Cordless Power Tools - Escalating Costs

[Haoleguy]

A little bit of a rant on my part after tool shopping yesterday. I'm in need of a close quarters cordless right angle drill to drill and fasten some parts onto my narrow vineyard tractor. I was figuring that if I found a good right angle attachment at either Sears, Ace Hardware, Lowes, or Home Depot that would fit onto my current aging drill(s) it would be my best result. My alternative is to justify a true cordless right angle drill to replace 3 cordless drills that have their own issues. Did not find a right angle attachment so I looked at a new drill. Well kits aren't available at these stores so you basically piece everything together drill, or body and head, battery, charger, and a soft case if you want. Well when I put together either a Ryobi or Ryobi-HD combo the price was over $200 without the case. Mind you we are not talking top of the line stuff here. Since the selection wasn't great at any of these stores, especially disappointed with Sears, and the price was high I felt it was better to do my research online and make a purchase from an online dealer. In the mean time I will disassemble a few things to get a clean shot at the area I need to currently work on. Corded power tools seems to be a bargain. In some situations, where there is no power, a small generator and a corded power tool seems to be a cost effective solution. What astounded me was that some batteries for cordless tools are more expensive than the tool itself. Where do you guys shop online?

 

[OldMasterTech]

Ace Tool Ace Tool | Milwaukee Tool, Klein Tools, Festool - Milwaukee makes right angle tools and adapters from 1/4" hex right up through all the common chuck sizes.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm a HUGE fan of Makita and started buying them online, but over the last couple of years, Home Depot has gone from just carrying the drills to just over a dozen different tools for a very competitive price for the bare bones tool without a battery. I still go online to find the best price on batteries with Amazon being where I start and then I search to find a better price.

For a specialty tool, like what you are looking for, I'd probably go with corded if I had power available. I have a small Honda generator that is great. I've had bigger generators, but they are a pain to get out into the field, where the little Honda is light enough to carry with one hand and it starts easy every time. I'm currently using it to power my small air compressor that I'm using to shingle a gazebo I'm building out at my pond.

Eddie

 

[Gary Fowler]

I don't buy the Ryobi, Makita etc brand name stuff. It is just too expensive and as you said the batteries cost more than replacing the drill. Even the high dollar batteries go bad after a while and then you are stuck with a 200-300 dollar bag of useless junk the cost as much to replace the batteries as the tool cost. I suppose if I were a professional and used them daily, it would be cost effective. My use is occasional and the batteries don't last any longer with only occasional use as with daily use. I especially don't like the "buy each piece separately" idea. When I buy something, I want a battery, charger and tool that I can use, preferable with 2 batteries out of the box.
My last purchase was a Kobalt drill driver from Lowes with a 2 year free replacement warranty so I thought I would give it a try. So far so good after about a year of light use.
As for a right angle drill, I bought an air tool from Harbor Freight for about $20 for use if I ever need one. So far I have not needed it, but it stays in the draw with the rest of my air tools,(air ratchet, impact gun, 3" straight grinder, 90 degree angle drill) just in case I need them. I do use the straight die grinder with some cobalt rotary files to clean out holes or ream them. Very handy tool and fast.

 

[ace10]

If you go cordless a) you have to stick with that brand for additional tools and accessories else it doesn't makes sense financially, and b) you wont go back to corded for 80-90% of the stuff the average person does around the house.

I'm a Makita cordless guy. Twin pack of batteries are usually $150 at AMZN. Sometimes they go on sale. Aftermarket batteries are about 2/3rds the cost.. Unknown quality.

If you start with a combo pack, you get a couple of basic tool bodies, a couple of batteries and a charger for reasonable $$. Then you just add the bare tools as you find a need for them.

I have about four batteries and two chargers. Small circular saw, impact driver, cordless drill, blower and recip saw. I use corded for big torque applications and drywalling.

 

[BHD]

Ridgid makes what they call the job max, and it is a multi tool, and the head of it can be corded, battery, or air, the base tool is a Oscillating Multi-Tool, with different heads, and one of the heads is a 90 degree drill head, (my guess is it is not a super powerful tool but it may do what you need), I bought a oscillating tool of a different brand before these came out, and it does some amazing things that no other tool could do, home Depot sells Ridgid and so does Amazon caries the Jobmax.

https://www.ridgid.com/us/en/jobmax

I am not recommending it but saying take a look at it, it may fit the need,

 

[oosik]

I have Craftsman, Makita and Bosch cordless drills. For the heavy duty work out on the property I load my generator into my Polaris ATP and use corded tools. About the time my work gets serious my cordless batteries run out of juice. Cordless is great for small projects but where I need really brute power I go to corded.
And yes, the new 18 & 24 volt lithium ion cordless batteries are VERY costly.

 

[jaotguy]

look in the air tools ( el cheapo) and disassemble the air motor side of an angle drill ... slip the armature into the regular drill and put the bit into the angle drill chuck ..... or look for a corded angle drill ( still expensive )

yes, no matter which cordless tool you buy , expect max of 3 -4 years out of the batteries before they are toast .... and expect to buy new tools cause the models and voltages will change .....

my old 12V drill batteries packed it in ... a small 12v sealed battery , a cigarette lighter socket , and an extension cord attached to the drill makes it run for hours ... just have to unplug it from the fanny battery pack and slip it in the belt holster ....

 

[Verticaltrx]

I've gone back to many of the 'original' cordless tools (brace and bit, hand saw, etc) for many of the same reasons as mentioned above. Either that or I take my small generator and corded tools. For most fence building I now use a brace and bit, I have yet to find a cordless drill that can run ship auger bits for any length of time and hauling around a generator got cumbersome. The one thing I used to use cordless drills a lot for was screwing down metal roofing and decking. I now just use my trusty 1/2" corded Milwaukee drill and pay attention to how deep I drive them. I don't have much patience for things that cost an arm and a leg and still don't work well.

 

[whistlepig]

It's whatever is the most convenient for me to get. Right now it's DeWalt. That could change if I have difficulty getting DeWalt. Cordless tools are a necessary evil for me. For working on outbuildings and fencing. Also a cordless work light when the power fails. I do have a portable generator but the hassle of hauling this out to the field more trouble than it's worth to me. And a cordless battery a lot less maintenance cost than a portable generator. The cordless batteries are very expensive. The price of convenience I guess.