Which power tools?

It is time I upgrade my cordless power tools. I can’t decide which to go with, Milwaukee M18, M18 Fuel, dewault 20v. I mainly need an impact driver and compact drill but would possibly add in a skill saw and sawzall. This won’t be used for drilling any holes in the ice, only construction needs. Is there one line that is better than another? Costs vs. Benefits? Etc.

Not really familiar with anything but Dewalt but I will say you really need to look at the specs very very (did I say very?) closely. Dewalt is very deceptive with their models and pricing. Especially in their combo packs. Some models may look identical but they are far from it.

DeWalt is good but RIDGID has a lifetime warranty on parts and service even the batteries just be sure to register them on line

Don’t be fooled by the 20V vs. 18V either. Both the Dewalt and M18 are 20V static battery packs. Both are also 18V under load.

If Milwaukee, go with the M18 or M12 Fuel Line (brushless motors). Much better performance than standard M18.

Both Milwaukee and Rigid are manufactured by the same company. Personally, no experience with Rigid, I’m sure it’s a great tool, however, Milwaukee has a much more extensive tool lineup. Even with light commercial use, I have yet to replace a Milwaukee tool or battery.

That Rigid lifetime warranty does sound appealing though.

Makita would be another to highly consider.

We got a bunch of Rigid tools at work for free and one by one they are failing where none of the Dewalt tools have ever failed. All of the Rigid tools are significantly heavier and louder. The Rigid tools also don’t seem to have the level of fine control as the Dewalt. For my personal tools, I’d avoid them.

Problem with Dewalt is they always change battery types. As you upgrade or replace the batteries and chargers are different.

I love my Ryobi stuff. They don’t change battery styles. I had a battery go bad after a year and I called and had a new one for free in a couple days. I just bought their brushless hammer drill and use it for ice. It’s no joke.

We run 20v dewalt at work. They are great tools. Take care of them and keep the batteries charged and they last for many years.

Milwaukee’s tool selection and durability is tough to beat.

I’ve had the 18v Dewalt tools since about 2004. Couple batteries gave out is the only problem and we really use them a lot. Bought the 20v hammer drill and I really like it. See they have adaptors to run the new batteries on the older tools.

Matt Moen wrote:

I love my Ryobi stuff.

x2. No expert here. Home/cabin project work. Year into a set. No issues. Have drill, skill saw, sawzall, fan, work light, radio. 18 volt lithium one+ series stuff. Seems like a great value for what I paid. Home Depot has the lowest prices. Lower than Amazon!

-J.

I run all Milwaukee stuff and I have never had an issue.

I’ve always been a ryobi guy at home, never had one fail. We got dewalt at work and I’m not impressed, batterys are always dead.

I have a selection of both Milwaukee M12 and M18 in my work van and they are hard to beat. The M18 Fuel circular saws and SDS drills are absolutely amazing.
I love my M12 Fuel Impact Driver, awesome little tool with a ton of power, have a holster for it and use it daily, only bringing out my M18 fuel impact driver for the really big jobs.
The selection Milwaukee has in tools is hands down the best around, the other guys are trying to play catchup.
Check out home depot’s black Friday sales they have a few decent kits for really good prices.

I run Dewalt 20v and so does my work in a manufacturing facility. Very few fail in under 2 years of manufacturing use from anything other than neglect and abuse. Their warranty is only 1 year, however.

The 887 1/4” impact (biggest one) isn’t nearly as powerful as the Milwaukee 1/4” impact, but other than that I haven’t noticed much of a difference between the two.

Thanks for the input. I agree that you need to look closely at what you are getting.

Be cautious of those black Friday deals from HD. My buddy bought two similar 15gauge nailers, one from HD and the other from Thomas tool, HD had primarily plastic innards where the other did not.

I did part time there years ago and can tell you from upper management HD will buy naming rights to these brand names and slap em on some cheap knock off versions. IDK why but HD just seems to be putting out a lot of cheap stuff nowadays, I find myself more and more at menards. Maybe that’s just my poor perception but throwing it out there.

I have a wide selection of brand name tools, no real connection with any of the brands. Good luck with your search.

