Can't decide on a cordless drill or cordless hammerdrill

[brad feuerhelm]

Hey all

I have a small problem, I'm in the market for a new 18v cordless drill. I have decided on the Hitachi pro or the hammer drill. They are both 1.5ah.
the pro drill has 460lbs torque and the hammerdrill has only 400lbs torque. My question is would I be better off with the pro or the hammerdrill?

I do have a hammer drill but it's a ryobi and seen it's better days, but I also barely use it at least the hammer part and it's way to heavy. I use the drill for the usual stuff, driving screws and dilling holes. I don't drill into much concrete/masonary. But then again!

Anyway what would you do if you only had the one choice of either one?

I can get either one at Amazon for the same price 140 bucks. So price isn't a killer here. I have a Lowes here but not a HD. They sell the pro for the same price but not the hammer drill. But I'm getting a few other items and they are not available around here so I'll be buying it at Amazon.

TIA

Brad

[Mike Henderson]

If you want a revelation in driving screws, get an impact driver. I bought the DeWalt 12V one and it's almost all I use for screws now - light weight and sufficient power to handle all normal size screws. I even bought some hex shank drill bits and I use it for drilling. At 12V it's not good for driving deck screws so I bought the Dewalt 18V impact driver for that.

I have an 18V hammer drill, and it's excellent for drilling into concrete, but I don't do that very much. I'd much prefer to have an impact driver over a hammer drill if I could only have one.

Mike

[And just a side note, I don't strip out the heads of screws any more, either putting screws in or taking them out - well, very very few.]

[Clint Baxter]

Mike has an excellent point. Since I got my impact driver(s), (have four of them), I rarely use my cordless drill(s). I picked up a cordless SDS rotary hammer for drilling into masonry and concrete and there is no comparison between it and a hammer drill when it comes to performance. The impact drivers are also much easier on your wrist, with the tool providing the torque, not your body.

I, personally, would not pay extra for a hammer drill after comparing them to rotary hammers.

Good luck on your choice.

Clint

[Jason Roehl]

Just so you're not disappointed down the road--the drills you're considering have 460 INCH-POUNDS and 400 INCH-POUNDS of torque, not ft-lbs. You won't be removing lug nuts with those things. The impact drivers can get up around 1000-1200 in-lbs and more.

[Charlie Glover]

I would also go impact for driving screws. If you are looking at getting something for drilling operations and will never drill concrete, I wouldn't get the hammer drill. Every one I have ever used is heavier and poorly balanced compared to a standard drill.

[Alan Lightstone]

Do the newer impact drills have adjustable torque settings? It's a problem with my present Bosch that my Milwaukee doesn't suffer from.

[Todd Burch]

I've been using impact drivers (Hitachi) since they came out. First, the 9.6v and now I use the 12v. I have used some respectable non-impact drivers, like the DeWalt, but I do prefer my impacts.

I just had a load of batteries rebuilt, and even my old 9.6v, that is close to 17 years old (IIRC), is still working just fine. It's not quite as ergo as the 12v, but it gets the job done.

[Bryan Cramer]

These guys are giving excelent advice about drills and impact drivers. I will have to second the need for and impact driver and a drill. I would hold off on a hammer drill until you need it. If you do need it buy a inexpensive corded hammer drill. I got a Dewalt on sale for $50.

[Rich Engelhardt]

If you do need it buy a inexpensive corded hammer drill.I'll second that.

[Jim Finn]

yes, what Bryan said!

[Bryan Wiesendahl]

For bench work I use my old trusty Ingersoll Rand air impact driver. Those baby's are like $800 new for the nice and tiny one I have so I'm lucky to have it passed down to me. For work in weird spaces I wouldn't drive a screw with anything but my 12v Milwaukee impact driver. My batteries are starting to lose capacity and don't like driving through sheetmetal anymore, but they'll go like champs on wood.

[Buck Williams]

I don't know if you need to stay within the 140 bucks that you stated as a price point. A reconditioned Makita 18v drill and impact driver, 2 tools, 2 batteries is only $169. I have this set, very pleased with it. http://www.reconditionedtools.com/factory-reconditioned-makita-lct200w-r-18v-cordless-lithium-ion-compact-2-piece-combo-kit/mktrlct200w-r,default,pd.html?ref=pla&zmam=31282435&zmas=47&zmac=427&zmap=LCT200W-R&gclid=CJi6ma3IsbQCFehDMgodWGYAlQ

[Mike Henderson]

Just a comment - If you drive a bunch of regular size screws, including drywall screws, a 12V unit is a lot lighter, smaller and easier to handle than an 18V one. If you drive more large, long screws, an 18V is a better choice.

Mike

[Bob Grier]

Suggest you look at combination drill/impact drill. Festool makes one and probably others do too. I have festool drill that is quite nice with the different chuck options that come with it but I bought a hitachi impact drill. I now use the impact drill for driving screws and the festool for drilling. I wish I had looked into the combo before buying the Hitachi. The reason is that I would not have had to pay for 4 batteries which is a big part of the expense and the festool approach with the quick change chucks would be very quick at drilling and then driving a screw. Just leave the drill chucked in the regular chuck and the screw driver bit chucked in the the other part. It is a snap to change chucks back and forth.

[Bob Grier]

Suggest you look into combination drill/impact driver. Festool makes one and probably others do too. I have the festool drill with different chuck attachments. It is really nice but then I bought the Hitachi impact driver and now I use it to drive screws and the festool to drill holes. I wish I had looked into the combo because it would be easier to leave the drill in the regular chuck and the driver bit in the other chuck and then just snap them on and off as I changed between drilling and driving. I think it might be more convenient than changing back and forth between machines. The other thing is that it would be cheaper because I wouldn't have had to buy 4 Lithium batteries. Two come with each machine and they are fairly expensive. If you use the socket drills then you could just change the drill and screw bits instead of the chucks. It might be faster than changing the chucks. Either way it is probably easier than working with two machines. At least in some circumstances.