Another Heated Debate – Best Drill!?!

Figured we were past due for an old fashion what’s best thread. My old Ryobi battery was dying a long slow death, and I made due for a few years of minimal run time off the charger (and they don’t make batteries for it anymore either). I only need a drill for random small jobs around the house, not professional use so that added a few years as well. Anyway I went to Home Depot to get a new one. The old timer there tried selling me another Ryobi, but I wasn’t too interested and the cost savings weren’t significant. Then he said Rigid is the new top of the line, and lifetime Home Depot warranty on the batteries and drills, so I picked up the linked 18V 2 drill/2 battery kit and I’m sure it (or any drill) will be fine for the minimal use they get around my house.

But for those of you who need them for work, what’s the best of the best these days?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-18V-Cordless-2-Tool-Combo-Kit-with-1-2-in-Drill-Driver-1-4-in-Impact-Driver-2-2-0-Ah-Batteries-Charger-and-Bag-R9272/315110228?mtc=SHOPPING-CM-CML-BNG-D25T-025_009_PORT_POWER-NA-NA-NA-PLALIA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-PortablePower_2023&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-CM-CML-BNG-D25T-025_009_PORT_POWER-NA-NA-NA-PLALIA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-PortablePower_2023-71700000109195071-58700008348831410-92700075951757179&gclid=4e0f42987df01fa8f472263f762c5b70&gclsrc=3p.ds&msclkid=4e0f42987df01fa8f472263f762c5b70

Best of the best will be a hilti. Milwaukee will come in second then Dewalt. If it were for the normal guy at home that rigid would be just fine

Bearcat89 wrote:

Best of the best will be a hilti. Milwaukee will come in second then Dewalt.

I will agree with this. I went with Milwaukee because of all the other tools I can use with the same battery.

Batteries plus used to rebuild battery packs if you are looking to keep the stuff you have.

Fun story: I was working with a Dewalt impact and my buddy was working with a Rigid. The specs on the Rigid was way better than the Dewalt in every aspect. Driving in 8” lag bolts, the Dewalt would put in 1.75 of them to 1 of the Rigid. Dewalt battery half dead and Rigid fresh off the charger. Just saying don’t look at specs alone, nothing wrong with any of the other brands, sometimes there are reasons why other options cost more. They both did the job.

I have 2 rigid drills and alot of rigid stuff. All lifetime warranty and nothing has let me down yet. One drill is the octane model that they don’t make anymore and the other one is the model R86114B. That’s the one I would recommend.

Mine have been used hard and use them ice fishing for my auger also.

watch home depot online and they will have deals all the time on rigid stuff and alot of times they will throw in 4ah battery in for free when you buy bare tools

I had a 12v Dewalt for years…. worked good but too bulky. I have had a Makita 18v for a few years now and love the drill and impact.

I have plenty of Ryobi stuff now. Tons of hand tools. They’ve seen a lot of use, not everyday, but a LOT of use. Still 0 issues to report. As a homeowner & DIY guy they seem to be pretty damn good for the price.

Yes all the stuff this day and age is pretty solid. Ryobi rigid and all that make very nice tools especially for the at home guy. But as a contractor who beats on tools everyday and watch others do the same there is a reason hilti and Milwaukee are the 2 most seen tools in the trades.

Bearcat89 wrote:

Yes all the stuff this day and age is pretty solid. Ryobi rigid and all that make very nice tools especially for the at home guy. But as a contractor who beats on tools everyday and watch others do the same there is a reason hilti and Milwaukee are the 2 most seen tools in the trades.

That is interesting, seems like not long ago everyone in the trades ran Dewalt. Now all my buddies in the trades would agree, Hilti or Milwaukee are the go-to’s. But that has been the case for a few years now, so that’s why I was wondering if there is a new latest and greatest. Thanks BC!

There are many good cordless tools on the market now its not what is the best drill it’s how long will the batteries last. Once the battery is gone you might as well buy a new tool. I love hearing the lifetime warranty stuff makes me chuckle.

supercat wrote:

There are many good cordless tools on the market now its not what is the best drill it’s how long will the batteries last. Once the battery is gone you might as well buy a new tool. I love hearing the lifetime warranty stuff makes me chuckle.

i have like 10 batteries so if one dies i should go buy a new tool?

Our guys in the field all ran Hilti’s, except one guy that used his own Milwaukee set. I personally have all Milwaukee, and have been more than happy with them. The first gen lithium 18v batteries are getting weak and don’t run nearly as long as new. I don’t look forward to replacing them.

The one that has a good battery.

Part of the decision may be how many different tools the manufacturer makes for the battery platform.

I went with a Milwaukee drill (brushless and M18 batteries) when my older Dewalt 18V batteries started going bad (non-Lithiom Ion batteries and not a brushless drill). I cant say anything bad about the Milwaukee as I have been very happy with it, and have since bought the leaf blower, circular saw and string trimmer. At this point I’m committed to Milwaukee when my batteries start to fail

Wife calls me a Milwaukee tool snob but it would be dumb to get anything else at this point

Probably can’t go wrong with red, yellow or blue. Curious about your ryobi- one thing they always have stuck to I’ve heard is that they have not changed battery design ever.

