There's quite a few brands under Techtronic Industries (TTI):
TTI's brands include:
Milwaukee
AEG (Under license from Electrolux AB)
Ryobi (Under license from Ryobi Ltd)
Homelite
Empire Level
Imperial Blade
Stiletto
Hart
Hoover (In US)
Oreck
Vax (In UK and Australia)
Royal
DreBo
Dirt Devil
Would be cool if all their brands could use the same batteries...
But muh market segmentation!
Which is why there are a plethora of battery adapters out there to allow you to use almost whatever goddamn battery you want on any tool you want (in the same voltage group, at least), lol :D
I believe that "Hart" at Wal Mart is also a TTI brand, roughly Ryobi quality but of course so many fewer offerings. I think Wally World got pissed that Stanley B&D wouldn't do a DeWalt line for them and made a better deal with TTI.
They must be decent since Walmart still sells them and i've not seen much, if any, bad press about them.
Honestly debated picking up some Hart stuff at a couple points, but I'm a cheap miser who keeps falling back to using his something like 70 year old corded drill.
Keep using that glorious 70-year-old corded drill. So, long as it's not a fire hazard, and it's doing what you need, don't let anyone convince you that your relationship with your drill is wrong. Either they don't understand the love that you two share, or they're jealous
Nah, its not that, just dealing with the extention cord gets old and tiresome, especially when its 90 degrees out and the heats making your temper flare:p
But on the plus side.. Its a brushed motor, so every time i pull the trigger its like my own personal 4th of july, lol.
This is correct. I almost worked for them. They also make (or at least did) make the pump/sprayer for swifter wet jets, Hoover and dirt devil vacuums, and I’m sure I’m forgetting some others. Their HQ is where I first saw a 3d printer like 15 years ago. It was a pretty interesting company.
I follow the Adam Savage school of tool buying, if you are not sure you're going to use the tool a lot buy a cheap one, by the time it finally "dies" you'll know if it's worth investing in better quality.
The best thing about Husky tools is their warranty process. If one breaks, you take it to Home Depot, you show the customer service person, they shrug, you go get one from the shelf, you show the customer service person you're not screwing them, and then you leave. You are without your tool for about an hour while you make the trip, as Home Depots are abundant, and other tool brands with similar warranties are less so. Die Hard tools from Advanced Auto has similar advantages, however they also tend to be priced higher without a ton of advantages. So, either go Home Depot for the abundance of locations, Harbor Freight for having the cheapest entry into this warranty process, or whatever Home Depot, Advanced Auto, Harbor Freight, or Lowes is closest to you.
The biggest downside of this warranty process is that the tools are made cheap enough to be replaceable (or disposable) from the perspective of Home Depot et al. If you want to avoid this, I recommend the sorts of tools you can get at Grainger. SK is my favorite out of that tier of tools. These are generally about the same quality as tool truck tools, but at a lower cost since you're not having a representative of the tool company come check once a week if you need any support. The warranty process though will be longer than the tool truck brands as those will usually see you out of hot water in a week, whereas the non-truck professional tools might be in the mail and back to the manufacturer for about a month or so. The mechanic I grew up seeing recommended non-professionals getting a set of tools from Harbor Freight for that they're very cheap, fine enough, and most homeowners will never use any given hand tool enough to warrant taking it for warranty service. He himself had two sets of tools in his shop. There was the set of Snap-on tools he used day to day, and the set of Craftsman tools he used if the Snap-on tools died so that if the Craftsman tool broke while he was waiting on the Snap-on guy to come fix things up for him, he could just hop in his truck, go to Sears, and get the tool replaced and only ever lose an hour of work.
Finally, and this is what I most recommend, try looking for used professional tools from the "mail it back" warranty brands second hand. These companies generally don't honor warranties for professionals buying these tools second hand as the warranty originally sold was for the lifetime of the original owner, but most of them are perfectly happy to provide warranty service for whatever random jackass bought an SK ratchet off a Harley-Davidson technician who was retiring. A lot of the time, the people working at that higher end market care more about maintaining brand reputation than they do losing a few nickels and dimes along the way. Further, they will often treat tools they receive back as R&D for what manufacturing flaws were missed along the way, and so a few tools from non-professional users that they can analyze will help them keep selling tools to professional users who will be very unhappy if their tool fails. The brands in this category to look out for are:
Generally speaking, I do think Wera is a bit overrated, but if you're in Europe they're absolutely where I'd send you. The other thing I like about going second hand like this, is that what I don't like about the cheap tools model of warranty is the wastefulness of not fixing tools. Extracting and refining metal takes resources and creates pollutants. I'd much rather take older tools and fix them
Woa cool, thanks for the tips. Yeah, looking for used professional tools sounds like the way to go. The tools will either be better from the start, or like you say, you can try mailing them back to see if they'll throw you a bone on the original owner's warranty.
