I have a handful of battery tools from Worx, Porter cable and B&D. Looking to consolidate into one quality brand so I can share batteries across all the platforms from shop tools to yard tools.
Is the Milwaukee M18 the way to go for the best selection of tools for the shop (woodworking stuff) and yard tools?
Any other contenders in the field? Dewalt?
The other concern I have it that the M18 has been around for a while. Do we see it likely to be replaced with a newer version anytime soon?
Tools that I had in mind:
Drill/hammer
1/4" impact
powersaw
Sawsall
leaf blower/vacuum
string trimmer
mini branch chainsaw
One cool tool I have from worx is a 20V power washer. I've not seen anyone else have that so I'm keeping the Worx at least for a little while. It isn't super powerful, but it is handy.
Both Dewalt and now Milwaukee have released new battery tech which amounts to using pouch cells instead of cylindrical cells. There may be a change in battery chemistry involved as well (li-poly?) but I'm not 100% on that. In any case, the important thing is that both platforms have maintained the same connectivity to the tool, and form factors that generally fit within most of the enclose battery holders on some tools. That seems to suggest that both companies are doubling down on the existing form factor and there is likely no danger of it going away any time soon.
I spent way too much time researching this about a year ago and concluded that you can't go wrong if you stick with the big three - Milwaukee, Makita, and DeWalt. Each lineup will have certain pro's and con's with specific tools, but there is not one brand that really sticks out as being objectively better overall in my opinion. I ended up with Makita, but think I would have been just as happy with either of the other two.
Ridgid was a strong contender when it came to value for money, but I didn't want to be locked into sourcing exclusively from Home Depot.
Brushless is worth the extra money on a heavily used tool.
I have Milwaukee and have been generally happy. I bought it as at the time, the m18 3/4" impact was the best one on the market, and it's certainly a great tool. I've generaly been happy with my milwaukee tools, though I find the big impact tends to wear out battery connections over time from the vibration.
Overall, you'll probably be happy with whichever of the big brands you choose. They all seem to have good and bad, so figure out who makes the best tools that you want and go that way.
Pick your favorite color really.. If you're a little more than Harry Homeowner, you can look at what each brand actually offers, but that's almost a moot point with all the battery adapters out there.
I went all in on Makita for 18v stuff. No regrets with Teal. I think I'm going to buy into the Milwaukee M12 line to keep in the basement for small house tasks. Save a trip to the shop to grab a drill or something. (Lazy)
At work I use Milwaukee since they seem to have the best line-up of tools for automotive work, but I have a mix of Craftsman and Ryobi stuff for at the house. I just can't justify the cost of the Milwaukee for a tool I might use once or twice a month at home, versus every day while working.
Ryobi hands down has the best line-up of tools for stuff that you would need at the house, and for the cost on the 8-10ish tool bundle from Milwaukee, you could probably buy the entire Ryobi catalog.
Not a fan of DeWalt just because they seem to make it as hard as possible for you to know what "Tier" a tool is (Good/Better/Best), 20v Max, XR, Atomic, Power Stack, XTREME!!!!!
I spent way too much time researching this about a year ago and concluded that you can't go wrong if you stick with the big three - Milwaukee, Makita, and DeWalt. Each lineup will have certain pro's and con's with specific tools, but there is not one brand that really sticks out as being objectively better overall in my opinion. I ended up with Makita, but think I would have been just as happy with either of the other two.
Ridgid was a strong contender when it came to value for money, but I didn't want to be locked into sourcing exclusively from Home Depot.
Brushless is worth the extra money on a heavily used tool.
I agree with this (though I went Milwaukee, and very happy. M12 platform on the same charger as M18, broad choices and the ergonomics/handling have been a big factor)
At work I use Milwaukee since they seem to have the best line-up of tools for automotive work, but I have a mix of Craftsman and Ryobi stuff for at the house. I just can't justify the cost of the Milwaukee for a tool I might use once or twice a month at home, versus every day while working.
Ryobi hands down has the best line-up of tools for stuff that you would need at the house, and for the cost on the 8-10ish tool bundle from Milwaukee, you could probably buy the entire Ryobi catalog.
