# Ridgid Brushless drills...



## Doc Holliday (Mar 12, 2011)

I was swindled into buying a Ridgid drill combo set, mostly cause the Home Depot guy I asked for help said that the combo, consisting of an impact drill and a HAMMER drill, both being brushless motors, was just that, impact and hammer. 

Price was $90 less than Makita combo non brushless motor drills (with impact and hammer) so I bought it. Then I opened package a few hours later and low and behold the second drill is not hammer capable. 

My indecision is whether or not to keep this combo and then buy the Ridgid hammer drill ($100) or return it and buy the Makita kit. 

Is Ridgid worth it? Difference is Makita is not brushless but I've never had a problem with Makita before. And Ridgid has lifetime warranty...

???


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## woodworkbykirk (Sep 25, 2011)

get the makita.. ive never had any problems with makita gear and their service centers are great in my experience..

i have yet to have a relaible ridgid tool and the warrenty is only good is the service center honors it. locally the ridgid service keeps changing hands and all the other service shops wont touch ridgid here. which includes the service centers for bosch, paslode, milwaukee and hitachi


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## steveinNEPA (Jun 13, 2014)

If given the choice between rigid and makita? Get the MAKITA.

Rigid has a lifetime warranty, that they will honor if they feel like it...

(Disclaimer, My only makita now is a jigsaw, but I wouldnt trade it for anything)


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## More Power! (Aug 2, 2011)

The HD guys apparently will nearly always try to talk you into Rigid. Sometimes it's to your advantage, sometimes not so much. _From what I've been reading_: The Rigid brushless drill motors are an example of "not so much."

I've got a Makita 12V drill/driver that has always worked very well, but it's batteries are either dead or on their way out. I'm not sure it make sense to buy new batteries (tho I might, anyway), so I'm looking at a new motor + batteries. To that end: I started my research last night. (I'm here to do more.) So far, from what I've read, it looks like the four best 18v brushless drill motors are Milwaukee, Makita, Hitachi and Bosch. Those last three being roughly equal, tho each unequal in different ways. The Milwaukee far and away beats them all in terms of speed, torque, run time and overall tool quality in _every_ review I've read so far.

It's also the heaviest and most expensive 

I don't want to spend the money at all, but I've got (counting...) sixteen 1/2" by 9" holes to drill through old railroad ties, and (counting...) eight brackets, with at least two screws each, to attach to same. I'd prefer not to be juggling two worn out battery packs all day long. Not-to-mention waiting for them to charge.

Besides: New project, new tool, right? 

Jim


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## steve1966 (Mar 25, 2014)

i had 18v ridgid drill, batteries died after a year. was about to just get a different drill, found a repair shop and dropped off the drill and 2 batts. a week later they gave me 2 new batts, and replaced the motor and switch assembly on drill, no cost to me.(motor had a short that killed the batts). that was 2 years ago and its running strong.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

That many holes that big I'd be using a Heavy Duty 1/2 corded drill not a cordless.
Not some small pistol grip model. 
Just going to over heat and burn out the drill


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## ratherbefishing (Jan 13, 2011)

Gotta agree with Joe. 1/2" x 9" holes? Run an extension cord and use a corded drill. Rent one if that makes more sense.


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## More Power! (Aug 2, 2011)

joecaption said:


> That many holes that big I'd be using a Heavy Duty 1/2 corded drill not a cordless.
> Not some small pistol grip model.
> Just going to over heat and burn out the drill


*shrug* I drilled the same holes, for the same purpose, using the same 1/2" bit I'll be using on the railroad ties, through 2-3 courses of (sometimes fairly wet) peeler core. That was a couple years ago, so I don't recall with certainty, but there had to be somewhere between eight and ten of them. Did it with my Makita 12v. Only problem I had was running out of battery.

Don't all these cordless drills/drivers have overload and overheat protection, anyway?

Decided to give the Hitachi a try. Purchased a hammer drill/driver and impact driver combo at Lowe's. Tested them last night on some "cured" 2x4, edge-ways. The 1/2" bit went through it fast enough that drilling two or three holes in succession resulted in a drill bit nearly hot enough to burn you. (It's not dull. The chips were clean. The holes were not burned.) Driving a 5/16"x3" lag bolt into 1/4" pre-drilled holes was a bit of a challenge for the impact driver until I hogged-out the tops of the holes a bit to provide relief for the shanks. 

I'll let y'all know how it works when I go to do the one job with the set. (I think I'll probably fit my good ol' reliable 7.2v Makita with a 5/16" bit with a depth limiter to quickly drill the lag bolt shank reliefs.)

Jim


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## hotrod351 (Jun 15, 2012)

have to say ive had good luck with all. milwaukee and mikita drill ive had for many many years. in fast i was up in the air about buying two 14.4 bateries for my old milwaukee heavy duty drill or just buying a new drill, which would of come with two batteries and charger. after feeling the newer one i opted for spending the $130.00 for two new batteries. i have two milwaukee heavy duty drills so it wasnt much to think about, after all if one drill breaks i can use the other while waiting for parts, but ive never broken one, and im not easy on tools. same with mikita, i have the really old 12 volt and never had any problems but tired of searching down batteries so it stays in the shelf. i do have a hitachi cut off saw, for 25 years and again not easy on it, still works like new, plus a hitachi compound dual angle sliding miter saw, its sweet.


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