If I was starting anew, I might go with DeWalt. They have gotten pretty good. They offer some deluxe packages as well. I saw one at the Despot the other day, large box on wheels with about 5 or 6 cordless tools, I forget how many and how large the batteries, 20v I think. $499 IIRC. I'll be there tomorrow, I'll take a photo.

One contractor I know has several of their large, mega voltage tools - I forget, maybe 36 volts. He's in Montana, wouldn't be surprised if he makes sure his batts are well charged every day if he needs to go to some job w/o power yet.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I have started buying DeWalt as my corded tools. Their jobsite table saw is a standard fixture here on every construction site-I'm about to buy one. I can't justify a stationary table saw-takes up too much space

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Tony H
W111 280SE 3.5 Coupe
Manual transmission

Past cars:
Porsche 914 2.0
'64 Jaguar XKE Roadster
'57 Oval Window VW
'71 Toyota Hilux Pickup Truck-Dad bought new
'73 Toyota Celica GT

I only have two Ridgid tools and they are two of my big corded units - table saw and planer. My current unit is about 8 years old, bought it new after I burned the motor out on my first Ridgid, the earlie model. I was too aggressive with a relatively wide dado cut. Let that be a lesson to me, don't overtax the motor. Just as well, the newer model is vastly superior. Has a really nifty and easy fold up and unfold mechanism for starters.

https://www.amazon.com/Ridgid-R4513-Heavy-Duty-Portable-Table/dp/B01F3F7JFK/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=ridgid+10+jobsite+table+saw&qid=1604291199&sr=8-1

I built a large wine cellar rack setup years ago and put together a work table for it that I've used ever since. Full sheet of 5/8 chipboard with four 2x4s running the length under it, resting on my Knaack Box which I have been loathe to get rid of. I might have gone with plywood if I thought I was going to use it this long, but the OSB has worked out well. I have the table saw at one end of it, on blocks designed to stay put which raises the table to the height of the work table. Deluxe run-out table. I rarely take it to job sites but the ease of portability is useful when I need to quickly re-orient the work floor.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Chainsaw has been pretty good. A lot of chain stretch the first few time I used it and the chain fell off a few times cutting stuff too big for it but overall pretty happy. I have been using it to start cleaning up the .5ac property next door we just bought. Got to keep the chain sharp. Battery life has been better than I expected. I am just on the second battery since I bought it and I shared the battery with the blower. I got 2 4ah batteries.

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Tony H
W111 280SE 3.5 Coupe
Manual transmission

Past cars:
Porsche 914 2.0
'64 Jaguar XKE Roadster
'57 Oval Window VW
'71 Toyota Hilux Pickup Truck-Dad bought new
'73 Toyota Celica GT

I'm late in coming to this thread, but I'll throw my .02 in .

Makita is still hands down my favorite for battery powered tools. There's only two downsides. 1) Price. I have to save up when I want to make a purchase. This isn't necessarily bad for my wallet or my tools, but if you need something immediately it can be hard to swallow. 2) The batteries are high quality Samsung cells and are tough to kill. But, if you let them discharge and sit in cold temps, you've got an issue. Makita has a board which, if it detects three instances of below minimum voltage, it'll brick the battery. So as long as you don't leave dead batteries out in the cold, you should be fine.

Our factories use hundreds of cordless impacts on a daily basis and they use them pretty hard. Our R&D lab techs have their own and use them pretty regularly as well. Factories switched to Milwaukee a few years back and are sticking with them. R&D lab switched last year from Milwaukee to DeWalt as they found that getting the Milwaukee wet would kill it. DeWalt apparently has an o-ring added to the drive end that's solved this problem.

I've used both Milwaukee and DeWalt regularly and own Rigid and Makita. Makita is still my favorite, both for feel and battery toughness, but I could recommend either of the above.

Someone else mentioned it before, but DeWalt, Craftsman, Mac and Black and Decker, are made in the same factory and owned by Stanley/Black and Decker. Rigid, Ryobi and Milwaukee are made by TTI, but Ryobi and Rigid are licensed names. Skil and Kobalt are owned by the same company as well.

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Onus probandi incumbit ei qui dicit, non ei qui negat

I recondition w123/w126/w124/w140/r107/r129/ steering boxes!


1984 300D "Elsa" odo reset 6/2011 147k
1983 300TD "Mitzi" ~268k OM603 powered
1995 E300 "Adelheid" 262k [Sold]

I guess nobody was foolish enough to buy Porter Cable cordless tools like I was. I don't use them professionally so figured I'd save a few bucks and buy a second tier brand. Don't waste your money.

I have Ridgid drill & impact. I thought I'd lost them so bought another set. It's handy having 2 of each.

I just bought a Kimo electric ratchet. It won't match the Ridgid batteries but comes with 2 batteries and supposedly has 40 lb of torque. I doubt the 40# but have wanted one because my air is too far away for me to use wrenching.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

My lil brother is a retired contractor. He tried a lot of different brands but ended up with the Makita 18 volt tools, he gave away/donated all the others. His only complaint is/was the batteries cost $99 for two batts. (has 2 chargers & about 6 batts)

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"I applaud your elaborate system of denial"

I don't know why I came in this thread, but I stumbled across this thread at it was interesting.

