ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Ryobi Cordless Drills?

"How old are you? Better yet hows the arthritis? "

I guess I'm stronger than the average bear, but I can hold my 24v drill in one hand, straight out, and drill through 2x framing with a 7/8" auger without it twisting my wrist, including pulling it back to clear the hole.

One of my guys insists on reversing the drill to pull the auger back out, and I can't convince him that method leaves the hole partially blocked. His response is to spin the auger on high speed for about 5 seconds.


Oh, by the way, I'll be 51 this May . . . Sonny.

[This message has been edited by Larry Fine (edited 01-11-2006).]

I got a Milwaukee 12V about eight years ago. then, at a Home Depot sidewalk sale I picked up 2 Ryobi drills, a small saw and 4 batteries 14.4V all for a rediculous price. the saw wasn't of much use, cutting trim maybe, altho it would cut a few 2x4s before pooping out when new. the drills worked well for a couple years till the batteries all died one by one. At $50 each for new batteries I just threw the drills away and went back to my old Milwaulkee (not the beer) which is still going strong. When It's time for a new one I am looking at the new Lithium powered ones.

So I guess the Ryobis were worth it in the sense they gave me my money's worth, but I still prefer quality. One good thing about the Ryobi's, it doesn't hurt so much when they get ripped off.

BigB....watch the 28V Milwaukee... its not as tough as they claim it is. If super battery life and power is what you are after, check out Panasonic. Ni-MH batteries are the way to go!!

I had a Ryobi 5-pack that lasted me a whole 3-4 months before everything (exept the flashlight) started to break down. I definitely would not recommend them for the professional but if they're good for you... then they're good for you. Before the set totally broke down, my truck was broken into and the set was stolen.

I'm a Dewalt guy. I recently jumped from the Dewalt 14.4 to the 18volt and I'm very happy with it. I used the 14.4 for the longest time because it served me well for everything I needed to do. Now, I'm doing more commercial type work and needed more power.

By the way, I did not know that about the batteries. Thanks for the tip, e57.

I don't personally use Ryobi, but my little brother has been using them for some time and they have been working out very well for him. Little to no problems so far.

I use Makita myself, my older brother uses Ridgid and my father uses DeWalt. So I have has a good look at everything. I still like Makita the best but the Ryobi tools are not bad for the money.

we have 5 vans,2 guys per van,two ryobi 5 piece kits per van.they seem to work well for the money.and when the company suplise the tools people dont tend to care for them as if they owned them,we tend to replace about two drills per year sawsall about one a year.

Use an 18v Dewalt at work, excellent and rugged.I Own an 18v Hitachi that gets as much use and would buy another over the dewalt as it is only 60% of the cost and 95% of the quality. Feels nicer in the hand than the dewalt also. I wont buy cheap battery products anymore, they cost more in the long run as you buy one after the other, I see my dad doing this as if hes going to find the elusive mystery brand drill for 50 bucks that is as good as my dewalt or hitachi just so he can say told ya so!