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Currently using DeWalt because they go on sale frequently, I use their tools both for outdoors and garage / shop. My complaint is their electric ratchet design is just clunky and horrible to work with in tight spaces. I wish they make one that is long neck like the snap on.
Yes Makita seems to be the brand to get, but they are often more expensive even on sale $. I would have gone with Rigid because of their “lifetime” battery warranty, but they don’t have weedwacker / blower when I was looking.
Oh yeah.. thanks to home 3D printing, there are tons of adapters out there eg battery holder, tool holder etc for me that is a game changer.
For cordless power tools, DeWalt 20V primarily since I effectively got a drill and impact gun plus two 4a-hr batteries for free, so buying some more in the same family to cover other home improvement projects was cost effective. They’ve done everything I’ve asked of them well so far, and the battery life is pretty impressive on everything but the circular saw.
Hand tools are mostly craftsman for ratchets and basics from about 20 years ago, augmented with harbor freight for some rarely used items.
Wired electric tools are a mix, since they were usually second hand finds.
I’m old enough to have used and been around multiple brands, from commercial to home use (counted 29 off the chart). There used to be a real difference in feel and design in most of the better brands (at least to me), but these days on the whole it seems the only real difference is the color for most.
My personal favorite now is Milwaukee, though I do have a mix. A 1980s Hole Hawg was one serious tool, that convinced me of the durability of their tools, and they still made excellent tools from my experience.
For power tools I bleed Makita blue and have a selection of Craftsman, Snap-on and other hand tools.
If I dont plan to use a tool more than a couple times I have bought stuff from Harbor Freight.
When it comes to jacks and jack stands DON’T SKIMP on quality, your life depends on it !!!
It doesn’t matter because I am throwing them all away and making a run across the border to replace them with PowerFist tools (and I’m capitalizing it like that because I want to). Whatever the frustration is with a given project, I’ll feel like I’m Chuck Norris kicking its ass!
I don’t if it’s loyalty so much as battery inertia. Once my dad bought me a few DeWalt tools I certainly wasn’t about to introduce a new battery system. And then when the 18v nicads turned into the 20v lions, it was adapter time. And now here we are. Also some 12v Milwaukee because there are a few tools that that’s just what you need.
My mower is a 22-year old Craftsman that won’t die.
Hand tools usually end up being Mastercraft from Canadian Tire.
For power tools I buy Ryobi. I don’t need to spend more for the amount I use them. Yeah, the Milwaukee stuff is awesome ,but spending that much for what could generously be called hobby use makes no sense to me.
Battery tools – Milwaukee. I had a bunch of cordless drills from HF, and always had to switch to an old corded Black and Decker to finish the job. Finally just admitted I need a decent drill so bought the Milwaukee. Then I added an impact gun from them. Both have been excellent.
Outdoor Gas tools – Ryobi. I have a couple of gas tools and a batter leaf blower from them. The gas tools have outlasted my friends’ more expensive versions and I don’t treat them well.
Ratchets and Sockets are Craftsman. I’ve had them forever and can’t complain.
Misc Other Tools – Harbor Freight. If I use it enough to break it, I may buy a better brand name. A lot of these are single use so quality just has to be good enough for the one job.
DeWalt. Mostly because if you keep an eye on SlickDeals, you can usually get it cheaper than Ryobi and I only want one format/brand of batteries. I also like the 60v option. I’ve lost count of how many DeWalt tools I have, but it’s a lot. The quality also seems to be worthy of the investment.
My personal favorite? My 20V Rotary Hammer. It’s stunning how fast that thing can butterize concrete for the price I paid.
DeWalt for battery at home, Ryobi at the cottage. Got tired of bringing tools back and forth so got a good enough 4 pack of Ryobi for the cottage when it was on sale. Both are good although I prefer the DeWalt which could simply be because I’ve used it more.
Socket set is Stanley (Canadian Tire sale). Miter saw is metabo (sale at Rona). Circular saw is DeWalt (upgraded after my Canadian Tire jobmate died after 15 years and it was on sale). Angle grinder is a cheap Canadian Tire jobmate that won’t die. Other hand tools are a mix of Canadian Tire lines, princess auto and home hardware depending on what was on sale where. Also I live a 15 minute walk from home hardware so go there a lot.
Chainsaw is Stihl and I’ll never buy any other brand. I’ve used others and I’m not going back.
DeWalt, Milwaukee, Makita, and Pittsburgh for hand tools. I’ve used and abused all of them, seen a remanufactured 18v DeWalt set fall off a barn several times and shrug it off, and my grandfather had working Makita corded tools from the 70s. Milwaukee is a more recent addition to my tool bag. They tend to be what I keep in my car in case of emergency.