I run Ryobi for battery tools and Harbor Freight stuff for most of the hand tools. I splurged a bit and went with Tekton for my wrenches. But really, harbor freight stuff has been absolutely fine for me, especially their new higher tier tools like Icon and Quinn.
I had the same reservation until recently. A few weeks back I bought a set of their 6t Daytona jackstands after inspecting the welds and safety pins and those things are damn solid. I probably wouldn't use their much cheaper and smaller 3t models, but these 6t stands are great. I have a hunch they upped their QC and quality after all that bad jackstands press they got.
Contractor here. DeWalt 20v is my main cordless brand. I've beat the shit out of them for years. Never have given me problems, plus I've moved over my lawn care tools to the 20v offerings because I've got more batteries than I know what to do with . I migrated over from the 18v post battery lineup, which was disappointing that DeWalt didn't support their 18v line anymore. DeWalt 12v line is a major letdown; no real tools outside of a couple of drill/driver atomics. I do have a couple of 60v DeWalt tools, but we'll see if DeWalt continues to support that class.
I did buy into the Milwaukee 12v setup, because sometimes I only need a light duty drill/impact and their 12v line has a lot of nice options for lighter duty cordless tools.
Corded, I have no brand loyalty and buy the best tool for the money (no festool because I don't have a money tree in my backyard). Bosch, Makita, DeWalt, Milwaukee, etc... I do a little bit of research and buy the best rated tool. I never buy anything that has moving parts from harbor freight. Anything I do buy there I consider a 'disposable' tool and can't depend on it to do it's job.
My tools make me money, and I try to treat them well, so when I need them I can count on them to work.
I'm on the yellow ray-gun stuff too, I've only ever managed to burn a drill armature out (but then I was using a 20mm carbide hole saw on 10mm steel plate so it's my own fault), found a replacement armature for £26 and it was easy to fit.
I also have the 9Ah monster dewalt battery and their usb topper, absolute life saver if you're on a job site, or going camping.
I heard they've released an even bigger one which I'm yet to look at, and they have a power station thing that looks cool as hell.
Same to almost all of this. My 20v dewalt line has heald up quite well with some pretty heavy usage.
Air tools have been Bostich or porter cable though truth be told I've had issue with porter cable. My new framing gun is an off brand Fram Amazon. It was on Hella sale and I needed one quick. It replaced a porter cable and has surprisingly held up really well so far.
I also have a light line but unlike yours I'm in the Makita 12v camp. Have a of their lighter smaller 12v tools and love them. Truthfully I'd be tempted to go all Makita if I wasn't so heavily invested in dewalt but I don't really have any dewalt complaints.
You should know that both Milwaukee and Ryobi have the same parent company.
Its not like they are the exact same tool.
I have a ton of Ryobi tools and am perfectly fine with them, but they are not designed and built to the same standards of use and durability as Milwaukee. That's why companies have multiple tiers to cover everyone from the occasional user to the professional. Some companies really go nuts with that and have seemingly a million brands (I'm looking at your SBD) but thinning out a company's lineup of too many brands is sometimes very tough from a customer loyalty perspective.
Even so, it's not about who owns them, it's about their design, specifications and quality assurance. Milwaukee is head and shoulders above Ryobi in quality and durability (and cost).
That's really interesting. I didn't realize they make the Hart brand of tools sold at Walmart.
Shit, my man, ever since Craftsman stopped really being Craftsman, all bets are off.
In case anyone is curious, the Lifetime Warranty on Craftsman hand tools is still in effect. You need to walk into a Lowe's with your broken ratchet, now, but they'll still swap you another one for free. It just hurts a little trading in your 20-year-old Craftsman ratchet, which is lighter, better built, and shows attention to detail, for a lump of Chinesium that's just bluntly stamped also-ran stuff. Definitely a downgrade. But the warranty is still there, so that's something.
Now, shit, who knows? My stuff is still mostly Craftsman, but stuff has been replaced with lesser brands as it fails or gets lost, it's whatever, now, for hand tools.
I've heard good things about Makita, lately. Make sure you follow TorqueTestChannel on Youtube for the real man news, they've got a whole setup for testing power tools to see if they're worth the price.
Thanks to their test performance, I'm slowly saving up for a Makita electric impact I don't need that badly, so hopefully the quality stays up. $5 in the piggy bank every couple weeks doesn't buy impact wrenches very fast.
Craftsman has brought back a lot of their manufacturing back to the USA: https://www.craftsman.com/pages/where-its-made
Husky tools were recommended to me by a diesel mechanic. Home Depot brand. The tools are pretty nice and warranty has been solid.
I use Ryobi for everything because they're affordable, I already have the batteries, and I'm not a professional, so they don't get used every day.
I think Ryobi is perfect for as an entry tool. If you break it from overuse, then buy a high quality product. But if it's the first time buying a tool where you don't know how often you will use it, Ryobi is perfectly fine to get started with and fmailiarize yourself with it.
