Interested in a cordless ratchet and maybe an impact gun. Mainly seeking opinions from professionals who use them every day, hard, and sometimes bordering on abuse. If you've used them, how do they perform and hold up? They are roughly half the price of Snap-on.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: egregore,

At work I use Snap-on, but my buddy at work has all Milwaukee and uses the crap out of them. He likes them and they are like Timex.

I do have a gen 2 Milwaukee Impact at home. I like it a lot, very powerful and the ability to adjust the output is nice.

If I wasn't already invested in Snap-on at work, I'd be a Milwaukee guy too.

Plus you can get good aftermarket batteries for the Milwaukee's at great prices.

My Strap-on Snap-on guy said they will be having a sale in a couple of weeks. I'm going to see how the numbers crunch then. One advantage they have is that if a tool breaks out of warranty they will ship it to be repaired for you, vs. having to mess with it on your own time.

I'll pay the Snap-on price for the extra quality if I have to, but if another vendor (Amazon is a great place to get even obscure special tools) has the equivalent or even the very same tool, guess where I'm going.

I'm not a professional, but I do have an assortment of Milwaukee cordless tools I have been very happy with.

It's gotten to the point now where top-of-the-line 18-20V cordless tools are as powerful as good corded tools, and the 12V cordless tools are as good as oe better than the 18-20V tools from 10 years ago.

The reason for this is basically the battery technology - the batteries have gotten so good that they can supply enough current to produce about as much power as a 110V/15A circuit.

Last year I assembled a swingset using a 10-year-old Bosch 12V impact driver (I hadn't bought into Milwaukee yet). I drove more than a hundred 3/8", 4-inch lag screws into pine and hundreds of 3- and 4-inch deck screws. I had to keep charging batteries, but it handled it all without any trouble.

The current generation Fuel 12V impact driver puts out several times as much torque as that old Bosch and the batteries last a lot longer.

One thing to consider as far as impact drivers go - consider the 18V Milwaukee Surge Hex Driver. It's not exactly an impact driver - instead of using a hammer-and-anvil setup like a normal impact driver, it uses some kind of hydraulic drive system. It doesn't put out as much torque as the normal 18V Fuel impact driver (which is fine, because the amount of torque on that thing is insane), but it's MUCH quieter, has MUCH less vibration, and is faster.

one thing to watch is they have several models that look a like but have wayy different Specs.

I’ve had their impact for a while and I’m pleased with it. I just got their drill a couple months ago and now I just bought the cordless oscillating tool to go with it. I have zero complaints so far. Mine don’t get used much at home but we use Milwaukee at work and those perform well under daily use.

I just ordered an impact gun from Home Depot. It comes with a free 5Ah battery. You can order the charger on Amazon for $30.00 but I ordered a charger bundled with a larger 9Ah battery. You can even get 12Ah batteries now.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Mi...48-11-1850/305907274

I also had a 3/8" M12 ratchet that I used quite a bit until I left it out in the rain and ruined the electronics. The batteries went bad quicker than I expected. I will replace it with the same model because nobody else makes a similar ratchet.

I use mine professionally and I swear by them. My impact drives a box or 2 of screws a week and still runs strong. Batteries have great life too.
Don’t buy Milwaukee bits though. The bits are junk. I have found dewalt bits to be superior

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Interested in a cordless ratchet and maybe an impact gun. Mainly seeking opinions from professionals who use them every day, hard, and sometimes bordering on abuse. If you've used them, how do they perform and hold up? They are roughly half the price of Snap-on.

As far as cordless ratchet I've never seen any power ratchet That would hold up in an industrial environment. Perhaps for mild home use they would work. But the nature of their design is weak compared to an good electric or air impact. I use an 3/8 Ingersoll Rand air ratchet at home on engines and transmissions but I only uses it on real easy stuff such as small bolts because I've broken a few of them over the years. They did not take much to break.


Someone with 39 years as a machinist my take is. Milwaukee and Snap on make good tools for the most part and are the go too hand tools in many shops except for air powered hand finishing or burr tools, Dotco is the gold standered here. Milwaukee Mag base drills, hand drills, reciprocating saws, battery drivers hold up well with heavy useage. Used mainly by people in tool fab, maintenance. Snap on in sort of a standard for air impact guns used a lot in many shops and areas. You will see some Milwaukee electric 1/2" impacts guns in use. Snap on wrenches and scocket, torque wrenches are also the go too tool in any area that uses them every day.

Professional tool abuser, yes.

DeWalt

What ever you don't buy off brand batteries. I have about 30 18volt cordless Milwaukee tools and 11 batteries and bought two off brand batteries over Amazon.. had to jiggle the batteries in the tool to get them to work... sent them back. Stick with Milwaukee.

Finally, a decision and purchase made. I did not go with their ratchet, picking Snap-on's instead. It goes with some 14.4V batteries that I already have. The main reason, however, is that Milwaukee's is too fat to hold, the head is bulky and it has a paddle trigger on the rear end. You have to press this with your middle, ring and little fingers. The Snap-on has a button trigger falling naturally right under my index finger. I did, however, pick up an 18V ½-inch impact gun rated at 1400 ft. lbs. (my current air gun is "only" 1200) of "'nut-busting' torque" today. The complete kit with two batteries and a charger - which can also charge the 12V batteries - was $449 at Northern Tool. It is much more compact and somewhat lighter than the shop's Snap-on, which is so bulky and top heavy that it tires my wrist to use it. I'll see how things go.

Looking at the ratchets too.
I find the fuel ones are quite heavy although I have not full made up my mind which one to get.
Interestingly enough I was at a friend's who is a master mechanic and he was using the 1/4 inch version _ I assume because of the smaller size and ease to get in tight places.
It seemed to have plenty of torque and power.
I was dead set on a 3/8 but not so sure now.
The 3/8 fuel is just too heavy and I have a air 3/8 already.
Leaning to the 1/4 at this point.
YMMV

I use the 12v fuel impacts in my cabinet shop all day long every day like a Timex. never any issues.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
Looking at the ratchets too.
I find the fuel ones are quite heavy although I have not full made up my mind which one to get.
Interestingly enough I was at a friend's who is a master mechanic and he was using the 1/4 inch version _ I assume because of the smaller size and ease to get in tight places.
It seemed to have plenty of torque and power.
I was dead set on a 3/8 but not so sure now.
The 3/8 fuel is just too heavy and I have a air 3/8 already.
Leaning to the 1/4 at this point.
YMMV

1/4 makes a lot of sense because they still do put out a lot of power, but they're small and lightweight and can get into a lot of tighter spots. If it's not enough, you can always break out the air tools.

So far, the impact gun has done everything I have asked of it. Just its second (from the bottom) power setting is adequate to take most lug nuts off. But while a little smaller than the Strap-on, it is still considerably heavier than my air gun and is kind of hard on my thumb joint.