Looking for suggestions to buy cordless drills (for contractors)?

[Allenanupam]

As a contractor, what sort of things you generally look for in a cordless drill? What will be the factors to pick the cordless drill in this case? which brand will be most reliable? Would greatly appreciate any advice from you guys…Thanks

 

[nicebutdim]

Suitability for the tasks it will be required to undertake.
Price.
Battery platform - ie. will it be compatible with existing tools or will additional batteries be needed.
Price.

Most reliable would probably be Hilti, but that reliability comes at quite a cost. Chances are you'll find the vast majority of contractors are using Makita, Dewalt or Milwaukee and they'll all swear that their chosen brand is the best. Unless you're planning on caning tools, chances are most in the mid range or upwards are going to be more than capable of whatever you throw at them.

 

[mattg4321]

Go for the best 18v combi in your brand of choice. It will last much longer and have more power etc than the cheaper versions

 

[Allenanupam]

Suitability for the tasks it will be required to undertake.
Price.
Battery platform - ie. will it be compatible with existing tools or will additional batteries be needed.
Price.

Most reliable would probably be Hilti, but that reliability comes at quite a cost. Chances are you'll find the vast majority of contractors are using Makita, Dewalt or Milwaukee and they'll all swear that their chosen brand is the best. Unless you're planning on caning tools, chances are most in the mid range or upwards are going to be more than capable of whatever you throw at them.

Yes, rightly said. Hilti is quite expensive but i will definitely have a look at that.
Can you tell me how to get the best out of these cordless drills or do i need any precautions before using them?

 

[Allenanupam]

Go for the best 18v combi in your brand of choice. It will last much longer and have more power etc than the cheaper versions

I actually heard for years the standard was 18V, but that has now gone up to 20 volt batteries?
Or can you recommend me a good18v combo because i am kind of lost amongst all the options

 

[littlespark]

Do you get that same choice of manufacturer in America? There may be others there that we haven’t heard of.

18v is the standard now, I don’t think going to 20 will make much difference.
The higher Ah number on the battery, the better. 4 or 5 is good for general work

 

[mattg4321]

I know dewalt is branded as 20v in the US. Here it’s 18v.

 

[mattg4321]

I actually heard for years the standard was 18V, but that has now gone up to 20 volt batteries?
Or can you recommend me a good18v combo because i am kind of lost amongst all the options

I have a Dewalt DCD996 currently. I’ve always used the XRP combi drills as they are the best Dewalt make.

 

[littlespark]

I know dewalt is branded as 20v in the US. Here it’s 18v.

Ah…. They’re still using imperial volts over there? We’ve gone metric. ??

 

[DoubleInsulated]

I have a large selection of newish Dewalt kit and it's not all that great. Drill burnt out using a 20mm spade bit within 3 months and Dewalt refused to fix it.
I replaced it with Makita and it is far better

 

[littlespark]

I have a large selection of newish Dewalt kit and it's not all that great. Drill burnt out using a 20mm spade bit within 3 months and Dewalt refused to fix it.
I replaced it with Makita and it is far better

Beat you...

I burned mine out in half an hour. Spade bit with a screw-in tip.
Screwfix replaced it, no questions asked

 

[Vortigern]

I have bought used and dispensed with most major brands. A friend of mine bought the hilti option, within weeks found that they were not up to the job. A cost ananlysis of hilti and other less expensive drills leads me to incline toward less expensive as in the long run it is cheaper to replace cheaper drills that last as long as pretty well any drill. Brushless and 5 AH are the way to go. What do you want in a drill. So in my view a drill that can last all day battery wise and not burn out. My best drill so far is the milwaukee set. I think most drill makers now do interchangeable bodies/batteries so that you can get 3/4 batteries to use on all your tools. i.e. circular saw, angle grinder, jig saw and drill hammer and impact. Impact is a must although noisy in offices and tends to annoy the tenants. Hikoki drills seemed to always fail on the chuck for some reason I replace the chuck 3 times and stopped with that drill. De Walt seemed to not like my work routine which consisted of maybe 200 plug and screw operations on long runs of conduit in offices. Some do smaller drills. They have cut the body weight down which is also good if you are doing lots of drilling as we do. I normally have at least four drills on site hammer/impact. Of course there is always a battery on charge ready to continue the good work. So decent AH batteries is required for hard work. As I say so far the milwaukee have shown they are good drills for hard work and show no signs of packing up yet.

 

[PEG]

Hi,the choice of cordless anything,is always down to several factors...cost,use,personal choice,and yes,even fashion.

There is also a big trend on most youtube tutorials,for doing everything,with a battery tool...you see chopsaws,table saws with big double battery packs....and a socket outlet,2 meters behind it ? - always choose the appropriate tool,for the job.

I can rate the Hikoki,,Milwaukee and Hilti gear,probably putting Hilti in the lead for engineered quality,but not on every tool they make.

Pick the tool for you and your job...i went to visit a pal who was doing a load of electrical/coms work in an office,and he had invested heavily in Milwaukee kit....to "obviate extension leads everywhere..." he still had the leads,as his lads still needed heat guns and battery chargers,so...

And lastly,ignoring theft and abuse,buying quality gear,is always the best policy. I have an old Hilti 14v combi,which i keep,as it has 3 speeds,Hi being 2400rpm,perfect for burrs,mini-wheels,small bits,etc.

It can still do a 20mm hole through 1" steel plate,with a Starrett holesaw,on a single 3.3Ah battery,

 

[Allenanupam]

Do you get that same choice of manufacturer in America? There may be others there that we haven’t heard of.

