DansYellow66

Back in the 90s I had a rechargeable battery powered ratchet that didn't have much power or battery life but was kind of handy for spinning out a bunch of longer bolts when I got tired of twisting a ratchet for a couple of minutes. Of course it didn't last long. I have air ratchets but sort of hate getting them out, airing up the compressor and dragging an air hose around to trip over. So I started looking to see if there was a modern version of the battery powered ratchet. They are available but generally 12V and by the time you get a battery or two and charger they are getting up close to $200.

Starting looking at impact drivers and found this 18V Hitachi unit at Lowes for $100 with 2 batteries and charger. I could have gone for a DeWalt but would have been back in the $200 to $300 range by the time it got to the 18V range. I had a gift card for Lowes from Christmas so the green Hitachi seemed worth a shot.



Not as handy in tight places as an electric ratchet but for the money I'm pretty impressed with it. It's got enough power to do a fair amount of disassembly on small to med fasteners up to 1280 in-lbs. It saves a bunch of wrenching on taking a Torqueflite apart that I'm rebuilding. I saw a Black and Decker at Walmart later that looked comparable (not sure if it has two batteries) for a few bucks less.

Frankie the Fink

I got a DeWalt and its freakin amazing... Great on wheel lug nuts...

R66

Wore out a couple of 18v Black and Deckers drill/drives building a house. Really a pretty good buy for the abuse we put them through.
The 18v Dewalt didn't hold up to the B&D.
Bought a Milwaukee setup and is the best I have owned. Best power and battery life. You can put a 90 degree adapter on them and an extension to replace the air rachets that I have worn out.
I vote Milwaukee.

DansYellow66

$$$ - watch out if you see your neighbor eyeing it. Not sure the little Hitachi is up to a wheel lug nut - may have to try it.

leif.anderson93

Bought the Milwaukee for my son for Christmas on the recommendation of the individual at Home Depot. They carry DeWalt, B&D and others and he said the Milwaukee, by far, was the best product...time will tell

John BX NY

I bought this 18v driver from harbor freight. Say what you will about their stuff some of which is junk i know but this one has been bullet proof for me. Just finished a big DIY project and it never let me down.

It was $48 with the 20% off coupon. Most of these cordless drills and drivers are throw aways once the batteries go bad anyway due to the exorbitant cost of replacement batteries.

http://www.harborfreight.com/18-volt...ver-62421.html

ILBMF

Milwaukee is a damn good quality product. I personally own 4 Milwaukee tools and they hang in there for quite a long time and I'm a full time mechanic. My 1/2'' drive drill is about 20 years old and runs like it did when new. Haven't had to throw away anything from Milwaukee yet.

Harbor freight...not for a professional. One of our techs has a big harbor freight drill and on the 1st week he bought it I borrowed it to drill a large 7/8'' hole through steel and we could smell it heating up emitting a burning odor.

I will say that I have 5 different Rigid power tools from Home depot and I have no complaints with them either. They are also priced fairly well.