Better drill for hard use? Milwaukee M18 "2904" or ...?

S

Sid Post

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Oct 14, 1998
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I am specifically looking at this kit:
www.milwaukeetool.com

M18 FUEL™ ½” Hammer Drill Driver | Milwaukee Tool

MILWAUKEE® M18 FUEL™ ½” Hammer Drill Driver is the industry's most powerful and compact cordless hammer drill. Only 6.9" in length for access into tight spaces and reduced fatigue
www.milwaukeetool.com www.milwaukeetool.com

Street price is ~$350 for it. I need a solid drill for mild steel and other hard uses on a farm. I have been told the M18 batteries are the best in the business. I am not impressed with the DeWalt cordless stuff I have generally. It is great for normal homeowner use but, the batteries die early and have short lifespans. The DeWalt tools I have don't work well on my farm. I am looking to start the conversion process to another brand.

While this drill is not required to be cordless, that is preferred for obvious reasons. I need something reliable and durable though so, I question the expense of owning another cordless drill. I have a 3500W generator so, I can power a big plug-in drill if that is better. The problem for me is that the local options are DeWalt and aren't impressive. There is a ~$160 electric drill at Lowes which might be a reasonable choice.

I am not mixing sheetrock mud or grout for tile floors but, 3/8" holes in 1/4" mild steel or anchors into concrete are not that uncommon either. I have a small drill/driver for light tasks so, I am not worried about using my new drill for simple tasks around the house.

What are my better options in the $200~$400 range for a hard heavy-use hammer drill?

TIA,
Sid
 
Last edited:
Sid Post said:
What are my better options in the $200~$400 range for a hard heavy-use hammer drill?
Click to expand...
I think your best option if you are drilling a lot of steel is a corded drill. You can actually buy a good corded drill for a lot less than a cordless so you could buy both and use the corded drill when you can.

If you must do cordless then I think Milwaukee is the most durable for constant use. I've watched a lot of test comparison videos and constant hard use will burn up most brands except for Milwaukee. Short of this I think most brands are fairly good.

I have DeWalt because I have had them for a long time. I recently gave my older 20V drill to my daughter, it was working fine on its original batteries that were approaching 10 years old. I bought their latest greatest which I think is one of the best on the market right now. It may or may not suffer if you use it constantly under high torque. I also have an older Ridgit 18V drill which I've had for over 10 years but I'm running it on a new battery. It is not as good as the DeWalt drills but it is sometimes convenient to have 2 drills for a project.
 
The M18 Fuel drill is awesome. The chainsaw is awesome too. Use the bigest batteries you have.
 
Since all of my Milwaukee 28V batteries wore out over a few years, I have been switching to DeWalt. If you want to put bolt hooks for hinges through a 6-inch gate post, the 60V DeWalt drill is way better than any 18V Milwaukee I have had. It's also better than any corded drill that I have tried.

If you want to drill into concrete or bricks, the DeWalt rotary hammer is way better than the Milwaukee hammer drills. I have never had a Milwaukee rotary hammer, but perhaps they make one.
 
We use both Milwaukee and Makita at work. Both perform admirably.

We should be jailed for some of the conditions we use these things in. They just keep running.

Get the brushless motor.
 
Hilti isn't in the home gamer market at all, but they are pretty tanky, and good support. If I had a choice, I'd pick a corded hammer drill (SDS chuck) for my concrete, and get a battery drill for the steel work, in the hole sizes you are talking, Milwaukee do a good job and their 18v stuff is quite good. That said, at my last factory job we had a Makita 40v set, and that could make some noise. 40v angle grinder was no joke, and the 3/4 impact acted like a mad dog trying to hurt you. 18v hammer drill is good for a few 10mm holes per battery, but if you are doing any real work, it gets old fast waiting for the charger.
 
Ive watched numerous drill test videos, used costantly the Milwaukee will work after the others have started smoking. For the average user I think all of the mainstream brands could work. My drills are yellow and work well enough for me.
I agree though- if you are going to be doing constant drilling and you can get away with a cord I think that would be a better solution.
 
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