This might open a can of worms, I know Seabreeze is full of tradies and the like, if you had $1000, what kit would you get as a starter? You can add "skins" as you go, but what brand do you reckon is the best to get going?
Hey mate,
I went with Hitachi. Got 2 impact drivers, rotary hammer drill, normal drill all in 18v. Needed cheap as I was just starting up.
Proceeded to hammer the crap out of them for 2 years installing garage doors with zero problems!
Dropped, whacked, and occasionally thrown can't rate them highly enough :) pretty good range of tools available as well.
Bought 2 full sets with the impact drivers, both came with a spare battery and a charger, so just got bodies for the drills. That was 4 years ago and all batteries are still kicking (lithium ion ones).
Simon
Makita is the most common and good stuff it is what i use. Milwaukee is really good too and as good if not better than makita. I think they are pretty close in pricing. A plumber mate uses Milwaukee and he seems to come up with new gadgets from the all the time. Either one off those would be my pick.
Dont go makita it just dosent last these days.
Work with guys who are running bosch blue line. From what ive seen them do with them they are a good product.
If you can afford it go millwalke with out a doubt.
^^^^ Haven't heard that about Makita, has always been good. What's the goss.. has it gone downhill?
DeWalt not worth the $$$$ they want for it IMHO. Hitachi or Makita a/a
yep- +1 for makita or hitachi. i've had some issues with makita chucks in the past, but i think they've fixed the issues.
i have a couple of mates who swear by panasonic, but i haven't tried them.
Ozito. 3 year replacement warranty. I had a bench grinder go after 3 yrs, took it back to bunnings no receipt, replaced no probs.
I just bought a twin pack, 1 x 18v impact driver and 1 x 18v drill driver. Cost $150 for the pair, on sale at the moment. They are tiny, light, powerful as hell (compared to my old 14.4v) have a light and spirit level and battery guage LEDs built in. I reckon it's a good deal and if they blow in less than 5 years I'll be back at bunnings asking for a replacement.
/I've already got a crowd following me round red thumbing me, so nothing to lose 
I had a great ryobi14v drill that built 3 boats ,a shed and countless fences, when it died ai bought and 18v one, absolute crap
. never bought anything ryobi again
Freaky - I just picked up my new 6pc 18v Milwalkee 'red kit' this arvo...$1k will get you 3/4 of that on-sale. The kit includes - hammer drill/impact drill/torch (duh?)/reciprocating saw/circular saw/angle-grinder & I got a jigsaw skin as well.
"To get going" basically any decent brand should do. If you don't want to have to change it over in a couple of years, talk to your supplier. The intended use & amount of use should determine the level of quality you're after.
Having a joinery for +20 years I bought many battery drills & tools for the workshop and for my employees to abuse. I've used most brands over the past 23 years (with the exception of GMC & Ozito - just can't bring myself to buy that cheap).
Makita was always the best when I started, but went through a crappy stage, I know that their top line (LTX) as mentioned is very good. I gave my 7.2V battery drill I bought when I was 15 to a work experience kid years ago as he showed some interest but had no money to buy tools (prob traded it for a Fosters long-neck). I still have all my Makita gear I bought during my apprenticeship (early '90s).
DeWalt battery drills were very good for a couple of years. I also have an old Bosch that I gave my wife to use (smaller drill), it smokes every time you use it, but the battery holds a great charge. I had a Panasonic for a very short period of time, but was 'lost' (left on-site) by an employee - kissed $600 goodbye on that, but it was by-far the smoothest drill I've ever used, not sure about current kits though?
I did buy a 14v 'Ryobi' 5pc kit a few years back - gave it to my dad a month later after the reciprocating saw wouldn't cut through a pine stud, although the small circular saw was great for cutting strips into plaster walls when doing renos.
Festo / Festool p!ssed me off as I bought a few of their products and they all failed just months after the warranty period finished. I thought it a bit suss, so called the distributor & was told "3 years is good, don't know what your issue is"...so I went on to explain that my 6yo DeWalt & 10yo Makita gear was still going! I went through 2 / $150 Metabo heat guns in about 2hrs one day so went to M10 & bought a cheapie - lasted 6 months!
I bought a couple of 'Worx' 18v drills for the workshop and they lasted pretty well considering how cheap they were.
About 4 years ago I sold all my old power & battery tools. Shortly after I decided I needed a battery drill so looked at a few options and ended up getting talked into 'Maktec', which I was told was made by Makita...was lied to or Makita fell asleep at the wheel. The battery doesn't last more than 3 weeks in storage after a charge without needing charging again. The drill itself seems ok, but not overly happy and have decided that for the small amount of work I want to do for myself, I want a gutsy/reliable kit - no cords, so went Milwalkee...from experience!
check the amp hours of the batteries of whatever you buy...
18v, 14v, 12v whatever, it's useless if the amp hours are like 1.2 or something...
if you don't wanna be changing batteries after you drive in every second screw its gotta be 3 a/h
plus buy the same gear so you can use the same batteries
plus makita is still the schnit,
Interesting those who mention the replacement.
All my mates "had to" have Snap-On or Sidchrome spanners.
I bought Repco as it still has a lifetime warranty.
To much p!sstaking I might add.
Put a 19mm ringy onto a lower strut bolt on a Corolla, 4ft of bar on it, standing on the bar whilst a mate hammered it. (Yeah it was tight lol) Predictably - Bent the spanner.
Repco replaced it no questions asked.
