Thread: Dropped My Ryobi Cordless Drill...oops

Thought I had killed mine once when I dropped it, felt real silly when I found the switch that turns it from foreward to reverse had been bumped in between the two settings, and just had to switch it to forward and off it went.

Donna

Originally Posted by stan250

It was cheap, it was heavy and it was about as slimline as a chieftan tank, but I was rather fond of it. It fell from the top of a stepladder and still worked. Then 10 minutes later, I achieved the same trick and she's dead.

Thank goodness you didn't have to drop it a third time to kill it! Bosch make a nice 14v, as does Makita. For most work 14v is plenty unless you're a tradie, and even then . . .

Originally Posted by Honorary Bloke

Thank goodness you didn't have to drop it a third time to kill it! Bosch make a nice 14v, as does Makita. For most work 14v is plenty unless you're a tradie, and even then . . .

I agree. I have a blue bosch 14.4v - I wasn't convinced by it when I first got it, but I haven't killed it yet. However the Makita is also extremely good, and to be honest I'd probably go for the Mak if I was willing to kick in the extra few $$.

Cheerio,
sCORCH

Originally Posted by sCORCH

I agree. I have a blue bosch 14.4v -

And I should have said that I have a 12v and a 14v cordless drill and the 12v gets the most play.

Originally Posted by Honorary Bloke

Thank goodness you didn't have to drop it a third time to kill it! Bosch make a nice 14v, as does Makita. For most work 14v is plenty unless you're a tradie, and even then . . .

Strange thing is that I heard earlier today that the Makita welcome truck is pulling into our town soon- laden with every conceivable Makita goodie that a chap could want. You dont think that I might perhaps have subconsciously wanted, nay, desired that the Ryobi should die this evening to clear the way for the Makita?

Originally Posted by stan250

Strange thing is that I heard earlier today that the Makita welcome truck is pulling into our town soon- laden with every conceivable Makita goodie that a chap could want. You dont think that I might perhaps have subconsciously wanted, nay, desired that the Ryobi should die this evening to clear the way for the Makita?

You would have soon gotten tired going up and down the ladder, retrieving the drill and dropping it again. Hard yakka.

Go the Makita.

ok, I've gone lithium and I've gone Makita, 18v, and I wont be dropping this one at $360

Originally Posted by stan250

ok, I've gone lithium and I've gone Makita, 18v, and I wont be dropping this one at $360

Dammit. Paid $430 for mine.

I don't regret what I have, not at all. Regret what I paid, a little bit.

I paid $520 for a Metabo Impulse 18V 18 months ago and one of the batteries is already dead. Of course, this means that the other will probably also die shortly.

Still, it has survived several ladder drops and more than paid for itself several times over. I'm undecided whether to go for another 18V Metabo or drop my standards a bit and go for a 14V Mak.

Originally Posted by stan250

....
I expect that I will have to downshift to 14v if I am going to be able to afford a Makita or similar.

Any suggestions for a good price/power/weight/bulk ratio cordless drill?
thanks

I would not say it will be a down shift to the Makita. I'd be tipping if you got a Ryobi 18V and a Makita 14V, inserted a bit between the two, turned them both on, then the Makita would win. A chippy I worked with claims over ten years ago, his old Makita 7.2V smoked a brand new GMC 14V within a couple of minutes doing the same.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe it has more to do with the gearings, cheaper ones will be plastic, while the better stronger (more expensive) will be steel. Thus the higher the voltage does not always equate to a stronger drill.

If you can get the 14V Makita, Bosch (blue), Hitachi or Panasonic at a price you like, you will be well ahead of a 18V Ryobi, GMC or any other hobby intended drills.

Cheers, Steve

Originally Posted by stan250

ok, I've gone lithium and I've gone Makita, 18v, and I wont be dropping this one at $360

Now that was brave, Stan. With your habit of dropping drills every ten minutes or so it might have been better to have bought ten el cheapos.

Cheers

Graeme