Cordless impact driver recommendations

VortecJeep

VortecJeep

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Aug 24, 2005
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Concord, NC
Ive torn down our back deck and will be building a new one soon. I need a new cordless impact driver. I’d prefer to spend $150 or less. After the deck is done, it will just see occasional duty around the house.
My cordless drills are old 18 volt Dewalt, so I know none of the new stuff matches my old stuff, and I’m not married to a brand.
 
Milwaukee M18 Fuel (brushless). Home Depot probably has them on sale for less than your budget. They're beasts.
I bought a M12 Fuel impact and it's my go-to for almost everything general purpose around the house. It's got so much power for a small tool that there's no need to grab an M18 usually.
 
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FWIW, the "20 volt" DeWalt stuff is actually 18 volt, and they just forced everyone to buy a new battery system with the same voltage and different marketing. I won't buy it just on principle.

Do you need an impact? The new drills are ridiculously strong. I'm a big fan of the Milwaukee M18 stuff. Pretty much all of the major brands have decent quality stuff these days. Milwaukee and DeWalt have the deepest lineup of different tools. Milwaukee has more "shop stuff" and DeWalt has more "contractor stuff". But if you're just buying 1 piece, none of that really matters. If you can wait a month, watch the black Friday sales. I'd recommend getting the Milwaukee Fuel drill and impact combo with 2 batteries and charger. That'll give you the capability and capacity to do pretty much whatever you need. My first purchase was the M18 Fuel hammer drill and small 1/2" impact. The impact has proved irreplaceable in the shop, so I'm glad I went with the 1/2" square instead of the hex.
 
I've got Ryobi. I bought the first pieces in 2012 when I was building a deck. Been using them since and they havent let me down. Ive got 2 of the impact drivers. If you want to try it out let me know.

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I just burnt up a crapsman and jumped on the Milwaukee band wagon. Damn thing has got some balls to it.
 
VortecJeep said:
Well, I was near Home Depot, so decided to stop and look at the Milwaukee stuff. Ended up getting the M18 combo kit that came with the driver, drill, charger, and two 2.0 amp-hour batteries. Plus the special right now is if you buy that, you get a free 5.0 amp-hour battery!
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Did you get the Fuel or the (brushed) lower line....? Big difference in power and battery life between the two...
 
Fabrik8 said:
Did you get the Fuel or the (brushed) lower line....? Big difference in power and battery life between the two...
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Not Fuel, but brushless.

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My buddies run yellow and red, I run red. See you run red now! The argument might as well be Miller vs. Lincoln. They both have good and bad characteristics.
I personally like the way Milwaukee hasn't changed battery profiles that much. They also don't seem to produce quite so many bodies, strenghts, and output strengths in the same tool. I noticed several variations of 3/8 drills and 1/4 drive impacts on the Dewalt brand. Box sets versus unique tool purchases where size and serial numbers specific. Tearing into a big box set revealed a much smaller less robust tool compared to not just one, but two complete other options on the shelf of the same tool.
 
I've been super happy w/ my Milwaukee fuel M18 stuff.
Agree w/ an above comment that if you look back over time, "Red" has been a lot more consistent w/ backwards compatibility etc than the yellow stuff. I also feel that in general the Red fans tend to be loyal a lot longer, which tells me something about the longevity of their tools.
 
RatLabGuy said:
I've been super happy w/ my Milwaukee fuel M18 stuff.
Agree w/ an above comment that if you look back over time, "Red" has been a lot more consistent w/ backwards compatibility etc than the yellow stuff. I also feel that in general the Red fans tend to be loyal a lot longer, which tells me something about the longevity of their tools.
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I often use yellow at work, because other people bought them. I buy red for myself, because I have a choice. ;)
 
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fordwheelinman said:
No complaints with me Porter Cable set I bought about 5 years ago.

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I have an 18v set I've put through hell and back for what they are. Last year for my birthday my family got me a 20v set because the 18v batteries were starting to show their age. For general homeowner style use I'd highly recommend them. I did recently get a Milwaukee M18 FUEL set though so I'm sure my Porter Cable's days are numbered.....

Duane
 
TARider said:
Makita - dare to be different.
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Good stuff too, often forgotten. My buddy has some really old corded stuff that is bullet proof.
 
Fwiw, if you have a northerntool near you, they sell Milwaukee tools, was in the local shop yesterday, and was shocked at how large the selection has become, they have an entire aisle dedicated to the "red" display.

Nice to have a place I can walk into to get everything I need, rather than wait for shipping.
 
shelby27604 said:
Fwiw, if you have a northerntool near you, they sell Milwaukee tools, was in the local shop yesterday, and was shocked at how large the selection has become, they have an entire aisle dedicated to the "red" display.

Nice to have a place I can walk into to get everything I need, rather than wait for shipping.
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Home Depot also has a pretty extensive stock of Milwaukee tools and batteries. I always cruise the aisle to see if anything is on clearance.
 
NCJeeplover said:
It seems since the same company owns Rigid and Milwaukee (and used to own ryobi), they use the Rigid line to test stuff before putting it in the Milwaukee line. The "new" Milwaukee Surge Hydraulic Drivers were a Rigid thing they just didn't advertise.

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A lot of the Milwaukee impact tests that the tool sites/blogs were doing (maybe in 2017) benchmarked the non-Surge Milwaukee stuff against the Rigid hydraulic. They were the two big players for high torque at the time.
 
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