Power Tools and Equipment - What do you like?

[Bible_Belt]

If you have had an especially good or bad experience with a particular brand of tool, or know someone who has, please post it here.

imo,

Hand tools
Sears Craftsman is the best; they offer lifetime replacement with no receipt required. I have a pair of 99 cent pliars and a pair of Craftsman $30 pliars. Even at this drastic of a price difference, the Craftsman are well worth the money.

Coldless Power Tools
DeWalt wins the all-around quality title here. Girlcrazy loves his 18v kit. DeWalt is the 'bling-bling' of tools. Everyone recognizes them as the best. However, everything has a down side. If you are working at a busy job site with your snazzy new yellow Dewalt tools, they will get stolen the first time that you turn your back on them. They have resale value rivaling that of guns. The pawn store is always picked clean of Dewalt stuff. It's not always good to have people envy your stuff. Other Dewalt downsides would include that they moved the last of their American production and assembly to Mexico, but hardly anything is made in the USA any more, so they are only normal in this respect. AF of mine has had an 18v kit for about two years, and his batteries have stopped holding a charge. No battery lasts forever. The 36v kit has new battery technology that is supposed to be better, but the drill alone is like $430.

Milwaukee is next on the quality list. However, I have read on epinions that they have a defective 18v battery that does not last. I am not buying any milwaukee cordless stuff, despite their reputation for excellent quality with everything but batteries.

Porter Cable gets the bronze. This brand offers good quality w/o the 'bling-bling.' It's hard to tell a pc from an el-cheapo at a distance. PC is the professional grade black and decker, but B&D also owns Dewalt I think? Also, from what I am reading, PC is at least assembled in the USA.

Honorable mentions go to Ryobi for being a great value for a home owner who only uses tools occasionally, and also to Makita for being made in the USA without being total crap like Craftsman power tools. Makita and Ryobi are not Dewalt quality, but they are also a fraction of the Dewalt price.

Craftsman power tools and Black and Decker are total junk. If you want a cheap drill, buy the absolute no-brand cheapest that you can find.

Corded Power Tools
Again, if one brand has to get the overall quality title, it is DeWalt. But Milwaukee gives them much closer competition on quality and Porter-Cable gives them closer competition for price-conscious value. With DeWalt, you always know that you have quality, but no one has bottomless pockets. I have seen $1,200 table saws. I think the DeWalt corded framing saws are worth the money if you have a lot of 2x4s to saw. PC makes some heavy-duty saws as well.

Milwaukee makes the best corded reciprocating saw. They are the original "sawzall" name.

Small Engine Equipment
I have not sampled enough brands to make definitive recommendations; all I have are experiences, but in general:

"Weed-Eater" brand is usually low-quality, sold at Wal-Mart of course. The best 'weed-eater' that I have had is a Poulan brush cutter. Poulan has a unique design where you thread just one 18" piece of twine at a time instead of that stupid spool that always jams.

af has an Echo leaf blower that won't die.

For mowers, you generally get what you pay for. AF bought a 60" Swisher ZTR mower from Rural King for $4K and it is total junk. A quality ZTR mower is $8-10K for a reason.


Tool reviews:
http://www0.epinions.com/hmgd?tab=1
http://www0.epinions.com/hmgd-Shop_Tools-All

Shopping:
http://www.dewalt.com/us/core/
http://www.milwaukeeconnect.com/web...7&langId=-1&categoryId=362&mainCategoryId=362
http://www.porter-cable.com/index.asp?e=329
http://www.amazon.com/b/103-9764661-3739021?ie=UTF8&node=228013
http://www.mysimon.com/Tools-and-Hardware/9000-11020_8-0.html?tag=glnav.d.5.tools

 

[Vulpine]

AF of mine has had an 18v kit for about two years, and his batteries have stopped holding a charge. No battery lasts forever.
...
Milwaukee is next on the quality list. However, I have read on epinions that they have a defective 18v battery that does not last. I am not buying any milwaukee cordless stuff, despite their reputation for excellent quality with everything but batteries.

So, when DeWalt batteries are crap, "No battery lasts forever." But, when Milwaukee batteries don't last forever they are "defective"?

This is the thing about DeWalt, since everyone has them and uses them, everyone believes that their value is higher. No. You are paying for the name, not the quality. If you compare specs, Milwaukee is nearly exactly the same. I just did a quick check and the same comparable model is $370 for the DeWalt, $325 for the Milwaukee. Where is the value? If the specs are the same, what exactly are you paying the extra $45 for? You are paying for a $45 ticket to ride on the bandwagon, that's what. You are paying $45 towards the NASCAR sponsorship. Like I said, you are paying for the name.

I think a lot of the DeWalt popularity is also based on the widespread usage because if a battery goes dead on the job, you can use the other guy's. I've seen a lot of squabbles over who has who's stuff, and things get mixed up that way, and I'd rather avoid those mix ups. But, I always did love wearing out someone else's tools/batteries instead of mine...

