Power Tools

[Fuzz]

No Rob, I am not talking about the "power tools" I sold back in my uni days.

I've replaced all my old corded power tools and slowly replacing my petrol garden tools with 18/36v Makita tools. I chose Makita mainly because I was fairly familiar with their corded tools, and a lot of family and friends also have Makita LXT tools and gave pretty good feedback on them. Sticking with the 18/36v range, am I'm not a tradie and have no need for the extra grunt

From hobbyists to pros, what are you guys using and why?

[Shawn4212]

I am the manager of maintenance shop in a large distribution center for a very large company. (Hint you likely ordered something online from us and had it delivered within 2 days recently lol) Anyway all the tools in our shop are Milwaukee. My techs can be pretty abusive on tools in this setting trying to maintain industrial equipment. They just take a beating and keep on going. We tried Dewalt for a bit, no Bueno.  The Milwaukee OEM batteries last longer then other brands too.I personally grew up in a family body shop where the only cordless tools to be found were Makita so at home I have both Makita and Milwaukee.

[El Presidente]

1 hour ago, Fuzz said:

No Rob, I am not talking about the "power tools" I sold back in my uni days.

I've replaced all my old corded power tools and slowly replacing my petrol garden tools with 18/36v Makita tools. I chose Makita mainly because I was fairly familiar with their corded tools, and a lot of family and friends also have Makita LXT tools and gave pretty good feedback on them. Sticking with the 18/36v range, am I'm not a tradie and have no need for the extra grunt

From hobbyists to pros, what are you guys using and why?

 

I am the owner of a now.....near new...Ozito chainsaw. 

Bought through covid. 

Have run out of trees to cut down. Diana may have stopped me.  I can't stop. Plants are just want to be trees.....aren't they! 

 

[BettyHumpder]

Stihl all the way for me.

[Lfhard]

I am a Dewalt person. Never had any issues with the brand. Very reliable. I love how I can use the batteries in any tool. I have the lawnmower, weedeater, and a bunch of other tools. Charges can charge the batteries super fast too so no standing around and waiting I can just keep moving. 

[Fuzz]

It only stands to reason that once you choose a brand you stick with it, just for the ease of swappable batteries among your tools. Though, with aftermarket adapters, you can still use the one battery across the brands.

I do have one friend who has bucked this trend and just bought whatever tool he thought was the best (ie cheap), regardless of the brand or battery compatibility (he has 12v, 18v, and 40v tools). Amusing when I see him use 4 different brands of tools when he does some reno work on his house and rummages for each battery.

[helix]

Went with a 60V greenworks as cordless platform for chainsaw, lawnmower and blower plus a 300w power inverter. So far so good. Have not tried their 24V drills. Have a Bosch drill.

[Nevrknow]

Milwaukee exclusively. Battery swaps and all. Used to be Dewalt guy until Black and Decker bought them out. Quality went to shit but lately it “seems” to be getting better. 

SIL wanted Milwaukee but he only uses his 4 times a year if that much. For him, Ryobi. Good enough and cheap.

[Bijan]

Milwaukee 12V for drill, and small tools.

Kobalt (Lowes brand) 80V for things like lawn mower/chainsaw.

[SpecialK]

14 minutes ago, Bijan said:

 

Kobalt (Lowes brand) 80V for things like lawn mower/chainsaw.

Kobalt 40v own everything but the lawn mowers.. 

[fisherclive]

Milwaukee and Dewalt here

[Islandboy]

From a General Contractor perspective, simply meaning ours is a tough and demanding environment for heavy duty cordless tools, it’s Milwaukee right now. I say right now because brand dominance comes and goes, as does quality. 

[BrightonCorgi]

Another Milwaukee owner. Just what the family has normally bought for decades.

[99call]

I go two tier. High end stuff for tools that get a lot of use drills, circular saw. Routers Etc anything from Makita up to Festool.

For random tools, like finger sanders. Planers. Einhell make great cheap tools. For stuff you use once in a blue moon.

People that aren't tradies that buy full sets of high end tools around one battery set. It is a false economy. By the time you get any degree of use out of it. That kind of person will already feel like it's out of date. New battery format = means you have to buy a whole new set = bullshit.

[Capn_Jackson]

I’ve tried a lot of different brands, and have decided I like DeWalt for outdoors (weed trimmer, recip saw, hedge trimmer, pole saw, mini-chainsaw, etc) and I have a mix of Milwaukee and DeWalt hand tools. Almost all of it is cordless. Love the battery-powered stuff!

[Chibearsv]

My BIL is a busy carpenter and swears by his Milwaukee tools. For me, around the house, Dewalt has been working just fine lately for drilldriver, small circular saw, and sawsall.  I recently got a Ryobi 40v leaf blower that works great too.  The Dewalts were all gifts but my favorite power tool is my 35ish year old craftsman 12v drill. That sucker is still kickin it. I don’t know if they make them like that anymore.

[Fuzz]

7 hours ago, Islandboy said:

From a General Contractor perspective, simply meaning ours is a tough and demanding environment for heavy duty cordless tools, it’s Milwaukee right now. I say right now because brand dominance comes and goes, as does quality. 

A friend of my brother went big on Milwaukee when the M18 batteries came out. After a frustrating year of his batteries crapping out, not charging fully, and dying early (about a dozen warranty replacements), he dumped them all for Makita. He's been using them for nearly a decade now, but he has been looking at Milwaukee again.

[karp]

Bosch for me. Ten years plus and all working fine, even the impact driver which has been through a lot.

[Islandboy]

6 hours ago, Fuzz said:

A friend of my brother went big on Milwaukee when the M18 batteries came out. After a frustrating year of his batteries crapping out, not charging fully, and dying early (about a dozen warranty replacements), he dumped them all for Makita. He's been using them for nearly a decade now, but he has been looking at Milwaukee again.

Yep, every brand out there has been on both sides of the pendulum...I’m still scratching my head over what has become of Bosch. Milwaukee took some lumps a decade ago and actually learned from them.

[Fuzz]

5 hours ago, Islandboy said:

Yep, every brand out there has been on both sides of the pendulum...I’m still scratching my head over what has become of Bosch. Milwaukee took some lumps a decade ago and actually learned from them.

Bosch Blue was heavily promoted for a while down here, but seems to have died down. They kept showing a wide range of tools, trying to take on Makita's range, but just seems to have fizzled out.

[Ford2112]

I am a tradesman and have used them all, Bosch, Makita, Dewalt, Milwaukee and Ryobi. They all have their place imo. I mostly use Milwaukee and Makita.

[Fuzz]

9 hours ago, Ford2112 said:

I am a tradesman and have used them all, Bosch, Makita, Dewalt, Milwaukee and Ryobi. They all have their place imo. I mostly use Milwaukee and Makita.

A tradie friend (Milwaukee user) said the same thing; Bosch in the bin, Ryobi in the rubbish, Dewalt in the dump... 

[Russell]

For work, Hilti. (We do commercial masonry restoration - so mostly saws, rotohammers, and drills. Some lasers and other specialty tools)

For home, Makita - drills, saws, blower etc