Question about cordless

I work concrete restoration and I also do all the maintenance on all of our tools and machines and I’m looking for a good cordless set. I have been using a rigid set but the impact wrench can’t brake a lot of the bolts and the hammer drill really sucks at drilling into concrete it was a present but it’s not cutting it. so I figured I would ask what y’all suggest? I was looking at dewalt, Bosch and Milwaukee I just can’t choose.

Anything with cement drill your going to want an SDS drill. They are just way better at drilling concrete and Masonry. Everyone except Dewalt has a brushless 18/20v sds drill out now. Bosch is well known for their concrete tools. On the impact wrench side nothing beats the High Torque Milwaukee M18 Fuel and Milwaukee has Fuel SDS drills out now too, so they would have your needed covered the best.

BTW welcome to the TIA forum FLconstruction.

agreed. for SDS + wrench Milwaukee > Bosch > Dewalt.

Welcome to TIA. You’ll find a pretty good mix of Milwaukee and Dewalt guys here, with a few Bosch or Makita guys, and even a couple of those snobby Festool types.

I personally prefer Milwaukee. It’s a deeper line and has more momentum at the moment.

On the other hand, Dewalt is also a very capable line and they are bringing some power tool assembly jobs back to the USA. That’s certainly worth supporting.

Bosch is an excellent choice as well and while it isn’t as evident in their cordless lineup, they tend to cater to the concrete/masonry field more so than the others.

Makita has been stagnant for the past few years, but they appear to be pulling their head out of their ass as of late.

In some trades the decision is much more clear, but in concrete it’s a little more even and truth be told, Milwaukee, Bosch, or Dewalt will all serve you well.

I still give a slight edge to Milwaukee though. The M18 Fuel impact wrench is IMO the best all around gun on the market, their SDS drills are as good as anyone’s (with the exception of Hilti), and their line has tremendous upside going forward.

you can’t go wrong with DeWalt or Milwaukee. Bosch, I’m not sure of in their SDS capabilities. I am a huge fan of DeWalt, I haven’t been let down. Their SDS is the best SDS I’ve ever used. They have a 1/2″ drive impact that will snap lugs off cars if you’re not careful. Someone recently posted a photo of a brushless SDS so if it’s not available, it will be soon. The current SDS will blow through some batteries though. I’ve used as many as 12 in a day. Drilling 3/4″ – 1″ holes in fully cured 5,000PSI concrete. If you can research the brushless and can afford to wait, I’d go brushless.

DeWalt also has a fantastic dust collection line called “perform and protect.” If you have a need for dust collection, due to working indoors or just want to save your lungs, go with DeWalt.

Let me put it like this.. some prefer the mother, someone the daughter and some even is more to the sister.. It is all good brands but Dewalt is my brand

Team red all day… Buy u cant go wrong with any of the big 4

I have Bosch SDS drills both at home and work,they have been great and ive seen them take some crazy abuse from people and keep on going.

 But like others have said cant really go wrong with any of the others either.

I’ve been pounding the heck outta my Dewalt DCD985 and it is really doing a great job for me. I’d really like to get my hands on a corded Bosch hammer but…..I’m not a pro. So my Dewalt is just fine. Also the M18 Fuel line from Milwaukee is the bees knees.

DR99 wrote:

Anything with cement drill your going to want an SDS drill. They are just way better at drilling concrete and Masonry. Everyone except Dewalt has a brushless 18/20v sds drill out now. Bosch is well known for their concrete tools. On the impact wrench side nothing beats the High Torque Milwaukee M18 Fuel and Milwaukee has Fuel SDS drills out now too, so they would have your needed covered the best.

Dewalt is getting one there was a picture of it on the forms a while back, It comes out…soon I hope

i would try out Bosch i have used it when i was working with my dad. i would not use anything else if i drilling through concrete Bosch hammer drills have lots of power. 

If your looking for a cordless SDS hammer drill I would go with the Milwaukee M18 fuel.

If its a cordless hammer drill you want go with a brushless one from Milwaukee M18, Makita LXT, or Dewalt 20V they are all really good.

As for the impact go with a brushless one that is from the same platform as whatever else you chose. 

Let me put it this way.  Whenever I see a problem that needs fixing I see RED.

Thank you for the big welcome and all the advice. After looking at everything I’m thinking I might go with Milwaukee I’m just curious what the battery life is like and how fast is the charge

FLconstruction wrote:

Thank you for the big welcome and all the advice. After looking at everything I’m thinking I might go with Milwaukee I’m just curious what the battery life is like and how fast is the charge

Battery life and charging time are pretty universal, there isn’t that much difference between brands but from they guys who shop at the place I work in have never said anything bad about Milwaukee M18 batteries except for the one guy who came in and complained that his batteries were only holding half there original charge after 1 month, after asking him turns out he was draining them fully every charge and using them daily outside in -30 Celsius. When he left my boss looks at me and just says “you cant fix stupid”.

I’ve got Milwaukee batteries that are 5 years old that still perform well. Not as well as they did new, but still very usable.

Yeah I’ve had my batteries for over two years now and they work just as hard as the day I bought them.

If you’re a concrete guy id go Hilti if possible money wise.

Then Milwaukee.