FYI, my Milwaukee batteries are going on 2 years and still hold charge like they did a week after I bought them. Sure, they are 24v, but batteries are subject to break in, proper care, and a certain amount of "maintenance". You know as well as I do that some guys don't take care of their tools, and some guys are super anal about their stuff, so the battery argument is bunk.

Bottom line is, if you want a tool to impress your friends, buy a DeWalt. If you want the same tool for cheaper, go with Milwaukee.

As for personal hand tools, Klein for electrical (Greenlee specialty), Craftsmen for the rest.
Honda, John Deere, or Kubota for the lawnmower. Being that the motor is the heart of the machine, I'd lean towards the "tighter" Japanese motors.
(I'd probably get a Honda marine motor instead of a Mercury, too.)
Echo or Huskuvarna for the rest of the lawn.

 

[GirlCrazy]

Hand Tools

As a homeowner I have a Husky roll-away filled with Craftsman and Husky tools. For taking apart a futon, doing my own brake work, or for when my daughter's friend's van won't start in my driveway, Craftsman is about as good as you'll ever need. Some day if I give up the rat race to be a mechanic by trade, I'll do what everyone else does and buy all Snap-On, or maybe Mac.

One observation on using them as a homeowner: Craftsman screwdrivers don't seem to have the mojo. I've been doing research, and I'll probably go with a set of Matco.

Also, I keep a separate hand tool box for computers, networking, electronics, and just basic home sh!t that's mostly craftsman, with a multi-meter from Radio Shack.

Cordless power tools

Just like mechanics tools, I do my own research, but I give more weight to the people I know that use them for a living. They all say DeWalt. Since I've abused and fried my share of Craftsman power tools, I decided to go with the professional models and bought a $500 18v contractor's pack. At the time, they didn't have a pack that included the jigsaw. People tell me that DeWalt makes better motors, and that you can easily rebuild them when they fail, which they will if you use them every day.

I stick with brands I trust, and Craftsman lost my trust for power tools. As BB said, they are total junk. I have a drawer full of 'em, that I can't bring myself to toss in the trash.

Makita seems to be ok for light duty, but they cost almost as much as the better brands.

Milwaukee is a solid brand. My next cordless screwdriver will be one since DeWalt doesn't make one I like.

Stay away from the cheaper brands like Ryobi and black n decker. Porter cable is ok I guess, but why not spend the few extra bucks.

Cordless batteries

My dad is an electrical engineer, and his viewpoint is that they all suck. At least the good brands all use NiMh now instead of the NiCad's. I have seen some degradation of my DeWalt 18v's with 2 years of light to moderate use.

Corded power tools

Don't use 'em much. My black n decker jigsaw and belt sander seem to do the trick the (maybe) one time a year I use them. Don't own a corded circular saw, but it'd probably be a DeWalt if I did. For drills and saws I just use the cordless ones.

Shop Equipment

I have a Husky air compressor, and the beefy "shop vac" brand vac, and I'm really happy with both. My garage door opener is a Craftsman, which are annoying to adjust, but seem reliable.

When I first got the compressor I hated it because it wouldn't go above 90 psi, but a mechanic friend talked me through taking it apart and changing the safety valve setting. "That husky will go 200 psi easy before it explodes" were his words. Thanks, but I set it to 150 and it's been great since.

Yard Equipment

I have a Toro, electric-start, self-propelled lawn mower that I absolutely love. I can't say what brand my leaf blower and weed-eater are, because I've had good luck with whatever the $79 specials are at home depot. My cheapo leaf blower looks like hell but starts the first pull 7 years running.

My snow blower (went 38 years without owning one) is a Toro, and it has served me well so far. One side of my house is river rocks, and it's annoying as hell taking it apart to un-jam a rock from it, so I might look to a different brand come winter.

I agree with BB not to skimp on lawn mowers.

Air tools

Don't have much experience here. My husky compressor came with a full set, and so far I absolutely hate the impact wrench. It barely does the job on my suburban's snow tires with the compressor all the way cranked up. A friend highly recommended the Ingersol Rand air tools. He owns his own high-volume auto shop and that's all he (or any of his guys) will use. It's a steep price to justify for how little I use it, but I hate fvcking around with cheap tools. The only tool purchase the wife (who is my accountant) has ever balked at is that impact wrench LOL.

Haven't really used the husky air ratchet yet, other than to play with it (taking random things apart), but it looks to be just as pathetic as the impact gun. I'll probably go with Ingersol Rand eventually since my research confirms what my friend is saying.