I agree. to add both 18 and 40v are have high and low quality feeling devices. The high quality lawn mower and hand held yard tools are good enough. get big batteries. Have enough to keep going with an ulta fast charger. the hybrid 18v are my jam. Plastic weld is great for fixing their plastic. battery warranty is pretty good.
I'm a Makita-Fangirl. I know, there might be better brands and some tools just aren't meant to be battery-driven.
But I would give my right arm for Makita-Chainsaw ;)
As of now I only have two drills and a measuring tape from them (I know Makita from working dry construction during college). I think it's really hard to cut off an arm with those :D
Makita all the way. I was first introduced to it by a neighbor who had a Makita drill, and it was so much better than the generic one I had previously. Now I own a bunch of 18V Makita tools, from your standard power drill, an impact drill, air compressor, a lawnmower, weed trimmer, and hedge trimmer.
I'm locked into the brand now, but I have zero regrets as their tools are very high quality. Nope I wanna get some woodworking tools but don't have the space for a proper workbench lol.
Makita for the regular hard use stuff.
Ryobi for the lightweight, didn't need but didn't want to rent stuff. My landscape gear is one+ and works perfectly for my needs so having the battery platform makes things easier.
That's how they got me as well. Lowest priced plus on sale. Reviews were mostly fine for the trimmer itself. Most people seemed to have more issues with the customer service, which, that's pretty standard for many companies these days. I was tired of constantly having to fix the name brand gas weed eater I had, so I picked up one of the battery powered Ryobi models. It works...fine lol. Battery could last longer. Otherwise it does exactly what it says it does on the box. I've never had a problem with it. My other handful of Ryobi tools are in that camp. Kinda cheap feeling but seem to work as advertised.
The only one that was shit is the drill. I have a low-end black and decker drill that has lasted me about ten years. The Ryobi I got maybe hit three.
I'll tell you though, the best tool I own is my Scott manual push mower. Picked it up for $99 and I've never had an issues and it still cuts like it did when I bought it four years ago. A little WD40 in the spring after pulling it out of shed hibernation and off to cut.
Dewalt at home because when i started buying them they were the best.
Milwaukee m18 at work because they are the best quality and have the biggest selection.
A lot of people are commenting about how Ryobi and Milwaukee are owned by the same parent company.
This is true, but in the same way Lexus and Toyota are the same company. Ryobi is intro level and Milwaukee is the professional focused brand. There's nothing wrong with Ryobi, but Project Farm has repeatedly tested Milwaukee and Ryobi and Milwaukee consistently outperforms. It's not a "badge engineering"situation.
In regards to the picture, Ryobi and Milwaukee are the same company.
i decided to go full prosumer, and go Dewalt.
You identify as a Milwaukee Tool? That's pretty strong, albeit strange, but more power to ya!
Ryobi, cuz I'm broke.
Also Ryobi, when I was younger I was gifted/handed down a few tools and have just been in their battery ecosystem ever since.
I've had fairly good luck with them, don't recall any significant tool failures, but I can't say I'd especially recommend them.
I guess it's an endorsement when no one really has anything bad to say about them. We all just go "meh, there are better options if you've got the cash".
Ryobi is a great toolset overall. Even light woodworking is perfectly fine. I have maybe 8ish of their tools, ranging from drill to lawnmower and the only one I'd have any real issues with is my table saw.
Same here, plus the range of stuff I could get that work on their batteries is very compelling for me.
Bosch because I got a stupidly low deal for a blue drill, two batteries and a fast charger (i still think it was a labelling mistake) and now everytime I look at tools I want the wireless version and since I already have batteries it just make more sense to stay with one system. It was a fantastic idea to vendor lock the clients.
Lot of electric folks like them AFAIK.
When my girlfriend moved in I "inherited" a couple Ryobi drills with a few batteries. I thought it would be wasteful to not use those batteries, so I just defaulted to Ryobi. They work fine? I'm not in construction, so they work for my needs. I'm not a fan of the neon green, but it does make the tools easier to find.
I've noticed people like to shit on Ryobi but they're being aggressively advertised and competitively priced. I haven't tried them but I'm pretty curious if they're actually bad.
I've smoked tools from all of the major brands at work and I prefer the stink of Makita electronics over all of the others, so generally thats what I'll gravitate towards at the tool store. That said, the stuff we've got at home for projects around the house is all ryobi green. Sure they feel kinda cheap, sure they aren't as powerful, but for around the house stuff they do just fine, just don't beat on them like I do mine.
I had all Dewalt for a number of years went from their 18v to 20v line. But i kept wanting a few tools they did not make so i purchased the Ryobi versions. I was so happy with the price, capability, and mostly variety of tools. I switched completely over to Ryobi. Sold all my old Dewalt 18v stuff. I now have prob 35 different Ryobi products and 5-6 Dewalt. I even have Ryobi's 40v trimmer, chainsaw, leaf blower, pole saw. I simply love that Ryobi has pretty much any freaking power tool you can think of, and more.
