My dad has always been a Craftsman guy, mainly due to the wide availability of Sears and the lifetime warranty. He had the Craftsman 19.2V Drill, so naturally I bought one when I got my own place so our batteries would line up.

Now that Stanley Black & Decker has bought Craftsman, Craftsman has abandoned the 19.2V platform for this 20V Platform. Naturally, they are not compatible.

We have 3 drills and a sawzall on the 19.2V platform, so not the end of the world, but as I need more tools, I need to buy into a new system.

Which one to get? Looking most at Milwaukee and DeWalt, but I am not very knowledgable about these, so I would be glad to to learn everything I can from yall. Open to other systems as well.

The only point in Milwaukee's favor is that a sub left a Milwaukee battery and charger. Gave it to my GC and he said he has no clue who's it is. It's been on my countertop for about 3 months, so I guess it is mine, now.

Other battery powered tools we have:

Ego Power Mower 56V
Greenworks 80V Blower/Trimmer Kit with Greenworks 80V Hedge Trimmer

Guitarsoup said:

---

My dad has always been a Craftsman guy, mainly due to the wide availability of Sears and the lifetime warranty. He had the Craftsman 19.2V Drill, so naturally I bought one when I got my own place so our batteries would line up.

Now that Stanley Black & Decker has bought Craftsman, Craftsman has abandoned the 19.2V platform for this 20V Platform. Naturally, they are not compatible.

We have 3 drills and a sawzall on the 19.2V platform, so not the end of the world, but as I need more tools, I need to buy into a new system.

Which one to get? Looking most at Milwaukee and DeWalt, but I am not very knowledgable about these, so I would be glad to to learn everything I can from yall. Open to other systems as well.

The only point in Milwaukee's favor is that a sub left a Milwaukee battery and charger. Gave it to my GC and he said he has no clue who's it is. It's been on my countertop for about 3 months, so I guess it is mine, now.

Other battery powered tools we have:

Ego Power Mower 56V
Greenworks 80V Blower/Trimmer Kit with Greenworks 80V Hedge Trimmer

---

DeWalt and Craftsman are both owned by Stanley B&D - don't know how much overlap they have. Craftsman and DeWalt have been my go to for personal - as well as DeWalt in our family manufacturing business. They have been excellent.

However, I do know lots of folks who have high praise for Makita and some others so there are other good choices.

Cow Hop Ag said:

---

Rigid has a lifetime warranty on their batteries. I switched over to them this year when they had a special that included extra batteries. Be sure to register the tools as soon as you get them though.

---

Yep, definitely register them as soon as you get them, otherwise you're SOL. Learned my lesson and now that's the frst thing I do when I open the package.

Rigid has been and will continue to be my go to tool...I've dopped some of my Rigid tools from 6-8' on concrete and there was no sign of any damage and they keep on working as advertised. They aren't call Rigid for nothing...

Makita. Best cordless lineup. Huge variety and high quality. They pioneered brushless motors in hand tools.

Love my Makita drivers and circular saws.

So far it looks like the new Stanley Craftsman cordless tools are going to be the same or near duplicates as the Porter Cable tools Lowes is carrying currently. For hand tools and other products they are rebranding anything that was Stanley to be Craftsman.

As a disclaimer I work for Bosch so I'm obviously biased. If you're looking for quality and longevity I'd personally stick with Bosch, Milwaukee, Hilti and select DeWalt products. Lowes will have a lot of great Bosch promotions showing up now through the end of the year including some excellent Black Friday promotions.

I understand Lowe's will no longer carry the Toro brand lawn equipment as I tried to buy a Toro 4-cycle Weedeater as mine bit the dust the other day when I let a neighbor use it.

I already have several of the other attachments so I wanted to stay with Toro. The guy told me that since Sears is going out of business, they are acquiring Craftsman lawn equipment and are in the process of changing out their inventory.

Thanks goodness, their attachments are compatible.

Hammer Time said:

---

So far it looks like the new Stanley Craftsman cordless tools are going to be the same or near duplicates as the Porter Cable tools Lowes is carrying currently. For hand tools and other products they are rebranding anything that was Stanley to be Craftsman.

As a disclaimer I work for Bosch so I'm obviously biased. If you're looking for quality and longevity I'd personally stick with Bosch, Milwaukee, Hilti and select DeWalt products. Lowes will have a lot of great Bosch promotions showing up now through the end of the year including some excellent Black Friday promotions.

---

I am leaning towards getting a 12V kit. I don't really need any 18-20V tools at this moment, but I really like Milwaukee's 12V compact set.

I also have a ton of pneumatic lines run through my walls, so I can get more air tools as needed.

Back to cleaning and organizing. -_-

This will always be dilemma as technology keeps evolving. Just have to narrow down to a few top brands & then pull the trigger and stick with it.

Use daily Hilti
Use once a week dewalt

I like my DeWalt. 20 volt and corded.

Hammer Time said:

---

So far it looks like the new Stanley Craftsman cordless tools are going to be the same or near duplicates as the Porter Cable tools Lowes is carrying currently. For hand tools and other products they are rebranding anything that was Stanley to be Craftsman.

As a disclaimer I work for Bosch so I'm obviously biased. If you're looking for quality and longevity I'd personally stick with Bosch, Milwaukee, Hilti and select DeWalt products. Lowes will have a lot of great Bosch promotions showing up now through the end of the year including some excellent Black Friday promotions.

---

Hey Mr Bosch man. I'm normally a fan of German tools but my last few experiences have been less than stellar with Bosch or Metabo.

We've had Ridgid tools since 2004 when we started the renovation on our rent house.

They have replaced all the batteries and several of the tools themselves. We have been very pleased.

Let me warn you the replacement process is very slow.