What cheap (including knock off) tool ecosystem?

I know we had one of these a few years ago, but thought it was worth updating.

Currently I've got my most commonly used stuff in DeWalt and the new Ryobi stuff, with some of the better harbor freight line sprinkled in. Everything else is good old corded stuff, but I'm tired of lugging extension cords all over the property. I've been happy with everything I've purchased from all the brands including harbor freight.

My use is automotive stuff at home, and lots of home repair/remodel etc. I've got a thing for old houses and I've got a couple, and they are way more maintenance intensive than any terrible car I've had and SWMBO likes to browse Pinterest.

I'd redoing a big old shed for SWMBO at the back of the property, and I need a sawzall and I figured I'd order a cordless one was thinking Ryobi, but I've seen some really good stuff coming out of the knock off brands lately and I'm a cheap ass. Project farm tested a super cheap impact ratchet vs a Milwaukee and it performed just as well. Tools in action showed a brushless Ryobi impact on a 2ah battery outperform the dewalt also on a 2ah battery. This has me thinking about some of the less expensive ecosystems.

I've liked the Ryobi because of it's massive coverage. I have a little air pump (which will air up a car tire), a pole saw, a nail gun, and a leaf blower all on the same battery. It looks like they could cover both my automotive and home repair needs, but I'm open to other suggestions as long as they have the same coverage

If you already have Ryobi and DeWalt tools, best to just stick with that ecosystem. I'm personally sticking to Milwaukee but that's because I haven't had any power tools previously and I had a good experience with Milwaukee.

But there's no reason to try and switch to a different ecosystem if you already established one. 

In reply to Opti :

I'm in the same boat (need stuff for home and car, but am not a tradesman) and Ryobi's range is what keeps me there. If they had a framing gun I could get rid of my air compressor.

HF brands seem to come and go, which would make me nervous. Haven't really looked at their stuff though.

Cheap wise  , Walmart has the HART brand , decent stuff  and often on sale 

most are sold without battery/charger .

I have drill, sawsall , tire inflator , weed wacker and the impact driver

CrustyRedXpress said:

In reply to Opti :

HF brands seem to come and go, which would make me nervous. Haven't really looked at their stuff though.

This.  That's why I've stuck with DeWalt.  I have a ton of HF hand and corded tools, but I'll be pissed when a battery interface changes and I'm forced to something else or multiple battery setups.  HF does appear to be stepping up their game in mid/pro-ish line tools though.

Ryobi really isn't that bad overall, we've used them for years, but I do admit I'm considering Milwaukee for an upgrade since the ryobis are getting old

I've been building on the Milwaukee m12 and m18 systems.  I use SlickDeals alerts to ding good deals, and have developed a decent sense of what a good price is on the stuff they sell that I need. By being patient, I've saved hundreds of dollars.

My father-in-law was in construction, used his tools all day every day, and is generally hard on tools. His Milwaukee m18 drill driver/impact driver combo kit blew me away in terms of its performance and durability, that's what sold me on Milwaukee.

I'm an especially big fan of their LED lighting products, they kick out a lot of night and the color doesn't have the blue glow of some of the other options.

I'd look at the ecosystems that are out there, and pick one that has everything you need.

Just so y'all know, there are battery adapters to use almost any battery with any tool.

This makes it easy to start changing eco systems.  I was all in on the craftsman c3 stuff over the years.  All the tools work great, but batteries are crazy expensive and aren't that good anymore.

My dewalt 20v to c3 adapter means I have started buying into dewalt and can use those batteries in my craftsman stuff.

I would just pony up for the Milwaukee M12 and M18 stuff.  Its really worth it and in the grand scheme of things isnt that much savings.

 Example:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-M18-FUEL-18-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Brushless-Cordless-Combo-Kit-7-Tool-W-2-5-0-Ah-Batteries-1-Charger-2-Tool-Bags-2997-27/305119810

This kit is everything you would ever need for $1k.  Yeah thats a lot of cheddar BUT

• Its all the Fuel Brushless stuff
• Includes
  • Hammer Drill
  • Impact Driver for construction
  • Sawzall
  • 1/2" drive impact
  • 6 1/2 circlular saw
  • LED Flashlight
  • Angle Grinder
  • 2 batteries and charger

To get that stuff from the hammer store would cost 

• Hammer Drill $65
• Impact $65
• Sawzall $99 (brushless)
• Impact $119
• Circular Saw $99 (brushless)
• Angle Grinder $99 (brushless)
• Flashlight is a couple of bones.

So now you are at $565 give or take, two ecosystems (Bauer and Hercules) and the most used tools they don't offer in brushless, which you really want for power, weight, and battery life.  

Also if you ever get sick if the M18 stuff you can sell it on any day of the week for 75% of new, the Horrible Freight stuff is worth peanuts once you take it out of the store. 

I would ask if $450 is worth struggle and aggravation.  The Milwaukee M18 stuff is pro grade and worth every penny even for the weekend warrior.  

I've got a 100' extension cord reel. It's been my favorite portable tool.

Q: "Teach me cheap cordless tools"

GRM A: "Milwaukee "

Only on GRM!

I bought the Ryobi brushless hackzall-esque one handed recip saw a few months ago, and it's awesome. I always thought the reciprocating saw was my all time least favorite tool, but I don't even hate using the cordless hackzall.

