Ideas on a battery operated reciprocating saw.

Inglis

Inglis

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Hey!

Looking for a battery operated saw.

Ideads, good, bad, what to stay away from.

Thinking about buying one, used is fine.

Please share your thoughts!

Naked saw photos always welcome.
 
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I have the hitachi / metabo. Love their stuff Couldn't give me a dewalt not as much hate. But dislike any of the kobalt power stuff
 
I have a brushed 18 volt from Milwaukee and really like it, used it this week for brush work. It gets used around the house for demolition, yardwork, some metal cutting, all kinds of stuff. I had been using the 1.5 amp batteries and heavy use would cause it to overheat. Using 5 amp batteries solved that issue.
 
Most of our guys use either Dewalt or Hilti products. These are used and and abused daily and seem to be the only things that hold up.
 
I won’t offer a brand name to look at up front, but I will offer some advice first!

Each manufacturer uses a proprietary battery... think long term here. What other tools will you need/want in the future? Pick the brand that has a good rep, diverse tool selection and reasonably priced batteries! (Many are $$)

Personally - I went with Ryobi. I can buy tools from HD (or maybe it’s Lowe’s), but can also grab factory refurbished tools along with new batteries from Tools Direct (outlet store in Smithfield). So far, I have multiple batteries, drill, impact driver and a sawzall from them with no complaints!
 
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I just bought a Porter Cable because my drill is the same brand. Got 2 5ah batteries on eBay also.
 
Jeffncs said:
Each manufacturer uses a proprietary battery... think long term here.
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Stellar recommendations!

Battery-powered tools started with 9V and then 12V nicad (nickel-cadmium). As battery technology has progressed, tools are now using 18V, 20V, and 24V lithium batteries.

Whatever tool you choose, you'll end up using that brand because you'll buy/get extra batteries and chargers. I have Makita because that what I started with decades ago racing cars, and I've kept on buying and upgrading over the years.

The current offering includes some tools that are setup to run two batteries to get more power and/or longer run life (depending on the tool). Batteries are sized in Ah (Amp-hours) and come in 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Ah sizes, enabling you to trade-off weight, runtime, and cost.

(An amp-hour is a current draw of 1 Amp for 1 hour, so a 6 Ah battery can run 6 hours if the tool draws 1 amp, or 30 minutes if the tool draws 12 amps.)
 
I just saw a meme about Ryobi tools!!! For the record - I do not claim these to be industrial / commercial quality tools!! Haha. These are decent homeowner quality though!! (They’re also priced as such!!!)
 
DCGallim said:
I run Milwaukee for pretty much everything.
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Yep, ran Dewalt stuff and tried other peoples stuff in different brands. Then I borrowed a Milwaukee impact from a friend and I was sold.

I bought a 8 Tool kit about a month later. The reciprocating saw is far superior to dewalt and IMO they are the best battery operated brand on the market today.

Edited to add, the battery operated tool line for Milwaukee is superior to any other brand on the market.

You have to get trade specific magazines to find some of them but the list of tools available is absolutely amazing. There are battery powered wire strippers, pipe cutters, pipe threaders and just too many things to list.
 
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I’ve the 20V Dewalts, because I already had a few tools and batteries. A bonus was there was a Dewalt store in Ral if any warranty replacements or repairs were needed, they recently closed.
Our company service vans come with some Milwaukee tools and the techs love them. Milwaukee’s batteries are much larger than Dewalts for the same A/hr (power) rating.
The shorter Dewalt reciprocating saw is light and will rattle your wrists.
I don’t like the Milwaukee drill’s solution for a clutch, it backs off electronically too late and can twist your wrist around before stopping.
For homeowner stuff, I believe the Rigid tools and batteries come with a lifetime warranty.
 
Hilti tools are pretty much in a league of their own, but you pay for it.

I've been running Milwaukee 28V stuff for 12 years, and have been pleased with them. I've replaced the drill once, but otherwise they are all original.

My one observation about the reciprocating saw (Sawzall) is that it will drain the batteries faster than the other tools.
 
I went Ridgid for their lifetime warranty incl battery.
However, just the other day I decided to take the plunge and bought a DeWalt 1/2” impact. DeWalt offers every darn tool you could want, they’re all good quality, the ergos are arguably the best, they hold value if you decide you no longer want it, and you can find deals if you look hard enough.
 
