Recommended battery operated drills
- Thread starter paultap
- Start date
I bought a Lidl parkway for 40 quid, used it for 2 years, & gave it to a friend cos a mate was laughing at me. 4 years later its still going strong. I think the chuck is the same as Metabo, good stuff. If you work on a building site, you will get the P taken. A mate I know is a boat builder, uses all Lidl stuff, swears by it.
I favour Makita, but also have Milwaukee, hard to separate the brands.
Screwfix have offers all the time I think they have a Makita drill and impact driver at the moment with charge and 2 x 5ah batteries for about £170
the 2 batteries are over £100 so you could probably flog the impact driver for £50 and you have a cheap drill and 2 batteries.
the 2 batteries are over £100 so you could probably flog the impact driver for £50 and you have a cheap drill and 2 batteries.
Weĺl, my story on cordless drill etc is. I the beginning I had a woolworths 18v. I thought it was good until I borrowed a makita 18v. It made mine feel like a toy. So after buying a makita myself using for a few years nutil the batteries packed in I decided to buy a milwaukee m18 impact driver and drill. Now these really make the makita feel like a toy. From now on I will stick to milwaukee
Makita for me. My Dad has used them for years and got me onto them. I'd say the key is to pick a battery system and stick to it. I have a couple of drills, impact driver, circular saw, and hedge trimmer that all run on the same 5 amp/hr batteries that came with the drill.
countrryboy
Well-Known Member
For quite hard hobby use i run dewalt and they have done all i ever asked off them.
Got some 5amp batteries which are really good as well as a grinder and radio.
Probably not quite heavy duty enough for pro use, for pro use most fitters seem to use milwakke, while building trade is a mix of the big names mentioned.
1 thing i would add is these cheap screwfix prices as u noticed are different model to wot other shops sell and are cheaper parts/components so u are not comparing like for like, personally i now pay slightly extra but buy of a local dealer.
I'd also price other bare units as once u buy which ever brand u prefer it just makes sense to stick to it and buy bare units, dewalt are quite good as all on the same battery mounts/system
The newer dewalt batteries seemingly can pop into 54v tools or 18v
For buying tools for hobby use my general thoughts are battery or petrol powered i tend to go with atleast a half decent brand as u need some reliability, battery life, when u pull the cord it starts etc out of them.
With a corded tool i tend to be cheap and cheerful as very little to go wrong
Got some 5amp batteries which are really good as well as a grinder and radio.
Probably not quite heavy duty enough for pro use, for pro use most fitters seem to use milwakke, while building trade is a mix of the big names mentioned.
1 thing i would add is these cheap screwfix prices as u noticed are different model to wot other shops sell and are cheaper parts/components so u are not comparing like for like, personally i now pay slightly extra but buy of a local dealer.
I'd also price other bare units as once u buy which ever brand u prefer it just makes sense to stick to it and buy bare units, dewalt are quite good as all on the same battery mounts/system
The newer dewalt batteries seemingly can pop into 54v tools or 18v
For buying tools for hobby use my general thoughts are battery or petrol powered i tend to go with atleast a half decent brand as u need some reliability, battery life, when u pull the cord it starts etc out of them.
With a corded tool i tend to be cheap and cheerful as very little to go wrong
reiver
Well-Known Member
I completely agree about Milwaukee. .tried all the others but not are up to take the punishment on site like Milwaukee . One of our lads had the cordless mag drill now that is a serious tool .
Thanks for all the replies guys, I am wondering if the likes of screwfix and tool station get drills from the big name companies, manufactured specifically for themselves and these may be built to a specific price point, these seem like great value when bundled with batteries and always show a "sale" price which make it SEEM like you are getting a bargain.
The last time I checked, it's rare to find the same drills with identical model numbers being sold by the two competing companies or other retailers. I used to work in the retail trade and I know that you can often take the "RRP price" with a pinch of salt as it's often inflated, just like GMK do when listing prices on the firearms they sell.
