good cheap impact driver

[Petey83]

looking to pick up a decent but not overly expensive impact driver. No particular battery system allegiance currently use a Festool PDC 18/4 which does a job but is a bit slower going without pilot holes and with a some decking to do and hopefully a workshop to board out soon I fancy adding an impact driver to collection.

 

[Wuffles]

Really? Slow going? My PDC beats the carp out of my noisy Bosch impact.


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[Logger]

I have the erbauer impact driver, about £80 from screwfix. I have used makita ones and rate erbauer as pretty good. Comes with 2 batteries and 2 year warranty.

Cheers

Nick

 

[Homers double]

I can recommend the Milwaukee 12v Impact driver, mine came in a set I purchased a couple of years ago, I'd never really used one before then, but was surprised at what it could do being 12v.

 

[Petey83]

Really? Slow going? My PDC beats the carp out of my noisy Bosch impact.


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slow is maybe the wrong word - to use it at speed its a 2 handed job, just seems when i have used an impact driver before they handle a bit easier.

 

[Wuffles]

Really? Slow going? My PDC beats the carp out of my noisy Bosch impact.


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slow is maybe the wrong word - to use it at speed its a 2 handed job, just seems when i have used an impact driver before they handle a bit easier.

SORRY, I COULDN'T HEAR YOU ABOVE THE NOISE.

 

[NazNomad]

I thought THIS was an impact driver?

I've had mine for decades and it's always been as fast as I needed it to be.

 

[MMUK]

For around the £150 mark (which I class as budget range) you could pick up a DeWalt DCF886D1 brushless impact driver with one 18v 2Ah battery which, to be fair, isn't bad for the money. If you can stretch to another £30 you can have the Makita DTD146RFE with two 3Ah batteries and 22 minute charger. Both priced from powertoolsuk but I can guarantee FFX will be cheaper.

 

[DiscoStu]

Ryobi!

To my knowledge the most powerful (Torques) impact driver you can buy. I wrote to good wood working about it after they claimed the new Makita was and it wasn't as powerful. Great bit of kit and £60 ish without batteries. Probably £100 with a battery and charger. I'm sure you won't regret it. I bought one when doing decking and it out performed my Makita drill / driver which A - didn't have enough power to drive the screws home but also took at least twice as long.


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[Wuffles]

Ryobi!

To my knowledge the most powerful (Torques) impact driver you can buy. I wrote to good wood working about it after they claimed the new Makita was and it wasn't as powerful. Great bit of kit and £60 ish without batteries. Probably £100 with a battery and charger. I'm sure you won't regret it. I bought one when doing decking and it out performed my Makita drill / driver which A - didn't have enough power to drive the screws home but also took at least twice as long.


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And as has been stated before, some manufacturers are more liberal with their marketing figures than others. Not defending Makita one bit, wouldn't put it past them to be almost as liberal.

Unless you are performing a bench test with measuring equipment, in which case apologies.

 

[Bodgers]

If lightweight is a factor, the Dewalt 10.8v range is excellent. Loads of fine control on the triggers, very robust and the impact driver is plenty powerful enough.

You can pickup official Dewalt refurbs on, dare I say it "eBay", that smell new...

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[DiscoStu]

Ryobi!

To my knowledge the most powerful (Torques) impact driver you can buy. I wrote to good wood working about it after they claimed the new Makita was and it wasn't as powerful. Great bit of kit and £60 ish without batteries. Probably £100 with a battery and charger. I'm sure you won't regret it. I bought one when doing decking and it out performed my Makita drill / driver which A - didn't have enough power to drive the screws home but also took at least twice as long.


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And as has been stated before, some manufacturers are more liberal with their marketing figures than others. Not defending Makita one bit, wouldn't put it past them to be almost as liberal.

Unless you are performing a bench test with measuring equipment, in which case apologies.

Are you saying the Ryobi figures are wrong?

What is your source for this information?

It seems wrong to say that figures are wrong without any proof. Don't forget that Ryobi also make impact wrenches which have much higher torque figures that most impact drivers so it's not like they don't have the technical ability. I think unless you have proof that the figures are wrong you shouldn't state that manufacturers are "liberal with their figures". That basically calling them liars and is not something I would want to be publishing without evidence. My post is based on the published figures for both devices.

 

[LJM]

All the big names do a good impact driver, in your preferred voltage. For me, the difference is down to ergonomics, plus whether you're invested in a particular brand and so have batteries and chargers already.

Of all those I've used, I prefer Makita because I find them the most comfortable to use. As it happens, I've ended up with a spare impact driver which I'm going to sell...

These threads often become more of a "which brand did you buy?"; as you mentioned Festool, I would suggest aiming for the better names, and simply looking for an offer on the tool you want.

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[Wizard9999]

To my knowledge the most powerful (Torques) impact driver you can buy. I wrote to good wood working about it after they claimed the new Makita was and it wasn't as powerful...

Did Good Woodworking ever reply to you to explain why they said Makita was most powerful given on published manufacturers figures it wasn't?

Terry.

 

[Wuffles]

Ryobi!

