The great PF cordless tool debate

[Crazy Dane]

On my firetruck we carry a few of the Milwaukee M18 tools, 2 sawsalls, a drill and an impact. Our rescue company has the same tools and more but in the Dewalt 20v max xr series. The Dewalt will beat up the Milwaukees and take their lunch money all day long. The Dewalt just preform better and last longer. My son's company builds custom industrial machines and the just traded in all of their Milwaukee stuff on all Dewalt tools. That said, I have the Porter Cable 20v tools and cant complain for what I need them to do around the house.

[beenalongtime]

No one tool company is THE company in my experience.

I prefer and long ago bought corded hammer drill/reciprocating saws, etc, which have lasted longer then my battery powered tools. I bought a Ryobi reciprocating saw, for the one time I needed cordless that a tree saw wouldn't work (time verses labor). I have a Porter Cable drill and driver, that need new batteries. I hope someday LI batteries, will have the lifespan on NiMH batteries, or be easily and inexpensively rebuildable. (had good luck years past with 9.6 Makita's and 15.something Panasonic, when it was one of the first brushless drills)

There are benefits to having all one tool brand, however some tools are harder on the batteries (seen a relative kill a whole bunch of batteries in short order). I don't tend to follow that mentality and there is certainly no benefit if a rarely used tool.
DeWalt makes better impact wrenches then most, however impact drills and drivers, I am more of a user that would grab a Porter Cable or Ryobi, because of convenience and the amount of use I will use it for (bunch of stuff, then may sit a while and by the third year, the batteries are dead). I would prefer a Makita cordless circular saw, based on some features I would use, verses some of the others.

[JAD]

It’s a damn shame but I don’t think the tool companies have done anything to educate their customers about the way LIBs work, and how they differ from NiMH.

Even with crappy Chinese cylindrical cells, you should be seeing at least comparable life between the two technologies and grossly more convenience. One thing that should help a lot is a difference in your approach to charging. NiMH has ‘memory,’ so it needs to be fully cycled. Run it dead, then charge it all the way back up. LI absolutely doesn’t, and doesn’t like being fully discharged. Small charge cycles centered around the middle of the battery’s voltage are optimal. Avoid letting the battery sit around at 100%. Keep the battery below 90f if you can in storage. High temps and a 100% state of charge are murder.

[RoyGBiv]

Built a small (8x8) floating deck in the yard last weekend. My 5yo Dewalt still can countersink all but the last 2 screws before I have to swap batteries. And the battery lasts plenty long enough to recharge the backup. Hard to beat that. And I'm more of a Lowes fan.

[corneileous]

I’ve primarily used DEWALT all my life. lol still even have my old 3-speed 14.4v drill that just 3 or 4 years ago, I had to replace the batteries finally and I bought it in 05.

Recently I’ve upgraded to mostly all 20v- 1/2” drive impact, 1/4-drive impact, 2-speed drill, cordless circular saw and angle grinder.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Poconnor]

My son in law is a union carpenter. He buys Milwaukee. My father is a retired union electrician; he always bought corded Milwaukee. I have porter cable battery drill for around the house. I bought a Milwaukee battery powered weed trimmer this summer to replace my gas powered echo. ( my fucked up shoulder doesn’t like pull cords ) So far I really like the Milwaukee trimmer. I plan on buying my Milwaukee battery powered tools. Their chain saw is next

[corneileous]

My son in law is a union carpenter. He buys Milwaukee. My father is a retired union electrician; he always bought corded Milwaukee. I have porter cable battery drill for around the house. I bought a Milwaukee battery powered weed trimmer this summer to replace my gas powered echo. ( my fucked up shoulder doesn’t like pull cords ) So far I really like the Milwaukee trimmer. I plan on buying my Milwaukee battery powered tools. Their chain saw is next

Milwaukee’s are good tools but damn, they are awful proud of their shit. Lol. It’s almost like comparing Craftsman hand tools to Snap-On; both are great tools but that name’s gonna cost ya. [emoji41]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Gadfly]

Been using the Ryobi for close to 20 years. Bought a factory reconditioned set when I bought my house. Used them to rebuild the fence and deck. Have since built a couple of porch/decks with friends. It has installed shelving, hung doors, built target stands, assembled furniture, and 100 other house hold chores. The work, well.

Now, my issue is I have 10 ryobi tools, 3 chargers, 6 batteries.... so I am married to the brand. But it works. I buy two new batteries every 4 years or so. Did my buddies DeWalt stuff impress me? Yes, it did feel better and had power to spare. Was it worth double the cost, and my having to start over buying new tools? Hell no!




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Wyoming Shooter]

I've been using the Dewalt XR 20V cordless tools for a few months now. I've had zero issues. I'm a fan.

[wvincent]

Milwaukee on all of our service trucks and in the shop. We started with Dewalt, but two things pushed me away.
1: Battery life, Milwaukee just really seems to out perform in our usage, bandsaw, sawzall's, impacts, drills, lights, grease guns, pipe
cutoff tools.
2: Milwaukee always seems to lead in innovation, being first to the market with new tools, with Dewalt following behind.

Also, the manufacturing side of our business uses all Dewalt, so having a totally different brand seems to curb tool "migration" from one side to another.