Is Ryobi the best...No. Does Ryobi have a heck of a selection at really good prices...Yes. Is Ryobi perfectly fine for Home\hobbiest use...Absolutely! If i was in the trades and used these tools daily would i choose Ryobi...Probably not, I would prob go with Milwaukee.
I actually use mine for work, but I'm not using most of them daily. For me I needed variety (the right tool for the job) and them all to be on the same battery ecosystem. They've also got some great "widgets", the 1-gal battery shop vac is around $60-70 IIRC and is an amazing little bit of kit. It's like a suitcase of clean. The power caulker isn't a technical marvel but has absolutely saved my wrist on a few jobs. I was on the fence about the power brush but use it a TON around the house. The battery hot glue gun is also more useful than I thought it would be.
I made a 10 amp 18v corded adapter I can use with all the tools when power is available and I don't want to fry the battery. I also made an adapter so I can USB charge off my batteries if the power goes out or something (they make those but I had the parts).
But I've never had issues. It is worth researching each tool though. They tend to have tiers even within the brand (18v vs the HP+ line). The sawzall in that starter kit is... cute. It "works" in the strictest sense of the word. The little circular saw is similar, but there's a lot more use cases for a lightweight, low-profile circ saw; I love mine. The impact drivers/drills always did right by me. The battery powered chop saw is pretty great (I love that I can just slap a battery on it for a few cuts or use my adapter).
All in all, from what I've heard the issue isn't usually performance it's durability. That being said, it's not like I baby my tools, I just don't use the same tool everyday like a contractor might. IMO it's a great brand for a ton of people. I think they're fine for home improvement, just maybe not building a house.
It wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t hold up more than a couple years if you were using them 40+ hours a week on commercial jobs for years on end, but for weekend home use? I’ve had my basic drill for like idk 10 years now and it still works as good as the day I bought it. I have a handful of Ryobi tools and recently picked up the bottom tier Ryobi 40v mower and have been nothing but impressed. I’ve done a lot of mowing of tall, wet grass the last few weeks and the thing just works.
They’re Home Depot exclusive in a lot of markets.
Ryobi and Milwaukee both are TTI tool brands, so it’s not really a competitor tool.
One is directed at homeowners and one is directed at pro-sumers. Ryobi batteries will fail long before Milwaukee batteries will.
I’ve always thought of Rigid as being the TTI prosumer brand and Milwaukee being more contractor-level, though their M12 line kinda bumps into the homeowner target market now where for most uses 12V gets the job done. Either way, both definitely have their places. Ryobi is great for homeowners who need the tool but won’t use it often enough to justify the price of the Milwaukee durability.
Milwaukee 12v is the bomb for most drill/driving/ratchet. Super compact, ergonomic, well built, and the same power as "20v" equivalent twice their size. It would be my number one choice for anything except larger impact wrenches.
The shop I work at decided that we would get Milwaukee for most of our cordless tools, so that's what I have for the convenience of being able to share batteries. We even have a 3/4" and 1" impact from Milwaukee, both work great. The 3/4" sees use every day removing 500ft/lbs lugnuts off of heavy trucks.
Their impacts are what sold us on Milwaukee. Absolute beasts!
Yeah, unfortunately the beastly impacts are M18 so different batteries than the smaller M12 tools. They do make an awesome M12 3/8" Stubby Impact. Anything bigger you need to bump up to the M18 line.
I have quite a few DeWalt power tools, and have a few Ryobi lawn tools. Both have been solid.
Milwaukee, because thats what was on clearance at Home Depot when I wad finally disgusted with the poor performance and junk batteries on my craftsman C3 stuff.
DeWalt mostly - had Ryobi corded tools until they became unusable, switched to DeWalt a swell. I've got a nice Festool track saw and dust collector as well. I do some hobby woodworking and abuse tools on a small farm, so my usage is a bit more than the average homeowner, but not as extreme as somebody using them for construction, etc.
I bought a bunch of Dewalt XR tools right after buying our house. I can't compare them to anything, but so far they have been able to handle everything I throw at them.
If you're in the market for something specific check out Project Farm on Youtube. He does a pretty good job of putting whatever he's reviewing through its paces - sometimes I watch his videos for stuff I know I'll never buy
Have a few Rigid tools (cordless drill, impact driver, router, contractor table saw, orbital sander). Originally started buying Rigid for their "lifetime warranties," but after using their registration process, it appears they're doing everything they can to make people give up, so I don't buy this brand any more. The contractor table saw is great, regardless.
I now buy Dewalt cordless tools. Good quality, but battery prices are ridiculous.
For tools I don't need to use very often, I buy from Harbor Freight. Some tools are barely usable, some of their hand tools are superior to other store brands from other stores.
Harbor Freight is a lifesaver brand, by that I mean if you have very little cash but you REALLY need something to finish the job, they'll do that one job and you'd still have a tool you can use ocasionally
There have only been a handful of times where going with a cheapo HF tool was the correct answer in the long run. HF's higher end tools are not bad, but then again they are priced at a similar level to "real" brands, so why go with HF? Their lower end tools are mostly throw-away and something that you will need to replace - the old adage of "buy once, cry once" applies. Now I am not saying ALL HF stuff is garbage (their car jacks are good), but it's just not worth it to me. Other's can buy what they want.
