Cordless Drills - Not fishing Related

Cordless Drills - Not fishing Related

 

Gday all, this question goes out to all the tradies or the master DIY'ers out there. I recently got myself a Bunnings voucher and thought it is time for me to joint the cordless age of power tools, having only ever had a 240V drill. I found a few brands that fit my budget but just wanted to see if anyone has been running these models, have used these models before or can offer THEIR opinion on which one they would go and why. Just for a bit of background knowledge, i am not a tradie so i am not going to be using the drill very day, in fact probably only crack it out a few times a month when i feel like being useful and handy around the house (when the weather is to bad to go fishing!)

 

The main ones that seem to fit my criteria were

Makita 18V with 2 x 1.1AH batteries

Bosch 18V with 2 x 1.2AH batteries

Ryobi ONE 18V with 2 x 1.4AH batteries

All of them were actually around the same price of $200.00.

 

I have seen alot of tradies using Makita when i worked for a while as a Carpenters Labourer so does that mean that this is the better/more reliable brand to go with? In the end i am going to buy one of them as a few of the other brands (Dewalt, AEG) seemed way out of my price range  and i think more designed for heavy trade use anyway and brands loike Ozito looked more like plastic toys.

Any information, opinions and advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks, Buz.


Posts: 1755

Date Joined: 02/01/10

I got a hitachi cordless

Sun, 2012-02-19 13:26

I got a hitachi cordless hammer drill.  Seems to be doing a great job so far

 

Faulkner Family's picture

Posts: 18026

Date Joined: 11/03/08

 all 3 are good. if they have

Sun, 2012-02-19 13:33

 all 3 are good. if they have a spare battery in the pack even better. i have had a ryobi and did a great job , batteries lasted around 18 months with a fair amount of use. the other 2 i have used and they have good power behind them. as far as choosing one over the others its like holden v ford. everyone has their opinion. also have a look at the waranty that goes with them . some offer better than others

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marble's picture

Posts: 775

Date Joined: 03/09/09

I build steel frame houses in

Sun, 2012-02-19 13:45

I build steel frame houses in Exmouth and we use makita 18v with 3ah batteries.Do everything with them, screw frames together, screw roof sheets on to fixout cupboards etc. They get a fl;ogging.  I`ve got 2 of them and just replaced the gearbox on the 3 speed one after 3 years. Home hardware got them on special for arond $400 bucks atm.

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Paul_86's picture

Posts: 1449

Date Joined: 27/03/09

Out of those 3 id go makita,

Sun, 2012-02-19 14:05

Out of those 3 id go makita, im a tradie on commercial construction sites and see alot of people using cordless makita tools, they put them through theres paces and cope well and makita have a massive range of cordless power tools, way more then any other brand. I personaly use dewalt but like you said its more coin!

Posts: 614

Date Joined: 24/02/11

Drill

Sun, 2012-02-19 14:22

I think I have tried them all and the makita is the only one to last it's usually the battery that goes not the drill and it's cheaper to buy new drill than new battery's

sea-kem's picture

Posts: 14973

Date Joined: 30/11/09

Yeh I have the Makit with 3AH

Sun, 2012-02-19 14:26

Yeh I have the Makit with 3AH batteries. It gets quite a work out most days and the Batts last quite a while. Definately recommend them.

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kempy's picture

Posts: 810

Date Joined: 28/05/09

Makita best in the business

Sun, 2012-02-19 15:09

Makita best in the business

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stevebw23's picture

Posts: 155

Date Joined: 12/11/11

makita

Sun, 2012-02-19 15:11

makita are pretty good mate, im a formwork carpenter and i've used 18v makita impact drivers before for putting in 100mm teck screws without any problems. we give tools an absolute flogging on site.

if your only using it every now and then around the house then id definitely recomend getting a drill with "lithium ion" batteries as they hold their charge for a long time when not being used. (they dont drain down when not being used)

if theres something else you could use your bunnings voucher for then i'd recomend buying a cordless drill off ebay. soo much cheaper than bunnings.

i would never buy bosch as ive seen three 36v ones fry out after a few months work 

 

 

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wangler's picture

Posts: 607

Date Joined: 26/04/08

makita

Sun, 2012-02-19 15:15

 even tho it is only a 1.1 ah batt, but better built

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Dougie

Posts: 2925

Date Joined: 27/12/06

Makita

Sun, 2012-02-19 21:09

Good drills, other than that I have always had Panasonic or dewalt

Posts: 3246

Date Joined: 15/08/09

another thumbs up

Sun, 2012-02-19 21:26

 for Makita 

Buz's picture

Posts: 1555

Date Joined: 28/08/07

Hmmmmm noticing a trend here

Sun, 2012-02-19 21:30

Hmmmmm noticing a trend here :)

 

Hahaha. Well i think i might be purchasing a Makita then.

 

Thanks all for you replies.

chookc's picture

Posts: 442

Date Joined: 07/01/10

definetly Makita but get the

Sun, 2012-02-19 21:31

definetly Makita but get the lithium ion batteries not nicad...  They last longer and don't have memory like the niczads.  To get the most out of a nicad it must be completely discharged and fully recharge otherwise it holfds memory and next time you only get half a charge or half the time in use...

wayneleech's picture

Posts: 362

Date Joined: 27/06/08

 I'm a roof plumber and we

Mon, 2012-02-20 06:07

 I'm a roof plumber and we all use makita - i usually get my stuff through www.gear4dad.com.au/power-tools/combo-kits.html

would go the 18v 3ah.  Once you've got two decent batteries you can then just buy the skins for other tools...eg, stereo, blower, grinder etc....

wazzbat's picture

Posts: 977

Date Joined: 19/01/10

Personally I wouldn't buy any

Mon, 2012-02-20 19:41

Personally I wouldn't buy any battery drill with only 1.4 Ah or less.  I use 28V Milwaukee at work and both my drill driver and impact hammer have been copping a flogging for over 4 years now.  They are heavy though but they go all day.

I have had Dewalt then Panasonic and now Milwaukee.  I think each one has been an upgrade from the last.  I am going to try Makita next as I am keen on something a little smaller.

If you are only using your drill occasionally, the 1 - 1.5 Ah batteries will probably be OK but personally I would hang on to the voucher until you needed something else from Bunnings and go and get a drill with a better Ah rating from somewhere else.  There are lots of online shops now but if you shop around, I'm sure a lot of the "real" shops could match or come close to matching prices.

Good Luck!

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I fish for the future - Cause I can't bloody catch anything!