Thread: what drill driver/impact driver combo kit?

Go with the Makita, Ive had mine for 3 years, still powerful as the first time i used it.

thanks Gary.
what about Milwaukee? they look pretty good, only thing is i dont think anyone sells them around here.
also found this DeWalt Cordless Drills Tool Combo 10.8v | eBay same as the bunnings kit but $80 cheaper

Mate I'm a 4th year chippie. My boss bought the milwaukee, it was good when he first bought it, but it seems to have lost it's power. My makita works the same as the first day I opened it. I think Milwaukee have gone to #### with their batteries. Bought a 28v kit with the makita. And the batteries have shat themselves.

I suppose at the end of the day, it all depends of how many of each tool you've got. From experience, it's bloody annoying having to pull out 2 chargers for my tools. So if most of what u have is makita, go with the makita impact.

But if u have mostly Milwaukee, or De-Walt, then that might be annoying pulling out 2 or 3 chargers.

But again, I reckon you just can't beat the makita. Go with that. IMO

G'Day George,
Also consider having a look at the 18 volt Milwaukee, Hitachi & Metabo range too;
good warranties on each.
Cheers, Crowie

PS - Milwaukee did have battery trouble a couple of years back, but I've not experienced them with my 7.

I have a Metabo 18v combo. Certainly not as heavily used as Gary_H but very comfortable, do whatever I've asked, and 3 year warranty

Originally Posted by george96

thanks Gary.
what about Milwaukee? they look pretty good, only thing is i dont think anyone sells them around here.
also found this DeWalt Cordless Drills Tool Combo 10.8v | eBay same as the bunnings kit but $80 cheaper

It's $60 cheaper and if you look carefully that is the starting bid price. This is the horses for courses argument. If you are doing light to semi heavy work the dewalt will be fine. The makita kit is good one and in particular the 18v impact driver is excellent and it will out perform the dewalt 10.8v impact drivereasilly and keep in mind the makita kit comes with 1.5 ah batteries which in your case should be fine. The only unfortunate down side to makita is that they only offer a 12 month warranty but they will go the distance.

Ye i have the 3amp, stay away from the 1.5amp, useless I reckon.

But I agree with horses for courses. Did I mention I love my makita impact though?! lol )

I'm only young but I had a Makita 18 volt passed onto me, it's about 7 or 8 years old and it's still going, changed batteries of course but Makita is top of the line for anything, but depends on the price that your willing to pay.

You mentioned the Dewalt 10.8V combo which is $359. Check the Bunnings website - the Makita 10.8V combo is cheaper at $329. I have this set and my experience is that it will easily meet your needs for DIY drilling and screwing. I am presuming that you mean drilling 20-30 mm deep? If you meant diameter, then I have used the drill with 25mm spade bits which are OK in softwoods.

These are very lightweight and compact tools but I was suprised to see just how much torque and power can be squeezed out of such a small tool. I have used the impact driver to put bugle head screws into treated pine sleepers (which is really far more than the tool is designed for but shows the capacity of the tool).

If you are a chippie/sparkie/plumber - buy 18 volt. If you are DIY, cabinet maker, kitchen installer, occaisional user etc - 10.8v will get you by and, as you said, a decent corded drill will do the rest.

The $ you save on the 10.8V Makita can be put towards a spare battery from Akkupak - (Google their website) so you can have one on the charger whilst using the tools.