OT: Battery Powered Tools

[The Peeper]

It's hard to beat these, batteries are even covered. Home Depot carries a lot of them

 

[bolddogge]

I've tried several different brands and Dewalt is my go-to on any cordless tool. I have the 20V drill, flashlight, reciprocating saw and circular saw and the 60V weedeater, blower and chainsaw. They all do a great job. I've been the most surprised by how much I like the chainsaw and weedeater. They're very capable and I love not having to mess with the gas/oil. I still have my Husqvarna stuff for larger jobs, but I haven't had to use them for over a year now.

 

[Thebulldogcountry1]

I have had good luck with buying replacement batteries off ebay. They are not OEM but are at least half price and are up to 8hr rated. I have not had any problems with them. I have bought Porter Cable and Craftsmen replacements but they have all the options. Some of my Porter Cable type 20v batteries are 3 years old now and still charging.

Now I am not using them professionally so I can't speak to using it for hours every day, but when I need them for a few hours on a weekend, no problems.

I bought 6 Makita knock-offs a few years ago. They all touted at "10 year warranty'. After a couple months, they started to go bad one at a time. Of course, the seller didn't respond at any of my messages, and you can't give them a bad rating at that point. Within a year, only one of the 6 was still working.

I definitely would avoid ebay because of the lack of seller accountability.

 

[Motodawg]

I’m a plumber that uses power tools all day every day. In my particular field, Milwaukee makes a lot of specialty tools that I enjoy, both in m12 and m18. I also have many dewalt 20 volt tools. I am, admittedly, easy on equipment and try my best to take care of my tools, and (knock on wood) i havent had one of either brand tear up in a long time. Ive had some m12 batteries eat **** lately but ive had them the longest of any platform and that’s to be expected.

I say all of this to say, if you’re not going to use these every day: go with m12 or dewalt 20 volt. Find the best deal at the current time and go with that platform. Dont sleep on m12, though. For a dyi or project around the house guy, its surprisingly strong, even the impact. (Btw, i use my 3 speed brushless Dewalt impact everyday and my 18 volt Milwaukee impact that i scored for 100 bucks with 2 batteries and a charger this summer literally never leaves the bag)

hope this helps