Ridgid Battery-Powered Tools 👍

I have several Ridgid battery-powered tools in my shop, and love them. They get the job done, and the warranty is excellent. In fact, no one else has a lifetime warranty on the batteries, which is why I originally bought the tools.

My first set was a drill, impact, charger, and two 1.5 amp/hr batteries. Those tools have served me well for many years, and the only problem I've had with the tools themselves was with the drill, which was repaired under warranty. But several of the batteries have needed replacing, which has been done promptly - especially once Home Depot started doing that. A couple of years ago I purchased a 1/2" drive impact, and it has been good for removing most things on my trucks. However, it used the batteries up pretty quickly. Then recently I was gifted a reciprocating saw, which worked pretty well if you were gentle on it. But if you got the blade in a bind the battery's breaker would trip and you were done for a few minutes while it cooled.

However, I discovered that the new, larger tools like the 1/2" impact and reciprocating saw usually sell in sets with 4 amp/hr batteries. So I bought a new set of drill, impact, charger, and two 4 amp/hr batteries and found that the larger batteries make a world of difference on the larger tools. The 1/2" impact is stronger, and the reciprocating saw will cut anything and never trips the battery's breaker. Wow, what a difference!

Bottom line: I highly recommend the Ridgid battery-powered tools. But, the only way you can get the lifetime warranty on the batteries is to buy the batteries as part of a set of tools, and then go online and register them. And, you have to have the receipt, so if you are gifted a tool or a set ask for the purchase receipt.

I have DeWalt tools.
Mostly the older 18V tools, and use the 1820 adapters.

I have 2, 3 and 5Ah batteries.
Having the extra juice really makes a difference.

So,
2) 1/4" impact drivers
1) 1/2" impact gun
1) 1/2" hammer drill
1) 6 1/2" circular saw
1) 5" circular saw
1) 4 1/2" angle grinder
1) led light
1) reciprocating saw
2) chargers
4) 2 Ah batteries
2) 3 Ah batteries
3) 5 Ah batteries

Ridgid tools look like a good deal but I'm too deeply invested in the yellow tools to switch at this point.

I bought this kit about a month ago, my first-ever "real" cordless tools (not the cheap throwaway kind).



https://www.milwaukeetool.com/power-tools/combo-kits/2897-22


I have a friend Tom (chevy freak) whose Milwaukee batteries have lasted him 8 years so far, and that was my main influence in choosing this kit.

That plus it was available locally & quickly, and I could immediately use it (to destroy my house, say  ).

Jim - My brother has DeWalt stuff and really likes it, but he's going to the 20v lithium batteries as he can.  But, his sons have Ridgid like I do, and he says if he'd known about the battery warranty before he bought he probably would have gone with Ridgid instead.

Chris - Milwaukee tools are supposed to be top notch as well.  Are those the lithium batteries?

As for what I have:

Drill R86006: Purchased in Dec of 2007, this one has served me well.  But, since I bought the new one, see below, it'll go to my SiL who has a Ridgid impact like the next one down.  This drill has more power than I can handle on 1 if the bit gets stuck, so I have to be careful and run the clutch down a bit.

Impact R8823: Purchased in Dec of 2007, this thing has driven many, many screws.  And, it can take off many nuts/bolts on trucks, but it just isn't quite enough for some things when running on the 18v batteries that I have.  However, it is a dual-voltage unit and supposedly can take 24v batteries, although I've never had those batteries to try them.  Never had a problem with it, and it has gone to my son, who has a Ridgid drill, like the one above.

Impact R86010B: This is the 1/2" impact, and it was purchased in Dec of 2014.  It has 325 ft/lbs of torque, and it'll get almost anything off on these trucks.  But, it really likes the 4 amp/hr batteries better than the 1.5 amp-hr ones.

Hammer Drill R86116: This drill is smaller than the R86006 it is replacing, but includes hammer and impact modes - with the impact mode supposed to deliver 60 ft-lbs of torque, which is everything the R88823 impact was said to deliver.  But, I haven't had a chance to push it as I just bought it in July of 2017.

Impact R86037: Three-speed impact that will allow you to install screws in plastic items w/o breaking them when on "1".  But, on "3" has 188 ft-lbs of torque, far more than the 60 or so the R8823 it is replacing in my kit was said to have.  So, it should be a very versatile tool in the shop.

Reciprocating Saw R8642: This thing is my go-to saw for anything from a little board to smaller trees.  I have 12" blades for it, and it'll chew up a tree very quickly - if you give it the power it wants from a 4 amp-hr battery.  But, on 1.5 amp-hr batteries it'll kick the circuit breaker in the battery pretty quickly.
It is a serious saw.

Jobmax  R223500: This is a 12v tool with interchangeable heads.  I have two - a right-angle drill and a right-angle impact, both of which will let you get into really tight places.  It has plenty of power for small jobs, and the versatility is very helpful in tight quarters.

Batteries & Chargers: As said, in 18v I have a mix of 1.5 and 4 amp-hr batteries, with the larger ones used mainly on the saw or the 1/2" impact where they make a big difference.  But, they also work well on the smaller tools.  However, the battery sizes also have their own chargers as the smaller batteries won't charge on the larger charger, and vice versa.  Also, I have one 12v battery and charger, and that gets me by handily since I don't need the smaller guy all that often.  But, I leave the battery in the charger so it is ready to go when I do need it.

In closing, note that my son had a drill and my son-in-law had an impact.  So, my purchase of the R9205 kit with the new drill, impact, and larger batteries was serendipitous in that I got new tools and bigger batteries, and both of them got a tool they didn't have.  That was part of the justification of buying the tools.  

My justification was to drill 1.5" holes in floor joists to run electrical cables through, I got tired of using the small, light-duty tools.

These are 5.0AH lithium battery packs, marketed as

M18 REDLITHIUM
            XC5.0

I got it also because it's a good, heavy duty drill that can do this kind of stuff; my alternative is my mom's 9V Black & Decker, which I actually prefer for things like wall plates and switches.

I'm now finding how limited this editor is, I'm wanting to infuse colors in that stuff but I don't see how to easily do it; oh, well.

I know I've run across this before out here, thank you for again explaining - formatting stuff is in the e-mailed responses, I'll have to play with that sometime.

I want to take my truck to Rob my engine builder today and get some information from him, then go see another guy named Clay about rebuilding the front suspension on that thing + maybe some other things (back brakes in particular). Clay is good, he does quality work just like Rob does and so I want him to do this job. But he wants to retire and leave all this stuff forever, I want to hire him before he does this so I don't need to go to some commercial 4x4 shop. Like a lot of guys out here, I am giving myself tooooooo much to do, too many projects....

I got a present from a friend today.  We worked together at Conoco years ago, and I'd recently seen a picture of his shop in Texas with this cool sign from the top of a Conoco pump hanging from his ceiling. I was jealous!  Well, he's moved to another house and doesn't have room for it, so today he showed up with it in the back of his truck.  WOW!