I think this topic might have come up in the past somewhere, but has anybody ever had a Bosch 18 volt hammer drill? I've got a Dewatt, which has been ok, but my batteries have give up, and now the switch is going out on it. I'm thinking about a Bosch or a Milwaukee. Any thoughts on the matter. I've seen a Makita that was cheaper also. I've looked over the net here and so far Makita $ 179.95 , Milwaukee $ 200.00, Bosch $ 259.95. Actually the Milwaukee seems to be the best price. At one of my supply houses they want $ 265.00 for the same thing.
The Dewatt is $ 279.00 on the net and $ 300.00 at Lowes. Thanks for the input.. Steve

Try the Panasonic. They are the only tool manufacturer that I know of who design and produce their own batteries AND cordless tools to work hand in hand. From my experience, their batteries seem to run longer than all the other stuff I've ever owned.

ditto what sandro said, all my cordless is Panasonic now

Have a 18 volt Milwaukee but the batteries have taken a dump so its of little use. I have heard good things about Panasonic, will consider one in the future.

Batteries are subject all by themselves.

FWIW, I've had a Ryobi 18V for about 5 years now and have had absolutely no problems with it, other than going through a few batteries. I understand y'all probably have this thing with the more expensive brands like DeWalt, but in my experience Ryobi can be just as good--at a fraction of the cost. Replacement batteries are incredibly cheap too, you can get a 2-pack for $40 and there are buttloads of tools that run on them.

But, if you must spend 3-4x more for the prestige, at least go with Rigid. They've got a lifetime warranty on them.

Mate, the only thing that makes brands like DeWalt expensive is the marketing hype, the tools are no better.
Ever see a builder use a Black and Decker tool on a site without getting laughed at?.
Silly thing is, DeWalt and B&D come out of the same factory.
Food for thought,eh?.

I had been using DeWalt 18V hammers for about 8 years, but I've gone through about 4 of them in that time. My last one just died on a job the other day, so I bought a new Makita LXT 18V hammer with the Lithium-Ion batteries. I realy like it so far, but we'll see how it hangs after some extended abuse. It was about $300.00, comperable to the DeWalts.

I don't think B & D makes a drill with a 1/2" chuck diameter Trumpy. The gears in the B & D's are better suited for light duty jobs around the house, (IMO).

My favorite battery operated hammer drill right now is the Milwaukee 28V. It is absolutely overpriced and the batteries are also ridiculously priced. I bought the cordless bandsaw and got the drill free so it was worth the price to me and it works like a champ for big jobs. It is not a good drill basic work as it is large and heavy but when setting anchors in tilt up walls it drills like a dream.

On the subject of inexpensive or cheep drills and B&D being in bed with Dewalt I think what people don't consider is:

Milwaukee, Senco, Ryobi and a host of other equipment is made by the same manufacturer but to different specs provided by the company who owns the proprietary design. This was a hot subject on ECN a couple years ago and everyone cried up and down they wouldn't buy Milwaukee when they heard Ryobi was to be made by the same manufacturer. Where the equipment is made and by who doesn't matter. What matters is the specs, price, availability, and customer service.

Granite and Rexel Pacific sell allot of the same brands and parts doesn't mean they are the same or comparable (Well OK bad example as Granite is owned by the same people who sold Pacific and then jumped back in the game by creating Granite so they are comparable)

Milwaukee, Ryobi, Rigid, Panasonic, Hitachi, Craftsmen, and Bosch are all good tools and all have different strengths when it comes to cordless tools.

Buy what you like and what you can afford. There is not one single brand I can't destroy in 3 to 6 months. I've proved it time and time again to the guys in the field. I buy Milwaukee because I like them but I do hate their batteries and unfortunately their tools are overpriced.

edit
oops I left Makita off my list of good cordless tools
/edit

Actually they do Luke, they go up to 13mm here.
But I agree, the are not made for the heavy duty end of the market.

I have the milwaukee 28 volt Lithium Ion
I bought the 4 peice set off E-bay. I got it for $ 200.00 cheaper then the retail stores including the tool stores and the supply house. I am impressed with it so far. It weighs the same as the 18 volt drills and it's just a tiny big bigger.

