Cordless Drill Reviews

[kmealy]

https://www.consumerreports.org/cordless-drills/best-cordless-drills-of-the-year-a1168250583/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_FB&fbclid=IwAR2NeRqRciLnvC6jyGRR5OsfRk0lvW9XWDOM-pRCPRqAt05PSEEVfHrZU54

[lew]

I have an Hitachi 12v drill and one of their drill/driver. They both work well and the batteries are interchangeable. When I put up the vinyl porch/carport ceiling I thought the Hitachi drill/driver would be a little heavy to use overhead. Lowes had a small Dewalt small 12v drill/driver on sale that was much lighter than my Hitachi. It came with 2 batteries so I figured while one was charging I could put screws in the ceiling and just keep swapping them out until finished. I was amazed at the battery life! Put in a little over 750 1" screws before the battery needed changed- about 3/4 of the total ceiling! Poor old Hitachi hasn't gotten much use since then.

Edited September 21, 2021 by lew

[Gerald]

Interesting but not much data. Wonder if the 20 yr warranty on Hilti includes battery.

[Gene Howe]

My Makita drill/drivers are still going strong after about 15 years. My Dewalt has caused yellow tools to be added to my banned list. Right up there with red saw blades.

Although, a friend who makes a good living with router carved signs, swears by his corded and cordless Dewalt routers. Different strokes, I guess.

[HandyDan]

I am the reverse of Lew.  I have the Dewalt 18V tool set and bought the Hitachi 12V drill and impact driver set because the Dewalt was too heavy and powerful for most jobs in the shop.  Both tools have proven their worth over the years. 

[lew]

I still have one of those old 9v Makita with the long battery, but the batteries won't hold a charge for more than a few minutes.

[kmealy]

1 hour ago, lew said:

I still have one of those old 9v Makita with the long battery, but the batteries won't hold a charge for more than a few minutes.

Yeah, I went thru 2 of them.  Had the NiCad batteries.   When I looked at what it would take to buy new batteries, it was cheaper to just buy the second drill set.

 

At the furniture bank, we went thru a couple of DeWalts (vintage unknown).  I attributed it to sitting on the charger for way too long.

 

Personally, I went with the Ridgid.  They had a lifetime warranty on their (Li-ion) batteries.   There must have been a start up problem because the first ones went bad after about 18 months, as did the second set.  The repair shop, that did over the counter replacements, told me that they were going thru 20 or 30 replacements a day.  The third set has been running strong for about 12 years as my "every day carry" in the repair business.   I eventually got the 12v Drill/impact driver combo and use it in the shop and construction projects.

Edited September 22, 2021 by kmealy

[Smallpatch]

Dan I down graded from an 18 volt Dewalt which was way too heavy and would not stand on it own to three light weight 12 volt Harbor Freight models. 16.95 each so three drills with just one battery each still gives me the extra batteries. I pick one up and almost throw it over my head its so light weight. The last cheap drills were from Tractor supply and lasted about 3 1/2 years before the batteries went south so not knowing how long I got left to work in the shop going a shorter lasting time with the new tools I buy gives me a few more bites of food.

  Also here's something I come up with to do in the shop that others might want to do .....The expensive name brand drills and things I have should have thrown away because they have worn out, broken or the batteries gone bad I keep in the racks in plain sight along with the cheap brands and if someone breaks in to the shop and steals things to go pawn I would think they will take the higher priced tools for they would bring more money at a pawn shop so in other words they would be leaving me with the tools that still have a few years left so I don't have to be out more money right quick. Even though I have insurance I don't like to use for in return they just raise the premiums.

  I'm probably the only one who thinks like this but it does keep my thought on other things more pleasant to think about. 

[FlGatorwood]

Battery source and Batteries plus are great stores for battery replacements.  Big problem with that is like Keith said. Replacing batteries can be prohibitive.  Like ink cartridges for printers.