# Makita v. Milwaukee Compact Drills and Impact Drivers



## bigbuckeye (Feb 19, 2011)

Dear Members,

As a newbie shop teacher, I am in the midst of replacing our cordless power drills. We had Craftsmen... and several years ago switched over to Ryobi. Neither one of the products held up well (especially with 13 and 14 year olds) using these products on a daily basis.

I am now looking at either Milwaukee or Makita Cordless power drills. Both have their merits. However, I am curious whether any members have additional insights to these products... and favor one over the other.

I found one review about this product which specifically compared the two makers... And additional insight would be helpful.
Milwaukee 2691-22 18-Volt Compact Drill and Impact Driver Combo Kit


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## administr8tor (Mar 6, 2010)

bigbuckeye said:


> Dear Members,
> 
> As a newbie shop teacher, I am in the midst of replacing our cordless power drills. We had Craftsmen... and several years ago switched over to Ryobi. Neither one of the products held up well (especially with 13 and 14 year olds) using these products on a daily basis.
> 
> ...



What's not holding up the battery or the tool?

Makita battery's are far superior, milwaukee tools have more power


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## tates1882 (Sep 3, 2010)

bigbuckeye said:


> Dear Members,
> 
> As a newbie shop teacher, I am in the midst of replacing our cordless power drills. We had Craftsmen... and several years ago switched over to Ryobi. Neither one of the products held up well (especially with 13 and 14 year olds) using these products on a daily basis.
> 
> ...


I have this one http://www.makita.com/en-us/Modules/Tools/ToolDetails.aspx?ID=26661

And this one http://www.milwaukeetool.com/tools/...less-1-2-inch-hammer-drill-driver-kit/2602-22

The Makita: terrible in the cold is the only complaint. Great power/weight and super fast recharge time with built in battery cooling tech. Purchase the higher end models though as the cheaper ones have plastic gears in the tranny. Tons of different tools in their volt line up. 3 year warranty on the tools, 1 year on the batteries.

The Milwaukee: Slow recharge time no battery cooling tech. Good power, great in the cold. Some members have had trouble with the 18 volt batteries but the XC models seam to not have any issues. % year warranty on the tools and 3 on the batteries. 

Overall I like the Makita, both tools have plenty of power for their rated capacities but I have abused the makita and never had the slightest doubt it could take it. Where you have students using them the battery cooling is a great feature. Young teens can't remember what they did 5 mins ago let alone to never put a hot battery on the charger.


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## Frasbee (Apr 7, 2008)

They're kids, this is all they need:


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

bigbuckeye said:


> Dear Members,
> 
> As a newbie shop teacher, I am in the midst of replacing our cordless power drills. We had Craftsmen... and several years ago switched over to Ryobi. Neither one of the products held up well (especially with 13 and 14 year olds) using these products on a daily basis.
> 
> ...


 

That's a good impact, but that drill is light duty. When it hangs up, it sounds like the gears are plastic. I hardly use mine.


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## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

Milwaukee? What, Are you guys a bunch of plumbers? Their battery tools are poop.


~Matt


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## crash_777 (Aug 2, 2008)

i have been using the milwaukee compact drill fora 6 months now and i havent had any real problems with it other than the rmp is a little low for driving of teck screws. Ill use it for holes in wood up to an inch or so with an auger bit, also havent had trouble with the unibit either.

since you are going to be using them for shop class, it might be worth noting that theres a bit of a neutral spot between high and low speed which can catch and grind the gears up a bit. 

but all in all, its a greaty tool for the price


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## administr8tor (Mar 6, 2010)

The op is listed as a painter over at ct, and now he's a middle school shop teacher here

Possible troll:whistling2:


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## randas (Dec 14, 2008)

Don't waste your time with that milwaukee combo. Get the M18 hammerdrill with the full size batteries and the impact.


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## Marcus (Mar 30, 2010)

Bosch 10.8V (12V in the USA) compact tools are great.


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## wordnz (Oct 23, 2010)

I prefer Milwaukee drills over Makita because they have overload protection and the Makita chucks tend to self loosen (cue massive hole-saw falling out of drill on to brand new finished wooden floor). 

Also the gearboxes tend strip out on Makita drills. Their 3 speed drill was terrible for this (3rd would strip very easily), the new 2 speed one still has problems.

Haven't really used Milwaukee impact drivers a lot. The Makita impact drivers are great, the Milwaukee seems very similar.


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## Marcus (Mar 30, 2010)

Do Makitas still have dramas with their trigger mechanisms? EVERY Makita drill I have owned at some stage has had a trigger replacement. The older ones (red Ni-Cd batteries) used to lose reverse quite often and sometimes the trigger would just cut out all together.


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## pugz134 (Nov 8, 2010)

I personally like the DeWalt 18 nano. I had the Milwaukee. It was ok. Would not hold a charge if the batteries got cold. Drill was always dead when I got it out of the truck in the morning. The power is better in the DeWalt, too.


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## randas (Dec 14, 2008)

pugz134 said:


> I personally like the DeWalt 18 nano. I had the Milwaukee. It was ok. Would not hold a charge if the batteries got cold. Drill was always dead when I got it out of the truck in the morning. The power is better in the DeWalt, too.


Not sure what your talking about.. Even when its -30 my drill works fine once it warms up abitt


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## Shockdoc (Mar 4, 2010)

Panasonic makes a powerful18 volt cordless. Borrowed one from a GC, great tool. Now if only i can find a distributor.


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## Shockdoc (Mar 4, 2010)

Marcus said:


> Do Makitas still have dramas with their trigger mechanisms? EVERY Makita drill I have owned at some stage has had a trigger replacement. The older ones (red Ni-Cd batteries) used to lose reverse quite often and sometimes the trigger would just cut out all together.


Mine stays on after i'm done with it, spins at low speed. absolute junk.


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## Cletis (Aug 20, 2010)

*Junk*

All those are junk in my opinion. Had problems with all of them in some way or another. Milwaukee especially. 

I only use this now

http://www.metabo.us/

Hopefully, if your not a troll, you teach in private catholic school and they got the bucks.


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## bigbuckeye (Feb 19, 2011)

*Definitely not a troll...*

and I am proud to say that I am a public school teacher. It is the best way for a middle class or poor person to make it in America...


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## Shockdoc (Mar 4, 2010)

bigbuckeye said:


> and I am proud to say that I am a public school teacher. It is the best way for a middle class or poor person to make it in America...


The government band wagon is the new white collar class of the 21 century.


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## jefft110 (Jul 7, 2010)

I just recently switched from Dewalt 18v to Milwaukee. As of now, I'm glad I did.


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## freeagnt54 (Aug 6, 2008)

I prefer the dewalt 18v nano power tools.


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## bigbuckeye (Feb 19, 2011)

*Btw...*

A shop teacher by trade... and since the trades are more and more of a dying art... I earn a bit of extra money doing trades on the side as well... why not?:thumbsup:


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## Hatelec (Feb 8, 2011)

Makita by far has been best choice I made a year ago


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## s.kelly (Mar 20, 2009)

I have some Makitas seveal years old (red battery 12v) taken everything I could throw at them, esp the impact.

Not sure now,the ones I have were made in Japan, not China.


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