I agree with post above. I have abot 10 tools never a problem and one of them is a reciprocating saw.Home Depot has a kit with multiple tools and its in one of them.
 
FWIW Lowe's will price match Amazon as long as the item is "Sold and Shipped" by Amazon.

So if you have a Lowe's card and get 5% off or 10% off on special days you can use the price match plus % off to score better deals sometimes.

I've done that more than once on DeWalt tools.
 
Jeffncs said:
I just saw a meme about Ryobi tools!!! For the record - I do not claim these to be industrial / commercial quality tools!! Haha. These are decent homeowner quality though!! (They’re also priced as such!!!)
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post the meme, please.


I went with Ryobi for a couple reasons - first, I was at HD at the time and saw how often they came back (rare), and then because of the wide range of tools available using their 18v 'one+' batteries. And they have a decent range of batteries available with varying AH ratings.
As Jeff said, its a great homeowner line and not super expensive
Ive got their drill, circular saw, leaf blower, weedeater, and tire inflator. I can see a impact in my future as well as angle grinder/cutter
 
I started with a little black and decker 20v just to try out. Their stuff can easily be made to take porter cable batteries (break a plastic tab off) which I already used. The little bugger convinced us that battery tools are getting there. It does great for small jobs but does overheat quick and not much power. I’ve abused the hell out of it and it’s still kicking a couple years later.

Coworker bought the actual porter cable. It’s better but still best for smaller jobs.

Boss man has an 18v DeWalt that is stronger still. Plus has the 20v standard and compact. They a world better than the black and decker and get used a lot. I know that since I’m moving into DeWalt and away from porter cable slowly (Lowe’s seems to be phasing them out for craftsman). When my B&D has finally been tortured to death I will pick up a DeWalt compact. They don’t compare to a corded for heavy, continuous work. But man do they impress.


The big surprise is the Bosch. My wife decided to buy me a present when I whined that I needed a recip at home one day when all mine were at work. It’s a good bit heavier than any of the above mentioned recips. But has the darned power to show for it. That thing RIPS for being cordless. Since I only use it at the house it hasn’t gotten into any tough or long jobs yet. I don’t know how hard it eats batteries or how fast it heats up during heavy use. But for sure has power to spare. Maybe even as much as my DeWalt corded.
 
They each have there sweet spots of tools that are better than others and I had bosch stuff for years and some dewalt but in last year picked up milwaukee m18 fuel impact driver and was impressed with it and then got the 3/8 mid torque fuel impact wrench and it amazes me just about everytime out to the point of changing large farm equipment tires, since then I'm sold on milwaukee and bleed red and moved to that platform with no disappointment at all with other tools. The mobile tire guy we use was even shocked at the little 3/8 impact when it took our combine tires off he had put on with his 3/4” pneumatic several years before and then put them back on and torqued it back to 350-400 ftlbs while using a Adapter to get a 1 1/8” socket on it.
 
HMP said:
I can see a impact in my future as well as angle grinder/cutter
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Just an aside, I may have a lemon, but my cordless angle grinder is probably the most disappointing tool I own. Long as hell, and eats batteries. Sort of handy for taking out a bunch of little tack welds and things like that. Useless for grinding out welds more than a few inches long, cutting more than a linear inch or two, won't run a cup brush but maybe a couple minutes, won't even consider it for running a masonry blade.
 
Tailhunter said:
I have a Porter Cable. Works great.
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Back it the day PC was one of the best. I still have some that are over 40 years old.

Makita was 90% of my tools. I started out with them in the beginning.

I’ve had Milwaukee, DeWalt, Delta, Bosch, Craftsman, Hitachi, etc.

Just depends how hard you use them and how often. I’m sure 90% of the people on here would be sufficed with Kobalt tools from Lowes.
 
Also you mention your ok with used I picked a battery platform or got one tool with new batteries and then have since picked up just addtional tools I wanted off ebay with pretty good success. This is also a advantage of staying with Major popular brands like the milwaukee or dewalt its usually easier to find used stuff at pawn shops or on ebay.
 
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