You got a good price! To be fair it is about the same weight as the 18 but the battery is bigger. I think it is a bit shorter and a bit wider. I should note that I use a 14 volt for basic work these days and only bust out the 28v for big stuff and only grab the 18 if everything else is dead. that's why I say it is too big and heavy for basic work.

I forgot to mention Porter Cable in my last post as well. They have some good cordless equipment.

Anyone ever pay the premium for Hilti cordless tools?

I've been using Panasonic brand for quite a long time now. I've had a 15.6 volt lithium ion with two 3.5 amp hour batterys for at least the last 4 years and it is still going strong with the same two battery's that came with the set. But I did burn up two previous Panasonic drills by putting ship's auger bits into the 1/2" chucks. I have heard elsewhere that it is no problem doing that with a Dewalt 18 volt cordless, so the Dewalt motor itself must be a more powerful motor.

Ok I stand corrected, just never seen a B&D 1/2 (13mm) drill yet.

One another note, those Dewalt 18v drills are heavy duty for sure. Using auger bits, or step (unibits)...all day and, the smoke stays in the drill.

I just hope they don't decide to change the internal setup.

I made a decision. Seen where one of you fellows got one at ebay. I went to ebay and found another Dewalt for under $ 97.00 including shipping and shipping insurance. Of course the battery didn't come with it, but I already have the batteries. It's brand new and just like the one I have but should work:) Steve

Just remember the following brand names are owned by Black & Dorker.
1) DeWalt

2) Porter-Cable

3) Delta

4) Emglo

5) and of course Black & Decker

I'm not about to get into the "Brand X vs Brand Y" debate .... that discussion too often takes on religious overtones.

I do have some hammer-drill observations, though .....

My cordless DeWalt does seem to have the right mix of rotation / frequency / amount of impact to drill effectively in brick, block, and softer concrete. This contrasts to a corded Skil I hadmthat seemed only to make more noise on the 'hammerdrill' setting!

In a similar manner, a small Bosch (corded) I used long ago wasn't very good with super-hard brick, while the Hilti (of similar size) drilled very well.

The corded Milwaukee I also have to say I've had decent results with.

Now... as for 'different brands that come out of the same factory'.... I've had both the DeWalt and FireStorm (Black and Decker) cordless reciprocating saws. Let's see ... $280 for the DeW, $90 for the FS. You think there might be a difference?
The FS lasted about six months, before the plastic gears within were completely stripped. The batteries took an hour to charge, were vulnerable to overcharging, and crapped out after two or three cycles. The almost identical (in appearance) DeWalt batteries last me about 18 months (on average). Differences were also felt in weight, balance, and vibration.

Carry the same comparison over to drills. My DeWalt Drill spins quite a bit faster than the B&D. There also seems to be quite a bit more torque in the DeWalt ... ironic, again, as the batteries are almost interchangeable.
Indeed, I made a slight change to the B&D so that they would accept the DeWalt batteries ... so my comparisons are based upon the tools alone, and not the battery!

The biggest problem with hammerdrills is the temptation to ask too much of them.
I limit my use of the hammerdrill to 1/4" holes, or smaller. Larger than that gets a roto-hammer.
Some smaller holes ... such as holes for tapcons (the blue screws) into concrete are also very likely to be made with the roto-hammer.

A little off subject...all cordless hammer drills are useless compared to a rotary hammer. I bought a rotary hammer a few years ago & haven't used a hammer drill since. I use Porter Cable corded & Panasonic cordless and have only trashed one of the Panasonics in several years. The Panasonic 1/2" 18v hammer drill disassembled in an odd situation where I was backing out of a hole & caught an edge that unassembled the chuck.

Dave

I have 18V and 14V Milwaukee hammer drills. I have had them for over 3 years and only had one battery take a dump and Milwaukee replaced it free of charge. I have had DeWalt and Porter Cable as well but have been happiest with the Milwaukee. I only use a cordless hammer drill for setting TapCons and other small anchors up to 5/16" dia. Anything bigger(up to 3") gets the corded Bosch SDS. 4"-6" gets the Dewalt spline drive and if its bigger than that I call the core drilling crew.

Tiger, sure a rotary is a superior tool, but when you're 30' up on a ladder drilling a couple of 1/4" concrete plug-anchor holes for a wallpack, nothing beats the portability of a cordless, not to mention the lack of line power in a lot of locations. I keep a good rotary on the truck (Hilti) too, but usually only break it out for super-deep or super-fat holes.

