Makita tools... WTF

jmccracken1214

jmccracken1214

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So, I've been a long time fan of Makita. My dad used it as I was a kid (he uses dewalt now) Ive been fond of makita and used them for the last 5 years. Only a few of their tools though... I understand some of their stuff cost's a tad more than others... but its worth it to me. They're also not owned by anyone else like most other tool companies..

Im in the market for a cordless jigsaw..... At home depot this morning looking around... I see dewalt, $179..... get to the Rigid tools, $129..... ok, not bad.... Makita....... $238.... WTF (all 3 are brushless, all 3 are tool only)

For the first time... Im debating on letting go of Makita and switching over to Rigid. Lifetime warranty on batteries and lifetime parts/service for the tools. Not bad.
 
longhair said:
Still cheap compared to Festool. My Makita circular saw was purchased in 1982, and still used daily.
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Festool is the shiznit though. My brother has one and I swear it is the best, pretty much all in one, dustless woodworking set I’ve ever used.
 
I recently bought a new Makita 4 1/2 grinder to replace a 25 yr old one that got borrowed. They are now chinese origin. It lasted less than 30 minutes and bit the dust.
 
well, far as grinders go I got 2 of the cheapest ones I could get at harbor freight. I figured they might last a little bit but I killed one the other day it was a bit over a year old. I know I used the crap out of that thing and I wore it slap out
 
Back in the day, Makita was the goods. I bought one of their battery drills over 30 years ago. It was the one with the long 9.6v battery, and afaik was the first battery drill widely available. I still have it...I had Miss Makita sign it for me in 2000 lol.

In the professional tradesman world there are the three popular and most used battery-powered choices. Makita, Milwaukee, DeWalt. I have my hammer drill in my hand 30% of the time and I show it absolutely no mercy. I use it well above and beyond what any sane person should ask of it, including spinning 6" hole saws and inch & a-half 18" long auger bits...wood and concrete.

I remember not long ago borrowing a co-workers Makita hammer drill. I was drilling a 2" hole through two 2x4's. The hole saw bound-up in the hole and stuck. I was able to sit there and hold the drill on...if I would have continued to hold it on, it surely would have gone up in smoke.
My DeWalt drill under the same scenario will absolutely kill you. It has no qualms about pinning your hand against whatever, damn near breaking it, or easily throwing you off a ladder. If it binds, let it the hell go! The DeWalt has a set of stones the other two brands cannot even begin to match.

I like Milwaukee products for the wide array of tools they have. If you want some weird tool that's battery powered, Milwaukee probably makes it. I love my Milwaukee battery port-a-band.
Rigid, Kobalt, Porter Cable, Craftsman etc...that stuff is ok for a homeowner, but if you make your living using battery tools, you'll kill that stuff in a month.
If you want the battery tool with a set of balls like a Brahma bull, DeWalt. I'll warn ya though, the DeWalt pro line does not tolerate limp-wristing. Bring your man-hand.
 
Friday said:
Back in the day, Makita was the goods. I bought one of their battery drills over 30 years ago. It was the one with the long 9.6v battery, and afaik was the first battery drill widely available. I still have it...I had Miss Makita sign it for me in 2000 lol.

In the professional tradesman world there are the three popular and most used battery-powered choices. Makita, Milwaukee, DeWalt. I have my hammer drill in my hand 30% of the time and I show it absolutely no mercy. I use it well above and beyond what any sane person should ask of it, including spinning 6" hole saws and inch & a-half 18" long auger bits...wood and concrete.

I remember not long ago borrowing a co-workers Makita hammer drill. I was drilling a 2" hole through two 2x4's. The hole saw bound-up in the hole and stuck. I was able to sit there and hold the drill on...if I would have continued to hold it on, it surely would have gone up in smoke.
My DeWalt drill under the same scenario will absolutely kill you. It has no qualms about pinning your hand against whatever, damn near breaking it, or easily throwing you off a ladder. If it binds, let it the hell go! The DeWalt has a set of stones the other two brands cannot even begin to match.