On the battery tools: didn't quite understand how DeWalt doesn't support older tool batteries. My at least 15 year old hammer drill had the original battery on Amazon.

Another option is to go to a battery store that rebuilds the batteries. If you shell and contacts are in good shape, you should be able to get almost anything rebuilt. Batteries + is a chain that rebuilds batteries. There are usually independents that do that service also.

Now, DeWalt is owned by Stanley Black and Decker. They have DeWalt tabled tools that are consumer quality. If the tool seems cheap for a DeWalt, that is probably because it is a consumer grade tool.

I own Bosch, Makita, DeWalt, Metabo, Milwaukee, Fein, and some other hand tools. As long as you get the professional version, they are all quite good. The key is to avoid consumer grade tools. My Fein stuff is the best.

Be careful of the name! I saw some Metabo branded grinders in Lowes that weren't nearly as good as my Metabo grinder. They have a consumer version now.

Now when it comes to leaf blowers: forget the batteries and get a Stihl. I got this:

https://www.stihlusa.com/products/blowers-and-shredder-vacs/professional-blowers/br450/

Now, I have been a hater of two cycle engines all of my life. Hard to start, finicky, need a lot of service. I borrowed a friend's, and I was shocked how easy it was to start and maintain. (I borrowed it for a couple of weeks. I have a forest for a yard.) Stihl has worked out all the bugs in two-cycles.

(Maybe Still learned something from Trabant engines!)

I am thinking of buying one of their chainsaws. I never thought I would actually buy stuff with two cycle motors! (I currently have an electric, corded chainsaw since I hated two cycles so much!)

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2010 Toyota matrix

'93 500 SEL
A bad addiction. Takes all of my cash.

'12 Volvo S80 T6
Needed something that wasn't as hard to deal with as my bad addiction

'18 Mazda Miata
No more boring cars for everyday transport!

I have an corded 16" chainsaw and am quite impressed with the power-given one uses a heavy gauge cord. I have some really long 8 gauge construction cords with a smaller gauge, short cord at the saw. The cheap Ryobi chainsaw seems to be working out fine for what I use it for-mostly cleaning up underbrush and dead limbs on our property next door. Then I drag the larger stuff down and cut it up with the corded saw. I don't like 2 stroke stuff but a gas string trimmer/brush cutter is a mandatory with the all the use it gets here.

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Tony H
W111 280SE 3.5 Coupe
Manual transmission

Past cars:
Porsche 914 2.0
'64 Jaguar XKE Roadster
'57 Oval Window VW
'71 Toyota Hilux Pickup Truck-Dad bought new
'73 Toyota Celica GT

I use Porter Cable because I don't use them much. For me they work great. They are 20v and have enough power to do what I want.

I used a PC 20v reciprocating saw to cut the rear clip off a 110 Mercedes. And I still had battery power left over.

But alas, all good things must come to an end. I needed a battery and when I went to Lowe's I was told Porter Cable was on the way out and they would no longer carry any PC items.

So I guess when these break I will just start over with DeWalt, which may be overkill for my needs.

We should for a 2-Cycle Haters Club!

I’ve owned several chainsaws. I use them to cut firewood mostly. A few times I have used them to clear tornado/hurricane debris. In my opinion, those should be two different chainsaws but I just own one at a time.

For debris clearing you’re better off with a shorter cutting bar. Debris is freaking dangerous. Jammed branches can spring, trees roll. Positioning yourself for safety and comfort and cutting can be sporting.

Firewood cutting I like a long cutting bar. Cutting firewood can be dangerous — chainsaws are inherently dangerous a a couple tons of tree coming down sure adds to the thrill.

The best chainsaws I have owned were the professional grade Stihl. They are heavier due mainly to a larger engine.

I’m too old for the Stihl. It wears me out too fast. So I gave it away and bought a Kobalt 80v chainsaw, two chargers, three batteries and an inverter for my tractor so I can run the charger where I’m cutting wood. It is not as good as the Stihl 2-cycles in any way except it is very light and very quiet. It’s maybe not as good, but it’s good enough.

There are adapters for newer battery packs to the older tools. I think Dewalt sells one. Also, plenty on eBay.

Porter Cable is one of those brands that I like one type of tool and that's it. Didn't plan it that way but it works that way. The only Porter Cable tool I like is their routers. First rate for me. The rest seems average, the ones I've used that were owned by coworkers that is. They're sort of late to the cordless tool game, God only knows who makes them.

I only use two of the Makita tool lines, the cordless drills and impact drivers and a small table saw I bought in the early Oh-Ohs. I think they may have sort of pioneered the tiny table saw market. This one is way portable, more than most. The rest of their tool line not appealing to me. Their skil saw type worm drive really unpleasant to use. I have liked a couple of their chop saws but I own a 12" DeWalt. Great miter gauge, best in the biz.

I like Milwaukee's sawsalls, the rest don't draw me in a big way. Their drills are good but I prefer Bosch, and those are the only Bosch tools I own.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I’m glad to hear a real professional mention DeWalt. I recently bought a battery powered DeWalt circular saw and an extra battery. It is a lot lighter and handier than my old Skil. I still have it but have not used it since going cordless.