Poll of the Day > To any battery powered tools (i.e. drills, saws, gardening, etc.) owners.....

(+) Yeah! (+)

How important or useful do you find it to stay with the same brand just so you can keep using the same charger and batteries? Would you purposely stay with the same brand even if certain products are not something you would normally choose among that manufacturer?

To give more context. I have some Milwaukee power drills and am now looking at a M18 reciprocating saw and weed/grass trimmer as well. I trust the Milwaukee reciprocating saw will be reliable but am wary of the weed/grass trimmer. I would imagine there are other brands who could offer better weed/grass trimmers but I prefer not having different chargers and batteries. Also, given the cost of batteries, that is about $100 less with other power tools I purchase in the future.

Comments, suggestions, and opinions are appreciated,

Thank you

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I have enough space for all my tools, so multiple batteries and chargers is no big deal to me.

Brand loyalty begins and ends with how good a brand's products are. If I have a drill from one company, but another company has a better impact driver, I'll buy the better impact driver whether the batteries are compatible or not

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I prefer to stick with one brand because I can either buy tools without batteries, or buy them with batteries and now I have more batteries to use in a single tool.

For instance, I bought a Greenworks lawnmower, chainsaw, pole saw, and blower. Now I have 4 batteries that I can use in the lawnmower, which is very power hungry. I also have a bunch of Porter-Cable power tools; the first few I bought with batteries, then later on I started buying just the tools because I had enough batteries for everything I could possibly use at once.

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Far-Queue posted...

I have enough space for all my tools, so multiple batteries and chargers is no big deal to me.

Brand loyalty begins and ends with how good a brand's products are. If I have a drill from one company, but another company has a better impact driver, I'll buy the better impact driver whether the batteries are compatible or not

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I think it depends on the level of work you're doing. People typically don't go out and buy the most expensive high quality version of something intended for contractors when they are just doing work around the house every now and then.

I tend to just get one brand so I don't have to buy a new battery making new purchases relatively cheaper.

Far-Queue posted...

I have enough space for all my tools, so multiple batteries and chargers is no big deal to me.

Brand loyalty begins and ends with how good a brand's products are. If I have a drill from one company, but another company has a better impact driver, I'll buy the better impact driver whether the batteries are compatible or not

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The only battery-powered tools I own are Ryobi, which I have mostly stuck with because the tools seems reliable/effective enough, and it's nice to keep all the same brand so I can stick with interchangeable batteries/chargers.

If there was a tool I specifically needed which was only available (or was radically better) from another brand, I'd be willing to buy it, but that hasn't really cropped up so far. Ryobi has a pretty wide variety of tools, and I've got a bunch of them by this point.
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Thank you for the responses and feedback. Awesome to see the different perspective. I asked the same question to a friend and his preference is to stay with the same batteries for his power tools so he chooses the same brand. Another friend works as a contractor so he chooses brands that are better for the specific tools he has.

BlackScythe0 posted...

I think it depends on the level of work you're doing. People typically don't go out and buy the most expensive high quality version of something intended for contractors when they are just doing work around the house every now and then.

Thank you for mentioning this. I need to remind myself occasionally that some reviews I have read or watched might be from a professional contractor / gardener standpoint who use these tools everyday. The Makita impact driver bits I bought will last me the remainder of my life but might not last a week for a contractor.

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With a string trimmer like that I'm sure Milwaukee's version would be absolutely fine. I have bought hundreds of pieces of lawn care tools for work. In our operation it makes sense to spend a bit more money and to get something with a larger battery so we don't burn through tons of them during a day where we have people running them for 6+ hours straight, your normal homeowner doesn't need that.

If you already have the batteries and chargers it's not a bad idea to stick with them to save yourself that purchase. Batteries can get expensive quick and Milwaukee makes quality products for the most part though I've never demoed any of their lawncare products.

Honestly, when it comes to power tools a drill is about the only one I have.

The best battery tool I own is a weed-eater. After getting a battery powered one, I will never go back to gas/oil. It works right away and is lighter than the gas-powered beast I got rid of.

My drills and weed-eater are both the same brand. I have a saw that is different, but when it comes to my woodworking tools I find cordless tools to be inferior to plug-in-the wall versions every time.

If you have lots of trimming to do, I'd go with something that has a dedicated OPE battery, EGO, Greenworks, Kobalt 40v.
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11110111011 posted...

After getting a battery powered one, I will never go back to gas/oil.

I look forward to replacing my electric corded trimmer with a battery powered trimmer but am forcing myself to use up my previous supply of strings first. I think the newer tools uses a different size.

11110111011 posted...

when it comes to my woodworking tools I find cordless tools to be inferior to plug-in-the wall versions every time.

If I ever get myself a miter saw, I would prefer a plug-in-the-wall version. Only with power "hand" tools where I want the mobility from a battery powered version.

ultra magnus13 posted...

If you have lots of trimming to do, I'd go with something that has a dedicated OPE battery, EGO, Greenworks, Kobalt 40v.

I was looking at some EGO trimmers but I trim the weeds / lawn once a month on average. Starting to think even if gardening tools might not be Milwaukee's strength, might be still good enough for the occasional use.

Of course this still goes back to what I value more. Getting the "best" brand for a specific tool or interchangeable batteries/charger.

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In my experience, brand loyalty is kind of difficult on some tools. I would love to have one battery for my trimmer, leaf blower, drill, and reciprocating saw. However, I bought them at different times, and the batteries change. The first two are both Black & Decker, and they switched batteries between when I bought them. Worse, they discontinued the battery for the trimmer so I am stuck with an old battery that barely lasts 10 minutes between charges unless I want to get a new trimmer (which I did, but I went with a gas 4 cycle this time).

I think if you want the same battery for all your tools, you have to buy them as a package deal all at the same time, which is a huge up-front investment.

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Dikitain posted...

I think if you want the same battery for all your tools, you have to buy them as a package deal all at the same time, which is a huge up-front investment.

Part of me is kicking myself for not choosing a M18 bundle deal during Christmas. At the time I was thinking I have no need for an extra free power tool of my choice so I chose the cheaper M12 bundle which did not include the free power tool.

Fast forward to now. That M18 bundle woulda been the better choice. I failed to realize how versatile a reciprocating saw is until recently. I always have this dilemma with power tools. I do not need them when they are on sale but when I do them, it is outside of a sale.

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