The icon line is supposed to be comparable to the tool trucks and I have some of them and so far, I'd agree and it's about 1/5th of the cost. I've been beating the hell out of the 3/8 impact swivel sockets and haven't broken one yet. They're still tight.
Me three!
I caught a lot of flak for buying my Black and Decker Matrix set but it's been very solid for me for a few years. Granted, I only use my tools a couple of time a month on average. But it sure is handy to have a drill that's also an impact driver and also an air compressor and uses the same batteries as my weed whacker and leaf blower.
I have a Matrix because at the time I was looking, it was the only way to get a corded impact driver at a reasonable price. Then of course I got a cordless and never use the Matrix, but that swiss army knife feel is pretty cool.
I started with Harbor Freight because I couldn't decide on a battery system at the time and just needed a cheapo drill for a project.
Once it died, Milwaukee was coming out and had brushless motors for good prices. I jumped on board and never looked back.
All over the map, but ~7 years ago when I moved into my new house I bought a set of Porter Cable cordless 20V that has served me well. DeWalt table saw and drywall screw gun, Hitachi and Makita nail guns. Bosch router and sander. Old school Milwaukee sawzall. Old American made Craftsman socket set. Makita compressor.
The big issue with the PC is that they just don't have a very big tool eco-system.
I got the Porter Cable because I previously had a small set of DeWalt tools and felt like I under utilized them over 20 years. So instead of going contractor grade I went more prosumer. In retrospect I wish I'd bought Milwaukee, because I've used the hell out of the PC, but they've served me well.
I bought most of the porter cable 20v range when Lowe's clearanced them out right before I bought my house a few years ago figuring they would last me a few years and I could upgrade to one of the pro-sumer brands. I've put the drill and impact through hell and they keep coming back for more.
ProTip: Mixing mortar will kill the drill fairly quickly, but slower than I expected. This is the non-brushless one for the record.
Also ProTip: You can often find them for $20 on ebay. $80 for the brushless, NIB.
Been a real workhorse.
For battery tools, I stick with Makita, but Ryobi is growing on me for around the house works
Ryobi is just so cheap that it doesn't make sense for me to buy any other cordless brand with the number of batteries I have.
But for hand tools and corded stuff I get the cheapest I can find, until something slows me down too much, then I'll upgrade.
That's how I've built a small empire of tools.
Started life as a Makita user for electric handhelds. Became a Milwaukee user after finding the magnificent beast that is their higher end impact lines. All hail the torque!
My father always insisted on buying me useful tools for holidays so I'd have a large tool chest as I grew up. Back as a young teen my father bought me a ryobi one+ 18v set of power tools (Power drill, flashlight, and circular saw). I've continued to add on to that set for the past 25 years, even upgrading the batteries to nicer lithium battery packs. But I still have those original ryobi tools my father bought me all those years ago.
Now I've recently started expanding my lawn care powertool collection of Ryobi 40v tools - leafblower, chainsaw, trimmer, and now lawn mower. I know Ryobi isn't exactly "pro grade" but they work well enough for my needs
The 40v mower has been great to me so far. It’s quiet and managed to do a nice job even when my lawn was fairly wet.
I bought a really nice gas mower a few years back and figured it would last me a long time. Had it professionally tuned up about a year ago. Couldn't get it started for the life of me (dirty carb as I later discovered).
So I went on the local classifieds and scooped up a used-twice (they gave up and hired a lawn company lol) 40v push mower with the 6-amp battery and charger. Mower still looked brand new. it takes up such little space when folded up - we love it. Sometimes I can't tell if it's running when wearing my ANC earbuds while mowing lol
But I'm so done with small-engine gas powered lawn care equipment. It's dirty, messy, heavy, and unreliable. My electric lawn tools have been so much more reliable and comfortable.
We’re a Makita home, but I wouldn’t mind other nice brushless based tools from other brands. I’ve considered custom printed battery adapters to be able to make other brands compatible with my Makita battery investment.
I got Bosch because I like the color lol. Also they were on sale on Amazon a while ago.
I'm just a homeowner though and my Black and Decker set served me reasonably well for 10 years until I got fed up with the battery life.
Is it not a hassle having so many batteries and chargers or are you wired?
Why can brands just have adapters for battery's to ac power. If I don't need it to be wireless then why do I need a battery.
I also think the tool company's need to do what the EU doing with USB C, so I don't have to go dig for a proprietary charger
Absolutely agreed that the battery situation is stupid and creating a lot of waste. Unfortunately I don't think these companies are going to willingly give up the cash-cow that is proprietary batteries and chargers, along with the sunk-cost customer base they maintain with it, unless they're forced to. It's a shame other countries don't protect consumers with as much vigor as the EU.