I like Milwaukee products for the wide array of tools they have. If you want some weird tool that's battery powered, Milwaukee probably makes it. I love my Milwaukee battery port-a-band.
Rigid, Kobalt, Porter Cable, Craftsman etc...that stuff is ok for a homeowner, but if you make your living using battery tools, you'll kill that stuff in a month.
If you want the battery tool with a set of balls like a Brahma bull, DeWalt. I'll warn ya though, the DeWalt pro line does not tolerate limp-wristing. Bring your man-hand.
Click to expand...
I had a dewalt hammer drill a few years back. I forget the model, XR brushless beast of a drill. 110% overkill for installing office furniture, that I was doing at the time. My boss was jealous, bought the same drill and I saw him trying to undo a large metal bolt.. that thing swung around and busted his face. 13 stitches lol!

It was a 3 speed drill, I had to leave it on 3, and the chuck on 1 or else it would strip screws in the furniture.
 
Rigid is great for the warrany (which includes batteries), but is not as heavy duty as DeWalt. I still have some Makita tools from the 90's to mid 2000's that are GREAT. Hate to hear Makita is going downhill. I got my FIL a cordless Makita maybe 10 years ago.......as far as I know it still works.
 
rigid......I had a cordless hammer drills chuck go bad....called warranty, drop it off at their guy for inspection/ repair...a week later a whole new hammer drill kit, with charger and 2 batteries and case sitting on my porch...…. Rigid all the way....
 
I've had a mix of DeWalt, Porter Cable, Ryobi and a couple of other brands over the years.
Switched to Ridgid last year and slowly phasing out everything else as stuff goes bad and projects demand new tools that I don't have on hand.

Ridgid falls in the category to me of Prosumer, Advanced DIY. I don't know how they would hold up to the demands of everyday usage but they work for me with a good balance of cost effective and function.
 
I’ve had almost all listed. Just like @Friday I bought one of the first battery drills from Makita with the long 9.6. It was a beast and is still around here somewhere since 1991. My Milwaukee corded stuff is from 1991 also and is still running strong from HVAC installs. Those were made entirely in the USA. They cost was at least double back then as to days price of offshore made stuff with an American branding.

I have tried Mikita, Dewalt, and Porter Cable on battery drills. Some of these lasted one day. Some less than a year. I am strictly Ridgid due to the warranty and they work every day. I have about everything you can get in a Ridgid that runs off 20amp lithium batteries.
 
Sounds like I am alone here, but I really like the Milwaukee 12V and 18V stuff. I have quite of bit of both. I use them a lot and no issues. Not professional use though.
 
JimP42 said:
Sounds like I am alone here, but I really like the Milwaukee 12V and 18V stuff. I have quite of bit of both. I use them a lot and no issues. Not professional use though.
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Your not alone. Switched to milwaukee fuel line after having bosch and dewalt and haven’t looked back mainly for impact line of products and battery life, the others do not hold a candle to milwaukee’s latest impacts torque or battery life.
 
L
jmccracken1214 said:
So, I've been a long time fan of Makita. My dad used it as I was a kid (he uses dewalt now) Ive been fond of makita and used them for the last 5 years. Only a few of their tools though... I understand some of their stuff cost's a tad more than others... but its worth it to me. They're also not owned by anyone else like most other tool companies..

Im in the market for a cordless jigsaw..... At home depot this morning looking around... I see dewalt, $179..... get to the Rigid tools, $129..... ok, not bad.... Makita....... $238.... WTF (all 3 are brushless, all 3 are tool only)

For the first time... Im debating on letting go of Makita and switching over to Rigid. Lifetime warranty on batteries and lifetime parts/service for the tools. Not bad.
Click to expand...
You better register the Ridgid stuff within 30 days on line for the warranty. And believe me it takes some time. Every item in a package must be individually typed in. Ex: charger, batteries, tool. It’s not a fast registration either.
 
I have had my 18v Makita drill for about 7 or 8 years now and frickin' love it. I have used the crap out of that thing and it's still going strong. I hate to hear they aren't what they used to be.
 
skiles said:
I have had my 18v Makita drill for about 7 or 8 years now and frickin' love it. I have used the crap out of that thing and it's still going strong. I hate to hear they aren't what they used to be.
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I think everyone gets a bad tool... My makita's have gave me zero issues.

