I have both but I prefer Milwaukee, just seems like they last longer and the batteries are better, have a Milwaukee drill driver set I've been using for about 8 years and still going strong, also have a Milwaukee cordless rattle gun that has amazing torque more than most corded ones I've used. I also have some Hilti cordless tools and they are really nice but they are pretty proud of their stuff.
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I have changed industries since the post above, now the asset manager for a large landscape construction company. All the tools are company provided here. My mechanics team uses a mix of Dewalt and Milwaukee, the construction team uses Dewalt primarily. The Dewalt tools seem to be holding up well, but I think the flex volt system is a gimmick. I have to buy three of the Dewalt 9” cordless demolition saws this week for the masonry crews.
All my cordless tools are dewalt and I am happy with them. The 1/2” impacts are awesome we carry one in all the tractors. Always throw one and a couple batteries in the pickup on hunting trips. If you drill a lot of holes in lumber get a cordless hole hog that thing is awesome. Milwaukee isn’t bad they just feel cheap to me.
Milwaukee. Over 150 tools take the M18 fuel battery.
DeWalt phases out batteries when they upgrade. My dad had a 14.4 drill driver. Didn't use it a ton, but had to BUY a 18V because he could no longer get batteries. Now they have phased out the 18V system in favor of 20V.
So even though the tool is fine...it's junk because of battery issues.
If Milwaukee ever phases out the M18 system, the trades will skin them alive. My guess is your kids will still be able to get batteries.
DeWalt phases out batteries when they upgrade. My dad had a 14.4 drill driver. Didn't use it a ton, but had to BUY a 18V because he could no longer get batteries. Now they have phased out the 18V system in favor of 20V.
So even though the tool is fine...it's junk because of battery issues.
If Milwaukee ever phases out the M18 system, the trades will skin them alive. My guess is your kids will still be able to get batteries.
Dewalt, Milwaukee, or Makita will serve you well. I have 2 Contractor buddies one only runs Dewalt XR and 60V and the other only Milwaukee Fuel, they are both happy.
We mostly use Makita and Metabo.
Mine just turned two years old, quite possibly the best tool I have ever bought, it isn't a gas powered cutoff saw for power that is for certain. It is how ever quiet and pretty damned fast cutting within its capabilities. I cut a 12" steel culver pipe off that wasn't supposed to be there a year ago with a whole crew laughing about the toy. They weren't laughing when it was cut before the gas saw could be fueled and started. We made a bunch of cuts in heavy ductile pipe, plumbing a water tower with it. My brand new K1270 was there but everyone used the DeWalt because it was lighter and quieter. It has cut block and pavers, manhole risers and asphalt and a shit ton of steel. I plan on buying another just in case this one dies, I would hate to be without it at this point.
I have three flex volt grinders two 414's and a 418 they are all the grinder the average person needs by far, unless I am working on something really heavy the Dewalt 499x corded grinder hardly sees the outside of the job box. I have quite a few Milwaukee tools as well, so not completely biased towards Dewalt. I have the cordless air compressor, it is the only flexvolt tool I have used that isn't what I think it should be, it works, and is probably alright running a nailer hanging trim and molding, or inflating a small tire now and again. I also have a 773 2" rotary hammer, that is a freaking beast, but it drills and breaks the shit out of concrete. I love my flexvolt tools they have performed well for me and my 20v 996 runs for days on a 12ah battery, it will also break your frigging wrist if a 1 1/8" silver and demming bit binds up on you. Sometimes you need a hole and the mag drill just wont fit.
Milwaukee and Makita both make good tools, I prefer Dewalt for most things, but I own all three.
If you can, try ripping some 3/4 ply with a flex volt circular saw (not flex volt advantage, which is a gimmick), and then maybe some cross cuts on hardwood. I mean you can FEEL the wattouts, and the ease of making cuts. It’s like a corded saw. Same thing with the recip saw. Makes short work of black pipe with the right Diablo blade. My issue is the weight and price of the batteries.
