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Makita OR Dewalt OR Milwaukee?


Grubrunner

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All three are very good brands, I always used Dewalt for about 18 years now and had very good luck with them. I know other people at work used the other brands and they had good luck with those as well. I would buy the Makita or Dewalt.:cheers:

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I have a set of 18V XRP Dewalt and haven't had any issues other than batteries dieing faster than they should.

 

However, after talking to contractors who were working on my shop Makita seems to be the ticket. Dewalts are extremely fragile if dropped, the garage door installers said they dropped the Makita from 16- 20' up with nothing but cosmetic damage where as Dewalts dropped from half the distance shatter into pieces. The Makita's are also a lot smaller, lighter and cost less (Dewalts new LiIon eliminate the size/weight difference). All things that add up to huge benefits if you use them a lot or even a little. After spending many hours with my Dewalt held outstretched or over my head a lighter drill is something I would really appreciate.

 

Oh another tip I picked up from the contractors, use the much smaller/lighter impact drivers for driving screws or even tightening bolts. It works A LOT better and is much lighter. Only use the drill for drilling, nothing else.

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My preference is Algonquin....

 

Oh, you got jokes....?

 

HERE

 

Dewalt's coming out with a new 20V Lithium Ion line in September, which I'm holding out to get.

 

Didn't know this... will definitely research.

 

Thanks.

 

 

I have a set of 18V XRP Dewalt and haven't had any issues other than batteries dieing faster than they should.

 

However, after talking to contractors who were working on my shop Makita seems to be the ticket. Dewalts are extremely fragile if dropped, the garage door installers said they dropped the Makita from 16- 20' up with nothing but cosmetic damage where as Dewalts dropped from half the distance shatter into pieces. The Makita's are also a lot smaller, lighter and cost less (Dewalts new LiIon eliminate the size/weight difference). All things that add up to huge benefits if you use them a lot or even a little. After spending many hours with my Dewalt held outstretched or over my head a lighter drill is something I would really appreciate.

 

Oh another tip I picked up from the contractors, use the much smaller/lighter impact drivers for driving screws or even tightening bolts. It works A LOT better and is much lighter. Only use the drill for drilling, nothing else.

 

Interesting.

 

Thanks for sharing.

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As far as corded drill motors, saws-all and powersaws Milwaukee has always been my choice. 35 Years ago Makita made some real good ones but no more. They are OK but nothing like they made back then. DeWalt has always disappointed me.

 

Cordless is kind of a wash. They all have there limitations and quirks. The new batteries (whatever they are called) are pretty slick. The new set of Makita cordless stuff I have is OK. Good balance and comfortable to use. Battery life is outstanding but the drill motor is really noisy and kinda clunky. Works real well just sounds odd.

 

No experience with the Milwaukee cordless stuff. The new models I've seen look pretty good though.

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Sometimes I put thinkers out there....and usually they fly over EVERYONE!

 

:lolsmack::lolsmack:

 

Ah man really! I am just a simple pallet guy. Not much thinkin required.

 

Sent from the Dark Side using G2/Tapatalk

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IF you go dewalt, watch for sales around Father's day and Christmas. Home Depot and Lowes often have a promo with 2 batteries, a charger and a drill for $99 or so. Screaming good deal if just for the batteries alone. :thumbsup:

 

Good to know and thank you.

 

Very true on the batteries comment.

 

The problem with the box stores is they rarely, if ever, have all the cordless range. They usually stock [just] the drills, impacts, circular saws and maybe the flashlights. I'm also looking at the angle drill, jig saw, grinder, reciprocating saw, hammer drill and maybe even a cordless blower.

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As for a hammer drill id go milwaukee, they recently redesigned their drills. I have used dewalt for years but 4 months ago got the 18v lithium and it is great. Has torque setting when in torque mode, hammer drill mode and regular drill mode. switching modes is just a quick click of a dial, no need to rotate a torque dial all the way around to change modes you can keep it at whatever and then flick to drill mode. Battery life is great. It also has a led light when in use. My .02:thumbsup:

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  • 3 months later...

Sorry to drag an old thread but wanted to give a very brief update.

 

I ended up going with the Makita 18V LXT Lithium-Ion Cordless Series. I purchased 11 different [bare] cordless tools with two batteries and a charger.

 

I've been using them relentlessly for just over a month now - various home projects inside and out - and couldn't be happier. An overabundance of power and torque, very well balanced in the hands, seems very well constructed [solid], excellent run times and super quick [15mins] charge.

 

Very highly reccomended for anyone thinking along the same lines.

 

Cheers.

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My dewalt has been an absolute work horse... I've had it for a few years now and its been abused, dropped from ladders, left outside accidentally, and never skipped a beat.

 

Our show/demo drill is a bosch LiIon and I've been very impressed with it, but it hasn't been put thru as much as my dewalts so its hard to speak to durability, although its a nice drill.

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