Recommendation? Cordless tools

S

Shann

Joined
Sep 2, 2004
Messages
5,250
I have an older Ryobi set of cordless tools (drill driver, circular saw, sawsall, vacuum, light). The batteries are completely dead. Not too big a deal, they are at least ten years old (the old "blue" ryobi bag of tools). Also, Ryobi isn't great but it served its purpose.

It looks as though the new 18v lithium Ryobis can be used in the old tools. Like $59 for one and no charger. I could also buy one of the old style batteries that would work with my existing charger but that seems like taking a step back.

I can get a Ryobi Impact Drill Driver with a charger and 2 of the lithium low profile batteries for $99. Or I can get a driver and circular saw with one batter and charger for $99. Seems like a no brainer, cheaper than just buying the batteries. And I maybe can get some more use from the circular saw and sawsall that I already have.
Or I can get a DeWalt impact driver and 2 batteries with charger for $99. And get rid of the old Ryobi stuff. At least 75% of the time I used the cordless tools it was for the drill driver.
 
I'd stay away from Cryobi. I'm a fan of Milwaukee, my truck box is filled with red tools:D Makita is good too.

Cryobi might work for you though, not sure if you're just doing simple tasks or you're a commercial contractor. It's rare that I see Cryobi on any of my jobs, if I do it's usually someone who's pretty "green".

My dad always bought the cheapest tools he could find and he was a hard working guy. I guess it just comes down to what you're expecting the tool to do.

Also, if you buy a DeWalt, you know it's your fault:D:p
 
I have had good luck with my DeWalt drills. My 15+ year old 14.4V DeWalt drill needed a new battery so I bought a generic on ebay and it still works great. But the best way to buy them is on sale before Christmas when you can buy them at discounts. Unfortunately buying batteries alone is more expensive than it should be.

I bought a set of cordless Ridgid Lithium tools a few years ago on closeout sale at Home Depot. I liked the tools but the batteries were worthless from the start. The batteries are supposed to be lifetime guaranteed but I've heard that you have a hard time getting them to honor the warranty.
 
Makita is great, my dinosaur of an 18 volt Makita drill lasted 20 years and multiple owners before I killed the switch last week ( in reverse and won't switch ). I could order a replacement switch for 35$ but the drill was given to me for free as a teenager and 20 years is way past the life expectancy of a cordless tool anyways.
 
Are you sure that the lithium batteries will fit in the older NiCad Ryobi tool? I have the small 12 volt drill; three actually. The NiCad version sucks to put it simply (no power) where as the lithium ion version works great and has plenty of power for small to medium tasks. Anyway, I asked at HD if the lithium battery would fit and be usable, the HD sales person said 'No'. Not a big deal actually as far as I'm concerned. The Ryobi lithium stuff is miles ahead of the older ones in terms of power, how long the charge lasts, and so forth. Charging time matters too. I would not be afraid to buy a Ryobi unit, but I would be hesitant to get the whole tool package that shares batteries. But I would choose higher end stuff for circular saws, and recip saws unless it's corded. Stay away from Black & Decker unless you only use the tool once in a blue moon and charge it the day before use which means I will probably be cussing the B&D.

I have had good luck with Hitachi, and DeWalt especially. Don't own any Milwaukee stuff. My harder use stuff are DeWalt. But my most used drill is the small 12 volt Ryobi which is why I own a couple lithium ones. You can do a lot with one of those. The blue bag one (NiCad) has been parked and likely will never be used again and it's still essentially brand new. I bought it as a backup and didn't realize it was not lithium at the time. Anyway, bought another 12 volt lithium battery one and I'm not going to worry about the blue bag one.

If someone asked me for a specific brand to trust, I'd say Dewalt overall for regular use.

Added: I did some searching on Ryobi products and if the battery fits the tool, either lithium or NiCad will work in the tool. The tool does not know the difference. I believe their One+ product group are designed for this. Where as they made the connections different on my little 12 volt Ryobi. The chargers will certainly not work interchangeably however.
 
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My understanding is that all of the the 18v Ryobi's are interchangeable as far as batteries. Not the 12v.
 
Milwaukee or Makita but for what it's worth, all my battery tools are now Milwaukee and they get used hard every day for many years. Some of my bench tools are Makitas and they hold their own too. I just prefer Milwaukee for the battery stuff as they have many tools in the line that I use and so I don't need to buy lots of different battery packs. Great customer service if you ever need it. An online repair request option that could not be easier. You will likely spend more than double the cost of Ryobi stuff but get 20 times the value IMHO. Very now and again Milwaukee offers a buy back - 50% off a new tool when you trade in your old one. That's a great deal. I use their M18 FUEL models.

Ray
 
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