it multiple times and was consistent. So then I tried the battery that I had just charged to full and the charger again said faulty battery. Probably a faulty charger if I had to guess. Nonetheless I tried the drill just to see if liked the drill and would want to do an exchange for a new kit, and the motors both make an ear piercing high pitched whine especially at lower speeds. Reading up on milwaukee apparently this is coil whine that is normal for their motors. I know as people get older they cannot hear that pitch, so maybe I am just not old enough to own a Milwaukee set. Back to square one as I returned the set.

Not a reason why the set was returned, but I also found it odd that the m18 battery did not physically lock in to the charger, and instead just laid on the charger port. Seemed like a weird design.

 

[R_B]

I have a Milwaukee 1/4" nut driver and their great adjustable flashlight with the steel rotating hanger at the top with 3 batteries. I also have an old 1/2" Ryobi Impact wrench and a fan with one battery.
I know the Fathers day sale coming up and the Fourth of July sales at Home Depot is a great time to stock up but never knew someone had made a battery gender bender for the electric tools.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/202757824235?hash=item2f354edeeb:g:wxMAAOSwzxhiaKOP

https://www.ebay.com/itm/202838748964

You'll be Lelukee with this adapter: https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Adapter-Milwaukee-Convert-DEWALT/dp/B08SKGH424

Dozens sold evidently! YMMV!

 

[jss81258]

As an update, i had decided to do milwaukee as I love my corded drill from them. However, I charged one battery and with the second battery, the charger read faulty battery. Tried it multiple times and was consistent. So then I tried the battery that I had just charged to full and the charger again said faulty battery. Probably a faulty charger if I had to guess. Nonetheless I tried the drill just to see if liked the drill and would want to do an exchange for a new kit, and the motors both make an ear piercing high pitched whine especially at lower speeds. Reading up on milwaukee apparently this is coil whine that is normal for their motors. I know as people get older they cannot hear that pitch, so maybe I am just not old enough to own a Milwaukee set. Back to square one as I returned the set.

Not a reason why the set was returned, but I also found it odd that the m18 battery did not physically lock in to the charger, and instead just laid on the charger port. Seemed like a weird design.

The batteries don't lock in with the buttons on the battery but..... they do have to be seated firmly in the charger and there is a bit of resistance when the contacts engage properly. If you just let the battery slide in the charger on its own, charging is hit or miss and can return an error. As to whine, I've never noticed anything unusual. But then, maybe I'm too old.

 

[Clank]

The batteries don't lock in with the buttons on the battery but..... they do have to be seated firmly in the charger and there is a bit of resistance when the contacts engage properly. If you just let the battery slide in the charger on its own, charging is hit or miss and can return an error. As to whine, I've never noticed anything unusual. But then, maybe I'm too old.

Its most noticeable if you push the trigger in enough to not move the chuck but start engaging the motor. This was also on the brushless models. Brushed most likely would not do that.

 

[Blmpkn]

Too lazy to read through 4 pages to see if this has been addressed or not... but...

Ryobi tools get a whole lot better the bigger your battery gets in terms of Amp hours.

I've used ryobi stuff for the past decade at work. When we made the decision to throw our pile of "stock" 1.5ah batteries in the trash and replace them with 3 & 4 ah batteries.. life got a whole lot better.

They are pricey.... but they're absolutely worth it. Definitely pony up for the brushless stuff too.

 

[D Fresh]

Its most noticeable if you push the trigger in enough to not move the chuck but start engaging the motor. This was also on the brushless models. Brushed most likely would not do that.

Why would you do that?

 

[D Fresh]

Also I'm a bit pissed.

Finally bought into the cordless electric mower thing a season or two ago. Went with Kobalt, seemed the best of the choices available at the time.

Then I find out this summer that Milwaukee is now selling an m18 mower.

 

[Clank]

Why would you do that?

It's also there at low speeds but if you want to just hear the noise with no RPMs you can

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