18v is the standard now, I don’t think going to 20 will make much difference.
The higher Ah number on the battery, the better. 4 or 5 is good for general work

yeah amp-hour is very much an important efficiency factor

 

[Allenanupam]

I have a Dewalt DCD996 currently. I’ve always used the XRP combi drills as they are the best Dewalt make

everyone seems to be in love with combi drills...wondering will it be foolish if i just buy the bare tool

 

[Allenanupam]

I have bought used and dispensed with most major brands. A friend of mine bought the hilti option, within weeks found that they were not up to the job. A cost ananlysis of hilti and other less expensive drills leads me to incline toward less expensive as in the long run it is cheaper to replace cheaper drills that last as long as pretty well any drill. Brushless and 5 AH are the way to go. What do you want in a drill. So in my view a drill that can last all day battery wise and not burn out. My best drill so far is the milwaukee set. I think most drill makers now do interchangeable bodies/batteries so that you can get 3/4 batteries to use on all your tools. i.e. circular saw, angle grinder, jig saw and drill hammer and impact. Impact is a must although noisy in offices and tends to annoy the tenants. Hikoki drills seemed to always fail on the chuck for some reason I replace the chuck 3 times and stopped with that drill. De Walt seemed to not like my work routine which consisted of maybe 200 plug and screw operations on long runs of conduit in offices. Some do smaller drills. They have cut the body weight down which is also good if you are doing lots of drilling as we do. I normally have at least four drills on site hammer/impact. Of course there is always a battery on charge ready to continue the good work. So decent AH batteries is required for hard work. As I say so far the milwaukee have shown they are good drills for hard work and show no signs of packing up yet.

Nice to have someone here as experienced as you. yes, hilti is expensive but the cost is not a big factor to me but as you have already told cheaper options do their job pretty well, i will have one of them for sure.
Thinking about buying batteries with fuel gauges or smart chargers to extend battery life

 

[Allenanupam]

Hi,the choice of cordless anything,is always down to several factors...cost,use,personal choice,and yes,even fashion.

There is also a big trend on most youtube tutorials,for doing everything,with a battery tool...you see chopsaws,table saws with big double battery packs....and a socket outlet,2 meters behind it ? - always choose the appropriate tool,for the job.

I can rate the Hikoki,,Milwaukee and Hilti gear,probably putting Hilti in the lead for engineered quality,but not on every tool they make.

Pick the tool for you and your job...i went to visit a pal who was doing a load of electrical/coms work in an office,and he had invested heavily in Milwaukee kit....to "obviate extension leads everywhere..." he still had the leads,as his lads still needed heat guns and battery chargers,so...

And lastly,ignoring theft and abuse,buying quality gear,is always the best policy. I have an old Hilti 14v combi,which i keep,as it has 3 speeds,Hi being 2400rpm,perfect for burrs,mini-wheels,small bits,etc.

It can still do a 20mm hole through 1" steel plate,with a Starrett holesaw,on a single 3.3Ah battery,

Hilti...My uncle had one in the past, can't remember the exact model

 

[brianmoooore]

Fan of Bosch blue myself. Never had a motor failure, however hot I've run them. unlike the Dewalt I had for a short while. All my batteries are going strong, right from the ones that came with my first drill 10+ years ago, although one did die, and then come back to life again.
Latest batteries have a 'fuel gauge' on them.

 

[e-spark]

As a contractor, what sort of things you generally look for in a cordless drill? What will be the factors to pick the cordless drill in this case? which brand will be most reliable? Would greatly appreciate any advice from you guys…Thanks

I stick with what i know, full tool set is makita bar a jigsaw and they have never failed me. tried a double battery SDS last week was like a kid at xmas!

 

[mattg4321]

Personally think all the big brands are much of a muchness.

My apprentice killed his new makita in a few weeks. My Dewalt combi is 2.5 years old with no problems so far. The previous ones lasted 2/3 years of daily heavy use. My Dewalt impact driver is 7 years old and going strong.

I expect similar stories for all the big brands. Sometimes you get lucky with a tool, sometimes not. Buy something with a good warranty and top of the brands range is my advice.

 

[e-spark]

My sds is 8 years and still going!, combi about 4 and impact driver 2, multi tool same, ive built up decent amount batteries so wont change any time soon.

 

[nicebutdim]

I actually heard for years the standard was 18V, but that has now gone up to 20 volt batteries?

Just another means of designating nominal voltage. They're all Lithium cells and no manufacturer is tweaking Voltage +/- 2V.

 

[PEG]

I got some nice jobs round Gretas,due to the fact, that when i quoted,i showed her me compact wind turbine powered battery charger.
We had to open all the windows,to keep the 12 Ah batteries up to speed,and she had to put more coal on her fire,so i'm not doing anymore work,for her ? ....it's all blAh blAh blAh (see what i did...)

 

[LastManOnline]

18v is the standard now, I don’t think going to 20 will make much difference.

In fact in some cases going even higher makes no difference. I have just bought the Bosch 36 volt "professional". Its a replacement for its long serving 24 volt cousin that has done seriously hard graft over 20 years. I find the 36 volt inferior in every respect to its predecessor

 

[LukeD]

Fan of Bosch blue myself. Never had a motor failure, however hot I've run them. unlike the Dewalt I had for a short while. All my batteries are going strong, right from the ones that came with my first drill 10+ years ago, although one did die, and then come back to life again.
Latest batteries have a 'fuel gauge' on them.

I have Blue , battery and mains >Used the mains today to put a 12 x 900mm through a very old basement wall. brand new SDS bit. Piece of cake !