I also have a M18 Fuel WeedWhacker at home that is pretty awesome as well. Better than any gas or electric trimmer I’ve ever used. I’ve also used the M18 Fuel leaf blower and that thing has more than enough power to do most general homeowner tasks including a yard full of leaves if you have enough batteries.

I would be careful about the “best price”. I know a buyer at one of the big box stores and he advised I buy my drill somewhere else. Some companies will make deals with mfg’s where plastic gears are used in place of metal and other cost cutting measures. Same name and model on the drill but the mfg had to hit the required price point.

For cordless tools I have a twist/hammer drill,impact driver, and reciprocating saw. All in the 20v flavor. They get light use for home projects. Next time I have an excuse… I’ll buy an oscillating saw and circular saw. Those five tools would satisfy most the things I want to do around the house with a cordless tools.

I run Dewalts because that’s what we use at work and they seem to work well. I’m sure there’s better out there.

My understanding is that cordless tools have also been racing down to lower and lower price points, largely driven by big box store demand. There are lots of variations available for the same tool. Lower price gets you a light duty tool with small battery capacity.

… If you want good non biased tool reviews, check out this dude’s (AvE) YouTube channel. He does a lot of tool teardown reviews and is pretty honest and entertaining. His other videos are very much worth watching too.

munchy wrote:

I also have a M18 Fuel WeedWhacker at home that is pretty awesome as well. Better than any gas or electric trimmer I’ve ever used.

The chainsaw is a joy to use as well. My wife will even use it.

A lot of good info. I am not set on just the 2 examples I gave, you just see those 2 a lot. Thanks

You can’t go wrong with Milwaukee or Dewalt. I don’t buy mine at HD I purchase them at a tool store, Thomas tool or Acme. I have a guy that runs Rigid and he’s constantly replacing them.
If you want the best I’d say Hilti.

Go brushless. Yellow is fine, just not the cheap promo ones at Lowes. The models look the same. The red brand makes a fluid drive impact that is a little easier on your ears. It is good for driving screws not taking cars apart. Hearing damage matters.

Fairly opinionated on this topic.

I run both dewalt and ryobi. Not impressed with ryobi at all. Just lots of stupid little things that are irritating. Dewalt tool itself is good and have had used dewalt stuff a long time. Batteries aren’t good imo at all even kind of. Tool itself is great. Use my tools every day and have had some forever.

Buy my kids Milwaukee stuff for bday and Christmas presents. Use them when I at their house. When I get the ambition am cutting my losses on dewalt and ryobi and going to switch everything over to Milwaukee. Way better tool and battery life imo.

Milwaukee just flat out has cordless figured out. The selection of tools is mind-blowing and as a DIY guy, I would be shocked if you ever wore out even the older brushed tools, and the brushless improve even on that durability.

I got my first M18 drill in 2006 and I believe that they had been in the market 1-2 years by then. That drill is still going and so is everything I’ve bought since.

I have the brushless impact driver and I use it as much for mechanic work as for driving screws. That little impact driver will bust loose a nut that I couldn’t break loose with a standard ratchet. It’s just so much faster, I use it all the time.

Probably the tool I use the most as far as hours of use is the LED flashlight. Runs for hours on even the small battery. This one is almost a necessity IMO.

Next on my M18 list is the full impact wrench and the grinder.

My Milwaukee circular saw and Hatchet Sawzall is from the ancient 18-volt NiCad line and all tools (drill, Sawzall, circ saw, flashlight) STILL work so I haven’t replaced them. You can’t kill this stuff as a DIY’er, I think I bought that set back in 2001.

Absolutely can’t go wrong with the Milwaukee line.

Lots of good info, lets get a little more specific. What is the difference in M18 and M18 fuel?

The fuel is the top of the line brushless tools by Milwaukee.

I have the Dewalt 20v and I’ve never had any issues with it, best drill I’ve ever owned so far. They are 100% worth your money.

As a test, we managed to cut down two mature boxelder trees with the Milwaukee Fuel Hackzall last summer at the hunting land last summer that had died near the cabin. Mine has cut down two trees, pruned trees (Milwaukee sells pruning blades), cut up rebar, and been used for lesser projects like drywall, cutting out old doors, cut measured 2x lumber on a remote decking project, etc. and I swear that thing almost runs itself.