Opinions wanted for buying a new drill.

[keithdog]

I'm planning on purchasing a new 1/2" 18 volt litheum cordless drill for both home and work use. At work I use the drill mainly to install brackets and cabinets for fire equipment. Sometimes I will be drilling into cement walls or block, and occationally steel beams. This isn't something I do on a daily basis, but fairly regularly. I have it narrowed down to 3 brands. I'm leaning towards Milwalkee but I am also looking at both DeWalt and Rigid. It is my understanding that Milwalkee actually makes the Rigid brand. I was told that the Milwalkee brand is the only brand that uses all metal gears. I don't know if thats a true statement or not, but if it is, it certaily is one more reason to choose Milwalkee. Price is not an issue between the 3 brands, as they are each $199.99 at Home Depot for the same drill. Actually, the Rigid is on sale right now for $179.99. Milwalkee has a 5 year warrenty, DeWalt is 3 year, and Rigid has a life time warrenty plan. Not sure how much one has to pay for that lifetime plan if at all. Anyways, if anyone in here happens to know his drills I would appreciate hearing your opinion. Thanks

[nobass]

keith liked i said the milwalkee had metal gears now that they sell t o homedepot and lowes at cheaper prices they may have gone to plastic. i use dewalt at work daily have the hammer dreill 18 volt and a right angle drill also have the impact driver, all have held up well had them for over 4 years. only issue is make sure youe run the batteries completely down as the have a memory at will not hold charge as long if you charge them before they go dead. i really do not think one is any better than the other i would go with lightes one if you plan on using it a lot make sure you get the hammer drill feature if you are drilling into cement or block

[keithdog]

Originally Posted by nobass

keith liked i said the milwalkee had metal gears now that they sell t o homedepot and lowes at cheaper prices they may have gone to plastic. i use dewalt at work daily have the hammer dreill 18 volt and a right angle drill also have the impact driver, all have held up well had them for over 4 years. only issue is make sure youe run the batteries completely down as the have a memory at will not hold charge as long if you charge them before they go dead. i really do not think one is any better than the other i would go with lightes one if you plan on using it a lot make sure you get the hammer drill feature if you are drilling into cement or block

I know someone recently had told me about the metal gears, but couldn't remember who it was, lol. I like the idea of the hammer drill but at $100.00 more it's not in the budget, especially since the wife is hinting about this being my fathers day present. While I do drill into cement or block, it's only a few times a year so thats not a huge concern. Mostly it's wood and metal I drill into.

[Jrob78]

I have had great luck with DeWalt 18V drills, both in Ni-Cad and Lithium. The Ni-cad drill was the hammer model and the lithium was just the regular drill. Both were/are exceptional and have held up over several years of use. Some of that being pretty heavy use.

[nofearengineer]

Lithium-ion batteries are a plus, as they have no memory.

[nmanley]

This is what I've used for the last 4 years or so. LOVE IT!!!
http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CFoQ8wIwAg

[carolina-rig-01]

I am a Dewalt guy myself. My Dewalt tools have proven to be very reliable, and I have been hard on some of them. My father in law has a few Makitas and they are great drills as well but that isn't one of the brands you mentioned. A contractor I used to work for had a few Milwalkees and they were pretty dang nice as well. I have never used any Rigid tools myself but I was helping a friend of the family do some remodel work a while back and he had a bunch of Rigid tools and swore by them, and I think a lot of this guy and his word is very trustworthy. Honestly between the brands you listed I don't know if one is any better than the others. I would find the one that feels most comfortable to you and go with it.

[Bender]

I have the same one a nmanly, plus some extra batteries. It has been a very solid drill. I bought it because it had the highest speed that I could find which I wanted for drilling small holes into steel. I've even had it attached to my 6" Nils ice auger and it powered that just fine. The extra batteries are $$$ though.

[doc]

dewalt, It's what I use, and In my experience around my part of the world anyway, when I see a contractor working they have dewalt.

[jasonfish320]

I have been around construction most of my life and although I can't speak for any of the newer Makita stuff because we still have all of our old drills and they just won't die...I have had the batteries rebuilt at batteries+ ...they are unreal drills!