I really think the introduction of cordless tools with the technology of reliable batteries has revolutionalized our industry over the past decade and a half or so. I dont know how we got along without them before...

I have a 1/2" B&D that someone gave me. It sat in the back of my tool closet for years and when I finally dragged it out I was surprised. It does act and sound like a real tool. Since then I have used it a lot for nasty jobs like hole saws, mixing tile mud and shooting in big dock screws. I can't break it.

Some of the OLD B&D tools were rugged.

I've got an old Dewalt 1/2" Ni-Cad drill that's seen just about everything from new apprentices to 30 foot drops from a roof top on to concrete. The guts of that drill must be made of some really strong "cast iron" or something, along with the funny - I think_ plastic case that house that creature.

It's kind of like the energizer Bunny - it just keeps going and going....Eat's batteries though - I only get about 200 recharges before we have to take them in for the usual $60.00 overhaul for the new battery cells. The overhauled types I've dealt with now just change out the cells to Lithium-Ion types and they seem to go forever. I kept track of one overhauled battery that was done with the Li batteries and it's just gone through it's 450th charge and still keeps accepting the juice and working like new. That's over a 12 month period for the old Dewalt drill. As far as power goes, I still can't beat corded Milwaukee hammer drills if we have to bust a nice smooth 1" hole in the concrete or drill a 3/4" oak floor.

I've had most of the other stuff, including Ridgid, Bosch, B&D and that green one - Oh ya Hitachi - but Dewalt and Milwaukee are still the outstandingly reliable best for what we do every day.

Different businesses, Zapped. I'm hanging residential panels and J Boxes at chest level.

Dave

I think I'm going to buy a Panasonic portable to see how they work. Seems like more than a few people highly endorse them here. I just spent close to six-hundred dollars on new cordless tools and they were all Dewalt.

Why Dewalt?

Because those are the cordless tools I have come to depend on to get the job done. I am by no means rich, but I don't have a problem spending money on good tools and good work clothes because I am a professional. No, I do not work for Dewalt, lol.

Mixing the subject, has anyone else been able to try the Milwaukee 28V rotary hammer? A coworker bought one and we used it to set 3/8 drop-ins for about three days. Any other manufacturer making a cordless rotary? I seem to remember an 18v DeWalt.

Got my new 18 volt hammer drill in the mail today from ebay. Just got out of box and so far works fine with my existing battery. Seems a little tight, but I guess that's because it's never been used. In all including shipping and insurance,it cost me
$ 97.00. I'm wondering where they get these drills without batteries or anything else. From Dewalt someway, surplus??

Five finger discounters....

I buy most of my tools on ebay, and have been very happy with the results. With a little patientce, you can walk away with a great deal on new, unstolen, warrantied tools. Just watch the shipping charges!

The new kid on the crew went out and bought himself a whole bag full of Hilti battery tools. I've never seen them before.

Big bux but wow! I've never used tools that felt so "right" and worked so well. The sawzall is especially nice - unusually shaped but it feels so good that it makes me wonder why they aren't all designed that way.

I use deWalts, but I want Hiltis.

I HAVE HAD A BD 1/2" 18 VOLT DEWALT 1/2" 18 VOLT AND A RYOBI 1/2" 18 VOLT THE ONLY ONE THAT STILL WORKS IS THE RYOBI #2 WAS THE BD NOT HAPPY AT ALL WITH DEWALT THE BATTERIES FALL OUT OF MY DRIL SAWALL AND CIRULAR SAW

Personally I'd only use a Mains powered Hammer drill and more often than not it would be a Hilti.
I have a TE-50 that gets quite a bit of use.
With respect to cordless drills, I use a 14.4V Panasonic drill unit.
I've drilled through wooden power poles using an Auger bit with this drill I don't know how many times.
The biggest issue though with this drill, is not the battery going flat, but being careful your wrist doesn't get broken if it jams, mid-travel.
The batteries seem to keep a charge quite well too.

Hilti makes a very nice 24v cordless hammer drill. It operates and sounds just like a standard a/c hammerdrill. Really nice, but I think they're about 800$ a piece! I'll be staying with the cheaper brands also.