Makita 18v LXT Line.

Drill Driver/hammer drill, 1/4" impact, recip saw (all brushless), grinder, trim circular saw, and fan. All perform at or above expectations. 4 amp/hour batteries.

Side note.. I have hang em high feeders that hold 320 lbs of corn when full, and they have a winch that uses a crank or drill driver to operate. Dealer told me they wear out batteries quick with a couple of up/down cycles. Not the Makita 18v LXT AH batteries. Mine last for a couple of trips to the lease for refills before a battery needs charging.

Love the tools and battery life.

I was just wondering this myself.

Dewalt user here. Been good tools for me and like the yellow & black combo.

Agree with the comments...anything but black and decker

Had Dewalt. Went through to many batteries. Switched to Ryobi and I am very happy.

I am exclusively a Milwaukee user. All kinds of reasons. I have 12 and 18v fuel tools and use both a lot. They are better than ryobi.

But my ryobi tools are now at least 14 years old and are still chugging along after heavy use. Hard to argue with that. Ryobi might be by far the best bang for your buck for homeowner grade. They are tough. Real tough.

I'm a DeWalt snob... The only time the batteries have crapped out on me is when I left them sitting on the charger for an extended period of time. If you are religious about only charging when they are dead and immediately removing from the charger when fully charged, they last an incredibly long time. I've had the same batteries I'm running now for over four years.

Most of the power tools I see on commercial jobsites are either DeWalt or Milwaukee. I have a ton of 18V DeWalt power tools and a few plug in types and I've always been happy with them. The impact guns are awesome if you're wrenching on your truck.

BMach said:

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Ryobi, cheap and dependable

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I've started acquiring quite the collection of the Ryobi One+ tools and everyone has been great so far.

Dewalt is owned by Black and Decker
Ryobi is under the same parent company as Milwaukee
Bosch is on its own
Makita is also on its own

I have a bosch drill and like it a lot, I have heard that the quality of dewalt has kinda gone downhill some.

redass1876 said:

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Anyone deal with Rigid warranty before? I'm dewalt now and really like them but curious on the lifetime warranty (including batteries) from Rigid.

I know you have to register the warranty within like 60 days and it is non-transferable but assuming you do those things

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We have had multiple warranty replacements on both batteries and tools since 2004.

Warranty must be registered within 90 days of purchase. Also you MUST register the replacement items or they will not be covered which is dumb.

Likely they have replaced at least 10 batteries and a drill. They are about to replace our hammer drill.

A simple phone call for the battery replacement and you have to drop off your power tool at HD and they will mail it to the repair center free of charge. We recently sent in our dead drill and the guy pretty well laughed at it's condition (really just worn out from 2 house renovations). Repair guy said they didn't have any parts for 2004 drill so they would be sending us a brand new one. 5-6 weeks for that.

I used to be a rabid dewalt guy. This time after extensive research I went with Milwaukee 18volt fuel couldn't be happier and tool selection is amazing and love the battery life indicator and they seem to hold charge forever. I also have the full size 71/4 circular saw which is amazing don't have to keep the mini blades.

That being said I still have a set of dewalt 12 volt because i didn't like the ergos of the Milwaukee 12 volt. Just decided to keep my dewalt 12 volt. But I rarely use it always reach for the Milwaukee.

Can't say that I have a favorite

The battery replacement is like putting money in your pocket over time.

I have owned Makita and Craftsman in the past, those were essentially disposable because of the replacement battery cost and the chucks and clutches wore out as fast as the batteries

RIDGID

After running through a craftsman complete set and a dewalt complete set over the years. I bought a set of Ridgid to try out. Now all of our crews carry only ridgid. Just like other posters have said the battery warranty is top notch. And the batteries last a really long time.

RIDGID

I'm a ryobi fanboy.

Milwaukee and Rigid are my brands.

DimeBox17 said:

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Rigid. Better batteries and overall performance than Dewalt.

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I love my Ridgid tools.

I've had Ryobi tools that have lasted 12 years now, and they all work with the newer batteries. I've had maybe two batteries die over the 12 years I've been using them. I do not baby them, theyve been rained on and have all sorts of crap in them and are banged to hell. Are they as good as Milwaukee or Rigid?...probably not.

But for the price and durability I'm fine with them. If I leave them on a site somewhere I'm not gutshot about it just go spend another $60 and have a new one.

If you're purchasing to use it around the house, go with Ryobi and spend the extra money on your newest project you're not going to see the difference.

The 2 best widely known brands for build quality are Milwaukee and Bosch, Bosch being the most underrated tool on the market.

Rigid is hands down the best house brand ever made, and with their warranty and price, should be a no brainer for some the weekend warrior 1-2 project a year types.

I was given the opportunity by Lowes to try their 24v Kobalt line for 75% off before they launched, and the things are monsters. Absolutely beefy and more powerful than any DW or Milwaukee I've owned. Just a little too big.

My go to? The 12v Bosch drill/compact combo. Little suckers pack a punch and can do anything my old dewalt 20v could do, which I just gave away to somebody trying to start as a carpenter. Either DW is slipping on their quality, or the other companies are just simply passing them by. But that's just my opinion.

I have Milwaukee cordless and DeWalt for the corded tools. Both have worked to perfection for me.

My Dewalt 18v battery just failed after 6 years of light use. To get an OEM replacement pack is as much as a new drill + batteries.

My 12v Milwaukee before that lasted 20 years.

Based on this thread, is Ridgid or Milwaukee still the concensus pick? No more Dewalt for me.

Milwaukee Fuel/brushless. You just missed some good BF deals but some might still be going on.

You can get an adapter plus two lion batteries for your 18v dewalt tools for less than $200

One of my guys used Dewalt. Batteries seem to run down quickly. Another guy has Ryobi which have seemed to be good quality and longer battery life. I like Makita tools myself.

Milwaukee fuel. Cpo outlet.

Just went through the exercise of getting rid of a lot of air tools and corded tools and replacing with cordless. I went with Ridgid primarily for the warranty and the pricing. They aren't the cheapest, but they aren't any more expensive than the dewalt and the warranty is absolutely worth it.

Very happy with them.

My dad and I both use Ridgid. Been happy with it so far.