Power Tools

Max517

Max517

New member
Hey Wayalifers, looking for some insight. Several years ago, I received kit of porter cable power tools. I was working with my impact yesterday and it finally gave out. I’m looking to get in the Milwaukee ecosystem now. I’m looking at the impact and drill combo. I believe the M18 18 volt. Mainly needing them to work on the jeep, but will also be for home repairs. I want to start with these then continue working my way in later.

Just looking for some insight on the M18 or if you have had better luck with others?

Thanks in advance!
 
Max517 said:
Hey Wayalifers, looking for some insight. Several years ago, I received kit of porter cable power tools. I was working with my impact yesterday and it finally gave out. I’m looking to get in the Milwaukee ecosystem now. I’m looking at the impact and drill combo. I believe the M18 18 volt. Mainly needing them to work on the jeep, but will also be for home repairs. I want to start with these then continue working my way in later.

Just looking for some insight on the M18 or if you have had better luck with others?

Thanks in advance!
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In the process of switching over from Makita to Milwaukee. Not that makita is bad but everyone I wheel with is Milwaukee.
 
OverlanderJK said:
I’ve been thinking about going to makita. I hear and read their batteries are better. But I have so much red it’s hard to switch. And getting into a new tool brand is not cheap.
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It really hard switching brands. Way back in the day, I was buying Dewalt but switched over to Milwaukee being that everyone else I knew was running it. And, at first, I started buying the M24 before I realized that everyone was running M18. Totally sucked but I still have and use them LOL
 
I’ve had good luck with ryobi HP1 stuff Milwaukee is good but to expensive. Plus I still have a full set of ingersol and Chicago air tools up to 1” drive.
 
OverlanderJK said:
I’ve been thinking about going to makita. I hear and read their batteries are better. But I have so much red it’s hard to switch. And getting into a new tool brand is not cheap.
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You really only need to buy enough batteries so you can have sufficient spares for each brand. For some people that might only be 3 batteries, or even 2. Much of it seems to be psychological.
 
OverlanderJK said:
I’ve been thinking about going to makita. I hear and read their batteries are better. But I have so much red it’s hard to switch. And getting into a new tool brand is not cheap.
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It’s definitely not bad gear and yeah the 5.0 batteries are very nice. The previous batteries I had (can’t recall the models) all failed and would not hold a charge. So even makita has made crap batteries.
 
OverlanderJK said:
I’ve been thinking about going to makita. I hear and read their batteries are better. But I have so much red it’s hard to switch. And getting into a new tool brand is not cheap.
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We all run M18 Red at Work... except the saws... our guys have gravitated towards the dual Battery Makita Saw. I'm not a fan of the expensive 12.0 M18 batteries... so I think its a good idea... but sucks having to have a different charger just for the saw. We still all have the corded Skilsaw though which is hard to beat. All our subs seem to run Red too. I feel like the M18 tools are built better... but you might be right on the batteries.
 
TrailHunter said:
We all run M18 Red at Work... except the saws... our guys have gravitated towards the dual Battery Makita Saw. I'm not a fan of the expensive 12.0 M18 batteries... so I think its a good idea... but sucks having to have a different charger just for the saw. We still all have the corded Skilsaw though which is hard to beat. All our subs seem to run Red too. I feel like the M18 tools are built better... but you might be right on the batteries.
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The M18 was totally fine for the jeep stuff and little tinkering I did in California but for daily use, the batteries just don't seem to cut it.
 
Had a Ryobi 18V 1/2" impact, never worked right again after using it to remove ball joints.

Had a Craftsman 19v.something 1/2" impact, that POS would die after breaking loose 1 wheel loll; took it back.

Switched to Milwaukee and haven't looked back, the 1/2 impact has gotten a workout (y)

Have a Makita lawn mower that uses the 4.0Ah, 18v lithium batteries, it was great the first 3 months; could get the lawn complete front and back off one set of batteries even when the grass was close to 4"

Now I mow once a week and the batteries die before I'm done with the backyard short grass.
Need to use the 2nd set of batteries to complete the back and the front - only if the front isn't too long otherwise, they die, and it has to wait for batteries to get recharged.

have to be fast with the trimmer to get all the edging done.
 
OverlanderJK said:
The M18 was totally fine for the jeep stuff and little tinkering I did in California but for daily use, the batteries just don't seem to cut it.
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On the circular saw I have the same poor performance result, the batteries don't seem to last very long.

I took it to the local Milwaukee service center thinking something was wrong with it and the guy told me to use the Forge or High output battery to get more life out of a battery; I decided I don't cut enough lumber to justify the cost of the battery
 
OverlanderJK said:
The M18 was totally fine for the jeep stuff and little tinkering I did in California but for daily use, the batteries just don't seem to cut it.
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Not sure what tools you're running but running the string trimmer and leaf blower, I feel like I get pretty good life out of the batteries. I always have one on charge and just swap them as needed. If I'm doing a lot of hard work, I have 2 sets of batteries ready to go and between the 3, I feel like I can get what I need done. I bought their track saw and did a lot of flooring with it as well. But to your point, if I'm just doing Jeep stuff, I can get by with just one battery for a whole project and then some.
 
IMO Milwaukee is the best for the automotive side of things and has the most to offer for household work as well. Dewalt for carpentry but are branching into the auto world. The others are good and focus more on household/woodworking.
 
wayoflife said:
Not sure what tools you're running but running the string trimmer and leaf blower, I feel like I get pretty good life out of the batteries. I always have one on charge and just swap them as needed. If I'm doing a lot of hard work, I have 2 sets of batteries ready to go and between the 3, I feel like I can get what I need done. I bought their track saw and did a lot of flooring with it as well. But to your point, if I'm just doing Jeep stuff, I can get by with just one battery for a whole project and then some.
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I mean I run all the tools. lol miter saw, circular saw, drill, impact, compressor, pump, grinder you name it.
 
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