I run Milwaukee as I was gifted a drill for Christmas many years ago and have since si.ply. Interested in batteries and tools that all run on the same platform. Fwiw I do some side jobs like flooring and tile, diy everything at home and also run my M18 drill as my auger going on 4 seasons now. Thing still runs great, I am just now getting to the point some of my 5ah batteries need replacing they are hitting 6 years of use. Not a contractor by any means, but longevity in this Milwaukee set has me hooked.

Milwaukee.

Of the probably ~40 contractors we sell house packages to and their crews on the daily(as a part of my second job)…I’d say 75% run Milwaukee. Probably 15% Dewalt. And the rest a mixture of Makita, the Menards brand stuff, Ridgid, and Ryobi.

I personally have 7 or 8 batteries and probably 20 or so 18v tools that have never let me down. Their 12v stuff is nice too. I have just one pair of those batteries and maybe 10 12v Milwaukee tools

Whatever happened to Bosch? weren’t they a leader back in the late 90s early 2000s? I used to work in marketing at major construction and industrial supplier and I believe they were our #1 seller at that point. Between them and DeWalt, anyway.

At one time, like 20+ years ago Porter Cable had a cordless drill that had enough torque to drive a 3/8″ lag, sans pilot hole. I had a framing outfit & a bunch of Dewalt stuff then.
I used some Makita 4 amp drills & impacts at a refuel / EPU at Monti. Picked up a set at HD and like them yet.
Went with a Milwaukee 18v Fuel drill / driver set a couple of years ago. A year ago I found a deal in 18v Fuel hammer drill.
Hilti is good stuff but frankly my Milwaukee drill are more than capable of breaking a wrist or knocking out some chicklets.

Rigid octane they just bought one for my dads birthday 1250 torque. My original 1300 torque has been great on the ice. I chose these because of the warranty and will replace the battery or tools.

I’m not saying this is the best but has been great for all i need and for fishing.

I put about 75 two inch screws in my deer stand yesterday with my milwaukee with a small 1.5ah battery and only used 1 bar of the charge. The dewalt I had before would have never done that.

Love Dewalt tools. Hate their battery system. I’ve bought 9.?, 12, 14.4, 18 and 20v since I started with them. Having over 15 18v tools that were bought when I started in the rental business, I now have to run a adapter to run my current batteries. Other brands seem to stick with a battery design better. Mine are for personal or landlord use. So, I don’t wear them out and buy new tools every few years like people that use them all day every day.

The_Bladepuller wrote:

Hilti is good stuff but frankly my Milwaukee drill are more than capable of breaking a wrist or knocking out some chicklets.

I’ve got a Milwaukee drill that hasn’t let me down yet! However I’m an unhandy banker and don’t use and abuse my power tools much… with that said, I’ve got a handful of Bauer 20V tools from Harbor Freight that for the price, has shocked me with their performance!

In this day and age, like so many other products, they are all good. They all have to be in order to stay in business. And so many of them are made in the same factory. I’ve heard the Ryobi and Hart (that you find at Walmart) are made in the same factory.

Ryobi, Milwaukee, and Rigid (Home Depot Brand) are both owned by Techtronic Industries.

Doesn’t really mean anything though.

I run all Dewalt – not a “trades guy” but they get lots of HARD use.
No issues yet.
My last two batteries died last weekend on my Ryobi ( only use the hedge trimmer anymore). Bought them mid 90’s so they definitely lasted a long time . Nothing bad to say about those tools either.
Take care of your stuff and it will last. Batteries come inside when the weather gets cold.

Makita, awesome products and rock solid. However Milwaukee tools have a damn good battery system and pretty great tools for the 18volt system. Dewalt is a black and decker product and Milwaukee and Ryobi are made by tti.

Hiliti and Makita still make everything themselves.

A lot of your probably in a similar situation. You get to a point where you have enough tools in one brand and you’re pretty much committed to that forever now.

I was in Milwaukee user back in the corded tool days. So with cordless I started buying Milwaukee as well. I think I have seven different Milwaukee M18 tools. So at this point I’ll be buying Milwaukee tools and batteries forever.

If you watch Home Depot and online sales you can get some really good deals on batteries. I got two 5 amp Milwaukee batteries for $129 on a home Depot online only sale last year.

For just home owner use almost all the tool brands are perfectly acceptable nowadays. My neighbor has Ryobi and I’ve done some projects with him and those work just fine. The nice thing I will say about Ryobi is the lower price of the tools in general really encourages even a homeowner to buy tools that you would never touch if you were running Milwaukee or some of the more expensive brands.

I have Dewalt tools and they are fine for my around the house use.
I think Milwaukee has the most complete/extensive line of battery and 110v tools on the market.

The smartest thing I did was sell all my 18v Dewalt tools about 6 months after the 20v tools hit the market.