To my knowledge the most powerful (Torques) impact driver you can buy. I wrote to good wood working about it after they claimed the new Makita was and it wasn't as powerful. Great bit of kit and £60 ish without batteries. Probably £100 with a battery and charger. I'm sure you won't regret it. I bought one when doing decking and it out performed my Makita drill / driver which A - didn't have enough power to drive the screws home but also took at least twice as long.


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And as has been stated before, some manufacturers are more liberal with their marketing figures than others. Not defending Makita one bit, wouldn't put it past them to be almost as liberal.

Unless you are performing a bench test with measuring equipment, in which case apologies.

Are you saying the Ryobi figures are wrong?

What is your source for this information?

It seems wrong to say that figures are wrong without any proof. Don't forget that Ryobi also make impact wrenches which have much higher torque figures that most impact drivers so it's not like they don't have the technical ability. I think unless you have proof that the figures are wrong you shouldn't state that manufacturers are "liberal with their figures". That basically calling them liars and is not something I would want to be publishing without evidence. My post is based on the published figures for both devices.

Let's turn this around to where it started shall we?

You are basing your information on Ryobi's marketing material, I'll just put a full stop here.

 

[jim_hanna]

I have the 18v Ryobi impact driver and for what it's worth it's more powerful than a Draper 14.4 impact wrench I used to have and which I used with a bit adapter to drive in without any difficulty 100mm long 6mm screws when I was hanging driveway gate hinges.

The original poster was asking about decking and boarding out. I would agree with LJM's advice, any impact driver should be good enough.
Quote from LJM
"All the big names do a good impact driver, in your preferred voltage. For me, the difference is down to ergonomics, plus whether you're invested in a particular brand and so have batteries and chargers already."

Jim

 

[DiscoStu]

To my knowledge the most powerful (Torques) impact driver you can buy. I wrote to good wood working about it after they claimed the new Makita was and it wasn't as powerful...

Did Good Woodworking ever reply to you to explain why they said Makita was most powerful given on published manufacturers figures it wasn't?

Terry.

Yes they did, there is a thread on here about it somewhere.

They basically said that they assumed Makita had only compared to other professional impact drivers.

 

[DiscoStu]

Ryobi!

To my knowledge the most powerful (Torques) impact driver you can buy. I wrote to good wood working about it after they claimed the new Makita was and it wasn't as powerful. Great bit of kit and £60 ish without batteries. Probably £100 with a battery and charger. I'm sure you won't regret it. I bought one when doing decking and it out performed my Makita drill / driver which A - didn't have enough power to drive the screws home but also took at least twice as long.


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And as has been stated before, some manufacturers are more liberal with their marketing figures than others. Not defending Makita one bit, wouldn't put it past them to be almost as liberal.

Unless you are performing a bench test with measuring equipment, in which case apologies.

Are you saying the Ryobi figures are wrong?

What is your source for this information?

It seems wrong to say that figures are wrong without any proof. Don't forget that Ryobi also make impact wrenches which have much higher torque figures that most impact drivers so it's not like they don't have the technical ability. I think unless you have proof that the figures are wrong you shouldn't state that manufacturers are "liberal with their figures". That basically calling them liars and is not something I would want to be publishing without evidence. My post is based on the published figures for both devices.

Let's turn this around to where it started shall we?

You are basing your information on Ryobi's marketing material, I'll just put a full stop here.

I'm basing it on the published specification. What are you basing your comments on? Can you show the evidence where their spec sheet is "liberal" with their information.

Just to clarify I'm not saying the Roybi is better than Makita but I am saying it is more powerful (Torque). There are lots of other factors to look at such as battery system, handling, weight of the tool, warranty and reliability etc.

I also wouldn't call the spec sheet marketing information!

 

[Wuffles]

I'm basing it on the published specification. What are you basing your comments on? Can you show the evidence where their spec sheet is "liberal" with their information.

Just to clarify I'm not saying the Roybi is better than Makita but I am saying it is more powerful (Torque). There are lots of other factors to look at such as battery system, handling, weight of the tool, warranty and reliability etc.

I also wouldn't call the spec sheet marketing information!

A little naive Stu to suggest that a stripy suited marketing drone hasn't in some way or other been involved in drawing up a spec sheet for an item, ever.

Take liberal to mean Ryobi are "bigging up" their specs if you like, that's not really what I am saying. Some manufacturers, like Festool have been known to liberally "big down" their specs. Metabo probably go worst case on their machinery specs too.

I know nothing about Ryobi, but they have smeared their name all over Youtube by giving some of the less glossy "makers" free tools to get the name about. They won't have done that out of the goodness of their hearts - marketing. Why would a company doing that not also be inclined to use the maximum output or whatever from their tools to be cooler, like the big boys. Who knows, but worth bearing in mind.

 

[DiscoStu]

I'm still struggling to see your source that proves this information is wrong?

Until you have proof that the information is wrong I don't see how you can say it's liberal.

I've not once seen Ryobi plastering the torque spec anywhere except it being listed on their spec sheet so it's hardly being used for marketing.

I've also not seen any videos of people who have been given free Ryobi tools but I'll have a look for them and see if I can get on the scheme as I have a lot of their tools. Not all are great but the impact driver is a brilliant bit of kit. I know a few professionals who have now bought them even though they are traditionally Makita and Dewalt users.


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