Cordless drill match-up: Makita vs. Milwaukee

Nothing may be built to last that long anymore, but if you look at the 18V compact drill from RIDGID, they at least have a lifetime service contract, they will tune it up and even replace you batteries for as long as you own the drill.

Don't know where you are, but Menard's in my area is clearing out all Makita tools and there are some steals for a quality brand.

I am a huge Milwaukee fan, but Makita is a great brand name with a quality reputation and I am always a fan of a great deal!

Good luck.

For some reason all the shops I ever worked in were equipped with Makita's, I have a Hitachi I love atm but if I had to buy a new one I'd look real close at Makita.

Eric

For cordless makita was one of the first and remains one of the best. I have not stepped up to the lithium ion model but i have used them, they work great. Don't know about battery life. I have owned and used makita cordless drills for years, very durable, great battery life on the NiMi, very tough drills. Milwakee is good, and I love their corded drills, but prefer makita for cordless, better balanced in the hand.

I have used a few DeWalts on a "Hey, can i borrow that drill for a second, mine is in the truck" basis. I found them to be barbells with no more power or performance than my makita. I usually hand them back quickly and go get mine from the truck. nice workout though, if that's what your in for. Guess I'm not a yellow tool man.

If I remember correctly;
Makita 1 year warranty
Milwaukee 5 year warranty
Ridgid - Free Lifetime Service Agreement that includes the batteries.

Ridgid solves the batteries are expensive complaint down the road.

If it were me that had asked the question,I would be no further from finding the answer.

Seems to me it is six of one and half a dozen of the other.

For in the shop use, I'd not opt for any 18v setup...way too heavy for me to enjoy using for any period of time. For heavy home improvement/construction...yes, the 18v (and higher) tools are probably a better idea, but not for furniture work in the shop. They also tend to be physically larger and that makes for less versatility with regard to access inside of casework, etc.

I use a 12v drill/driver most of the time in the shop with a 14.4v drill/driver as my backup/second for when that's convenient. The former is Festool and the latter is Dewalt. Forgetting about the brand itself, one of the things I really like about the primary tool I've chosen, especially the 12v, is that it is smaller and fits my hand like a glove. Very comfortable to use. And it's very well suited to everything I do in the shop. There are a number of good choices "out there" that provide these kinds of physical attributes.

Oh, and as of late, I've decided the best combination for me going forward to cover both drill/driving and heaver work is to pick up an impact driver (I like the Hitachi for that right now) that compliments my existing drill/drivers.

We just got in the new Makita 12v impact driver. I haven't un-boxed one yet to put on display, but they look pretty nifty. The torque on them are 92.5 ft lbs (1,110 in lbs), this puts it up in the big boy class with the 18v impacts.
Here is a link to the Makita site (link for informational purposes only) 12v cordless impact
Don't know what the price point on it is yet, but I'm guessing $150 give or take a little

Everyone has their favorites.
I have the Makita compact LiIon and it's great.

Pros of the Makita:

1) lightweight
2) small and compact; easy to get into tight spaces.
3) one-handed clutch makes bit insert/removal easy (not sure if that's the right tech term; but you don't have to hold the stationary part of the chuck and turn the rotating part to release a bit; you just turn the rotating part...)
4) there's a great light that illuminates the drill target when you depress the trigger. I thought it was a gimmick; but it's GREAT in tight spaces.
5) fast charge time


Cons of the Makita:
No bit holder. But you can get one frm McFeely's for $3. Most bit holders on drills are too short to hold countersink bits or longer driver bits anyway.

We use the Milwaukee brand of cordless drills at work exclusively. These drill are severely abused, basically they are used like they're stolen, absolutley zero respect is accorded them in their usage.
They're beat to heck, scratched, cracked,dropped, plastic parts are missing, batteries are duct taped in place, and they still work.

I own Dewalts at home, but I wouldn't hesitate one iota to buy a Milwaukee, after I've seen what they can hold up to at work.

In my job use a dewalt 18v hammer drill on a dayly bassis. It is a good tough drill. Good battery charge life. The batteries start to go south in about six months and need to be replaced in about 1 yr. I have found this to be true of all cordless tools regaurdless of brand if used heavily on a dayly bassis. The dewalt chargers do not have an auto shut of so it is very important not to leave them in the charger for long after they have finished charging if you do the will not last long at all.

At home I use the ridgid 18v. Another good drill. Has a good charger with auto shut off. Plus it has the lifetime waranty. I have had two batteries replaced using this warranty no questions asked.

I would go with the ridgid.

The batteries makes the difference with drill in my experience.
I have just bought an 18v drill with lithium ion,they weight less than an 18 v Ni Mh.
So any of the good makes with these batteries is the answer.

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone-5.htm

Thanks for all the input so far. Looks like the Makita is pretty popular, though I'm curious now about the green version vs. the one that looks like a sneaker. The Milwaukee is probably a bit tougher. That Ridgid is a pretty hard value to pass up with the lifetime battery replacement. The more I think about it, the more it becomes a Makita vs. Ridgid contest. And the more I think about that, the more I'm inclined to go with the Ridgid.

So that's probably what I'll be going for.

I almost bought the Rigid too for similar reasons. Check the web for reviews of the Rigid, though. I wasn't impressed. Also be sure how the warranty works.

From what Ive read online the rigid battery guarantee requires you to send the battery ,charger and tool in for a replacement
its not a matter of walking into the BORG and walking out with a new battery
something to consider if you need the tool on a regular basis

I looked at rigid with the lifetime warranty last time I bought and honestly with emerging technology's (LION wasn't available when I bought my last set ) i don't particularly want a tool to last a lifetime


having owned , Dewalt , Makita , and Milwaukee I've become a Big Ryobi fan
lots of bang for the buck honestly

I'm also a Big lion fan , I love the fact that the battery's hold the charge until you need them