Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Cordless power tools

This one is for the DIY'ers.
Our project is a long way from home and the power is about $8000 away from the pond. So, whenever we need juice for all the DIY construction stuff we have been doin', we load the generator into the back of the PU truck. I suppose this isn't too much of a biggie, but it starts to wear on me for the somewhat smaller jobs for the day. That, and the truck gas mileage is about 60% of the sedan.
One of my work associates is also a DIY'er and he has a couple of bud's that are true-blue contractors. He says that they swear by their DeWalt and Bosch cordless tools. They ought to; check out the price tags. Anyway, he has taken a lower road with excellent results and encouraged me to do the same. I did.
I went to Homey and purchased the Ryobi "Plus One" combo . It cost $200, and during Father's day they offered one more tool for nix. I added the orbital sander.
It all comes in a sturdy nylon duffle bag. The stuff works very well and the batteries last pretty dang long. When I put the metal roof on the dock/deck, I used the clutch position on the drill for all the screws and the jig saw to rip 2 ten foot metal panel lengths. Still a good amount of juice left. The 5-1/4" circular saw is slick, too. I have buzzed 20 2 x 4's to length without putting a serious dent in the battery. The sawzall and orbital sander rock, too. All this, and the good news when it comes time to replace the batteries. A pair costs $40. Most other 18v batts are about $40 each.
So far, I am very happy with the performance and the convenience they have delivered. 2 thumbs up.

I have one. Definitely need the extra batteries. They dont hold up great, but I hear ya with the Dewalt(best) and Bosch(junk)(their batteries for the price). I also got the brad nailer/stapler, which of all places is in with the mechanical, manual staplers. Works for me for light duty. If you have a quick heavy duty need, use your corded gadgets and use a 1000-1500 watt inverter connected to car battery and let the car idle.

I have the Porter Cable 19.2v drill, circular saw, and the light, the light burns out too soon but I use it alot, bulbs costly too, 20 bucks for a pair. I love the tools but I really think they could do better on the batteries seems only about a years use from them, granted hard usage but as much as they cost they should last longer.

Last year I bought a Kawasaki cordless drill from Sams Club. I think I paid about $40 with 2 batteries and believe it is 18V. It is loaded with power but virtually useless. No matter what I do to hand tighten it, it slips on the bit. Yep, I forgot to save the reciept.

I am increasingly disappointed in the chucks on hand held power drills, cordless or conventional.

Look down in the center of the chuck,if you see a screw in there remove it and chuck up a big allen wrench.Now you can remove the chuck and TRY to find a better chuck that fits your drill

I've had 3 Panasonic cordless drills and when the current one poops out I'll probably get another one. I bought the first one 10 or 12 years ago. I still have all of the drills, but when the batteries die it doesn't make sense to replace them because it costs about the same to buy a new drill with 2 new batteries. A man with a tool repair shop explained to me that the companies are essentially selling the batteries and including the drills in the deal. That's why most cordless drills are poorly made. Most of them have nylon gears which represent the weak link in the chain. The tool guy (he doesn't sell new tools) recommended the Panasonic to me for a few reasons, one being that they use metal gears. He also said that Panasonic has an edge over the competition because they manufacture the batteries for most of the other cordless tool brands.

I have a 15.6 volt unit, but I'm not so sure that comparing voltage ratings is an accurate way to judge power. My drill claims 390 in.lbs. of torque and that's probably the better measurement if you can find that data on other brands.

The only drill my tool guy liked better than Panasonic was Hilti. I would have gone with his suggestion but the Hilti that was comparable to my $200 Panasonic cost about $350. Even I have limits.

I recently bought the Panasonic cordless circular saw and so far I like it. It's use is limited, but there are tasks that it does very well.

Over the years I have found that fancy cordless tools are not a bargain for the occasional user.

You can pay $200 for a drill, batteries, and an accessory or 2. When the batteries go out, they can cost over $80 each!

$80 for 1 battery? Wait, I can get a nice 2 speed drill with a Johnson motor, and 2 18-19v batteries for ~40 bucks!

Bottom line, if you use your drill/driver daily, and wear it out before it becomes obsolete, it probably pays to get HD stuff such as Makita or Milwaukee.

If your drill goes obsolete and you can't find replacement batteries before you can wear it out mechanically, it makes more sense to get a cheaper tool. I find that the cheap ones work almost as good as the expensive ones, just not as long.

RANT I've got a bone to pick with ALL the tool manufacturers. They need to standardize so that all battery packs of a given vlotage fits all tools of the same voltage. Also, 1700mah cells cost virtually the same as 1200mah cells. All battery packs should come with 1700mah or higher cells! /RANT

I'm all for saving money bobad, but comparing tools on price alone isn't very useful. When I chose my drills I did research and compared performance and quality. The best tool was out of my price range so I got the second best. A less powerful tool wouldn't have met my needs and a less durable tool probably would have failed.

I'm not sure if my Panasonic is fancy or not. To me it seems like a sturdy, reliable tool that pays for itself in convenience.