Milwaukee Tools

Wife just informed me they found their way on the cc bill
Got the
“Whoa Whoa Woah you already have Ryobi stuff why are you buying Milwaukee batteries “
Me
Keep reading the bill

Had to explain it’s a whole different platform and technically she started the Ryobi collection by having to have the electric lawnmower

 

Just for friendly conversation...how does Milwaukee compare to Dewalt or Rigid? Or even Ryobi (I know most think Ryobi is "bottom" tier) Like I said in previous post, I have collection of Ryobi tools and I just made a switch to Milwaukee. What are your opinions or thoughts?

 

Ryobi is bottom tier - cheaper plastics, cheaper motors and electronics, bottom barrel li-ion cells, etc. Don’t ever leave those batteries on the charger, BTW. My neighbors house burned halfway down from leaving his Ryobi mower batteries on the charger.

Rigid is middle tier home owner grade; better materials and design, decent cells, built to put up with what most homeowners will do with them. Not professional grade but like to pretend they can compete

Milwaukee is pro grade; best cells, best motors, best ergos, robust designs, built to last and give the end user the best experience. They have spilt the tool line a little bit and cheapened a few things to make a more homeowner friendly line with brushless non-Fuel tools, but part of that is the lower cost of brushless motors these days. So they aren’t inferior tools, just not Fuel pro level. Several tools still have brushed motors especially in the M12 line. Batteries and electronics are high quality across all tools and batteries; they don’t make a cheap battery and a good batter - just really good batteries with different power levels. M12 tools don’t have the same level of electronics as the m18 platform.

Dewalt is kind of an odd child now. They were the de facto standard of awesomeness for years, competing mainly with Makita in the battery powered space, until Milwaukee introduced the m18 platform and decimated everybody else. Black and decker purchased Dewalt and cheapened up a lot of things, even existing putting sub par quality parts in existing lines. This bit them in the behind and they lost a lot of customers. They then introduced the XR line to compete with the Fuel line but were behind in battery tech and tools. They introduced pouch lithium batteries a early which made up for some deficiencies but were still behind everywhere else. IMO, they are still a step behind. Quality is around Rigid but most guys I know that use tools for a living or even regularly are switching to Milwaukee.

 

Same parent company, but they don’t share engineering or company resources like Dewalt/Black and Decker and other tool lines.

 

Apparently, cause the quality sure ain't anywhere close to being the same.....

 

Yeah you get into a lot of Ford, Chevy, GMC, Toyota battles with tools too.

Ryobi is not bad at all! In fact it will do 98% of what your typical homeowner will throw at them. If you are a tradesman and use your tools to earn money for 8 hours a day, you will start to notice a difference. They are under the same parent company as Milwaukee.

Rigid is one step above Ryobi and you can see a good number of tools on job sites daily. Rigid is like Craftsman at Sears back in the day. You can literally take dang near anything back to Home Depot and will replace for free. Pretty nice tools overall.

DeWalt/Mikwaukee is where it gets interesting. Dewalt use to be king and set the benchmark. Don't know full history but since they were bought out a few years ago (I think) general consensus is they are still good, but not dominant like they used to be in the tool world.

In my opinion, I don't think they are really any worse than 5 years ago, it is just Milwaukee has completely stepped up their game. They have the most extensive line of tools by a mile. Their m12 line dominates the smaller mid volt range of tools. They have so many specialty electrical and plumbing tools it is crazy. Every single plumber and electrician I know has trucks loaded to the gills with red Milwaukee. If you go out to the shop at our work our 5 mechanics all have tool chests loaded with red Milwaukee. They also had DeWalt 5+ years ago and converted to Milwaukee due to reliability and the extensive line they have.

There is different models so have to be careful comparing but they can try loosening a bolt on a large Cat grader with the 20v DeWalt and nothing. Can come right behind it with m18 impact and it will rip it right off.

I still have DeWalt at home, but Milwaukee just feels right in your hand. They are the perfect balance and weight to them.

Who is the best can vary from tool to tool. Milwaukee might have the best orbital sander for example, however the DeWalt router is thought of as better than Milwaukee.

I love Rigid shop vacs and have 2 and I think they are better than the rest.

 

Your thoughts are spot on, however, once you do go one/two/three steps higher, it is hard to come back down to what the "norm" used to be....

