I have an iffy 18v Ryobi that is on its last legs.

I’m looking at drill and impact driver sets, erring towards Hitachi/Makita/Bosch/DeWalt in 10.8v flavour, thinking they are probably as powerful for most of what I want, and the 18v Ryobi can hang on for a few last holes in masonry…

I’m DIY’er who happily fits Windows, kitchens and about to do a load of woodwork in the garden (so small sleeper/50mm treated timber).

Any good deals on at the moment? Funds, as ever, are tight…

No idea if this is any good to you, but just picked this up for £63. 2x batteries which is nice.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00L3XK06C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

18v all the way .

Got these when they were on offer for £99

http://www.diy.com/departments/bosch-20ah-li-ion-drill-driver-twin-pack-2-batteries/1572372_BQ.prd

I have a 10.8 volt Makita drill driver, and an 18v Makita hammer drill.

The 18v is so much more versatile and can turn its hand to stuff the ickle one can’t touch, such as masonry, concrete and large holesaws.

Also, I didn’t really realise they were any better than the other brands, but watch this clip for a (mainly) glowing review. Particularly the battery pack info, mine must be about 8 years old and the battery packs are like new.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY7XO5H_6HY (this guy doesn’t do corporate sponsorship or accept stuff to review so you can take his word for it)

18v all the way

Voltage is a pretty poor basis comparison. Its not real indication of how usefully powerful a drill driver will be and the range in power between makes and models of drill, all with the same voltage, its really quite broad.

The figures that matter is comparing are
… the amp hours – that gives you an indication of how much work you can do between charges
….the charging time – it can range from 20 minutes to overnight
….and the torq.

The torq is the real measure of the work the drill can do and its a combination of the battery output, the motor and the gearing (and any impact mechanism). Its also the measure least clearly stated by retailers – if they bother to state it at all.

I’d just get an 18v brushless makita lxt. Lightweight, fast charger and bags of torque. The impact driver is nice to have but not essential. They are also pretty noisy for garden use if you are in town.

Jamie – Member

No idea if this is any good to you, but just picked this up for £63. 2x batteries which is nice.

I had the previous version of that, well rather I had 3 because of the warranty replacements- chargers didn’t last, batteries didn’t last, drills were delicate. (OK, the last was my fault for dropping them, but I’ve dropped my Ryobi about a million times and it still works, the bosches shattered like glass- lucky I ended up with 3 drills really)

The new one may well be a different beast but I’ve little faith in green bosch now

However my Ryobi has been replaced due to charger that burst into flames(!), then battery lasted a few months and they wouldn’t replace, now cracked after I dropped it once and second battery lasts about half the time it did 18months ago when bought. Properly sh*te and sh*te customer service from B&Q.

Trade places for me now buying these things…

The figures that matter is comparing are
… the amp hours – that gives you an indication of how much work you can do between charges
….the charging time – it can range from 20 minutes to overnight
….and the torq.

+1

Some of the big DIY stores are really sneaky. They will advertise 2 * 18v batteries … £99

If you look closely, you’ll see the batteries are < 2 MaH where as a proper trade rated Bosch from Axminster will be 4.6 MaH

The upshot is that the higher the MaH the longer the battery lasts between charges.

My motto that I have learnt over the years is “buy cheap, buy twice”

In the tradition of recommending what you have 18V Makita LXT drill/driver. Does the vast majority of my DIY drilling and driving duties, backed up with a mains SDS when…..powaaarrrr!

Have used 10.8V and 18V impact drivers, the 18V is a beast and more suited to ‘construction’, big screws into big timbers, and would be overkill for most DIY jobs, but possibly ideal for your garden sleeper projects. The 10.8V one seemed more suited to a range of lighter/normal DIY duties.

Ive been very impressed with the 10.8v Marita stuff. I got it for its small size and it works well but the 18v lxt brushless drive Ive also got is a whole different level

If ones quieter than the other please get that, my diy neighbour is noisy **** even his kids hate him.

For the difference in price the 18V would seem to be worth it.

90% of the time I don’t need it but when I do it’s well worth the difference.

