Posted: 4/12/2017 6:37:06 PM EDT
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So my 9 year old Bosch 18v hammer drill gave up the ghost. I'm going to need to get another one soon. Life has changed since I bought the Bosch, and I just need one for some projects around the house. Definitely needs to be a Hammer Drill as I do have concrete to e into. I saw that Home Depot has the Rigid 18v Brushless Hammer Drill with 2 batteries for $129. That's pretty attractive since it's a lot cheaper than a $329 Bosch or Dewalt. Anyone have experience with Rigid tools. How are they?
Update - bought the drill yesterday, it's the R86116 1/2" 18v brushless hammer drill with the Jacob's chuck. All ready registered for the LSA. Thanks for all the input! |
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Ridgid power tools are ok. I have the impact driver and the cordless drill. They have been fine. They do have a lifetime warranty but the warranty is a pain to use. I bought them because of the lifetime service agreement but, like I said, it's a pain to use.
I'd prefer Milwaukee but Ridgid has been fine and I've used mine heavily. |
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Lifetime warranty, but you have to go to the website & register them almost immediately or they won't honor it later. This was on their metal abrasive wheel chop saw. |
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If you want real bang for your buck, this is a great kit:
Brushless CompactmHammer Drill and Impact Driver $279 |
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Better than Black and Decker 'homeowner' junk grade.
Black and Decker purchased the Rockwell hand tool line after they made their brand absolute junk. My father needed a 1/4 inch drill. He payed for a $20 B&D. It barely made it a few hours. I took it down to see why the chuck was wobbling. No bearings. A molded plastic stud on each side of the case had a small hollow with a tiny dot of grease. It was holding the shaft directly. |
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I'll be that guy..... Go Milwaukee M12 or M18. My 18v FUEL Impact Driver and Hammer drill are awesome. Loads of power. I even mixed several bags of concrete as fast as the batteries would charge. The charger died twice so far. I would use Ridgid tools, they have a decent lineup of cordless tools if you plan on expanding. Their 10" table saw and collated screw gun are quite nice to use. It may be worth getting an inexpensive rotary hammer drill and a cordless normal drill. The rotary hammer drills are made for concrete and work so much better. I saw regular Ridgid drills for $59 with a battery in the clearance section at the local Home Depot. |
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I have a split platform at mi casa. I have M18 Milwaukee stuff and Ridgid 18v. I originally started with the Ridgid but also now have some Milwaukee stuff. This way, depending on application, need, price, power, etc. I can really get away with some price savings, to use on other tools or additional batteries.
Ridgid: 6.5 Circular Saw. Compact 1/2" Drill X4 Compact Impact Driver X4 Compact 1/2" Hammer Drill X5 Brushless Compact Impact Driver X5 Brushless Milwaukee: Compact 1/2" Drill/Driver 2606. I actually bought this on a business trip when I needed a tool to complete a job and it was on sale. It worked really well, so I kept it instead of expense-ing it. 7.25 Circular Saw Brushless 2731 1/2" Impact Wrench 2763 |
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Most of the larger lines now have multiple 'grades' of tools.
Homeowner budget / price point tools. Cheap and will not last long or do anything heavy. Contractor type level for occasional heavy use. 'Pro' grade that will do some heavy work day after day. A 'manufacture' type grade that will do heavy work all day & day after day. I have seen skill worm drives that are 40 years old and still going strong in daily heavy use. Mine is only about 30 years old and a use it only 1-2 days a week in more moderate work. I have not seen any really old 'sidewinders' in daily use. I have a very old Craftsman (<70 years) 1/2 inch drill. Chuck is Jacobs brand. Cast aluminum shell. No speed control. Click on; click release trigger. A real 1/2 hp. It has thrown me multiple time when a larger bit has grabbed. Grandfather purchased it used. The heavy duty Milwaukee drills are decent. 3/8 hammer-drill. Has made plenty of 3/4 in holes in concrete. Occasionally stopped by a very hard piece of aggregate in concrete. The drill-hammer is a much older Milwaukee with spline drive. Big. Heavy. 240 V monster. Has never been stopped by anything and I have drilled 1-1/2 inch hols with it for expansive concrete demo work. I also have a few diamond coated drills for places I do not care about using water when drilling. A 16 inch x 2-1/2 inch diameter diamond coring bit. It was expensive but worth every penny over the years of use. Maybe about 48 holes a year. Fits the 3/8 drill but NO HAMMER. Works better with water but can be used dry for shorter holes in softer material. CBU but not concrete. Try and buy at least a little better than you need for each job. It pays off in the long run with fewer tool failures. Learn how to replace brushes and watch the commutator for excessive sparking from worn brushes. The tend to lose spring pressure near the end of the brush life and make more sparks in operation under load. Most have stops and the tool will stop working when the brush is worn out. Before you got there you did a LOT of damage to the commutator. I am still waiting to see how well the brushless (permanent super magnet with electronically driven fields) are going to last. |
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I have a table saw, miter saw, worm drive circular saw, benchtop planer, and a corded 3/8" drill by Ridgid.
All get a lot of use, especially the saws, and the only issue I have had is the switch on the table saw bit the dust. I found a "close enough" replacement online cheap. It was easier than dicking around with the warranty. |
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Per the manufacturer rep I talked to at Home Depot:
"What do you use it for?" "Just projects around the house." "You won't even need the warranty in your lifetime." Sounds good to me. Mind you, they also manufacture Milwaukee and he could have tried to upsell me. |
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Quoted:
Per the manufacturer rep I talked to at Home Depot: "What do you use it for?" "Just projects around the house." "You won't even need the warranty in your lifetime." Sounds good to me. Mind you, they also manufacture Milwaukee and he could have tried to upsell me. I still think Ridgid tools are fine but they all wear out. Something else to bear in mind about Ridgid....if you buy extra batteries to have spares, they only warranty those batteries for 3 years....they do not get the lifetime service agreement. |
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I've been using Ridgid pretty much daily since the first time a registered a product - February 19, 2008 (I had to check my LSA registration on the site, LOL)
I've exchanged multiple batteries (back then, they were Ni-cd), but I've only needed service twice. Once a regular drill. Chuck came loose and it started smelling of burnt wiring. Other was an impact driver. Burned it up driving 6 1/2" screws. Something like 3000 of them in a day. Service has always been easy. Just take it to the Home Depot tool rental counter. They charge you $25 or so to send it in for you. If it's not something you did to break it (like dropping it off a roof or something) you get the money back when they get your repaired or new tool back. |