I worked on a small concrete project a few months ago and I was mixing the concrete using a mixer extension in a 5 gallon bucket that is made for paint, one of the guys bet me that I would burn it up..he didn't even dare to use his drill.. needless to say he owns a new Makita now too.

[CamG]

About 30% of my power tools are Dewalt and the rest are Rigid. I have had great luck with both. I have had my Rigid 18V Cordless for 7 years now. It has been dropped off the roof and out my treestand. Still works great.

[keithdog]

One thing that worries me about Makita involves a stiuation here in town with our local family run lumber yard. The place actually is a large business with several locations and would remind most folks of a miniature Home Depot. For many years they were a big seller of Makita hand tools. In fact that was pretty much all they sold. One day I walked into the place on business and noticed all the Makita tools had been replaced with DeWalt. I asked the dept manager why and he explained to me that they had had a noticable increase in returns due to tool failure. And they also were having a great deal of trouble getting Makita to stand by their warrenty. Finally they dropped the Makita lineup.

[cassidyta]

Keith, I can't speak to all of the brands, but I can speak highly of the Dewalt. I got one as a Christmas Present 4 years ago and it is running just as strong today. This drill has fallen off of the roof, fallen out of a moving truck (only going about 10 mph), and has been dropped in the swimming pool. (I dove right in after it so it wasn't in long)

[keithdog]

Well it sounds like my pick is narrowed down to either a Milwalkee or DeWalt. I found out several things about Rigid that I don't care for since I started this post. DeWalt seems to be a brand that is more available than Milwalkee from what I see in the stores which may be why it's more commonly seen and used. I wish I knew more about DeWalts gearing as to whether they use metal or plastic gears. Sounds like I can't go wrong either way. Thanks everyone for your input. It's very appreciated.

[bassboogieman]

I'm too old school. For occasional HEAVY DUTY use, especially if drilling through steel, I'd go with a CORDED drill. Have you checked the price of the Ion batteries? $90 = ouch. Unless you work in an area that electricity is not available, the consistant power of a corded drill would be preferable to me. Cordless is nice, don't get me wrong. I have a Dewalt 12v, 3/8" drill and I love it, but it doesn't hold up for hours of use. Small, quick jobs are fine. If you are working several hours at a time, you're going to need a spare battery and take your charger with you, and at $90 for a spare battery, I'll put up with the inconvienice of a cord for the dependable all day consistant power.

If you're drilling concrete walls/patio/etc. (not block) you may want to consider the option of a hammer drill - very nice when dealing with concrete and if you're going to invest your money, get the best, most versitle tool you can.

Also the corded drills are around $120 depending upon model - that's a good savings, especially if you add a spare battery to the price of the cordless model.

Oh, and I HATE picking up my cordless drill after it's set a couple weeks and there isn't much of a charge left. Job delay - but that's why I have a Kuerig coffe maker..........................

[keithdog]

Originally Posted by bassboogieman

I'm too old school. For occasional HEAVY DUTY use, especially if drilling through steel, I'd go with a CORDED drill. Have you checked the price of the Ion batteries? $90 = ouch. Unless you work in an area that electricity is not available, the consistant power of a corded drill would be preferable to me. Cordless is nice, don't get me wrong. I have a Dewalt 12v, 3/8" drill and I love it, but it doesn't hold up for hours of use. Small, quick jobs are fine. If you are working several hours at a time, you're going to need a spare battery and take your charger with you, and at $90 for a spare battery, I'll put up with the inconvienice of a cord for the dependable all day consistant power.

If you're drilling concrete walls/patio/etc. (not block) you may want to consider the option of a hammer drill - very nice when dealing with concrete and if you're going to invest your money, get the best, most versitle tool you can.

Also the corded drills are around $120 depending upon model - that's a good savings, especially if you add a spare battery to the price of the cordless model.

Oh, and I HATE picking up my cordless drill after it's set a couple weeks and there isn't much of a charge left. Job delay - but that's why I have a Kuerig coffe maker..........................

Actually I do have a corded drill and use it when I can, but more often than not I'm in a situation where there is nothing to hook up to for power.