I am thinking of purchasing one of the 4 or 5 pack of cordless tools. I was thinking Milwaukee lok-tor set with the hatchet, or the new M-force Makita set. I am not into dewalt. Have had lemons from them. Any other suggestions would be great Am specifically looking for reviews from owners of these tools. Thanx! Brian

Sparkeee24:

I have been using Milwaukee corded & cordless tools now for about six years. The only issue I have had with them is the batteries last only about two years. Other than that, they are just awesome. I have the 18v Lok-Tor hammer drill kit w/the Hatchet and light. I also have a 14.4v drill, then a corded hammer drill, right angle drill, and sawzall. I have dropped both cordless drills from several times anywhere between eight and ten feet and they both still work perfectly. I also highly recommend Hilti tools, too.

I got the Milwaukee set about a year ago and its one of the best tool purchases I have made. I already had one cordless drill, so now I have five batteries, so I can usually find at least one that is charged. But I think the most used part of the kit is the radio, its the envy of all the other techs in my company, just have to watch it on big job sites as everybody else is eyeing it up too...

I really like the Milwaukee 18v set. The hacksaw rules and drill has been great exceept for the keyless chuck. Mine is 3 or 4 years old so maybe its been updated. If not, the chuck is a piece of crap. It won't hold a drill bit in hammer mode and it won't hold a bit very well drilling. I have had no problems with the batteries and I have a half dozen or so.

We have 2 DeWalt kits and 1 Milwaukee kit. Both makes are 18Volts, here is our experience...

Drill - Both are very good. But we feel the DeWalt drill has the edge.

Sawzall - Mil is much better. Love the way the handle swivels.

Circular Saw - Mil is built better and stronger. Looks and cuts wood more like a corded saw. The DeWalt looks like a toy.

Flashlight - Dewalt is nicer with the funtional snake-style handle. You can hang, wrap and position this thing almost anywhere.

Radio - Mil has better sound and neat digital tuning. BUT the dewalt has onboard battery recharging and has proved to be extremely handy.

Battery - For some reason, the Mil needs more frequent recharging. Also, I don't know if its a problem with just our kit, but to take the battery off of any of the Mil tools can be quite challenging sometimes. For whatever reason, the thing jams into place and sometimes need two guys to remove the thing. Very frustrating. The DeWalts batterys remove much easier and seem to need less frequent recharging.

Overall, I don't think you can go wrong with either one, pretty much a matter of preference.

Personally, I favour the DeWalt line only because I have had very good experience with them. I still have my 5 year old 18V Dewalt Hammerdrill still in service with original batteries and still going strong. The thing has been throughly used, dropped and abused. Just last year I replaced the brushes and the thing still runs like brand new.

A little off the subject,
Ever used Bosch's in-line jig saw model 3294EVS.
What a great tool. Cuts in old work boxes without marking up walls and makes it much easier to watch you cutout lines. Only about $120

I have milwaukee 18v and am happy with it. The first hammer drill is 2 years old the chuck is junk because it allways loosened up. It quit hammering a bit ago too. The newer onn has a much better chuck. Some say the sawsall is smother then dewalt. Don't get your fingers caught on the blade plunger (seen it happen a few times). I have the strait sawsall. Someone told me they were not happy with the flexing hachet one (no grab on or something). The flashlight are great (I hate those flex dewalt ones). I don't know if I like the radio. It takes up too much space and does not charge the batteries. We got the metal circular saw a few weeks ago. It is unbelievable. 1 battery cuts 1/2 pipe in half a second most of the day. It will cut 1 1/2 ridgid in a single pass and bigger in 2 cuts. I think it is faster than a band saw or sawsall. It is great for demo too.

If your from Chicagoland please disregaurd the part about the circular saw.

Tom

[This message has been edited by Active 1 (edited 05-08-2004).]