Hitachi/Makita/Metabo (Metabo is Hitachi) Some bosch sometimes. I think the saw stop is nice for table saws after using it in a hackerspace, saw it save enough people from losing fingers it seems like a good idea. For woodworking and gardening I mostly use cheap (but not knockoffs from amazon) japanese tools, as long as you clean the blades and keep them sharp they are a really good value.
Metabo HPT is called Hikoki outside of USA afaik. Only seen them at hardware stores but I remember the DV18DD being remarkably quiet for an 18V brushless drill driver, even compared to the competitors' smaller models. In what way do they suck? At least here they are in the same price range as Makita and Dewalt.
I don't know enough to have any brand loyalty, though there might be a handful of brands that I probably won't buy from again. If I could buy some of my cordless tools again though I'd try to consolidate down to a single brand so I didn't have so many dumb chargers to sort through.
Milwaukee. I bought early into the launch of the brushless fuel line when they were clearly above the rest, and now I'm in their ecosystem. Anything corded or doesn't have it's own battery I'll use whatever I meets my needs best though.
My cordless tools do get used professionally though. I might add some Ryobi to my kit for some of the odd ball items that only exist in their ecosystem like the extended power brush.
Same. I bought an electric impact and used it for working on cars for something like three years. I think that was like six or seven years ago and it's still going strong.
I'm Milwaukee as well, and I buy the non fuel version if I need a sometimes/oddball tool. I'm not worrying about a slew of different batteries.
Doesn't matter too much to me. One is Dewalt and the other Ryobi. I like them both but I prefer yellow over green. The Ryobi has a large battery that lasts a very long time. The Dewalt has better ergonomics and is older, the batteries are gone (but that's the benefit of having two drills/four batteries). I've dropped the Dewalt a bunch. The Ryobi is quieter and smoother torque at variable speeds.
I've eyed Festool for their sanders and dust collection, but soo expensive I don't think I could buy them unless I'm getting paid for my work.
RYOBI: Recommend You Other Brands Instead (especially applies their gas stuff which has high failure rates, the cordless handhelds are decent for household and even light commercial use though)
Maybe I'm unlucky as hell, but I've had nothing but problems with their handhelds. Bought a finishing sander and the motor crapped out, exact same thing happened on the replacement, so I grabbed a mastercraft (also a cheap brand) and at least it runs. Bought a jigsaw and the stock face plate leaves an indent and black marks on everything I cut.
Bosch blue. They have moved closer to the centre ground in recent years, to compete with cheap Chinese tools but still very solid and good value. I have a Bosch jigsaw from the 90s that I recently repaired with genuine OEM parts.
Used to have cheapo 12v hitachi. Its poor little clutch didn't fair well when I asked it to drive several 5 inch lags.
DeWalt what I use now. Received a 6ish tool kit as a present a while back. They all get light use but the sawzall is certainly the most used. Diablos 3tpi blade makes for a great and violent pruner.
No more cheap bits though. Driver or drill. (Sockets too.)The level of annoyed and frustrated cheap bits makes for just isn't worth it. Drivers hold better, strip less, and last longer. Drills go through material faster, break less, hold an edge longer.
Ryobi. I have a bunch of 18v tools and a 40v lawn mower and they’ve all been great. I could afford better I suppose but so far I haven’t had any reason to switch.
Used Craftsman for the longest time until Sears sold/spun off the brand, then stopped purchasing altogether. I moved into a new home and when I needed a replacement, my new neighbor turned me onto Milwaukee and I never looked back. Replacing years old Craftsman tools with Milwaukee as needed.
Craftsman still supports the lifetime warranty so if you have any tools that fall under that they will replace them.
Source: Had two ratchets replaced by them that were 50 or so years old. This was after they were bought out.
Yeah, but aren't they replacing them with the new, inferior stuff?
I've been pretty happy with the Kobalt 24V Max tools. I've got almost every tool you can think of, tons of batteries, and have been 3D printing wall mounts for them.
Power tools used to be Ryobi 18v, recently upgraded to Flex tools. They're probably overkill for most home level users but I do a lot of remodel work. Grizzly for most of my woodworking power tools. Hodgepodge for things like sockets/screwdrivers etc.
I went with Dewalt when their 20v tools came out, so i stuck with them. It's nice to be able to use the same batteries for all my tools. Kind of want to switch to Milwaukee though, they seem to perform a little better, but I don't use them enough to justify changing at this point.
Milwaukee is kind of over-priced for what you get. It's good, but from what I've seen, not better enough to warrant the price. The corded Sawzall is the exception. It's the only Sawzall to get.
I have the EGO mower and Weed whacker. They have been fantastic. Not having to deal with gas and oil and a fucking ripcord is a godsend.
Side note: Originally didn't think I needed the blower. Now I can't stop thinking about getting one. The girlfriend still mocks me whenever I use the push broom to clean up the driveway and sidewalk.