My own experience with corded drills indicates that keyless chucks can be problematic, often failing to grip the drill bit tight enough. I will definitely get something with a metal chuck instead of plastic one reading your replies.
Out of interest, are chucks covered by the warranty on the main brands?
Many thanks.
The last time I checked, it's rare to find the same drills with identical model numbers being sold by the two competing companies or other retailers. I used to work in the retail trade and I know that you can often take the "RRP price" with a pinch of salt as it's often inflated, just like GMK do when listing prices on the firearms they sell.
My own experience with corded drills indicates that keyless chucks can be problematic, often failing to grip the drill bit tight enough. I will definitely get something with a metal chuck instead of plastic one reading your replies.
Out of interest, are chucks covered by the warranty on the main brands?
Many thanks.
Last edited:
ColinBr
Well-Known Member
Erbauer 18V from Screwfix.
I was going to buy a Dewalt, and asked a mate in the trade.
He said he had his Erbauer for 4 years no faults, so I bought the kit that included that and a torque driver.
That was 5 years ago, in that time my mates gave up the ghost (used daily building bathrooms). He took it in asking to buy a new set, they replaced the whole kit FOC. So his was around 5-6 years old at the time and heavily used.
Mine gave up the ghost about 6 months ago (brushes went), again replaced whole kit FOC. So about 4.5 years of use, and I have used it to basically refurbish my house where it was needed (bought as a doer upper).
Cant complain to say the least
I was going to buy a Dewalt, and asked a mate in the trade.
He said he had his Erbauer for 4 years no faults, so I bought the kit that included that and a torque driver.
That was 5 years ago, in that time my mates gave up the ghost (used daily building bathrooms). He took it in asking to buy a new set, they replaced the whole kit FOC. So his was around 5-6 years old at the time and heavily used.
Mine gave up the ghost about 6 months ago (brushes went), again replaced whole kit FOC. So about 4.5 years of use, and I have used it to basically refurbish my house where it was needed (bought as a doer upper).
Cant complain to say the least
reiver
Well-Known Member
Hilti is good but not for three times the price of Milwaukee. the last time i tried to buy off Hilti they just wanted to lease me the tools. not much good if they get nicked on site or in the back of your van . better to own your own hand tools and just hire the big stuff as and when .
paul o'
Well-Known Member
Makita all day long i'v got 4 drills plus the 1/2 drive nut driver ,skill saw's ,drivers, gridders, and they get used every day, or if you can find one AVG all metal gears had mine 15yrs its been dropped god knows how many times of the scaffold still running .
thing with Makita if you don't get long life batteries #5 they can eat up the power it can be cheaper to buy another drill twin set than buy a replacment battery
thing with Makita if you don't get long life batteries #5 they can eat up the power it can be cheaper to buy another drill twin set than buy a replacment battery
I used to use Ryobi one system, drill, driver and 1/2” impact wrench was ok for general use. Then replaced some with Dewalt, was a lot better. Also get to use Milwaukee, if I could choose again I’d go all Milwaukee in the m18 fuel range. Unreal performance and torque.
No matter which one you finally decide to buy, whether it is a cheap or expensive one, the one thing you must consider is the bits, many drills come with, just about acceptable bits, but as there are many variations especially pozidrive, and Philips, if you haven't got the correct bit and one of good quality, then your drill will just eat it, the one thing wrong with these powerful drills is they are not very forgiving if you have the wrong bit for the screw. I myself favour Torx screws as they tend to be less trouble..............now saying all that, it could of course just be my lack of talent.
I personally use dewalt stuff but you wouldn’t go wrong with Milwaukee or makita, I’ve used them all and have family and friends who use them daily hard and there’s very little in them quality and reliability wise from what I can tell. As has been suggested have a look and see what’s on offer. I would suggest getting at least a couple 4 or 5ah batteries as the smaller stuff doesn’t last long 
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