Which DeWalt hammer drill/driver is the best.

[Bill Jobe]

Except for the "60v" unit that weighs about 10 or 11 lbs?
It won't be used much for drilling concrete and such, but I want that feature.
Then there's one that is very short.
Which unit do most of you who use DeWalt prefer?

[Andrew More]

What will you be doing most with this drill?

I have a DeWalt hammer drill because I have a house with a pour foundation and solid brick walls. However, the hammer function isn't useful for much other than the occasional screw into the wall to hang pictures. If I want something beefer it's been better for me to rent as SDS Hammer Drill from a tool rental place.

[Bill Jobe]

Thanks Andrew.
I can borrow a hammer drill from my SIL and won't need one often.
So then, what is the best 1/2" chuck drill/driver DeWalt makes, again, aside from the new "60v" with a battery the size of a car battery? I don't want to have to handle that heavy of a drill.
I'm just a hobbyist so just whatever comes along.

[Mike Henderson]

I had an 18V DeWalt hammer drill but when I went to the new 20V tools I bought the plain drill. I use a hammer drill so seldom that I can use my plug in (corded) hammer drill when I need to drill into concrete.

Mike

[Paul F Franklin]

I recommend the 20V XR Brushless version. It drills very well, and drives very well with adjustable clutch. It has a hammer function that works quite well. If I were drilling masonry all day I'd use a dedicated hammer drill, or a rotary hammer, but for a few dozen holes in masonry now and then it's great.

[Erik Loza]

...So then, what is the best 1/2" chuck drill/driver DeWalt makes, again, aside from the new "60v" with a battery the size of a car battery?

Can't remember the model # but I have the one with the METAL chuck (either 18V or 20V) and it's been awesome for me.

Erik

[Bill Jobe]

I recommend the 20V XR Brushless version. It drills very well, and drives very well with adjustable clutch. It has a hammer function that works quite well. If I were drilling masonry all day I'd use a dedicated hammer drill, or a rotary hammer, but for a few dozen holes in masonry now and then it's great.

Just about bought that one at Lowe's earlier today, but decided to look deeper. DeWalt has more cordless drill models than Baskin Robbins has icecream flavors.

[Bill Dufour]

A hammer drill with a standard chuck is not really much good at hammer drilling. The drill quickly gets loose in the chuck and spins. I would say tighten the chuck after every hole or sooner. The chuck should be taken apart and cleaned every season if you are a home owner more often for more use. It needs filing often to remove burrs on the drill shank.
SDS drills do not need any of this babying.

[Ole Anderson]

I have an old corded PC 1/2" 2 speed chuck style hammer drill and a HF Chicago Electric 1-1/8" SDS hammer drill. The PC got used for a ton of little holes for Tapcons. The beast comes out if I have anything 3/8" or bigger to drill in concrete. If I wanted a DeWalt hammer drill today for light use I would probably pick out the 20 volt MAX XR. https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-20-Volt-MAX-XR-Lithium-Ion-1-2-in-Premium-Cordless-Brushless-Hammer-Drill-Tool-Only-with-XR-5Ah-Battery-Pack-DCD996Bw5b/301671531?mtc=Shopping-BA-F_Test-G-Multi-Multi-NA-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-MROMI2_DET&cm_mmc=Shopping-BA-F_Test-G-Multi-Multi-NA-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-MROMI2_DET-71700000057568099-58700005328952858-92700047416945676&gclid=Cj0KCQjw3JXtBRC8ARIsAEBHg4kak8KOFXcUie8WR7gb UYvWJoeMcGSmwMJRRhYkeVBxGBtJheMAWC0aAi86EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Bill Dufour]

FYI: My old heavy Hilti is rated 1/2" hole in old concrete at 18" a minute. I bought a SDS arbor for a drill chuck just So I do not have to lug two drills around in my crawlspace.
Bill D

[Tim M Tuttle]

I have these two:

https://www.dewalt.com/products/power-tools/drills/drills-and-hammer-drills/20v-max-xr-liion-brushless-compact-drilldriver-tool-only/dcd791b

https://www.dewalt.com/products/power-tools/drills/drills-and-hammer-drills/20v-max-cordless-brushless-xr3speed-hammerdrilldriver-tool-only/dcd996b

I use the compact mostly and like it. I bought the hammer drill last year for those times it's handy to have two drills and for the occasional hammer drill needs. No problems with either. The compact would go a day or two on a single 2ah battery while I was flipping a house.

[Roger Feeley]

I had an old corded (super cheap) B&D drill that sufficed for drilling screw holes into my basement foundation. I used the thing maybe three times a year. We decided to redo our kitchen and I bought a Bosch Rotary Hammer drill to use as sort of jack hammer to take up the glued flooring. It worked great. The Bosch has three modes: plain drill, hammer drill and impact.

Then I took the B&D to my daughters condo in DC (I lived in Kansas) and tried to drill a hole in real concrete. Darn near burned the thing out drilling one hole. The next time, I took a Bosch Rotary Hammer drill and it went through the stuff like butter.

My point is that there is a big difference.

[Jak Kelly]

I use to work in a manufacturing plant. I spent well over 10 years on a production floor. When I first started there we were primarily using corded drill and pneumatic impacts. It was also observed that all the extension cords running everywhere was an extreme hazard. So we switched to cordless. Over the course of a couple months we had several Manufacturer Representatives come through our facilities to educate us about their products and educate themselves on exactly what we were doing there and what might be needed or better suited for our work. All the big names came through; Dewalt, Hitachi, Hilti, Milwaukee..........
One thing that they all said was that the drills and the motors for a drill were never designed to be a driver really. That was what they said about their tools.
They recommended using their impacts for driving all fasteners and told us to use the drills for drilling only. As there are many benefits and features that each offer for their specific tasks that they were designed for.
One big difference for sure is the fact that most drills keep spinning even after you let off of the trigger, which can result in a snapped screw when driving into some materials.
But to each their own, I know I have used a drill for driving as well, we all have. But now I keep 2 impacts in my garage. Those 1/4" cordless impacts are absolutely wonderful in my opinion.
I went with Dewalt. Not that I believed that Dewalt was more superior to the competition or anything, as I really think that they are all really close. I went with Dewalt because they have an excellent service center in this town.
The manager at our service center will not argue with you about the warranty one bit, he simply flips the tool, looks at the product date and tells you if it is still under the factory warranty or not, if not then the will break down your options from there. I think they have a tool refurbish program on just about any tool that is under the Stanley-Bostich or whatever umbrella it is. As I had no issues getting a 25 year old tool repaired for what I considered to be a good price. The refurbished tools come with a warranty as well, either 6 months or a year.

[Derek Meyer]

I have the Dewalt DCD996B 20V brushless hammer drill. I don't use the hammer function much, but I did use it to drill some 3/8" holes in a concrete slab about 3" deep and it performed just fine. It's a little heavier than the non-hammer 991, but not too bad. It seems to have just as much power as my old corded 1/2" Dewalt drill, and those 5Ah batteries last a long time.