ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Ryobi vs. DeWalt: Opinions wanted

Here's my Harbor Freight experience:
-The reciprocating saw is junk
-the hand-held bandsaw works just as well as $$$$ models;
-the angle grinder may/may not have a standard 5/8-11 arbor, and the switch breaks easily;
-the halogen lights are no different from everyone else's;
-the pipe dies work fine for cleaning excess zinc off of rigid;
-the cordless tools are crap;
-the pipe bender can be helpful with EMT (if you're doing small offsets on large pipe); and,
-the $20 hand truck is worth its' weight in gold.

My Ryobi experience:

The reciprocating saw gets a 5 out of 10, where 10 is a corded Milwaukee, and 0 is a broken hack saw blade. The batteries don't last long in the saw, and the saw is not heavy duty.

The cordless variable speed drill is a 10.

The vacuum is a 0, rating right along side a cracked soda straw.

The circular saw is okay for a few light cuts. Better than a hand saw.

I had a battery rebuilt. It cost almost as much as a new battery. When my old Ryobi drill got tired, I bought a new Ryobi set, because it came with two batteries.

What I don't like about the Ryobi set is the huge box in the back of the van. I'm always climbing over it.

If I have to make a choice between Ryobi or DeWalt I would take the DeWalt tools.

If I had to make a choice between Ryobi and my kids Fisher Price tools I would take the Fisher Price tools.

Personally I think Ryobi is another language for "Lightweight junk Americans will buy"

Sorry Scott (electure) we can not agree all the time.

Bob

Dare I say it ryobi is crap in comparison to dewalt, mechanically speaking.

It sounds like battery life is your issue here. I have extra batteies from my last dewalt that outlasted the life of the tool. (About 4 years with heavy use but proper care)

A hammer drill by design will self-destruct, but that is another story. But back to the battery issue. In the old days of rechargables, the Makita batteries needed to completely discharge due to "Battery Memory", and that is now a thing of the past. Yet I still see people running out thier dewalt batteries that have non-memory batteries. If you apply Ohm's law to this practice, you're over-amping the battery every time as the voltage gets lower. Voltage down, amperage up. It destroys the battery and motors.

I have a practice as I start work every day of putting one battery on the charger. I work ALL DAY with the other until it just starts the fade, about 2PM, and switch. Like I said, I have had the same batteries for years now.

Funny thing is, the last time I had to by a drill, due to loss, I thought of buying a Bosch, (a better tool) but I had all these extra dewalt batteries, and chargers I could afford to loose them. And, I'm stuck on 14.4 because that was the biggest they made back then on the initial investment.

Next time you want to drill a 1" hole in cement block, John, try setting up a piece of 1/2" rigid and whack it with a 4 lb. hammer (and quick patch with hydraulic cement). Really, though, I'd get out a corded tool before I used 6 batteries.

I recently thought about getting one of those sets of cordless tools until I read posts of two or three of the tools being light-weight/useless.

I'd rather spend $300 on one tool that I'll love every time I pick it up than to buy a five tool set that I'll hate and end up throwing away. I don't have a single DeWalt or Ryobe tool on my truck.

Dave

Interesting, e57. I didn't know that the amperage goes up as the battery dies, and that this kills the life of the battery. Thanks for the info.

Thanks also John, twh, iwire and Dave. I've always loved quality tools and will spend my last food money on a good tool, and when I'm in a weak moment, thinking of using cheap junk, it's good to have some guys rally around quality. I just missed the $299 deal for a DW 18v hammer drill/impact wrench combo with 2 batteries and a charger, so I have more time to think about it. I DO hate to handle inferior junk tools and was hoping that maybe that Ryobi stuff might be okay (the guys on the job seem to like it, but they might like to be poked in the eye with a sharp stick). If it's junk, I'll just go back to coughing up megabucks for $80 batteries, etc.

Here's an artical about batteries and care: http://www.taunton.com/finehomebuilding/pages/h00106.asp

Thanks, that was very informative. I noticed it too, my old 7.2 volt Makita lasted a long time, my 18 volt DeWalt augered in quick. Man, there's no way to win, is there? They need to make a cooling system. How about a water pumper battery cooling system?

Has anybody had any experience with rigid cordless tools? I personally use Dewalt brand.

Guy's this is how I see it. I bought and use the 18 volt Ryobi set (reg. drill not a hammer drill). My buddy working side by side has a DeWalt set. He used up 2 DeWalt drills and now trying a Ridged. Again both the Ridged and the DeWalt units are in the $250 - $300 range. As for the price my Ryobi set has stood the test and if it should last 2 yrs. it was a worth while investment and I would still have lunch money in my pocket.