Ive seen a lot of older and newer makitas that are used 8 hours a day outlast dewalt. Which is why I switched over... but damn, some of their tools are expensive.
 
JimP42 said:
Sounds like I am alone here, but I really like the Milwaukee 12V and 18V stuff. I have quite of bit of both. I use them a lot and no issues. Not professional use though.
Click to expand...
Nope I use Milwaukee, I use the big impact gun to take on and off big truck tires.
 
NCMedic said:
Ridgid falls in the category to me of Prosumer, Advanced DIY.
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That's a good way to describe Rigid. It is the best of the less-expensive stuff. My buddy Donnie, that's all he uses and like the others above, his main reason is warranty. He's probably been back to home depot a dozen times getting free batteries after the other ones died. He still kills the hammer drill frequently, but HD will give him a new one.

With the advent of Lithium batteries, and how far they've come, batteries hold up much longer now regardless of brand. I have LiOn batteries that are 6 years old and still good as day one. With the old NiCad batteries, if you got 2 years out of them you did pretty good.

They've all had their problems through design phases though. I pitched 2 DeWalt hammer drills because the chuck failed. When you put it in reverse, the chuck would loosen up and the bit would fall out. Argh. And you just can't screw a new chuck on since it's part of the metal gear drive. They seemed to have finally figured this out and the new ones hold up good.

Corded hand tools...the Makita circular saw is the best imo. I like the 8" model..one pass through a 4x4 without complaint, and the base plate doesn't bend as easily as the others when you set it down.
The drill that strikes fear in the hearts of mortal men is the Milwaukee Hole Hawg. This thing is the B-52 of corded drills. On low speed it has 1100lbs of torque (compared to the DeWalt hammer drill at 450) and will not accept dissent. You will obey under threat of severe bodily harm. It's the main reason I use my DeWalt hammer drill so much because if the DeWalt won't do it, I have to get the hole hawg and now it becomes a cage match. Two go in, one comes out.
 
Friday said:
That's a good way to describe Rigid. It is the best of the less-expensive stuff. My buddy Donnie, that's all he uses and like the others above, his main reason is warranty. He's probably been back to home depot a dozen times getting free batteries after the other ones died. He still kills the hammer drill frequently, but HD will give him a new one.

With the advent of Lithium batteries, and how far they've come, batteries hold up much longer now regardless of brand. I have LiOn batteries that are 6 years old and still good as day one. With the old NiCad batteries, if you got 2 years out of them you did pretty good.

They've all had their problems through design phases though. I pitched 2 DeWalt hammer drills because the chuck failed. When you put it in reverse, the chuck would loosen up and the bit would fall out. Argh. And you just can't screw a new chuck on since it's part of the metal gear drive. They seemed to have finally figured this out and the new ones hold up good.

Corded hand tools...the Makita circular saw is the best imo. I like the 8" model..one pass through a 4x4 without complaint, and the base plate doesn't bend as easily as the others when you set it down.
The drill that strikes fear in the hearts of mortal men is the Milwaukee Hole Hawg. This thing is the B-52 of corded drills. On low speed it has 1100lbs of torque (compared to the DeWalt hammer drill at 450) and will not accept dissent. You will obey under threat of severe bodily harm. It's the main reason I use my DeWalt hammer drill so much because if the DeWalt won't do it, I have to get the hole hawg and now it becomes a cage match. Two go in, one comes out.
Click to expand...

I'll put that hawg up against my Hilti.
(Sounds sexy doesn't it?)
 
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I like the fact that DeWalt made a adapter so I can use the new 20 volt Lithium Ion batteries in my old 18volt ni cad tools
 
vaskeet said:
I like the fact that DeWalt made a adapter so I can use the new 20 volt Lithium Ion batteries in my old 18volt ni cad tools
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It is a nice factory thing but discovered the other day several people selling adapters on ebay now to even cross tool brands and diffrent batteries mfgs.
 
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