So, best brand of cordless power tools to get (re)started with today? (2 Viewers)

[e9999]

I have a bunch of cordless power tools from different brands but mostly Ridgid (not entirely by choice really, but quite happy with them actually).
I'm wondering about the best brand of tools to get started with today, considering the investment in an essentially closed system with proprietary batteries.
What prompted this was a post I saw recently that basically said that Makita and Dewalt are serious hobbyist/contractor grade but Milwaukee is a notch above. Which seemed surprising to me, as I always thought of those 3 as being roughly in the same category.
So, if somebody were to start or restart with some brand, disregarding already-owned tools, which one would be the best, everything considered, you think? (Yes, I realize this is rather subjective)
Me, I have a soft spot for Makita, in no small part for their sweet little top handle chainsaws... And I have had very good luck with Makita indeed. But I can't vouch that they are better than Dewalt or Milwaukee, really.

So, what brand, in your opinion? And why?

 

[arcteryx]

I started with Dewalt, Porter, Hitachi, they didn't last. Went to Milwaukee, never looked back. Use variety of tools for all sorts of things, I am sold.

If I were to start over, I'd give a hard look at the HF Bauer set. Lower price and has great reviews. Not a HF fan usually but there are exceptions. But compare with Milwaukee , they seem to be the top dog IMO.

The only thing I don't like is their batteries are $$$. GL

 

[e9999]

^ doesn't HF market their Hercules line as better quality than the Bauer? (It is more limited now, it seems, though, but that is likely to change with time, I imagine.)

 

[arcteryx]

Could be, I just see lots of ads about Bauer. Somewhere on here a long time ago, like 7-8 years or so, @davegonz found a review on which reciprocating saw (could have been an angle grinder) was best. He compared 6 different brands and the Milwaukee won and convinced me to switch. The fella's site was dedicated to tool reviews, can't find it though.

If you do go with Milwaukee, the best bang is to get a large package of stuff, like $800-1000, the cost per unit is much lower than individually. Look for northern coupons and when they go on sale.

 

[Efjayforty]

I am a big fan of Makita. I have most of their cordless tools and I have never replaced a tool because it broke or wore out and I use about them about has hard as anyone. I won't own another yellow Black and Decker, aka Dewalt. I know people who love them but I must be too hard on my tools or have been unlucky as they never last. I switched from Milwaukee cordless to Makita cordless about 10 years ago because of problems with Milwaukee batteries but none of my Milwaukee cordless tools had the newer battery systems. I have several Milwaukee corded tools that are great. The reason I switched to Makita is I went to Kennedy Space Center and the videos show astronauts using Makita tools so I figured if they were good enough for NASA then they were good enough for me. I have Makita batteries that are 10 years old and still work but they don't hold a charge as well as some of my newer ones.

 

[gnob]

Did some work a couple years ago. All day long with drills or impact guns, all day.
Milwaukee. Styt was so good i bought some for myself.

 

[e9999]

any thoughts on which system (considering all the tools options) is more extensive nowadays and may have important tools that others don't?

Or issues like battery implementation direction (2x18V tools vs 40V-only tools for example)?

 

[eatSleepWoof]

Milwaukee all the way. I've been growing my collection of their tools for some ~6 years, and while I'm purely a hobbyist, they've never let me down.

 

[MrMikeyG]

I'll throw my hat in with Milwaukee as well. My biggest issue has been burning up the mechanism in the small drill the 2606-20 (completely my own fault) and I've had a couple of the small 1.5AH lithium batteries crap out on me. The ridgid stuff has a really good warranty though (if you register your stuff promptly), but to me Milwaukee has such a crazy variety of stuff available it's almost no contest. Also (for you folks that live in larger metro areas), Milwaukee is available at Platt, Ferguson, Gensco, Keller supply, Home Depot, Possibly a few local/regional sources as well.
The 6-pack battery charger is a pretty big game changer.

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Shop CPO Outlets for new & reconditioned power tools and outdoor equipment from Milwaukee, DeWalt, Makita and more. Save more with tool deals & sales.

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Dewalt now has a multi charger for their new stuff, but they made it a linear format so kind of clunky.