Not a fan of DeWalt just because they seem to make it as hard as possible for you to know what "Tier" a tool is (Good/Better/Best), 20v Max, XR, Atomic, Power Stack, XTREME!!!!!
I got you covered:
- 20V Max: Yep. That's pretty much it. Will it make use of a 60V battery? Nope. 20V is the max.
- XR: It's got a brushless motor.
- Atomic: It's really small and light weight. You know, like an atom.
- Power Stack: It's a battery that uses pouch cells. Specifically, a stack of them.
- XTREME!!!: It's a 12V tool. They are pretty extreme though.
I used to have 4 different platforms and a shelf full of chargers - Ryobi, Milwaukee, DeWalt, and Snappy. When I moved, I kept my DeWalt 18V (they're fairly common here) and sold off the rest. There are a couple outliers, tho - one is my Ryobi (yeah, so much for divesting of my Ryobi "stuff") mini pruning chainsaw (8" bar) and the other is my Greenworks 80V lawn mower...
The Ryobi was actually a fluke - I was at our local big box hardware store (Leroy Merlin) and needed a mini battery chainsaw for one pruning project, and it fit the bill with its giganormous 8" bar... It's a cheap thing (NO oiler, you pour oil on the bar every so often) and I expected it to up and die with the project, but it keeps on keeping on...
And the Mower - I was pretty impressed with its specs, and it (like the cheapy saw) works and works and works...
Both have a weird feature tho (probably to protect the battery) - if you push them HARD they will stop. Someone did a comparison between the GW 40 and 80 volt mowers and ran them through thick tall grass (like what I have here) and they both went a ways and shut down. I found out that if you either don't run the f*** out of it hard, however, or stop it for a few seconds every pass, it keeps on cutting. Plus it has the drive unit which works like a mountain goat, but if you don't engage it you can run it as a regular push mower (whcih is good as it moves pretty quick).
I get asked this question all the time, my answer is look at what tools each color has available that you may want in the future and go with that brand. They are all good tools for the most part. I went with M18 drill driver and have added a few dozen tools since then and a wall of batteries. It's nice to have one platform so all your batteries work with all your tools. But if one company came out with a tool milwaukee doesn't offer or that milwaukee is sub par and I wanted it I would get it. I added m12 drill/driver and a bunch of other tools and for the most part my m18 drill/driver just sits. Have an m18 hole hawg and mud mixer that handle my heavy duty drill stuff and m12 is so powerful the m18 drill/driver just isn't needed.
Dewalt offers a pressure washer and I've used it for washing concrete tools and it works decent, no where near a real pressure washer but better then a garden hose.
If I was just a homeowner/diyer I would give ryobi a good look. They offer so many tools, some that the big boys don't even have.
I feel like Makita screwed me with their first 18v Li-on batteries with the chip. They would refuse to charge and be marked for death by the charger/chip. A foreign charger would charge them just fine. Still have one that works that way. Makita wouldn't own the problem so I moved on to Milwaukee M18. I have had two batteries in rotation for several years now and I can't tell any difference from new. The M18 brushless hammer/drill/driver is a beast.
If Milwaukee has one weakness it's that their high ampere hour batteries in either M18 or M12 SUCK REALLY BAD. Their 8 and 12 Amp hour M18 batteries are the only ones I've ever had trouble with along with the 6.0 M12 battery. I've sent at least six of these back to Milwaukee for warrantee replacement and none of the other types. Of the many brands that I've got the Makita 5.0 batteries have given me the least amount of trouble. I've got DeWalt and Bosch as well but they are too new to have discovered any issues with them yet.
Note: if buying Milwaukee KEEP YOUR RECEIPT as the warrantee starts on the date of purchase. If you don't they go by the date code on the battery itself and you will often lose a year or more in warrantee from the batteries having simply sat of a shelf at one of their dealers. Without the receipt they go by the date code and that matters a lot if your 12amp-hour battery shits the bed in two years and you can't prove when you bought it. These are $275@ batteries so having to eat a couple of them really sucks.
I got you covered:
- 20V Max: Yep. That's pretty much it. Will it make use of a 60V battery? Nope. 20V is the max.
- XR: It's got a brushless motor.