I have used Milwakee stuff some, but DeWalt is all we have on our vans... all 18v, have had great luck with them. Drills are strong and durable, no problems with the sawzalls. Thoes are the things we use the most. I have found used and new stuff on Ebay at really good prices... Drills if used, offten need brushes. Easy fix, parts cost about 7 bucks.
One way or the other, find one you like and stick with it. Then your batterys will interchange. Good luck!
Greg

I have the DeWalt kit, as well. The only real problem I had was one battery pack that crapped out after a month of use, but DeWalt replaced it under warranty with no complaints. Been using the tools for about 4 years now, and they are holding up fine. The circular saw is quite small/underpowered for serious cutting, but the most wood cutting I do on a regular basis is a plywood backboard for a service panel. Works just fine for that or trimming the occasional 2x4.

The lemon of a Dewalt I had was the model 988 18 volt, 3 speed hammer drill. In all the gears, it acts like the clutch is toast, but it doesn't have the same kind of clutch as the older types did. It has a plastic transmission housing, that the gears are in, and an oval shaft, that deformed the slot within the plastic housing. This shaft is what selects the torque settings and the hammer function. I have noticed on the newer models (also made at a different facility) that the tranny housing is of a different casting. Perhaps the have corrected the issue I have had. They fixed it 3 times for me for free, and the same damn thing keeps happening, using 3/4" paddle bits through a 2X4. and definately not abuse for this tool. thanks for your replies, think I'll get it fixed one last time, and sell the whole set on ebay for what I can get for it, and buy a milwaukee.

I bought the Dewalt 14.4 combo set when it first came out ('96?). The drill works great, even after repeated drops from 6' stepladder (oops). Had small problem with the switch that went away - probably corrosion or dirt...never any problem with the chuck.

Had a battery charger melt on me a few years ago. Even though it was out of warranty, Dewalt replaced the battery and charger for free. (they almost became one, so it was a moot point)

The cordless trim saw is ok (and sharp - almost lost my thumb to it a few years ago!) but the batteries just get sucked dry by it. I still use it for small stuff, but if it's more than 24" of cut 1/2" deep or more, I grab my corded saw.

I bought the "swivel head" flashlight (as opposed to the "snake"), and have been very happy with it.

No experience with cordless sawzall/cutsaw.

My foreman used a Makita (IIRC) cordless drill, and was quite happy with it. He said the Milw cordlesses went through too many batteries. He still swears by their corded tools, though (like most of us!).

[This message has been edited by DougW (edited 05-09-2004).]

I've been using an 18v. DeWalt combo. kit for a long time now with no problems to date. I even picked up the new DeWalt vacuum which works well. I received the charger/radio as a free promotion which is so-so, but honestly I'm never in one room long enough to bother setting it up. I think the most important piece to have is a strong drill that's a hammer/driver, which seems to be the most versatile.

We are incredibly lucky to have so many choices of good tools to choose from.

We all have very different wants, IMO my 18V DeWalt Hammer Drill is to heavy for all the time use, but for cavo148 it is what he wants.

For general purpose use I have a very beat up still works great 14V DeWalt drill only, light and powerful enough.

The Milwaukee's I have used seem great too, but I have a free supply of DeWalt batteries so DeWalt is what I buy.

One to stay away from IMO is Ryobi, you can get a Ryobi kit for 1/3 the price of the same in DeWalt, Rigid or Milwaukee but there is a reason for that cheap price.

I used all Dewalt 14.4 for a few years and had no complaints. Hammer drill, driver drill, sawzall and circular saw. One weekend on an industrial job the driver drill and hammer drill got swiped. I had to have something to work with right away so I bought a Porter Cable 14.4 3/8" driver drill. I couldn't believe how much more power and battery life it had over the Dewalt. The job I was on was hanging 3/4 EMT on purlans and the Dewalt needed fresh batteries 2-3 times a day driving Tek screws to hang clamps. The PC went all day on the same battery and you had to use the clutch to keep from spinning them out. Since then I have added a PC hammer drill (1/2" chuck) and a second 1/2" driver drill. I have tried out and don't care for the Porter Cable cordless recipro saw. I found it awkward to cut conduit with. I replaced my 14.4 Dewalt sawzall when it died with an 18V Dewalt sawzall.

Well, Hilti and Makita are the Rolls Royce of power tools. Shows in the price too. Here in Europe Hilti is synonymous for rotary drill hammer. It's just "a Hilti". No long words, the same in almost all languages,...