If you already have some Ryobi tools and batteries, then sticking within that ecosystem is a no-brainer. 

I will say there is an actual performance difference between the HP batteries and the standard, even comparing the higher amp-hour standard batteries.

I've used ryobi 18volt tools for atleast 10 years. Have every thing from a weed wacker(got tired of messing with gas ones) to a hand drill and pretty much everything in between. They have never let me down and I use and abuse them.

The last thread on this is not that old and has lots of good info:

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/did-you-pick-the-wrong-cordles/180065/page1/

In reply to 93gsxturbo :

I use the Milwaukee stuff at work. I'm not saying it's bad, it's actually good, but the delta between a good brand like Milwaukee or DeWalt is much smaller, and in some cases non existent, to some of the "lesser" brands now and sometimes the knock offs.

Now that you can get brushless in non professional brands and performance is very similar I see no reason to pay extra for a name. I know plenty of people including my brother and coworkers using cheaper brands professionally and having no problems.

I probably would have agreed in the past, but not nowadays. 

In the past if I ever needed something quick that I wasn't sure I'd use much in the future I'd run to HF and pick it up, and the deal was if I used it enough to wear it out or break it, I'd replace it with something good. I now have a tool box full of harbor freight tools I use quite frequently and have had no problems with.

Harbor freight flipping through brands has been something keeping me away from diving into their ecosystem whole hog.

Ryobis big power bank that keeps 6 batteries ready to go, has been a big reason for me using them. I don't have keep track of a bunch of batteries and chargers, throw six on and when the project starts, grab one and replace it.

In reply to newrider3 :

I watched a video comparing the brushless impact to DeWalt brushless impact and with both on 1.5ah batteries the dewalt beat it real bad, but when they switched to the HP 2.0ah battery and put the 2.0ah battery in the dewalt it beat the dewalt.

Opti said:

In reply to 93gsxturbo :

I use the Milwaukee stuff at work. I'm not saying it's bad, it's actually good, but the delta between a good brand like Milwaukee or DeWalt is much smaller, and in some cases non existent, to some of the "lesser" brands now and sometimes the knock offs.

It varies a lot from tool to tool.  If there is anything precision about it - guard, fence, angle adjustment, in general I have found the HF stuff to be garbage.  I have a HF jigsaw that I basically threw out after the first use.  I don't know why I didn't just take it back immediately.  Complete trash.

If its a simple mechanism with little to no adjustment, they tend to punch well above their price.  I have 3 HF nailers (floor nailer, finish, and brad) that all work well and get a fair amount of usage.  I have never heard much bad about an angle grinder or similar - something that is basically a motor with a handle.

Still, I agree with all the comments regarding ecosystem.  If you have a decent basis in one ecosystem, why switch now for something cheaper?

In reply to ProDarwin :

I don't think Ive dove completely into Ryobi having less than 10 tools, now that I'm looking into moving almost completely to cordless. I figured if I was going to change now would be the time

Sounds like there's no wrong brand here. That's good to know. I have a 7 y/o 18v Rigid impact that does about 120ft-lbs, and I would have invested in the brand more but it was the simple things I wanted that they did not have. So I've been doing nickel and dime stuff instead, which I'm sure I'll regret. I, too, wondered about what path to take. Thanks for the input, all, I'll look into Ryobi the next time we NEED our own tool instead of borrowing. 

My automotive tools are rigid and lidl's Parkside (Samsung batteries) is what the home stuff is. It means 2 more chargers but $100 got be 2 4ah and 4 2ah batteries so I'm never without 2 fully charged. 

I just ridgid had a 3/8" ratchet...

Opti said:

In reply to ProDarwin :

I don't think Ive dove completely into Ryobi having less than 10 tools, now that I'm looking into moving almost completely to cordless. I figured if I was going to change now would be the time

that seems like a pretty solid base.  I have 4 cordless tools lol.

FWIW, the difference between a HF Sawzall and a Ryobi Sawzall is $10.

Guess I'll stay with Ryobi then. I just found a couple places selling factory recondition Ryobi brushless tools at about a 1/3 of New retail.

Seems too good, but to me it's worth gambling 40 bucks and if the reciprocating saw is good, maybe I'll get more from them

All my battery-powered tools are Ryobi, and none of them have really disappointed. Weed whacker, sawzall, stapler, two different models of 1/4" impact, drill, 1/2" impact, two different models of LED lights, tire inflator...and maybe another tool or two that I'm forgetting. The oldest batteries in the fleet just turned 6 years old and they all still work fine.

It's been a hard pull for me to Ryobi just for the sheer inundation of tools and choices, but I'll be dipped if I don't want to also support Makita because they're the only tool manufacturer that isn't some massive congolmerate nowadays.

Speaking of Makita, they are going after Ryobi's attitude of literally "a tool for every job" except with arguably a better color scheme.

GIRTHQUAKE said:

Speaking of Makita, they are going after Ryobi's attitude of literally "a tool for every job" except with arguably a better color scheme.

If that's the case then Milwaukee's attitude must be "6 tools for every job".  I was looking at cordless circular saws earlier today... way too many choices.  Probably 4 or 5 different 6.5" M18 saws alone.