 

[DangerNoodle]

I'll throw my hat in with Milwaukee as well. My biggest issue has been burning up the mechanism in the small drill the 2606-20 (completely my own fault) and I've had a couple of the small 1.5AH lithium batteries crap out on me. The ridgid stuff has a really good warranty though (if you register your stuff promptly), but to me Milwaukee has such a crazy variety of stuff available it's almost no contest. Also (for you folks that live in larger metro areas), Milwaukee is available at Platt, Ferguson, Gensco, Keller supply, Home Depot, Possibly a few local/regional sources as well.
The 6-pack battery charger is a pretty big game changer.

CPO is America's Leading Online Tool Retailer | CPO Outlets

Shop CPO Outlets for new & reconditioned power tools and outdoor equipment from Milwaukee, DeWalt, Makita and more. Save more with tool deals & sales.

www.cpomilwaukee.com

Dewalt now has a multi charger for their new stuff, but they made it a linear format so kind of clunky.

I've never had good luck with DeWalt. I can never get their batteries to charge properly. Milwaukee all the way.

 

[MrMikeyG]

Home Depot has a decent selection of Milwaukee on sale today.
“Special buy of the day.”

 

[e9999]

I was at HD today, looking at all the systems. One thing I'm sorry to say was universal is the ungodly high price for batteries when bought separately. At times exceeding the price of the tools themselves. There is something fundamentally wrong with that, it seems.

 

[Samuraj]

my cousins ....electrican , plumber , carpenter , they are recommending Ridgid
I'm stock with Ryobi ...but not for long , going Ridgid
im semi truck mechanic

 

[Elbert]

Milwaukee , based on ownership of several and feedback across the web and from some full time mechanic friends.

 

[e9999]

the lifetime warranty for Ridgid is a big plus (if you get your act together and register on time). And if you get a tool and battery together you get lifetime warranty on the battery too! That's worth big bucks right there. I don't know of another brand that does that. And partly why I'm still with Ridgid mostly, aside from a few Makitas and Dewalts, and various brands of corded tools. Although to be honest, the 2 18V Li-Ion Ridgid batteries I lost were about 8 maybe 10 years old when they went, that's pretty good.

But I'll say that the Makita cordless line -and likely some others- seems to have way more cordless tools. (And way more than I see in the stores like HD, which only carries a few.)

As a generic aside, I will also say that as of late I have been buying brushless whenever possible.

 

[KLF]

If I were starting over, I would do exactly what I did way back in 2006: Makita 18v LXT. I have a bunch of their tools now and really like them. Just took delivery of a big 1/2" impact gun last night, thing is a beast, can't wait to use it now. I have 6 batteries, one is from 2008 and still working well.

Do not buy from Home Depot. The tools are "tweaked" and not made as well, so they can make more profit. I get all my Makita from Amazon.

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

Milwaukee, I use them everyday. Impacts, drills, band saw, vac, hammer drill, I have a half inch impact in my truck for lug nuts. After using Dewalt for a few years I went to the Milwaukee side and never looked back. I personally feel their quality is far superior to the Dewalt, or the other brands.

 

[MrMikeyG]

Yes, batteries are horribly priced if bought individually. Most of the upgrades I've made to my personal stuff have been when there has been some sort of "free battery" sale, Or if one of the other vendors around town has a sale. I got 2 XC5.0 and a charger for 149 a year ago from a plumbing wholesaler.
@KLF I had always wondered about that. To me they cannot do that and still have the exact same model number on the tool itself. I'm going to ask around about this. I've known for quite a while that HD has the buying power to "dumb down" a lot of plumbing fixtures, but I didn't think a well regarded tool maker would let that stuff slide. It would be hard to argue against a potential sale of 100k units of a given thing though.

 

[e9999]

Without any inside info admittedly, I have a hard time believing that a Makita tool at HD would be made of inferior components compared to others of same model number elsewhere. Not so much because they wouldn't out of good ethics, but because it would be a pain to do from a manufacturing and supply chain point of view. Then, again, I might be naive about such things.

On a side note, I will say that it seems like poetic justice that we can take advantage of good deals on tool and battery kits designed to sucker people in their system, when we already are with them...

 

[KLF]

The only Makita tool I've had to get repaired was a right-angle drill, the switch let out it's smoke when I was drilling studs for romex. Rather than mess with it, I dropped it off at a local tool repair place, and the first thing he asked me was where I bought it. He told me if it was a HD purchase, I should just toss it. But, since it wasn't, he put a new switch in.

If you take a tool with the same number into the store and hold them side by side, it will feel different. I do have a Makita recip saw from HD, bought it for a project in a hurry, and it just feels cheaper.