- Atomic: It's really small and light weight. You know, like an atom.
- Power Stack: It's a battery that uses pouch cells. Specifically, a stack of them.
- XTREME!!!: It's a 12V tool. They are pretty extreme though.
20v will use the 60v flex volt batteries but unless you are also doing work for the workout, I can't imagine wanting to.
I have stuck with yellow since my first 9.6v drill back in the 90s. No complaints about them. Ryobi, as mentioned above, is great value for home use and has the weirdest range of tools. LGE
20v will use the 60v flex volt batteries but unless you are also doing work for the workout, I can't imagine wanting to.
I think the disadvantage is that DeWalt doesn't seem to make many tools that are dual-battery. They're going to force you to buy a separate 40V battery... I know with Makita, there are a fair number of 2 x 18V battery tools. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I couldn't find tools that were 2 x 20V.
I think the disadvantage is that DeWalt doesn't seem to make many tools that are dual-battery. They're going to force you to buy a separate 40V battery... I know with Makita, there are a fair number of 2 x 18V battery tools. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I couldn't find tools that were 2 x 20V.
I don't think dewalt has any 40v tools so why would they force you to buy two 20v batteries? They've gone to 60v tools that use the dedicated 60v battery and/or the 60v flex volt batteries that work in 20v tools and 60v tools.
I don't think dewalt has any 40v tools so why would they force you to buy two 20v batteries? They've gone to 60v tools that use the dedicated 60v battery and/or the 60v flex volt batteries that work in 20v tools and 60v tools.
They have a 40V battery, but no tools?
That's kinda my point though - Makita has some great 36V tools. Chain saw, Circular saw... Powered by 2 x 18V batteries.
I get that the 60V can "flex" down - that's a cool idea.. It's that 40V space where I think there is a gap.
I think the 18V-20V platforms do not provide enough power and battery life for yard tools that get used a lot. For those, I think you need higher voltage and I have invested in the EGO 56V platform - high quality and well designed tools (chain saw, pole saw, blower, hedge trimmer). I like M12 tools a lot where lighter/smaller tools provide an advantage for tight access (impact driver, stubby impact wrench, ratchet, work light). I do have the M18 hammer drill and circular saw as those need quite a bit of power. I also have the M12 inflator but would have bought the M18 if it had been available at the time
I have 18v Makita tools I've been beating on for 10+ years now. They are great, and the company does nothing but make Makita tools. They did have a brief issue with battery charging chips but gave me new batteries without any hassle, even for one that was 4-5 years old. I would normally say them or Milwaukee but every contractor I know has had problems with their Milwaukee stuff in the last year. To the point that our local building supply is suggesting they buy them at Home Depot instead because they are tired of doing warranties on them and thinking about dropping the brand. For the normal homeowner I would suggest Ryobi, they are a great deal and have some cool tools that nobody else makes. I have a couple I use with a Makita battery adapter. I can't recommend Dewalt after all their random years of crappy batteries and tools, they are really inconsistent on quality and seem to alternate between great and horrible.
My .02
I went with Makita, primarily because they are the only mainstream easily accessible tool brand that isn't a Chinese conglomerate. Almost all of their tools are made in China, but profits essentially are funneled to Japan. After spending too much time watching tool teardown crap they seemed to consistently have the best made tools. I especially like their subcompact line. I feel like the xgt/40v rollout is a little clunky. And if you're dealing with yard tools the best ones are 40v. The downside to makita is the selection of specialty stuff and sometimes overall tool design. A lot of their tools just seem a little clunky and unrefined. Things like, the vacuum makes it where you can't easily check the battery charge. The oscillating tool (pre sub compact) was enormous and had an annoying blade change system. Certain tools and accessories aren't easily available in the US. This is less of an issue now, but it took them a long time to release brushless tools. I got annoyed a couple of times where I bought a tool that should've already been brushless, and a few months later they released the brushless version.
I broke down and opened the door to M12 and am impressed. I have their mini handheld recip saw and it's amazing. Their oscillating tool is FAR better than what makita was offering a year or so ago (pre subcompact version).
Basically, I generally lean towards makita unless the M12 version is significantly better.