I have a bunch of Milwaukee Fuel tools. Overkill for my usage, but they never fail to impress me!

Ellis Battery in Arnold will rebuild the batteries for you. I had them do mine on an old DeWalt set probably 7 years ago. Wasn’t expensive and they worked like new. Just an option if you don’t want to get into a new drill right now.

I’ve bought into the Makita XLT 18 V system. Drill and impact driver, compact recip saw, and a very nice little router.
Most of the motors are brushless which gives more performance and durability.
I like the small size and weight of the subcompact models.

Milwaukee and DeWalt got in a quality and warrantee / customer service war centered in large part around their batteries a few years ago. The result was fantastic for consumers. Much improved performance, reliability and customer service. Too bad they can't seem to get in a price war!

Milwaukee has over 175 items in their lineup using their 18 volt fuel battery. DeWalt over 200 with the 20v Max.

I'm moving to all cordless. Despite being retired... I just bought the just released Milwaukee framing nailer. 3 nails per second speed and no air hose to drag around! Gonna come in REAL handy next time I need to build a dog house

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Just make sure it is Metabo and not Metabo HPT.
Metabo HPT used to be known as Hitachi while decent tools they are nothing compared to actual Metabo equipment.

Metabo only for me, which are German engineered and manufactured. Interesting is that when Hitachi bought out Metabo, they dropped the Hitachi name, rather than renaming everything (including the old Metabo tools) as Hitachi. They know a good thing and play on the Metabo reputation by still using their name, albeit with the HPT suffix.

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:
I just bought the just released Milwaukee framing nailer.

That's my next purchase. I have the 18 gauge finish nailer but I want the framing nailer.

Trying to see if it will go on sale closer to Christmas time.

I have purchased a few Dewalt tools in the 20 volt lineup and have been impressed.

I was going to go Milwaukee until I seen that Dewalt had some made in USA stuff (not a ton of stuff but the 1/2" impact was made in US as well as some drivers and drills).

Dewalt has a great job site fan and portable air inflator as well.

Milwaukee obviously makes great stuff too but if you are starting over on platforms, I would go Dewalt....


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quote:

Originally posted by maxxpower:

I was going to go Milwaukee until I seen that Dewalt had some made in USA stuff

.

Cant argue with that!
Well when I STARTED with Milwaukee it was still a good ole USA company. Now I just stick with them partly because they are so good and partly because I'm so heavily invested in their line.

Milwaukee still has 5 Mfg plants in the US... unfortunately all, or most, of their cordless tools are made overseas in various countries.

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
I have a bunch of Milwaukee Fuel tools. Overkill for my usage, but they never fail to impress me!

That is why I went with Milwaukee 18v brushless, not Fuel. I switched from DeWalt when I needed to either keep adding to a system that I had followed from 12v up through a bunch of changes, or switch to something new. I have been very pleased with 18v Milwaukee brushless, both in terms of availability of different tools as well as the performance of the ones I have. More than enough for the homeowner/occasional user. Fuel are heavier and have longer-lasting battery charge, but are more than the homeowner needs. I got a set when they were on special at Home Depot.

DeWalt 20v has worked great for me- have the drill, circ saw, and framing nailer. For around the house builds (shed builds, general wood working, etc) they’ve been great. Also have a wired miter and table saw.

Got the 18v Rigid from Home Depot for the very reason OKGene mentioned- Lifetime Warrantee. Have never had to use it and have been workhorse tools for me. Also have the 12v Milwaukee for light duty, quick grab jobs; also no issues.

For homeowner use, it's hard to beat the Ryobi One+ system. And no one has more depth and breadth to their line. There's something like 200 options.

I have a six station charger, nine batteries, and probably somewhere around 20-25 different tools. I started that system 15 years ago, back when the batteries were Ni-Cad and the tools were blue and yellow.

I added two batteries to the mix back during Ryobi days in June. I did not open them until late August, and it took me a month to realize one of the batteries would not take a charge. I called them last week, they had me check a couple things, and sent me a new one. Pretty good service.

If you go for a whole new setup, Lowe’s is running a sweet deal on new Pro credit card sign ups. You get 20% off your first purchase up to $100 off.

Just received an email that Northern Tool has Milwaukee tools on sale now including the Fuel line up.

quote:

Originally posted by blueye:
Just received an email that Northern Tool has Milwaukee tools on sale now including the Fuel line up.

Saw that and did some checking. There are a couple deals there but Amazon has some of those same items cheaper then Northerns sale price. Do some checking before buying.

Yeah, shopping around can save you quite a bit sometimes. Just be sure to double-check that you're comparing apples to apples.

Battery included vs. no battery/bare tool.

Upper tier brushless motor vs. lower tier brushed motor

Etc.

I have used most all battery powered tools. Milwaukee and Festool are my choices. Also, if there is an electrical supply store around, they can rebuild your existing batteries most of the time.

You have six tools which are all working in your present set. For the price of a couple of batteries wouldn't they work for some years to come? There are all kinds of batteries for sale on the net at reasonable prices. If you go this route just make sure they are compatible with your tools and charger. I've got a similar number of tools to yours in the Craftsman line. To scrap all those and go with a new system seems like a waste of a lot of money. I yield to no man in my cheapness!

20V DeWalt only - I've ditched my Makita and Ryobi gear.

I'm a huge fan of Milwaukee. Their batteries are amazing. I tortured tested a battery by using it in my drill, my impact drill, my circular saw for an entire day building a club house for my kids and it had juice for 2 days!!!