Which cordless drill driver and impact

deema · 28 Nov 2015

Well, it's time once again for a new drill driver and impact. My weapon of choice has been the Dewalt 18v lithium XR range (12 months old only!) , however, battery life seems to now be a few weeks before they are dead and replacing the batteries seems to infer little better longevity. Just my opinion but I suspect they have a battery life problem.

So, rather than spending the hard to come by stuff on more batteries, I've decided that a new set is in order. I would appreciate any suggestions of what is really good kit that's not too heavy, long lasting batteries (both after charge and also before they die), can actually drill a serious hole and torque up a screw properly.

I've had a look at Festool, Dewalt, Makita and also Fein, the latter I'd not considered before I was in a retail outlet that had them next to Festool.

No skills · 28 Nov 2015

We are using dewalt 18v xr at work on a daily basis and have been for just over 2 years, no battery failures yet and only just noticing a drop off in performance now (could be exaggerated by the cold weather). We're using them in everything grinders/circular saws/jigsaws/drill/impact etc. Mostly 4ah with a couple of 5ah too.

I am wondering wth is going on with your battery's?? Get them changed under gaurentee!

deema · 1 Dec 2015

Thanks No Skills,
Just goes to show that I should have read the warranty, I'd just assumed that batteries weren't included! A call to DeWalt and they are sending me a battery to replace the dead one. Couldn't be happier with their response or service level. Top Marks to Dewalt.

I've decided that an extra drill driver and impact would greatly improve efficiency, the list now includes Milwaukee and Hilti, does anyone have any experience of any of these? I'm after a hammer drill driver, and the Fein in paler still looks the best bet, however it's a 4 pole motor as apposed to a brushless motor. The guarantee on the Mil batteries looks the best at 5 years.

No skills · 1 Dec 2015

The last Fein hammer/combi drill I looked at was a rebadged effort and not of their own make (same for the impact driver). The Fein 4 speed is a nice bit of kit but as you know its not a combi drill.

I have no direct experience with Hilti, general opinion is their tough but heavy compared to most others.

Milwaukee have some nice tools as well, their just updating the current range of brushless drills/divers to a second generation so don't pay top money for older models. The gen2 impact seems a bit of a monster from a couple of videos I've seen. SIL has just got one of the brushless compact combis and is very happy with it. They are bringing out a 9ah battery as well.

Metabo's 18v brushless drills are nice (SB18LTXBL quick, is the top of the range), but they don't have brushless impact driver #-o #-o #-o #-o which has stopped me buying into their 18v tools.

Have a look on youtube at oztooltalk channel for various tool reviews and theres shitloads of others on youtube as well!

That's enough from me :lol:

Oh and Panasonic have just updated their brushless impact and drills as well...

harry the b · 1 Dec 2015

hi,i have been using hilti drills for over ten years now.
currently own three at the moment
22v hammer/driver
36v sds
18v hammer /driver
yes they are heavy,but they are built to last.
downside is that they are expensive.
upside is they just appear to go on and on [at least mine have]
the 18v is sort of retired now as it needs new batteries.this drill is ten years old so it is to be expected.
that drill cost over 300 quid but divide it by ten =30 quid a year.
these drills work all week and i usually drive them hard.
regards,
harry...