Worth getting Makita tools alongside my dewalt ones

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Keitai

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All my tools are 18V Dewalt ones. Is it worth buying Makita or Milwaukee ones. I wanted to get a router/trimmer and the Makita one is much cheaper than the Dewalt one.

https://cpc.farnell.com/makita/drt5...E342X8keigfw5hk3_XBGZ91X2cuVuNJRoC5YAQAvD_BwE

Regarding Milwaukee, the combi drill/impact driver I was told was a better buy than Dewalt.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/milwauke...E0RP65sJo-x8qgsgpxRoClK0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

But is it worth buying a new bunch of batteries and another charger or just stick with Dewalt?
 
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Keitai said:
All my tools are 18V Dewalt ones. Is it worth buying Makita or Milwaukee ones. I wanted to get a router/trimmer and the Makita one is much cheaper than the Dewalt one.

https://cpc.farnell.com/makita/drt5...E342X8keigfw5hk3_XBGZ91X2cuVuNJRoC5YAQAvD_BwE

Regarding Milwaukee, the combi drill/impact driver I was told was a better buy than Dewalt.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/milwauke...E0RP65sJo-x8qgsgpxRoClK0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

But is it worth buying a new bunch of batteries and another charger or just stick with Dewalt?
Click to expand...

Better to stick with dewalt assuming your satisfied with the performance, the batteries and chargers make up the majority of cordless tools cost. So try to buy bare dewalt stuff.
 
I agree. Stick with the battery system you already have if at all possible. That way you reduce the number of batteries you need (and let's face it batteries are not cheap) as well as the number of battery chargers you need to carry around (and after all a van isn't a Tardis). BTW I am a Makita user and I have the trimmer, so no bias on my part
 
what amperage are your batteries and what uses do you envisage for the router ??
the dewalt is a lovely router and because it powerful its 900w anything less than 4ah will flatten in no time
 
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It's sensible to stick with Dewalt for the reasons given above, but bear in mind the new Makita 40 volt range (in practice 36 volts) promises new standards of power and battery life. The new batteries are not interchangeable with the 18 volt platform or charger so even Makita users will be migrating over the next few years.

Blup
 
Will they, though? The fact is that a lot of tools just don't need 36 or 40 or 54 volts and that the battery form of these high power batteries is pretty big, which in turn makes for large and unwieldy tool/battery combinations.

Sorry, but I have little desire or need for a 40 volt impact driver, a 40 volt laminate trimmer is just going to be ridiculously top heavy, whilst a 40 volt angle impact driver is not only going to be poorly balanced, but it may be impossible to get it into some of the tight spots where it is needed because the damned battery is too big!

I can't help feeling that unless Makita can come out with a battery charger which can handle both 18 and 40 volt batteries in a single compact unit they might well have shot themselves in the foot - yet again. This is especially the case when you realise that the previous large battery attempt, a 36 volt super Li-Ion battery, got no further than an SDS drill, a combi and a grinder, whilst dual 18 volt tools are now in the order of 50 or so different models if you include the professional gardening gear.

If Makita and Bosch can both produce higher output 18 volt batteries (9 and 12 Amp respectively) then that might have been a more productive approach for Makita - that or licence the 18/36 volt technology used by Hikoki or the 18/54 volt technology from deWalt, both of which produce s higher voltage/amperage battery pack capable of working on existing tools
 
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I suspect Makita have kept the 18 volt platform for the reasons you mention.

The new 40 volt batteries - and tools - don't seem materially bulkier than the the 18 volts. The additional run time on drills - impact drivers say - is going to appeal, just as 12 and 18 volts did when their respective smaller powered predecessors were superseded.

Technology - witness electric cars - seems to moving apace in terms of more power, and, importantly, run time, for less weight.

The heavier end of the market such as landscaping tools (lawn mowers, strimmers etc) will surely benefit too from say twin 40 volt platforms in due course.

Blup
 
Trouble is, it's a bit self defeating repeatingly increasing voltages to effectively increase the power of battery tools as at some point you lose the key point of battery tools. i.e. you eventually get to the point where they can deliver electric shocks.
 
I guess there comes a point when battery voltage is sufficiently high to deliver a fatal or very serious injury through electric shock, presumable that will be at or above 3 x 36 volts, since 110 volt site tools are, afaik, at a voltage which greatly reduce the chances of fatal injury compared to say 230 volts.

Blup
 
blup said:
I guess there comes a point when battery voltage is sufficiently high to deliver a fatal or very serious injury through electric shock, presumable that will be at or above 3 x 36 volts, since 110 volt site tools are, afaik, at a voltage which greatly reduce the chances of fatal injury compared to say 230 volts.

Blup
Click to expand...

Site tools are at 110v but it's centre tapped +55v -55v.
 
blup said:
The new 40 volt batteries - and tools - don't seem materially bulkier than the the 18 volts. The additional run time on drills - impact drivers say - is going to appeal, just as 12 and 18 volts did when their respective smaller powered predecessors were superseded.
Click to expand...
Exactly how much extra run time will you get or need, on drills or impact drivers? I seriously doubt the need to go above 18 volt 6 Ah for most users of that class of tool unless you can sufficiently increase the energy density of the cells to the point where you can get the equivalent of a 9 Ah or 12 Ah 18 volt battery with the size and weight of a 5 or 6 Ah battery. There is no sign of that happening any time soon, even if graphene batteries arrive. As to changing over to the new battery system there will be a huge resistance from existing trade users with more than a couple of tools because of the lack of a battery compatibility point - something that Hikoki and deWalt seem to have understood and which Makita is seemingly ignoring. In my case I would seriously rethink my tool options if I were put in the situation of the 18 volt range ending, ot certain "desireable" future items becoming available only in 40 volt form. I know I'm not going to be alone i that mode of thought
 
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the 15ah dewalts mean each off the three layers off cells are 5ah batteries or the 12ah gives you a 4ah layer
so you can single layer batteries off 4 or 5ah
the normal size off 2 layers gives you 8 or ten
with the large giving 12 or 15ah
whilst i can't actually find the article about the 15ah batts comming i am now wondering if the battery i saw was a mock up off what they hoped for as it was about 18 months ago??
 
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big-all said:
what amperage are your batteries and what uses do you envisage for the router ??
the dewalt is a lovely router and because it powerful its 900w anything less than 4ah will flatten in no time
Click to expand...
4ah

Was going to use the trimmer/router for hinges and other little bits here and there. Drip line on a sill lol. Maybe just get a corded one. £49. It's just not always possible to plug it in.

U also get a 1/4 inch router with the Dewalt machine too. It seems the Dewalt one even bare is so ridiculously expensive and the Makita better but with battery and charge about the same price

Check out the price of the trimmer-

https://www.powertoolworld.co.uk/de...GM3dPKhlJqbL0eyR8QNzgfA1eeHDi0MRoCcQsQAvD_BwE
 
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Keitai said:
4ah

Was going to use the trimmer/router for hinges and other little bits here and there. Drip line on a sill lol. Maybe just get a corded one. £49. It's just not always possible to plug it in.

U also get a 1/4 inch router with the Dewalt machine too. It seems the Dewalt one even bare is so ridiculously expensive and the Makita better but with battery and charge about the same price
Click to expand...
you would be fine with any battery router trimmer as drip grooves and hinge pokets are low load so perhaps 1 minuet at 400w
a 4ah battery contains 4[ah]x18[v]x60[mins]=4320w for 1 minuet so do perhaps 2 drip grooves and 4 doors as a rough guide
yes the dewalt looks expensive but suspect at 900w ish as a brushless will be about as good as you can get without the need for extra batteries and chargers
 
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