Drill and impact driver set recommendations

[DennisCA]

I am looking for a cordless drill and impact driver set. I'm looking at Makitas mostly though I guess I could be open to other suggestions. But I've read good things about them, such as claims that they use metal gears instead of plastics, makes them noisier but more durable it was said. I will definitely take that tradeoff.

Another issue I've been wondering about is 18v or something smaller? I found a set of 18v makitas that I liked the look and specs for:
http://www.toolstop.co.uk/makita-dlx201 ... x-3-p68054

There's also a 10.8v kit which is smaller and lighter, but I am not sure it'd be strong enough, I got a patio to build soon so I need something that can drive screws through a lot of wood.

http://www.toolstop.co.uk/makita-lct204 ... ies-p13929

The 18v kit also represents my upper limit with regards to the budget.

Edit:
I guess this Hitachi set could be fine set too, and at the right price. Heard good things about Hitachi. Though there are two quite similar packages for identical prices here, differences seems one has an impact driver and the other an impact wrench. I think the impact wrench is a better idea than the impact driver, it seems to be a lot more powerful when looking at specs and I can use socket bits with it, and there are square to hex bit adapters to be had, so it seems more versatile. I do not know if it's a better kit than the Makitas though. I am mostly looking at 18v kits as you can see.

Wrench kit:
http://www.toolstop.co.uk/hitachi-ktl31 ... ies-p69974

Driver kit:
http://www.toolstop.co.uk/hitachi-ktl31 ... ies-p69975

 

[WillRiseley]

Built a deck with a 10v impact before but it does labour the battery's and motor.

I currently have Bosch blue 18v and can't fault it, all running 4.0a battery's they charge quick, last long and have plenty of power.

 

[shed9]

At that price range, consider Panasonic - not an obvious brand to most when it comes to tools but I've not found a bad word against them.

http://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Pana ... ombi%20Kit

 

[RossJarvis]

Personally, I'd go for 18v. 12v hasn't got the guts and maybe 14v may be a good compromise. I've got the last model Makita LXT (top range Lithium Ion), which is brilliant,, the batteries last a long time, can be left ages and still keep their charge and it's never failed me yet. They are very pricey though and some people have had issues more recently. My previous 12v Hitachi was rubbish in general, though everyone else I know loves them.

Don't buy Bosch Professional

 

[Ed Bray]

I have a pretty full range of Ryobi One+ stuff and love it, the batteries are plentiful and the tools are powerful.

I have the following items:

13mm Drill/Driver
10mm Drill/Driver
Impact Driver
Circular Saw
Jigsaw
MultiTool
4.5" Angle Grinder
Rotary Tool
Stapler
18g Brad Nailer
SDS+ Drill
Reciprocating Saw
2x Profile Sanders
Random Orbital Sander

I don't regret buying any of them and some of them are truly fantastic, The Brad Nailer, The 13mm Drill/Driver, The SDS+ Drill, The Circular Saw and the Impact Driver are all great, I haven't used some of the others yet but have no reason to assume they will not also work as well as those that I have. Buying into a system means that you also have spare batteries available when required.

 

[Froggie]

+1 on the Ryobi stuff.

I have quite a lot on the tools and the only thing I don't like is the delta sander as it doesn't have any extraction but the drill and impact driver get used quite a bit every day and they're excellent.

Worth investing in the 4ah batteries if you're using them a lot.

 

[Zeddedhed]

Just a quick bit of advice regarding the Makita 18v gear - there is a known issue with their batteries (the 3.0ah ones) that if they overheat they effectively become defunct. The charger will read them as knackered and not charge them. I've read that this is something to do with first cell in the cluster, and that there are some clever ways of overcoming this issue.
Not being techy or having the time to play around with things like that I now just buy cheap clone batteries from the bay. These seem to be ok.
The 4.0ah batteries don't appear to suffer from this problem.
The Makita kit IS good stuff, and stands up to all sorts of rough abuse on site every day. You'd have to try pretty hard to kill the actual drill.
One thing that is especially useful with impact drivers is that they are excellent for getting screws out if you've mashed the head into a pulp.
HTH.

Pete

 

[MG1977]

There's Bosch pro and Bosch pro. I'm really impressed with the 18v set (impact driver and drill driver) I bought 2 years ago. They get used at least 3or4 days each week as I've been completely rebuilding our house (from masonry up).

But I got them from a Bosch specialist who pointed out the seemingly similar ones in Screwfix and other cheaper outlets are slightly different models with inferior construction and cheaper batteries. Mine has 3.0Ah batteries which deliver all day long and have charge indicators.

I can't remember the model but can post when I'm back on site in morning. But I've owned 14v Makitas and 12v Dewalt and these just blow them away. I even use the drill driver on hammer drill for drilling 150mm holes for masonry anchors.

Don't dismiss Bosch, but be prepared to pay for the good stuff.

 

[DennisCA]

I went for the makitas but opted for a set with the 4.0ah batteries, the drill was also a beefier model than in the 3.0ah kit (DHP458 instead of the 456)

 

[DiscoStu]

Another one here for Ryobi. I started by buying an impact driver and drill / driver this time last year and I've now got a whole load of their stuff. A very similar list to Ed Bray. I've got 4 batteries and their big battery station so all batteries are always charged and ready to go. The impact driver is fantastic. Nothing stops it (so you need to be cautious) but it's a great bit of kit. My Makita kit hasn't come out since I bought Ryobi. Once you've got a couple of batteries adding kit on is pretty cheap. I even bought an impact wrench and an angle grinder back from the US as they were cheap. If you have a Macro card they even sell some of it and are having a 25% off deal this weekend.

 

[Cowboy _Builder]

I bought the Milwaukee 18v Drill driver and impact driver last Christmas they came with a 3 year guarantee, they are the best cordless tools I've ever had ,and I've had most makes over the years .