Saws = dewalt
Drills / impacts = Makita
Sawzall = Milwaukee
no exceptions
Drills / impacts = Makita
Sawzall = Milwaukee
no exceptions
I am running 20v DeWalt now but started buying some flex volt (60volt) stuff. The flexvolt line is bad ass. The circular saw is every bit as good as any corded saw I have ever used. I started with the hole hog to drill 2 9/16 holes in 2x's. I rarely get a cord off the truck and the only use for my generator is if I need to charge a battery midday.
I have some Dewalt 12V stuff. A few years ago I was working at an aircraft repair shop. We were reskinning flight controls. I used the drill because of its smaller size and weight. I drilled out hundreds of rivets every day. That drill ran for hours a day for many days and weeks. It’s still going strong. I do hate the upgrading and making systems obsolete. As those 12Vs are.
Nobody for Hilti huh? For sure who I'd go with if it was work related. I hate cheap tools.
They make the best shit. But you're gonna pay for it. Tools are limited, less gimmicky shit. They didn't have cordless for a long time. They make the only rotary hammer worth using on bank vaults so that's a clue.
Three of us argued about this one day, like most days, and finally pulled all three apart to look inside. The Dewalt won (other two were Makita and Milwuakee I think). This was over twenty years ago, but you get the idea. There was a reason, it turned out, the Dewalt got it done. Most obvious was five metal gears in the Dewalt while one of the other had three and the third one had five plastic gears. This was between the tranny and the chuck.
Maybe some tools are better in some situations than others too, like one fares better in a shop and another on a job site. One is a better tool for say an alarm tech while another works better for a mechanic. I can say you won't be wearing out a set of Dewalt tools at home though.
I have a buddy that collects Dewalt tools, they make EVERYTHING now. Shit, I ran the battery down on my truck by mistake and he jumped started it with what looked like a toolbox. That's a lot of damn power.
I don't know if it's still like that, but back in the day they sold tools they didn't advertise much or sell often. Like the old 24v cordless/corded drill (used batteries but you could also plug it directly into the wall). So it may be worth a call, I don't know. My old 18v junk is still getting it done.
They make the best shit. But you're gonna pay for it. Tools are limited, less gimmicky shit. They didn't have cordless for a long time. They make the only rotary hammer worth using on bank vaults so that's a clue.
Three of us argued about this one day, like most days, and finally pulled all three apart to look inside. The Dewalt won (other two were Makita and Milwuakee I think). This was over twenty years ago, but you get the idea. There was a reason, it turned out, the Dewalt got it done. Most obvious was five metal gears in the Dewalt while one of the other had three and the third one had five plastic gears. This was between the tranny and the chuck.
Maybe some tools are better in some situations than others too, like one fares better in a shop and another on a job site. One is a better tool for say an alarm tech while another works better for a mechanic. I can say you won't be wearing out a set of Dewalt tools at home though.
I have a buddy that collects Dewalt tools, they make EVERYTHING now. Shit, I ran the battery down on my truck by mistake and he jumped started it with what looked like a toolbox. That's a lot of damn power.
I don't know if it's still like that, but back in the day they sold tools they didn't advertise much or sell often. Like the old 24v cordless/corded drill (used batteries but you could also plug it directly into the wall). So it may be worth a call, I don't know. My old 18v junk is still getting it done.
Yeah. I should have bought a few more 36v batteries. Now unavailable.
I ran almost exclusively Milwaukee tools, until about 2013. I started having tons of failures, batteries included. Nothing covered under their warranty. I’ve since switched to dewalt. The XR series, not just regular dewalt’s... they suck. I’m a contractor so I earn my living with them. Maybe Milwaukee has changed and gotten better but until dewalt fails me, I won’t change it up.
On a side note, I’ve purchased a few Festool corded tools and I’m really impressed so far. They are NOT CHEAP but they’re quality and I have a feeling over the next few years most of my corded bigger tools will be festool.