I have the blower and I guess you cant win either way. I like the mini EGO blower i got but I still feel a little silly trying to blow all the debris back onto my lawn instead of into the street or into my neighbors lawns, but it feels silly because often it seems like Im just blasting stuff into the air to get blown back onto me lol. So either youre sweeping manually or blowing shit all over the place lol
I use Dewalt since it was gifted, I like then a lot so far.
Torque test channel is a goldmine of information if looking to buy.
Festol, Knipex, Wera, Nepros@tst123@lemmy.world
Milwaukee
Over the pond here on belgium we have 2 main consumer brands that are quality: Makita and Bosch.
Then for more professional use there is Festool that is a pretty penny.
Less options but in the US, most of the "options" are owned by the same 2-3 companies anyway.
Milwaukee 12v Lithium for battery powered Dewalt for plugin/bit items like table saws.
DeWalt. My father in law bought us some battery powered DeWalt tools as a house warming present, and I continued buying more DeWalt battery powered tools as I needed them since I already had the interchangeable batteries and charger. They've all worked well for me so far. When I eventually kill my drill bits I'll get Milwaukee replacements.
For hammers, Estwing is the only option. My workhorse hammer is >40 years old and still in great working condition and I abuse the hell out of hammers.
I bought a DeWalt cordless tool years ago. Ended up sticking with Dewalt because batteries are not compatible between different brands.
Honestly surprised nobody has thought of selling an adapter. I could see this working well for contractors of different trades. 1 contractor uses Dewalt, but another uses Milwaukee. That's okay, just bring the adapter and you can borrow the battery from that person(s) regardless of their brand affinity.
Ryobi saw, weedeater, leafblower, flashlight and handvac that have all been purchased in the past 5-7 years and share batteries. Dewalt drill I’ve owned for 10+ years thats on its 3rd set of batteries but works great. A variety of craftsman, irwin, stanley and snap on hand tools and wrenches and a few harbour freight tools here and there.
I mostly do fix ups around the house, and I make furniture in my spare time. For Power Tools I use Metabo and have for the past 5 years including some of the old Hitachi stuff. My three of my old Hitachi batteries failed and Metabo HPT replaced them no questions asked not even a receipt.
As for woodworking equipment I stick to Delta, and Grizzly. Though I did pick up a helical head Wen planer after chasing down multiple reviews. 10/10 that thing just works.
My dad bought me a Kobalt Power drill that was on sale with a battery over a decade ago, and since I already had the battery I just kept buying Kobalt. Their power tools are solid but I've definitely busted a few bits
I got a “new homeowners” tool kit from Ryobi, so I have my light duty tools there (oscillating saw, drill, impact driver, sawzall.)
My heavy duty stuff is Makita - impact wrench, hammer drill, etc.
I picked up that same Ryobi starter kit when I bought my house. I know they aren't the top of the line, but it's served me well for light duty household projects.
ozito is a local brand stocked at bunnings, i wouldnt rely on them to make a living with but they are more than good enough around the house and im so deep into the ecosystem at this point it makes no sense to change
Recently inherited my dad's collection. It's a mix of ryobi, rigid, Milwaukee, and dewalt (along with a few miscellaneous brands I don't remember). The Milwaukee tool cabinet and work bench are probably my favourite pieces (followed closely by the Ridgid radial arm saw)
I use Bosch and love it but I have a few Milwaukee tools sprinkled in.
My stuff is rigid, because I bought the hammer drill several years ago and it's been outstanding so naturally when I need new tools I just get another rigid now.
I use the orange one. I don't know the name. One brand, that way all the batteries fit. They've been fine.
Ridgid from Home Depot? That's what I use.
Same. Great drill, so I got the rest the same
if you ever find yourself craving for a tool from another brand it's possible to have an adapter for the battery of other brands. Don't ask me where to find them tho, I've just seen them in the wild here and there.
I use rigid, and I've used them in a construction environment.
In my opinion, most of the impact drivers and drills are comparable, but the rigid nail gun is better than the DeWalt (hands down) or Milwaukee (down to preference). The funny thing to me is that the Ryobi nail gun is also much better than the DeWalt one.
You made a good choice.
I tend to grab what will do the best for what I am doing. But I also am partial to Hitachi (Metabo HPT now)
Lawn equipment:
Mower: Toro 60V Leaf Blower: Toro 60V Hedge Clipper: Toro 60V I absolutely love all of the above, they work extremely well for my less than 1/5th acre of land. When it was time to replace my 16 year old Toro 6.5hp gas mower, I wanted a battery powered unit. Looking at Ego and the others, I went with Toro as it seems a lot better built. It also helps that in a distant past I worked for a company that provided Toro's IT services, so I got to know the company.
String Trimmer: Black and Decker 20V (My first battery powered yard tool purchase and it's been great. Will replace with a Toro 60v when it dies.)
Tools: All are Makita LXT powered Circular Saw Sawzall Drill
I needed a lawn mower for my tiny patch of grass so I went with Ryobi. I've since bought/been gifted Ryobi for every yard tool I have.