I’ve drilled oak sleepers and masonry (to be fair a cheap mains RDS works on masonry) – and alloy cranks … and the impact driver will power 250mm bolts into oak…. the drill will drill 1″ holes in oak for oak dowels…

The drill is also used for mixing cement/concrete …

If you look closely, you’ll see the batteries are < 2 MaH where as a proper trade rated Bosch from Axminster will be 4.6 MaH

Bigger battery isn’t always best.

I have a couple of 1.5ah batteries with my Bosch blue. 20 minutes tocharge and the tools are significantly lighter in use than my old 4.6 bosch.

Not an expert, I went for makita 18v 5ma based on reviews. Very pleased.

What I have found is the impact driver regularly mashes screwheads and bits (could be my technique?) So most of the time I now drill a pilot and use my trusty Bosch iox screwdriver and finish off with the impact if needed.

Most heads get mashed due to folk using wrong size/wrong material tip in the driver.

There are many sizes and brands of *cross head* few are compatible and impact driver bits are made with different material.

Lots of long construction screws coming with hex or torx heads now.

I can’t claim to have experience of the 18v stuff but I have a Bosch blue drill and impact driver set. I’ve happily and effortlessly built a few sheds with them. The most impressive use was driving in 10x150mm coach bolts into some beams. Eight of them, no less. Took two batteries worth of grunt and the thing got quite hot.

Very nice size and weight for general use IME.

There are many sizes and brands of *cross head* few are compatible and impact driver bits are made with different material.

This is true.

*Most* of them are probably pozidriv, not philips though. Bit should say “PZ2” for pozidriv

I’d have bought any of the four brands the OP mentioned.

I have a 3 year old Makita 10.8 drill & impact driver. The drill is just a bit too small for general masonry jobs (anything over 6mm is a bit of a stretch), but does everything woodwork no problem. The impact driver is mental. Battery quality is excellent (as in, they’re still going and capacity hasn’t appeared to have deteriorated significantly) and the charger is quite quick (30 mins ish).

BUT.

I’d get the 18V size drill next time around. 10.8 are only 1.3Ah so you end up charging quite a lot on a bigger job.

Cheap batteries will be naff, don’t bother.

<<toolwhore>> I’ve got both 18V & 10.8V rattlers in Bosch blue flavour, plus an 18V combi drill and 10.8 driver.

The 18V rattler wins hand down 90% of the time. It’s actually a fractionally smaller head than the 10.8, so fits in tighter spaces, and once your over maybe a 30mm screw it’s WAY faster.

The advantage of the little ones is a) if you have to cart them to site on a bike, then they’re much lighter, but also for delicate work. I spent a long time having to use 20x3mm screws with #1 pozi heads. the little rattler was spot on.

I bought the 10.8V kit first. Having got the 18V kit about 3 years later, now I barely use the little stuff.

I’ve been very impressed with my 10.8v makita impact/drill kit. Combined with an SDS drill for bigger jobs it meets all my (DIY) needs (similar to yours). By comparison, its much better at everything than my old Bosch 24v drill driver, with the exception of percussion drilling (which it can’t do, but my SDS now solves for, also much better).

At my workplace, well, on the production line, they’re torquing axle and counterweights on 50t vehicles with 18v ID’s.

Don’t know the brand, but holy moly that’s some screwing.

I got this from Screwfix. Seems ok for £50.

As a joiner I’ve had quite a few drills over the years and my conclusion is get an 18v one with two small batteries (2 AH) as it makes the drills much less cumbersome. I have a Metabo one that was £115 and it’s fine (cheap charger so takes a while to charge). Used professionally you won’t get more than 3-4 years out of a drill so don’t spend too much money on a top of the range one (I’ve had AEG, ELU, Bosch and 4 Makita’s; the Makitas were the most reliable).

I bought one of THESE a few weeks ago. Its a decent bit of kit. Probably OTT for what I need but I wanted something that would last. Arrived in a few days, its not brand new as in sealed in cellophane but if it has been used you’d never tell. Warranty etc. The case is pretty big mind.