The Pittsburgh hand tools also stay in the car. I’ve got some 20+ year old Craftsman tools from the era you could walk into Sears and someone would rebuild a ratchet for you on the spot, but those stay in my toolbox for home use.
I’m a big fan of Metabo tools as well, but I’m usually too cheap to buy them new. I managed to snag four of their 4 1/2″ cutoffs for $190 on eBay once and two looked like they were never used. I kept one and gave the other three to my dad, a neighbor, and my cousin and they’ve all been abused without complaint.
2nd the old Craftsman hand tools (mine are 35+), if you broke anything, they replaced it, at least where I was, that is until Sears collapsed, in one the worst destruction’s of a company for greed I’ve ever seen.
Mine were a gift from my dad (along with the keys to my grandfather’s truck) on my 16th birthday. It was almost a right of passage to break a ratchet doing brakes or plugs and take it in for Pete to rebuild, because we only dealt with Pete. He worked at our local Sears for decades and if he wasn’t in, we came back on a day he was because he always treated us great.
My main tools are a mix of Ryobi and Milwaukee, but I recently bought a Harbor Freight Hercules Brushless 20V 1/2 in. impact wrench, and I don’t think I have ever been so impressed by a tool. Yesterday I used it to pull the front lug nuts off a midsize truck in just a few minutes! I’m pretty sure that without it half of them would have required the 3/4″ breaker bar.
I am habitually without brand loyalty for tools, both power and hand, but the recent rise of cordless tools has made me loyal to a battery system.
I am currently all Milwaukee because when I looked into tools, they filled a few gaps in others lines when it came to ‘mechanics’ tools, and if I have batteries and chargers for one system, I am not going to invest in batteries and chargers for another.
It deeply annoys me because it prevents me from buying deals, stuff I consider ‘best value,’ and flea-market finds.
Get an adapter to use your m18 batteries in other brand tools. I think dewalt is also easy to adapt from. Just make sure you swap by the time you get to 1 bar left as this will disable any over discharge protection. I have 9 Milwaukee tools I care about, 6 m12 and m18 batteries, and 3 ryobi tools I use my m18 batteries in.
If I could only get a tool from a brand other than MKE, I would think about that, but for me, adding another widget and level of complexity is just not worth it.
I work out of a service truck on job sites, and keeping track of my tools is hard enough without adding more than is necessary.
I’m with you there. Just recently went Milwaukee within the past year or two and I’ve been very pleased with the performance. I like the idea of just using one battery and they seemed to offer a well-rated version of every tool I’d be shopping for.
I assumed Power Fist was the RAM house brand.
Edit: I don’t own any power tools from Park Tool, this comment is about their hand tools.
So far as someone who has been using a bicycle for personal transport recently I order tools from Park tool (didn’t have any 3/8″ drive tools anywho so why not). Not only are the tools of great quality, but they have free repair videos on Youtube for basically every bicycle repair and or bicycle maintenance thing you can think of, where they use their tools to do the repair, link the tools in the description, etc.
Having a vehicle where I can fix basically everything on it is surprisingly comforting. Most every job is fairly quick too.
I’m seriously considering doing a bicycle build that is Park Tool themed, they’re great!
I’m pretty impressed by Milwaukee. Their stubby impact is incredibly useful. I recently got a bit driver from them as a gift and it outperforms my larger Canadian Tire store brand cordless drill which weighs 2.5x as much. (I think they call their store brand Mastercraft, which is pretty unoriginal). I’ve banished that Canadian Tire junk (along with the crappy impact it came with) to only the messiest or worst of jobs, and it holds up incredibly well to neglect and abuse. I’ve spilled ATF, mineral spirits, melted rubberized underseal, and all sorts of stuff on it, and I’ve too often let the battery go completely flat before charging it. Hell, I think those batteries were left out in my unheated garage over a few Canadian winters, too. Yet, it still works just as unimpressively as it did when I first got it!
I have a stubby impact, but buying it from HD was a pain in the butt. I went to a store that had the one I wanted (mid-torque, 1/2″ drive to match my impact sockets). I saw who had it in stock locally and bought it. When I got it home it was a 3/8″ drive in the box. The box was factory sealed and the 3/8″ tool inside was the current version.
HD exchanged it for me. Well, they credited me and I had to find another store with a 1/2″ drive. I hope I’m not sharing any secrets here, but their online inventory can be incorrect sometimes. Three stops later, I had the tool I intended to buy.
Looking online, I guess I’m lucky. It’s pretty common for scammers to return old tools in the box and then they get re-stocked. I wouldn’t have had the same result returning one of those. I’d say to check the contents of the box (at least visually) before leaving the store.
I typically buy Ridgid from the manufacturer’s outlet. The blemished models get same warranty as what you’d buy from Home Depot. The factory reconditioned models can be nearly give-away cheap. The site also has Ryobi because that’s one of their brands too.
