Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Power Tools). This thread is read-only.
Anyone have any experience with cordless rotary hammers and the capabilities of them vs corded. I’ve used large 1 5/8 spline drive from Hitachi that worked good and but they are heavy and difficult to use to when on a ladder in odd place so the new cordless stuff looks interesting, I intend to use them for the occasional core drilling for conduit pathways, so common electrical sizes, 1/2″ up to 4 1/2″, with standard wall thickness for cinder block and concrete. I’m very tempted on the makita deal at toolnut where you get the free tool, was eyeing the 36v 1″ cordless rotary hammer and wondering if that was good enough for what I wanted to do.
Jared
I would Say go with a 36 volt you get a lot more power and run time than 18 volt, If you are lucky and already have Makita 18V I would have to go with the new 18Vx2 Rotary hammer It has the SDS-Plus style chuck and seems like It fits the application you need pretty darn well.
Its only 7.5 lbs without the battery.
My work has 18v XRP DeWalt, and for what you are asking about, I think they’d be overmatched. I mainly drill 1/8″ – 1/4″ holes in concrete or asphalt pavement (for survey markers) and blow through batteries pretty fast. I can’t imagine it would be satisfactory trying to make a 4.5″ hole..
Some ties u just have to stick with the corded. Most of my tools are cordless, except when I need to really makes some holes, then it’s corded all the way.
Solid concrete is rare but when encountered is rather thin 6″ or less, 90% of time when I need to drill over 2″ hole it seems its just standard cinderblock and any powerful drill that can power tungsten carbide hole saws will do the job, small rotary hammers have been able you do this, only needed the extra power when the rare instance of old buildings with tougher cinder block or concrete filled cinder block. So I’m thinking the new 36v cordless models would up to the task and its not like I would be drilling all day, usually less than 4 holes in a work day.
It would be interesting to see if the M18 stuff or the 20v DeWalt tool (does Makita make an 18-20 volt rotary hammer?) would be adequate… Doi hear a tool fight coming up?
BK13 wrote:
It would be interesting to see if the M18 stuff or the 20v DeWalt tool (does Makita make an 18-20 volt rotary hammer?) would be adequate… Doi hear a tool fight coming up?
Makita has one that runs of off 2 18 volt batteries that would destroy.
You also have the new Milwaukee fuel rotary hammers being released. They have two versions one is lighter while the other one has more more power and weight.
Tool fight!!!
In cinderblock I see a 36Volt model being ok. you will burn trough batteries fast tho. In concrete? I think you’d want to stick with the corded solution for that.
As for options there is the 36Volt Makita DHR262 or the 18Volt X2 model if you already have any 18Volt batteries or you want these batteries to fit any future 18Volt tools.
If I were in this position it would be hard not to wait and see how the new Milwaukee plays out
i think the new FUEL models (particularly the larger one) are an excellent choice. being on a ladder you don’t want too much weight, and these deliver HUGE bang for buck/weight.I think they will out-perform many of the 36V units.
Makita 18V x2 (5.1kgs with batteries) = 4800BPM x 3J impact/blow = 14.4 kJ / min energy delivered
Hilti 36V Combihammer (5.5kgs with battery) = 4500BPM x 3.7J = 16.7 kJ/min ($1700 kit!)
Milwaukee FUEL 2715-22 (4.2kgs with battery) – 5000BPM x 4.3J = 21.5 kJ/min
Whether the FUEL wins in reality is another question, but it’s certainly better spec’d. Lighter too.
OZ Tool Talk review of the little brother (1″ FUEL) –
Wow 4,3 joule on a cordless. Amazing 😀
i think we need a tool fight!
Damn that Milwaukee is impressive. Good research Dwain!
No doubt that Milwaukee has some impressive stats, it would be great to see some head to head action with some of the top of the line offerings from various manufacturers!
It’s really hard to ignore the tool nut deal, if your not already married to one particular brand and could use a impact and drill it is definitely the way to go. If you happen to have 4 Makita batteries I think you could drill non stop all day they charge so fast.
I’m assuming that real world there isn’t a giant difference between the Milwaukee and the Makita, if your into Milwaukee already then go that route.
If you do go tool nut deal, go with the xt252m deal.. it’s a little more expensive but the impact is much nicer (lxdt01).. the drill is the same in both kits and is insane!!
the toolnut deal is crazy, get the combo deal with the monster new brushless hammer drill, with new 4.0 ah batteries and a free 36v tool? i just bought a new makita kit that replaced an aging 8 yr old lxt kit, i wanted the brushless kit, do i sell the kit i just got? maybe just to have the most awesome makita tools and be set for a long time.
amazing deal for $379/399 delivered…
wish i could get a deal like that here in Aus…