Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Power Tools). This thread is read-only.
I’m in the market for drill/ driver combo. I have it narrowed down to a couple. Either the Makita lxdt06 plus a separate drill, or the Milwaukee fuel combo. I’m aware the specs are a hair lower on the Makita, but a friend has a Milwaukee m18 and is starting to lagg a bit after a couple years. Up until about 3 years ago I’ve always had makita and loved them. Just wondering about durability on both and if the Makita is worth the extra $100. Thanks in advance.
i can vouch for the LXDT06, its a nice impact driver and powerful enough. if you plan to pair it with a compact drill, id avoid Makita, they don’t have a decent one. If you plan to buy a full size / heavy duty drill, then either will suit fine. If price is similar, I’d go Milwaukee.
Other good options are Dewalt and Bosch, who both have excellent brushless offerings for drill and impact…
This video (of mine) compares that Makita impact driver (and drills), to Dewalt and Bosch offerings.
2-3 years your batteries are gonna lag a little regardless of what you buy. I’ve got 4 years on my 3.0 packs. They aren’t what they were when they were new, but I’m pleased with how they’ve held up.
Conductor562 wrote:
2-3 years your batteries are gonna lag a little regardless of what you buy. I’ve got 4 years on my 3.0 packs. They aren’t what they were when they were new, but I’m pleased with how they’ve held up.
Is this on a Milwaukee?
Bali_Flipper wrote:
Is this on a Milwaukee?
Yes Sir
Milwaukee all day long cheaper and they have battery gauges and they have other brushless 18 volt tools but I guess it’s more of what you do for a living
I’m a home improvement guy. Siding, windows, doors, decks, etc, etc. I use my impact A lot. Drill not as much but still need one. Both brands have a ton of other tools to go with it. My main concern about the makita is the plastic piece on the front.
Makita seems to have more battery issues with batteries failing in a short period of time. That is with the older 3.0ah ltx batteries the newer 4.0 and 5.0 packs might have solved the issue. From what people have mentioned Makita decided to have one cell power the battery monitoring circuitry and if you use a tool and not recharge it immediately that cell will discharge too far and cause the battery to go into faulty mode.
Well I found a pretty good deal for the Fuel drill/driver combo. Dont think I could go wrong on the Milwaukee. I hope. Looks like Milwaukee is preferred here so……. Thanks for the help.
You will be happy with your purchase plus you get to join team Red! Did you get the free battery promo?
Haven’t yet bought them. Two days until the job is done. How do I go about getting that.
Who are you planning to buy the kit from? Home Depot on line shows the battery promo like this. http://www.homedepot.com/b/Featured-Products-Fathers-Day-Shop-All-Gifts-Free-Battery/N-5yc1vZc9d9
Good deal. Thanks for that bit of info. Looking forward to getting some new tools. Argh argh
Tool Nut is also matching the deal. http://www.toolnut.com/Free_M18_Battery_Promotion_s/2337.htm You can buy anywhere but Tool Nut has done awesome things for TIA like offering stuff to give away to members.
I’ll never buy another Makita tool. Tbe old 3 speed lxt gave me nothing but problems. The sawzall was also a pos.
I’m late to this discussion and see that you’ve made a choice with Milwaukee. That’s a solid decision. I’ve never tried makita yet but I have a friend who works in his father’s construction biz and swears by makita. I really like the recharge times on makita batteries and wish my power tools had the quick charge. The good thing about Milwaukee is that they always have some sort of free tool or battery deal going on and price cuts. I wouldn’t have as much power tools if it wasn’t for those deals
I love the Milwaukee kit, and it’s a great deal!
I bought the fuel impact driver and have basically just stopped looking for a drill, bought a 1/4″ hex to 3/8″ metal chuck for it and with the driver having a belt clip and the chuck fitting in my pocket I can carry both tools around with my hands completely free as I am on a lot of jobsites where they don’t install the steps until the very end so free hands for ladders is always a plus
BababooeyHTJ wrote:
I’ll never buy another Makita tool. Tbe old 3 speed lxt gave me nothing but problems. The sawzall was also a pos.
I think it must have been a bad product the Makita 3 speed drill It wasn’t on sale for long. I think the only 3 speed drill is the Dewalt DCD 885 Brushed and the DCD995 Brushless. Fein and Festool have 4 speed drills but they are not really out in general circulation in the United States yet.
I have the DCF895 and I love that impact it’s my go 2 tool!!
If your starting out looking at an impact driver is it safe to assume that you are joining a battery system for the first time and if so I will advise you to consider what other tools you will want down the road. I would definitely suggest to go brushless as the extra torque makes a big difference with impact drivers but as far as who’s brushless impact….go with whoever’s product line you like the best. For me it was between dewalt and milwaukee because of availability and i chose milwaukee because of their other products as well the quality of their m18 fuel impact driver. Ofcourse this assumes 18v because if your ok with 12v then I would have to say milwaukee because their 12v line seems to me at least to be by far the best.
corrected.
DR99 wrote:
I think it must have been a bad product the Makita 3 speed drill It wasn’t on sale for long. I think the only 3 speed drill is the Dewalt DCD985 885 Brushed and the DCD995 Brushless. Fein and Festool have 4 speed drills but they are not really out in general circulation in the United States yet.
I’ve also heard bad things about the old 3 speed Makita. However the latest Makita brushless premium drill is fantastic and the most powerful 18v drill by a fair way I think.