On a side note, I’ve purchased a few Festool corded tools and I’m really impressed so far. They are NOT CHEAP but they’re quality and I have a feeling over the next few years most of my corded bigger tools will be festool.
A subcontractor on my 23 story high rise project dropped a BOSH 18v battery off the swing stage platform when they were working on the 23rd floor. The battery hit the asphalt and bounced through the rear window of a PT Cruiser where it ended up under the drivers seat.
When the battery was recovered there was not a crack in the case at all, just a ding where it hit first. tough
Our yard only buys Milwaukee tools now, we are almost exclusively cordless in power tools and we have hundreds Being used daily. I personally own Dewalt & Makita.
When the battery was recovered there was not a crack in the case at all, just a ding where it hit first. tough
Our yard only buys Milwaukee tools now, we are almost exclusively cordless in power tools and we have hundreds Being used daily. I personally own Dewalt & Makita.
Newer personal info to add today.
At home I have the dewalt dc887b brushless impact driver. Most of the time when I'm pre drilling I use my brushless dewalt drill to drill holes since it can hold drill bits and use the impact to drive.
Today I had to do the same type thing at work to assemble a lista cabinet top and risers. At work we have the Milwaukee m18 brushless impact driver (2750) and drill. I went to use the impact driver to drive stuff into predrilled holes and broke bits today.
The difference? The dewalt has a switch with three positions on it. Driving screws I always start on position 1 and have only ever had to switch to position 2 when driving 3" screws into studs non predrilled. The Milwaukee doesn't have that switch. It is position 3 always.
At home I have the dewalt dc887b brushless impact driver. Most of the time when I'm pre drilling I use my brushless dewalt drill to drill holes since it can hold drill bits and use the impact to drive.
Today I had to do the same type thing at work to assemble a lista cabinet top and risers. At work we have the Milwaukee m18 brushless impact driver (2750) and drill. I went to use the impact driver to drive stuff into predrilled holes and broke bits today.
The difference? The dewalt has a switch with three positions on it. Driving screws I always start on position 1 and have only ever had to switch to position 2 when driving 3" screws into studs non predrilled. The Milwaukee doesn't have that switch. It is position 3 always.
Must be an older model. My Milwaukee impact has 4 different settings.
Milwaukee! Amp hours trumps volts. The 12ah battery in a weed trimmer or the 16” chainsaw my o my what a great job U can do with these I have a lawnservice and I am switching from gas . (Not my mower )
Hands down Milwaukee! Tough enough for the farm and working at a refinery I think it will handle the little jobs at home.
Just looked that model up. It is older. On Amazon since July of 2015. But then again the dewalt dc887b has been around since November of 2015 so it isn't too bad of a comparison.
It is good to know that they have updated it. Looks like it was updated October of 2016.
I have been in the plumbing/pipefitting trade for 24 years I started with Dewalt and then about 5 years ago when Milwaukee came out with the M18 Fuel line I bought the SuperHawg with the QR chuck couldn't believe I could drill out an entire 2.5-3 bath house on one or two batteries at the time it blew my Dewalt stuff away. Sold all my Dewalt stuff and I haven't looked back I am so heavenly invested in the M18 and M12 I couldn't go back to Dewalt if I wanted to.......LOL Milwaukee caters to the trades way better than Dewalt with all their specialized tools way more than Dewalt.
I purchased Makita just the other day because of the service I have gotten out of a little set of Makita's from about 10yrs ago. The little 9.0 volts or whatever they are are on a 3 set of batteries and run awesome, for Honey do's and almost anything I was doing they worked great. Hell, when I was a poor I trimmed tons of brass with them also. I will say also amazon cheap shit batteries last about 1/8 as long as true Makita.
That's what we observed as well. I own a machine shop and one of our business lines is to design and build automated manufacturing equipment. We put our tools through their paces daily assembling machines. DeWalt just wouldn't last. We switched to Milwaukee a few years ago and it was a good move for us.