I thank everyone for the replies! I will also agree with the comment on the Porter Cable 14.4 volt drill, it was my spair, and I loved it. But it has had so much use, that the plastic chuck (light and easy to use) disintegrated, and unfortuneately, I messed up something in the faster gear drilling 3/4 " self feed paddle bit holes through top plates. onesy twosy at a time... But the slow gear works great still, and I just use it in that. This week, I left the charger in the rain so that's why I can't relie on my backup drill. And the dewalt I have has never been up to par. So many good reviews about Dewalt out there, that now I am sure I got a lemon. So far, NO ONE has given much of a review on the Makita's, so I think I'll pass on that one. Keep the ideas coming!! P.S. email me if you want info on affordable battery pack rebuilding you do yourself. costs about 1/3rd the price of a new one. tradesman232002@yahoo.com Take care best wishes! Brian

Don't know if anyone has tried Panasonic, but we've kinda gotten addicted. The 15.6 volt kit is personal favorite. VERY expensive, but hands down the best conduit cutting (and safest) made. With all attic/crawl/dark work we do it's great. New 3.5 hour battery is big improvement over 3 hour. P.S. much too expensive blade wise for IMC or rigid.

I just wanted to bring this thread back to the top and add that I recently purchased a Panasonic 12-volt cordless drill and it's a beauty. I went 12-volt to keep the weight down and there's no shortage of power. It has 3.5 Ah batteries which last more than a day in my use (screwdriver & drill fairly often). I'm very happy with everything about it in the short run and time will tell if it holds up well.

Dave

I just read that Milwaukee is being acquired Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd. they also own Homelite UGH,Ryobi UGH again, and the Royal and Dirt Devil brands,hopefully they won't go downhill.


P.S. If it is not Milwaukee it's not a Sawzall.


Life is too short to buy Dewalt, or is it "friends don't let friends buy Dewalt".

I was given a Ryobi Kit for christmas awhile back. I use it around the home but decided to bring the recprocating saw to work. The reciprocating saw is great. It seems to have a higher rpm and is lighter than any of the other saws I have tried. The Dewalt does not cut quick enough and jumps around on the conduit when cutting. I agree that the quality is not as high as the Milwaukee's and Dewalts but you can buy 3 to every 1 of those brands. Comes in handy when theft becomes one part of the job that you have to contend with.

"Life is too short to buy Dewalt, or is it "friends don't let friends buy Dewalt".

Why??:?

I use the 18 volt roybi set which hands down gives you the most bang for the buck. Have had mine now for 3 years and still going strong on the org. batteries. I use mine pretty much for everything vary rarely do i pull out the corded tools.

I do industrial electrical work and I will take a corded tool over a battery tool any day .The other day I wanted to cut a old lead cable out of a pit . We had 2 saws and 4 dead batteries between them.When we need a battery drill we will takea drill both batteries and a charger. We also have a Burndy dieless crimper and cable cutter one is 14 volt the other is 18 voltwe take both batteries and chargers when we use them. Also we take a generator just tom charge the batteries.

It sounds like time for fresh batteries.

Hypress welcome to the forum.

I too get frustrated with dead batteries sometimes.

Usually when I see some one grab a battery drill even though they are working near power and have a bazillion holes to drill.

Bob

[This message has been edited by iwire (edited 09-06-2004).]

If you are looking for good battery operated tools you want to look at AIRCRAFT DYANAMICS in Lima Ohio.They dont have the greatest selection but they are probably the best you can buy . Sawzalls impact wrenches drills and rechargeabel lights. EXELENT EXELENT EXELENT CUSTOMER SERVICE.

When I had 4 batteries,still got caught w/my pants down w/4 dead bat. I asked a Milwaukee rep. about the lack of a charger on their radio and the reason he gave was that a lot of job sites ban radios,the three bay charger seems to work pretty good for me.

Has anybody had a chance to use the Rigid Line of cordless tools?

NORCAL.... the Mil rep wasn't entirely truthful. DeWalt owns the rights to onboard radio charging.

Sandro,Just another half truth from the rep.