Hey folks I’m new in the trade and can’t decide on which brand power tool I should go with.
What brand do some of you have in your power tool arsenal?
Im at a toss of between Dewalt(seems cheaper in my area “Canada”) or Milwaukee(seems to be on the higher end) for your typical 1/2” and 3/8” impact wrench/driver. I want to get one brand for my career and stick with that brand. Might even consider Snap-On but that’s like $1100CDN for a impact wrench combo.
If you are, or are going to be, in the trade, i would seriously consider air powered tools rather than electric. Almost every shop has an ample supply of compressed air for this purpose. Ive been very satisfied with my Ingersoll Rand air tools.
Right away I’d say to get your power tools from Harbor Freight. Many of the automotive guys I knew quit the trade two or three times to work for a profit. You don’t want to be stuck with $30,000 worth of unused tools, or more. Recommended music: Cool Change by Little River Band.
If you want tools replaced when they break, you might have to “buy them from the truck.” It should come when called, sort of. Recommended music is by Gwen Stefani. “I Ain’t no Holla Black & Decka Girl.”
7im just a homeowner so have a little of both. Mostly I think I’ve seen the guys using commercial grade battery powered Milwaukee
But if battery be ready for the batteries to change and the tools becoming obsolete. Also years ago I wanted a good quality metal chop saw so I got Milwaukee. When I got it home it said made in China. Might not be any quality stuff for the long run. Most of the brands are owned by one conglomerate and just different colors.
Buying used tools might be a consideration. Find a mechanic leaving the business and see if you can buy some tools. I wouldn’t buy used tools off the internet. Maybe some of the pro mechanics here can give you some idea of what to buy now, what to wait on, and which quality levels to buy.
I am a professional HVAC technician, and the overwhelming majority of my power tools (for work) are DeWalt. For home use, I have some DeWalt, and the rest are a mixture of lower-cost brands. DeWalt tools offer a reasonable cost (compared to tool truck brands) and they hold up to professional use very well. Milwaukee tools are grossly overpriced for what you get…hence why I don’t own any.
And to all those people recommending Harbor Freight Tools, please remember that HFT has different grades of tools at different price points. The cheapest grade of tools which they sell are barely adequate for occasional home use. Their highest-grade tools are suitable for frequent use, even in a professional environment. For example, many of their Pittsburgh Automotive tools will barely last for a few uses by a DIYer, but the Maddox version is much higher quality, and will last for a lifetime of home use, or many years of professional use.
If buying pneumatic tools, Ingersoll Rand or Snap-On
Ebay occasionally has some nice deals on factory refurbished pneumatic Snap-On tools at attractive prices
I’ve seen way to many Snap-On/Mac etc 1/2" electric (= battery) impact guns have trigger problems…
IF you are going to make your money using your tools then buy the good stuff (off tool trucks), your knuckles will thank you later… For your extras/spares then go cheaper… I have killed many Snap-On branded pneumatic tools, so I went with cheaper ones except for my 1/2" impact gun and it is a Mac (rebranded Ingersoll), but killed lots of air ratchets, so just went cheaper and bought spares… lol
But I have well over 50K in Snap-On hand tools with some Mac mixed in and then a small amount of whatever for spares and stuff…
I am old school, so late to the game in the electric tools department, but I have bought Craftsman electric (battery) tools and they seem to be holding up pretty good, and my mechanic friends are impressed with them also… Don’t know how they will hold up in a shop long term though…
And remember, your tools make you money, worth the investment, your tool box only holds those tools…
I have a pneumatic husky impact right now. It’s starting to become a hassle to get the air hose out and fight with the hose getting caught on stuff when I go on the other side of the vehicle etc.
That’s my thought to is going DeWalt. Made in America and cheaper compared to Milwaukee when you get similar quality . Except I do have a Milwaukee store in my city here in Alberta so that would be helpful but like I was sharing in another reply I’m planning on moving to the states in the near future. Though I do want one brand to save have different chargers and batteries etc.
I have an air impact wrench right now just a hassle with how my bay I’m in is setup. Looking for a 3/8” or even an 1/4” hex driver and buy the adapters to use with a socket and get new 1/2” impact wrench. There’s a combo at my local tool store here for $1,018 Canadian get a high output impact and mid output impact with two batteries and a charger just wish it wasn’t so damn expensive. I’m making just alittle more than minimum wage right now, until my apprenticeship book comes in.