But we had already cracked the nut so moved onto the next one and bent that spanner so they again replaced it - 2 spanners in 30mins at Repco, no questions asked. Job was finished by then
Now have a NEW 19mm ring O/E that has hardly been used hahaha.
So if Ozito has 3 yr replacement warranty, lasts 2yrs and then you get free new stuff why pay 4x the price for things that only last 2x as long......?
i was told something during my apprenticeship that has always stuck with me: 'only a rich man can afford cheap tools'
ozito ryobi gmc and the like might be fine if you're doing domestic jobs, but on site you lose dollars, reputation and can delay the whole job when tools pack up. and it's always murphy's law that it happens on a job that's hours away from the nearest shop. i'd rather spend the extra for peace of mind.
Makita...... without doubt..
Ozito is ****e... yes they replace it but it constantly breaks
Circular Saw - bearings gone in 2 weeks
Jigsaw and two dremels - motor burnt out second dremel machine withing 10min was smoking.
I have had hitachi for over 4 years and they are still going strong. i have the grinder, power saw, recipro saw jigsaw and all the drills. Nothing has yet ****ed up. My mates how ever have gone threw multiple makita drills as the chucks are siht as! Also when your buying tools its best to ring around all the shops and make them barter for your business. My home hardware store will beat any bunnings price.
Also remember that some bunnings tools may look the same but they are knock offs.
Aus dollar and US dollar are about equal, $550 will get you a full kit here.
I'm a plumbing contractor and have Dewalt tools which are quite common here, I've been looking to upgrade for years now but this set won't die. The batteries croak but new ones are cheap. The tools go on forever and the new lithium batteries fit the old tools so I may just get new lithium batteries eventually.
I guess at the end of the day it does depend on 'Intended use'. If all you are going to do is drive a screw into a wall a few times a year to hang a shelf or little jobs around the house it probably doesn't make sense to have $400+ dollars worth of drill etc sitting around. In that situation maybe the Ozito will suffice but if you are doing serious work, cheap tools are a false economy.
Milwalkee all the way, Im fairly hard on my tools and makitas dont stand up to the punishment the milwalkees do. Most the tradies I work with are buying milwalkee now instead of makita as makita have gone all light and plastic.
I dropped my milwalkee hammer drill off the roof onto the concrete
and nothing broke and still thumping along.
I have an AEG(before they changed their name to milwalkee) battery drill with hammer for 7 years now, gets used on site every day, even drilling 32mm holes through hardwood all day, which is still going strong.
I love the things.
I have had makita and dewalt gear, its good, but if your like me and expect ya tradie battery tools to last at least 5 years of brutal punishment, go milwalkee.
you get what you pay for
i haven't got the model numbers on me at the moment
but you can buy cheap makita, cheap millwalkie and cheap hitachi...
or you can buy the better mikita , the better millwalkie or the better hitachi
how many chargers do you run and how many batteries do you go through a day..?
are you a weekend warrior or throwing up two houses worth of frames a week or sinking plugs into concrete everyday sun up till sun down
don't listen to tools writing off tools by brand, by tools by specifics
those of us that know, make our money that way
I have all Hilti gear and I can't fault it other than the initial price I have only ever put the odd set of brushes in the grinders and bought a couple of new batteries for the drills in 20 years of abuse.
Mate had an Ozito cordless trying to drill a hardwood stud with a spade bit and all of a sudden all the gears and bits that were on the inside were suddenly all over the floor
Been a Tradie for too many years that I care to remember, ( analot othose I caint), but if ya buying tools, BUY THEM ONCE.
The Docs on the money with Makita. But make sure you buy the latest and greatest, yes you'll pay more but, if you go for last seasons stock, you might find batts and chargers are hard to come by if you need em.
And if youv'e got an ABN, it's a tax writeoff, nomadda wot you bought it for
An don't go Millwaulkie, if it's got a yank name, your'e f-cked in six months
Has anyone tried the SP cordless tools?
Some of their other gear feels like good quality vs price.
^^^ Agree re; Hilti, but I have a limit that I'm prepared to pay (again based on need & use), and we don't have any local suppliers.
Btw, as VB MAN said - if you're going to buy online for any brand, make sure it's Aussie compatible. I bought a Disto D8 (laser measurer) last year & nearly bought a US one. After doing some some research, I found out that the warranty would have been void for any Aus distributors if I needed service.
Yeah but it's not the same as the thousand dollar version you get here, it's the same as the three hundred dollar one you get here...
So you'd be better off buying it here and giving someone here a job...
There's already too many people sitting at home, jobless, sooking about being unfairly dismissed and growing beards.
years ago working with my brother, we got stuck on a job and needed the hammer drill which was in one of his other trucks which was well over an hour away.
we ducked into bunnings and bought this $60 ryobi plastic fantastic as a stop gap.
the thing lasted for years and must have drilled thousands upon thousands of masonry holes
it became a running joke amongst his crews, everybody wanted to use the magic drill and everyone had a bet on when it would give up the ghost.
when it finally gave in and let out its last breathe of acrid burning blue smoke, my brother packed everyone up for the day and held a wake at the pub..
synchronicity is a funny thing, as permeating and all in compassing as it is, when he called me, his first words were.. 'guess what...?'
I said..., 'magic drill is dead..'
he said 'ýep'
and we both had a bit of a cry...
I can't believe no ones metioned Panasonic 14.4 volt. Light wieght & powerful I've got all there gear apart from the jig saw. If you want to know what to get go down to repair shop and see what brand is covering his shelves. I bet it's ??????