My drills and impact driver are DeWalt. Way better than the shitty Black & Decker drill that I got in a free gift from work.
I have a healthy mix. Hitachi table saw and miter saw, Makita framing nailer, Bostitch trim nailer and roofing nailer, and a Bosch corded circular saw. All my cordless tools are Milwaukee though, since I'm standardized on the M18 battery. Have a cordless drill and impact, jigsaw, hackzall, a bunch of lights, and a circular saw.
I use bauer tools from harbor freight. They're not the top of the line, but they're nicer than a lot of the cheaper tools you'll find at Home Depot and Lowes. Basically, they're good value for money. The only worry is the battery lifetime, since they could wind up being ewaste in the long term. I've been happy with them though
Milwaukee. I started off my collection with their corded equipment, so I followed the brand when I wanted to get into the cordless tools.
I have both DeWalt and Milwaukee. Mainly Milwaukee now.
Look up Torque Test Channel on YouTube, great independent test information.
Milwaukee is slightly above the rest for impacts, especially the bigger automotive ones, and their nailers.
But DeWalt also has some options that are slightly superior. Their battery grease gun is the best by far.
Cordless-wise, I have B&D, Porter Cable, and Bostitch (drill and impact driver that they used to sell at Wal-Mart) because they are all electrically compatible SB&D products, requiring only a few kisses from a Dremel to interoperate like a single system. Also made an adapter for my ancient Ridgid X2 anchor, I mean DRILL; it was a gift and just sits on the shelf with a countersink in it, but it still works.
Got a little bit of everything for the woodshop, Wen jointer, Shopsmith planer, band saw, scroll saw, and Mark V, Sawstop Contractor saw, Harbor Freight Dust Collector.
Still have a fairly well stocked of "still sears" craftsman gear, (not yet chinesey-um) including some old pneumatic impacts/etc, a few Matco/Cornwell tools mixed in there as well. Detailed for a lot of years and Makita made great (if not terribly impressive) stuff for rotary grinders/buffers.
Makita has always impressed me.
Basically whatever my dad lets me steal for a few weeks. From newer and cheaper black and decker analogs to old old DeWalt tools.
Alot of non electric tools have no names for me to appreciate anymore. Might even be pass me downs from my grandfather.
They all work perfectly well for most home DIY stuff.
I was a tradey for a decade, my heart belongs to Milwaukee and it'll stay there.
Cheap ones unless it's something I use a lot, then I pry the wallet open
Most of my hand and yard tools are Craftsman. All my battery powered stuff is Dewalt.
I've been happy with the combination of those over the past few years of homeownership
I'm a makita guy but in all honesty it's because I've been in that battery biome for 10 years. I hate the idea of having multiple batteries and chargers. When they change the profile enough to require new batteries, I might jump ship.
And to continue the honesty, I prefer plug in tools most times. I have an impact, drill/light duty hammer drill, 6inch cricle saw, and the 7.25 worm drive. Oh, and the blower for cleaning after work and drying out the jewels.
I'm in the same Boat. I've got a shit ton of their stuff and just keep buying more because I already have tge batteries. Have you gotten into their 40v stuff?
Not yet. I have 6 of the big 18v batteries, 2 mediums, and the two tiny ones they give you in the drill kit. The big ones are the ones I have at work. I have way more money sunk into batteries than tools. I was around when the first 9.6v (?) Makita drills came out and watched everyone just mow through batteries. Then Dewalt had hose huge oval ones. I know guys with chests full of obsolete tools because battery forms changed. That's why I'm gun shy about getting so many tools. I know they'll change form factors again and I'll be out there buying drills and saws, and all the things. Meanwhile, I still have a Skill Worndrive I've had for like 30 years that plugs in and I just need to change the oil when I remember.
(Also, great name. They just came out with a new album. It's really good)
I used to used Makita, but when they changed the battery to make it incompatible I switched to Ryobi. Cheaper tools means more tools for me.
I remember agonizing over this before finally committing to Milwaukee. I knew I'd be stuck in an ecosystem and I wanted to not have different batteries and chargers confusing me.
I'm not paid to shill for the tool company I buy my kit from. They all use the same battery, so it's cheaper to not mix and match.
I would probably only recommend my Bosch sliding compound mitre saw of all the tools I've owned - my only complaint about it is that the laser is not adjustable enough, but cuts are quality, angles are repeatable and I'm broadly very happy with it.
Anything else is much the same as every other tool on the market.
Lol, not being paid to shill and having an opinion are two different things.
Separated only by expressing it.
Companies with an advertising budget larger than all the currency that will come through me in a lifetime, especially as they're all owned by more or less the same parent corporations totally eliminating competition or variance, don't need my voice.
thanks for using Leebra!
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Milwaukee and Ryobi are owned by the same company.
Ryobi occupies the entry level/budget market, and Milwaukee is the upper tier/professional market.
I think Rigid is also owned by the same company and occupies the market between the two.
They also manufacturer tools for other companies, like I think Walmarts Hart brand.
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