The great PF cordless tool debate

[Welder]

How long did you have to hammer on them? Even when I have a 3/8 air ratchet in the game, I break lug nuts manually with a breaker bar because it's just faster. Half-inch gun is different, but I don't usually bother with the weight of one.

If I was trying to pull lug nuts using a 3/8" air ratchet, I'd definitely try something else too But I think / hope you meant 3/8" impact.

Only the mid- and high-torque M18 1/2" impacts are heavy; the compact 1/2" guns are super light, small, and capable. I just ran over my old compact 2655 with a forklift, bought new plastics for $25, and it's in the game again. If it wasn't repairable, I'd have gone with it's modern replacement, the 2855. I think it's rated at 250 ft-lbs. It'll do most anything automotive and generally handle bolts with a 5/8" / 16mm thread size or smaller in real life. The bare tools are around $200 give or take $20.

If I want to put out more torque than that, I'm going to use a 3/4" M18 or I'll hook the air hose up to an air impact of 1/2" or larger size. Due to their physical size and weight, I don't like the mid- and high-torque M18 1/2" guns. There's a lot of cramped places where they're just not usable. But the heck with breaker bars for little stuff like lug nuts LOL.

PS - If you're attached to 3/8" drive size and air power, a 3/8" butterfly gun probably has the guts to pull lug nuts although I never tried mine for that. You can pick them up cheap and they store small. Just watch those RPM's; mine is a lightning bolt and I could see lug nuts flying. Pretty sure my butterfly gun has more power than my 3/8" air impact gun.

[AKDoug]

The high torque 1/2" M18's are big and heavy, but they still have their place and it's sure nice not having the air hose around. I had to laugh yesterday as I wiped the dust off the 1/2" air impact in our shop yesterday. We don't think we've used it in over a year.

The 3/4 M18 will do semi truck and trailer lug nuts, so it has become a must have tool around our place. We use the big ass 12AH battery that came with my big M18 skilsaw and that works so well we will be buying at least one more. Still lighter than my 1" air impact we used to use and now we don't have to drag the gas powered air compressor along on field rescues.

[Clusterfrack]

My tool-obsessed buddy just sold all his Dewalts and switched to Milwaukee M18. He's very happy with the switch. I didn't say "I told you so" but was tempted.

[AKDoug]

My tool-obsessed buddy just sold all his Dewalts and switched to Milwaukee M18. He's very happy with the switch. I didn't say "I told you so" but was tempted.

My wife sticks with DeWalt so I won't steal her stuff. The flip side is, when she misplaces one of her tools, I have plausible deniability.

I will say that her brushless impact driver SPANKS my M18 brushless when it comes to larger sized screws like TimberLOKs.

[Welder]

The high torque 1/2" M18's are big and heavy, but they still have their place and it's sure nice not having the air hose around. I had to laugh yesterday as I wiped the dust off the 1/2" air impact in our shop yesterday. We don't think we've used it in over a year.

The 3/4 M18 will do semi truck and trailer lug nuts, so it has become a must have tool around our place....

Yeah, and that's kind of my point in looking at things the way I do. Those larger cordless impacts are pretty $$$, so if I'm going to buy something that puts out 1,000 plus ft-lbs, why would I buy it in 1/2" drive? Thus I own the 3/4" drive M18 for anything that the 1/2" compact won't handle. I adapt down if I don't have a 3/4" socket that small, but my 3/4" sockets start at 11/16" which covers anything I want to do with 1,000 ft-lbs on tap.

You lose torque with the drive adapters and/or extensions and universals, but like I said, if I need the adapter, it's for a relatively small bolt which doesn't need all of the torque output of the big gun anyway. If I need long-term high torque, I pull out the giant I-R 1" air gun because things have gotten serious. There are times an M18 1" gun would be nice, but for my uses, it doesn't pencil out.

YMMV, just the way I think about it and spend my business' money.

PS - I don't think I've started the compressor on my service truck for about a year now. I still use shop air for things, but mainly just use the mobile unit for needle-scaling nowadays which I haven't needed to do for awhile.

[AKDoug]

Yeah, and that's kind of my point in looking at things the way I do. Those larger cordless impacts are pretty $$$, so if I'm going to buy something that puts out 1,000 plus ft-lbs, why would I buy it in 1/2" drive? Thus I own the 3/4" drive M18 for anything that the 1/2" compact won't handle. I adapt down if I don't have a 3/4" socket that small, but my 3/4" sockets start at 11/16" which covers anything I want to do with 1,000 ft-lbs on tap.

You lose torque with the drive adapters and/or extensions and universals, but like I said, if I need the adapter, it's for a relatively small bolt which doesn't need all of the torque output of the big gun anyway. If I need long-term high torque, I pull out the giant I-R 1" air gun because things have gotten serious. There are times an M18 1" gun would be nice, but for my uses, it doesn't pencil out.

YMMV, just the way I think about it and spend my business' money.

PS - I don't think I've started the compressor on my service truck for about a year now. I still use shop air for things, but mainly just use the mobile unit for needle-scaling nowadays which I haven't needed to do for awhile.

That's funny because we've been saying that they need to make an M18 needle scaler.. and for my other world I'd love them to make an M18 coil siding nailer. I all due time I guess

[Welder]

That's funny because we've been saying that they need to make an M18 needle scaler.. and for my other world I'd love them to make an M18 coil siding nailer. I all due time I guess

Yeah...I waited for and loudly complained on another forum years ago for them to make an M18 1/4" straight die grinder, and I finally gave up and ordered a couple of the Metabos at a price point of about $450/each

A few years back I go into a hardware store and what's sitting in the Milwaukee aisle for $175? Yep.

Those were the first Metabo tools I'd bought for myself; I'd been familiar with them for years. I now have a few of their flathead grinders (one of the best somewhat-recent inventions in the welding world) and a bunch of their standard 4.5" corded grinders plus a drill or something that I was given in a promotion. Their stuff flat works. You don't realize how relatively coarse a Milwaukee tool is until you've got a Metabo beside of it...I mean the good stuff like the flatheads and the die grinders, not the base model 4.5" grinders which do 'work' but don't have that classic smoothness. I almost cried the day that I crunched one of my flatheads with a track-loader; I basically rolled my eyes when I bounced over the Milwaukee impact.

Milwaukee stuff is great for what it is, and can be pretty tough. But they're only top-tier tools in the same vein that Ruger or Remington is top-tier to the masses. I buy them because they often make sense at their intersection of price and performance. I splurge on Metabo occasionally because one of the benefits of having my own business is that I don't have to work with bargain-basement stuff if I don't want to. It all writes off the same.

[Welder]

OH! I almost forgot! I don't think it's been mentioned here yet.

I was at the beach of all places and I saw a new Milwaukee "tool:" an M18 battery adapter that converts battery juice to 120V AC for running low-load stuff like fans (that's what it was doing when I saw it) or electronics like TV's or computers, plus it has USB ports for charging cell phones and such. Pretty handy device for some people, I'd imagine. The lady using it said it would run her 20" box fan for about 3 hours on a 12.0Ah battery.

[BobM]

I’d never heard of Metabo until this afternoon when I was in Lowe’s looking at air compressors. It’s probably a much better brand than I need for casual home use.

[AKDoug]

I’d never heard of Metabo until this afternoon when I was in Lowe’s looking at air compressors. It’s probably a much better brand than I need for casual home use.

Metabo is Hitachi. They re-named their line for whatever reason. Hitachi makes some very good air nailers and decent air compressors.