Tailless Ryobi's

[Greg Peterson]

Well, the batteries that powered my trusty 12v Bosch cordless drill have died or diminished to the point of impracticality. HD has the new set of Ryobi 18v lithium power tools for $259. I don't NEED the reciprocating saw (love my Hitachi tailed version), but it would come in handy I'm sure. The cordless circular saw would be pretty darn handy for cutting down sheet goods. And of course the drill and flash light are the tools I am primarily interested in.

I know these models are pretty new, but anyone here have any experience with these? As a weekend warrior and with corded versions all ready in inventory, the sawzall and circular saw would see minimal use. The drill and flashlight would get semi-regular use. Given the development in power cells and so forth, I can't justify an investment that will likely be obsolete in five to seven years. The Bosch batteries for my current 12v drill would cost me in excess of $120 to replace. Who knows where power cell technology will be seven years from now. 36V? Some new exotic power cell technology?

Anyway, I'm thinking the Ryobi set is aimed pretty squarely at someone like myself; limited budget, occasional/relatively light duty use. Just looking to see if anyone has this set and what is their opinion.

[Jeff Bower]

Greg, I looked at them a few days ago...I'm hoping they come out with a drill/flashlight combo for the xmas rush. I have the regular 18v ryobi and have not had any problems with them since I got them over a year ago. I bought the drill/impact driver combo and have added the hand vac and the 10" chainsaw which works well for triming trees.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

I've only had generic experience with Ryobi products. Other than a 3hp router (RE600) and a 7 1/4" circular saw, which have served me very well, everything else broke or was less than satisfactory to operate. However, my experience is many years old now. Ryobi could have improved.

I guess my only advice is to be careful. You may have high expectations after owning a Bosch tool.

-Jeff :)

[Ern Gumban]

Greg,

I have quite a few Ryobi 18v tools and gadgets. As far as the tools go, they have been great for the price. Some of them are five or so years old and still work as new with regular weekend use. I have Makita and Bosch lithium drills and drivers also but I still use my Ryobi impact driver extensively, and the hand planer regularly.

I think the new lithium set is a great buy for lithium tools (I may upgrade when the batter/charger only kits come out). I also heard on another forum that there is a coupon going around for 50% of an 18v tool w/ purchase of the new lithium combo (I would get the impact driver). My only misgiving is that the drill is only rated at 330 in./lbs. according to the manual I saw at the HD display. I'm not sure what your old Bosch 12v was rated but this may not meet your needs.

The nice thing about Ryobi is that they have all of those useful gadgets for around the house like the hedge trimmer, tree pruner, garden sprayer etc. This is why I continue to buy Ryobi even after upgrading to the Makita and Bosch lithium drill/drivers.

Hope this helps,
Ern

[John Shuk]

I have a Ryobi rotary tool. Similar to a Dremel and takes all of the dremel bits. It still works well even though it's about 12 years old. However it doesn't work with Dremel accessories that I might have liked to use over the years. It isn't made anymore and so no add ons are available. Ryobi does tend to change models quite frequently.

[Greg Peterson]

My Bosch drill is still working, but the keyless chuck has been requiring a little more twisting than when it was new. Small concession, but with a new set of batteries in excess of $120, it just doesn't make sense to invest in a 12v system that is showing signs of age (though minimal).

Considering I paid $200 nine years ago for this one drill and the amount of actual hours of use I got out of it, the Ryobi 18v systems won't have to last terribly long in order to give me a reasonable return on investment. I'll definitely be using these tools a lot more than I did nine years ago, even three years ago.

[Michael Schwartz]

I own 3 Ryobi 18V cordless drills as well as 2 18 volt LXT drills from Makita, two 12 volt dewalt's and a monster 28v milwaukee.

The Ryobi's get the job done. They are solid and the batteries have good capacity for the price. I would rate the impact driver as their best cordless tool. The drills are mediocre as far as cordless drills go, but they are a good value for the price.

The 18 volt compact lxt drill and impact driver kit from Makita was one of the best tool purchases I have made. The drill is smaller and ligher than my 12 volt dewalts. It is also pretty apparent that it is more powerfull. The impact driver is also very light weight and will drive any screw you can find. The batteries are only 1.5 ah but they charge in 15 minutes. As of now this is my go to drill unless I am working with large diameter self feeding bits or hole-saws.

They dewalts are nice and I mostly use them when I want to have a million different bits chucked. Same thing goes with the ryobis for the most part.

The Milwaukee is powerful but weights a ton. The drill isn't the best out there but the cordless circular saw and cordless sawzall from kit are great. I would buy it again.

[Andy Howard]

Wait for the Drill, Flashlight combo kit. It is supposed to come with Drill, Flashlight, Charger, and TWO batteries for $159 or so. Supposed to be out by November.

Andy

[Ern Gumban]

Wait for the Drill, Flashlight combo kit. It is supposed to come with Drill, Flashlight, Charger, and TWO batteries for $159 or so. Supposed to be out by November.

I think that will be my plan too. No hurry, I'm banned from the shop by LOML until I can walk again. I just had knee surgery and I'm somewhat medicated. But! I can shop online for tools.:D

Ern

[Matt Meiser]

Greg, if the tools are still good, consider having the batteries rebuilt. 12V rebuilds will cost you in the neighborhood of $70 by the time you factor in shipping. However they will be much better cells than the new Ryobi's and probably even new Bosch if you go with a dependable rebuilder.

I've got a 14.4v Ryobi set which are good tools, but always had short battery life and the batteries got to the point of being unusable for any length of time pretty quickly compared to my other cordless tools. The 18v Ryobi system is pretty nice, and I noticed they now have a Lithiom Ion (or was it NiMh?) battery pack available that fits.

This summer I had my Ryobi packs rebuilt and they are great now. I also had my older Porter Cable 12v packs rebuilt which are are good or better than new.