Yes the box is only for storing the tools ahaha I have a nice bottom and top husky box does the trick. Im still a “lube tech” until I get my apprentice going(which will be fairly soon) just gotta wait for the blue book in the mail(I’m Canadian eh). I was talking to some of the techs at the dealer I’m at and one of them said Snap On you know what you’re getting and he’ll replace no questions if anything breaks. I am considering moving to the states in the future sooo that might not be worth going tool truck as I might not be in Canada in the future.
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Going against the grain here again, but for a pro, get Matco. They have a compact 1/2" drive impact wrench that develops 1600 ft lbs of loosening torque. It’s compact size fits in where other battery powered and air powered impacts wont begin to fit. Not cheap.
If you need to save money, I’d put the Ryobi 18V 1/2" impact up against the Dewalt 20V any day of the week, and save a little money. BTW, when it comes to lithium ion batteries, 18V = 20V, they use the same cells. Li cells are 4.3V each no load.
BTW: if you are going to school, you might get a hefty edu discount, you have to ask. Also where you need backup tools, like you will need two sets of wrenches, one for the nut and one for the bolt, the second set can be Harbor Freight, but the primary set should be a quality brand.
Snap-On bought in Canada will be honored by US dealers, so no worries there. I believe same for Matco if you have Matco in Canada.
I’ve bought nail guns and such from pawn shops but usually required overhauling with an o ring kit to make them usable. My dewalt polisher has been fine though that I got at a pawn shop.
I do not believe that pneumatic impact wrenches are any better than battery-powered alternatives. Perhaps 10-15 years ago this was true, but nowadays, even consumer-grade battery-powered impact wrenches, such as Hart or Ryobi offer plenty of power and decent battery life, and better brands such as DeWalt offer excellent power and battery life…even in the 12-volt versions.
I own the Hart 3/8" impact wrench (20V), Hart 1/2" impact wrench (20V), and the DeWalt 3/8" brushless impact wrench (12V). Even the DeWalt 12V impact wrench is powerful enough to loosen wheel nuts, crankshaft pulley bolts, cylinder head bolts, etc. The days of needing air tools are over. The battery-powered alternatives are so much better, and easier to handle.
I already completed a two year diploma in an automotive service technology program. Unforuntaly I can not get the discount anymore and it was from Mac Tools aswell. I just need to write the Trade Qualifcation exams and get my hours in for the next 4-6 years.
Im kinda wanting to save money but at the same time I’ll need to invest into more tools eventually so might aswell get a good quality brand now and then “upgrade” later down the road but for now whatever i pick up should last me 10 years give or take.
I’m a diy’er, so my tools are shared between home repairs and minor construction, plumbing, electrical, and auto maintenance/repairs, of those tools, I’d rate in this order of quality (in the sense they do what they are supposed to do, and without causing much grief, and when they do occasionally cause me grief, they are usually pretty easy to fix.
Okay interesting one of the older techs here at the dealership I’m at has a handful of makita battery powered tools. I think hes strictly budget/barigin shopper when it comes to his tools as he has a variety of different brands.
Im leaning towards Dewalt to be fair and then might step up to mac tools in the future as they are pretty much the same. Their website advitises combo kits with mac tools and dewalt batteries.
I’ll browse some of the makita brand and see what their combo kits provide and how much. Theres a dewalt 1/4" Hex impact driver thats battery, tool, charger, and bag for $149.99 Canadian which is good compared to Miluwakee.
Magazines like Fine Homebuilding, Popular Mechanics often run articles where they shop-test 5 or 6 different brands of similar tools, then they’ll point out the merits and demerits of each. If you don’t want to search out these articles, in summary, generally the higher the tool’s price, the better the overall result. I doubt you’d find there was much difference comparing similar-priced well-known pro-tool name brands like Milwaukee, DeWalt , Makita’s, etc.
Over the holiday I was working with two new-to-me HF tools, both similar to Dremmel tools, high speed rotation. One was very inexpensive, like $10 I think. The other was closer to $40. The more expensive one did the job better and faster and in one case was the only one capable of doing the job. But the $10 version was perfectly useable for most of the tasks, as long as I was patient.