I have used Ryobi for about 20+ years. Early stuff was not great but the price was good. Now I try to just get Ryobi Brushless tools when I need a replacement. The build quality is quite rugged. We have not had many lithium batteries fail. We do use them commercially.
Ryobi, because Home Depot had some sales right when I bought a house and needed some power tools. Otherwise it’s whatever the cheapest I can get.
Though I will be buried with my two Linus Tech Tip screwdrivers. Worth every penny.
I have the Dewalt 20v MAX line of tools and I chose them because they’re the only tools I’ve found that remind me of my pops old craftsman tools back when I was young. Coincidentally the MAX line is the only Dewalt tools that are still made in the USA, I don’t know if that’s a symbol of quality or not but they do be working really well. I got my dad the same drill and he agreed that they were as good as his old stuff.
I have a Makita cordless drill and Bauer(Harbor Freight) everything else.
I have abused the shit out of my Bauer 1/4 and 3/8s cordless impacts and they just shrug it off. The Bauer leaf blower is a leaf blower. Works great. The sawzall cuts through whatever as long as I’m using the right blade. For a non-professional wrencher/ do-it-yourself kinda guy, I don’t see why you would need anything else
The Makita drill I bought 10 years ago and it is still going strong as ever. I just used it to drill through some hardened steel a few minutes ago. If I was buying a new drill today I would get a Bauer though.
I’m a firm believer that if it does the job and doesn’t break, it’s fine. None of my Harbor freight hand tools, power tools, or shop equipment has ever broken or let me down. Even my 9.99 drillmaster angle grinder is still going strong after over a decade of use. If any of it ever does break I’ll consider getting name brand.
Hilti, because their engineering support is by far the best and are primarily used in commercial and industrial construction.
Hilti make damn good tools that can take a beating and their repair support is unsurpassed – if you are using them every day for work they are worth the $ – but they are expensive.
Much like picking a wheel size in mountain biking; “Pick one and be a d!ck about it…”
I had a very nice Dewalt collection, but I donated them all and ended up with my craftsman stuff. They’re……fine, I guess.
But for serious work, Milwaukee is tough to beat.
Also, in the sphere of Lawn and Household power tools, I am a COMPLETE fanboy of EGO. I have thier Chainsaw, Weed-eater, Shop-vac, and pressure washer now. It’s high quality stuff, and not having to deal with extension cords or premix has seriously upgraded my life lol! Saving up for thier Zero turn mower now.
The Ego lawnmower i got required me to open it up and re wire a couple of “safety” switches before i could even use it. i didnt like that. now that i fixed it it, its great.
i don’t mind the while running safety features, but the power on sequence for my ego mower and snow blower is irritating.
Many amateur astronomers also use EGO batteries. Some telescope mounts use 48V which can be conveniently powered by EGO batteries in the field.
It’s not as common now because portable power stations are a dime a dozen.
I bought their trimmer mostly just for their battery. The trimmer package is like $20 more than buying the battery and charger on its own. Their mower is nice but my lawn us so tiny it’s unnecessary. I have an ancient 40V (?) system from Greenworks and one charge can last a whole season of weekly mowing. That thing is 12 years old and the original battery is just fine.
Who but the pros want to deal with ICE gardening tools?
Most of the Pros that I know actually have at least a few Ego tools.
Pittsburg – I am not a mechanic, I am a hobbyist. harbor Freight is just fine for my needs!
I ran my tire shop for 10 years using nothing but Harbor Freight tools. I probably saved 4 or 5 thousand a year on Jacks and impact guns because they would warranty everything, no questions asked.
People like to shit-talk HF, but if you use a HF tool until you’ve maxed it out and need something better, you’ve likely gotten your money’s worth out of it.
It’s my view that the only people who shit-talk Harbor Freight are people who have no experience using their products. I have hand tools from HF, old school made in U.S. Craftsman, and even older school SK tools from the 1940s through 1960s (grandfather was a tool & die engineer for Westinghouse). No joke, I prefer using my Harbor Freight (Quinn) hand tools over the others. For power tools, I have the fancy stuff (Milwaukee Fuel), but that’s just because I’m in their battery platform and can afford it.
HF is a “know what you’re buying” place. Can’t really beat them for hand tools, their floor jacks are made by one of the expensive brands, and warranty is second to none.
My dad had a tip go bad on a welder he got there, and one of the employees told him that was super common. I don’t remember the exact story, but despite his being two days out of warranty he still walked out with a brand new welder. I believe she pulled the “put the bad tip in a new welder box and I’ll swap them” but memory is hazy.
Needless to say my mom banned dad and I from going there together. I tell my girlfriend that I’m not allowed to go without adult (her) supervision so she can tell me no.