 

While working on some fencing I noticed that the Milwaukee bits stripped out faster than the dwalts
It was an eye opener esp since I’m looking for battery torque drivers

 

too much torque......lol

 

You are so right! I used Ryobi 18v and 40v stuff for about 5-10 years now. And yes it does the job for my household and car repair needs. I been disappointed with their battery life but the newer battery seem to be better. I hope I made the right choice and switching to Milwaukee platform.

 

I have the Ryobi 18V tool bag, just a general mix of tools, and a 40V leave blower. Tools, meh, they are ok but some harder work does show their weakness.
The leave blower I am very happy with, so even if I eventually swap to Milwaukee, I will keep that leave blower and 40V battery.

 

So I was trying to read up some more as it seems there are three tiers of tool line, excluding the M12/M18 divide, there is brushed/brushless/FUEL line.
https://www.protoolreviews.com/milwaukee-m18-vs-m18-fuel-tools/
For non-trade people, do you think the FUEL line is worth the extra bucks?
Looks like HD is running more promos on the brushelss than FUEL line...
For most of my general use I think I need two M18 (hammer drill/impact) and maybe a M12 (Ratchet)
Would I benefit from going FUEL line or just make sure they are brushless and I should be good for 99% of the stuff I need?

 

I’m not sure the fuel makes a huge difference, especially for homeowners, even for tradies. I have learned to read descriptions of tools better after I got a fuel angle grinder…….. with auto brake. I hated that thing, felt like the auto brake was always on and burned thru batteries quick.

 

The mx18 Fuel line is really large tools and not really anything a homeowner would use. Very specialized tool and very spendy for what they are! We are talking concrete compactors, huge concrete SDS drills, concrete cutoff tools, etc.... There really is not anything most of us in this thread would use unless we are a professional tradesman or have money to burn for the hell of it.

https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Innovations/MX-FUEL

M18 line is pretty much all power tools. M18 Fuel is all brushless I believe.... Yes there can be both brushed and brushless models of the same tool inside of the m18 line. Think drills for example. I have the newest m18 hammer drill and it is brushless. Most of the newest version of the Milwaukee tools are brushless. Milwaukee might be coming out with their 3rd gen of the same drill for example and the only difference is it has a brushless motor where gen 2 has brushed.

m12 line is also a combination of brushed/brushless depending on tool.

Milwaukee is a very high quality tool, that most of us will mot be able to tell a difference in brushed vs brushless version. Brushless will be a little smoother and quieter.

However, you take the newest version of the m18 hammer drill and the new forged batteries and it is stupid. I was drilling holes in the concrete in our basement to mount a jack post. Hit rebar with it and about broke my arms and wrists.

 

For the M12 FUEL, I was consider either one, being that engine bays are generally not very spacious, longer neck would provide some more reach?
<1> <2> but neither would have battery/charger, so that's another expense on top. I am fine with either being FUEL line.

M18, this is where I get torn on, those two set looks nice, but I can't figure what's the difference (?) (??)

 

Oh, and not sure if I looked enough but can't find the forged batteries on sale....
Or I might just be tired from work...

 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwauk...E-XC-8-0-Ah-Battery-Pack-48-11-1881/329791962

Get a free Forged XC8.0 battery with tool purchase.......

 

I like the second option for the 18, the impact has selectable torque ranges. At work we have to pull of AC panels often for service, most dudes just slam em home and end up stripping the opening, lower torque setting will still drive the screw home but not destroy the backing metal.
I have the power ratchet but neither of those, so I can’t help there

 

You mentioned you have the power ratchet, can you share which one?
Most of my work would be on vehicles, and then household stuff.... not necessary all around tradesman type....

 

I’ll look in a few when I go to pick up the crotch fruit from school…….

 

Noted. Crotch fruit....nice, first time hearing this one

 

It’s my favorite

 

cordless grinders are only good for small bits of work, have one and love it but at the moment there is no replacement for a corded grinder.

 

I will agree that corded is always gonna be more powerful than cordless, due to the nature of consistent power supply vs battery supplied power...
But cordless has the benefit of being more portable, most of the times....

 

The ratchets are amazing lil tools and IMO a must have. I have a 1/4" drive ratchet that I use almost for everything plus I have the beastly Insider ratchet which is a bit overkill but I'll use that every so often.

 

I guess I have the first option. I could see the second option being better for breaking torque(they really can’t break bolts loose on their own, keep that in mind)

 

But doesn't the insider require its own special sockets?
Also, any reason going 1/4" drive over 3/8" drive?