Wish List

Milwaukee cordless screw driver
Matco phillips, torx and allen head hand screw drivers
Snap-on roll away (used)
Ingersol Rand 1/2 " Titanium impact wrench

Great thread! And a great excuse to blow off work on a Friday

As far as getting my tools stolen, the 100 pound black lab is my furry security guard.

 

[GirlCrazy]

If you compare specs, Milwaukee is nearly exactly the same.

They really are, and they look cooler than the DeWalts. I guess it's the Ford vs. Chevy argument. The Chevy costs a little more and you get the same thing. The Chevy holds its value better, so which is the better value? It's a personal preference really.

 

[Desdinova]

I've got me a B&D hammer drill with a KEYED chuck. I find drills with keyless chucks are okay for light stuff, but are absolute garbage for anything remotely heavy duty. The same goes for cordless drills. If you want something that's going to do the job well, it's gotta be a corded, keyed chuck drill.

My lawn mower is a combination of who knows what. It works quite well though, and is a rear bagger. Don't bother with the two-stroke lawn boys because they are crap. Don't bother with side baggers because it's a pain in the ass to manouver around trees and things.

I've got a gas powered Weed Eater which is okay.

I own two McCulloch (sp?) chain saws. One is fantastic, the other is 5hit. Don't buy McCulloch. I also own an old SOB Tecomaster rotary saw, and I don't like it.

As a side note, when it comes to rechargeable batteries, they generally last around four years, sometimes more, sometimes less. NEVER charge your battery for longer than you're supposed to (look in your manual), or it's not going to last as long as it should.

One of the things on my wish list is an air compressor, and some better tools. Since I'm just starting out, I bought a 5hitload of cheap tools to get the job done for the time being, and will upgrade them to something better as time goes on. However, DO NOT cheap out on ratchets. The cheap ones suck major ass and will break after a couple of uses.

For a Multimeter, I've got a kick ass Fluke (the fvcking best). Don't buy Meterman, they're garbage. I also have a Weller soldering Iron. The cheap Rat Shack soldering irons suck ass (Rat Shack anything sucks ass).

 

[Bible_Belt]

Regarding DeWalt versus Milwaukee cordless batteries, several reviews on epinions said that their Milwaukee 18v batteries completely quit after 18 months. AF's Dewalt 18v still works after 2 years, but will not hold a charge overnight like they did when they were new. Milwaukee may have already fixed their problem, but I am still wary of them. Dewalt's new battery technology that they put in the 36v will start appearing in the lower voltage drills, probably making the current stuff outdated. Battery technology is evolving rapidly.

 

[Vulpine]

Oh, I forgot about Pneumatic tools...

I've got all IR stuff.

After research and talking to guys in the trade, I went with IR tools for my shop.

As for the compressor... air is air. Getting a super-duper Snap-on or Mac type name is frivolity for impressing people. I scored a huge one (220v) for $200 second-hand from a guy a few doors down from my shop. I got it home, gave it a spray paint job, and it looks cooler than anyone's I've ever seen (Primer black with "ghosted" metallic red flames) and compresses air fine. I keep it around 120psi to "be nice" to my air tools. I couldn't even tell you what the brand name is, but so long as you change the oil and keep up with the maintenance, they'll last forever.

My torch kit is a Smith set. I went with it because it was stainless. A buddy of mine came over (professional welder) and said: "Holy sh!t! You got a Smith? I wish we could get one of these at work! Lucky fuqer" He then proceeded to pick it up and drool all over it, so, I guess it's a good one.

 

[Teflon_Mcgee]

I concur with Bibel Belt.
As far as hand tools, I do favor the Stanley twist rachet to Craftsman in most applications.
I recommend it to anybody who likes cool tools.

 

[Desdinova]

A couple things I forgot to mention:

"Cold Heat" soldering irons are pretty much crap. They're fine for soldering small wire, but when it comes to the big stuff, you're gonna do a fvcking lousy job with that thing. It also drains the batteries pretty quickly. The only plus to those things is that they're cordless. IMO, they're worth as much as the crappy Rat Shack irons.

...and Tektronix makes pretty good multimeters too.

 

[Bible_Belt]

I finally decided on the Dewalt 12 volt for a cordless drill and bought one a couple of days ago at Sears.

http://www.northwestpowertools.com/drillcordless/dc727ka_full.jpg

After a few hours of use, it kicks major ass. The 12 volt has the same torque and rpms as the 14 volt; it's the same drill with a smaller battery - the only difference is that the life of a single charge is less. The kit comes with an extra battery and charger, so I think that is no big deal. I wear out and want to rest before the battery does anyway. I did not get the 'heavy duty' 12 volt, just the normal one, because the HD weighed noticeably more. I wanted a light drill. I started looking at the 9.6 volt, but it only has half the torque as the 12 volt. I could stop the motor with my hand, and I could smell that I had started burning up the display model in the store (whoops).

For $130, I think the 12 volt is excellent value for the money.