Who makes a good (yet affordable) CORDLESS sawzall? Consider durability, battery life, etc. Ryobi, Craftsman, DeWalt? I want to have a sawzall I can take to junkyards without hauling a generator. Yes, torches would be better, but the yards' never seem to be working, and I odn't have a portable rig.
I have a Dewalt 18 volt one. Make sure you also get the matching 18 volt drill. Make sure all of your buddies get the same 18 volt dewalt tools too. Maybe then you will have enough batteries to actually cut off all the pieces you go there to get. Bring your charger with you too and maybe the yard owner will let you use an outlet.
All my cordless tools are Makita. Their 18v sawsall will cut for a LONG time on two batteries. Now that I think of it, I recharge less than the folks on a site with Dewalt.
i picked up my dewalt 18v at a flea market.....same with all my other dewalt cordless tools......it's no 110v but I'm impressed...
I use a 18 volt Ryobi and it has really been great. I bought a set of tools at Home Depot. The battery packs are expensive but I have made up some new ones to replace the ones that go bad. It takes me about an hour to make up a pack. I take the pack apart. Solder up the new cells and put them back in the case.
At my old job I used a DeWalt 18 volt all the time. I felt the battery would go for a pretty good while. That thing had the crap beaten out of it. You know how people treat tools that they didn't pay for. It just kept on going. Woody
I've got the 18v DeWalt. I also have the cordless 4 1/2 Cut Off. How did I deal with not having these? The big thing with the DeWalts is having the XRP instead of the regular XR batteries, much better life... I also have four batteries just in case... And just FYI I will be buying Metabo for my next purchase, Very nice German tools...
I have the craftsman 19.2 volt, had ta buy the drill as well. this gives me three batteries. Bat life about five minutes continues cutting per battery
Everyone seems to like DeWalt (except Plowboy). I already have a DeWalt drill with an extra battery, so Dewalt is sounding better and better of course I's bring extra blades!
Another vote for DeWalt 18v. Although I've seen the Porter Cable stuff in action nad tried the Sawz-all on 3" gas pipe and it was impressive. Pricey, but impressive. Love my DeWalt stuff.
I like my Dewalt just fine, just bring lots of batteries. It only comes with one and that ain't enough. Maybe I tend to want more sheetmetal parts at the junkyard than most though.
Seconded. Mine was expensive, but it will outlive me. Batteries last a LONG time, they charge fast and it runs as hard or better than any 110v sawzall I've ever used. I have the cordless impact drill that interchanges uses the same batteries and it is by far the best cordless I've ever owned hands down.
Batteries for a Ryobi are cheap compared to all the others out there. About half as much as others. $40 for 2. They lasted me over 2 years if you take care of them and try to discharge them as much as possible before recharging. I love my Ryobi set. I use the Milwaukee Metal Torch blades. Cuts like buttu.
I bought a Harbor Frieght cheapie set. Each battery is good for about 15 minutes. They still work in the drill a while though - I use that more, it seems to have more torque and bite to get out some of those stubborn screws. I decided that if I were to do it again I would be smarter to buy a 1200 watt generator - about 48 lbs - and pull it in my old radio flyer wagon. Reason being I used a bigger generator on site once and found it handy to be able to switch and use a grinder with a cutoff wheel to get me through some spots and parts. Money wise it's about the same, I see the 1200 watt generators for $150-$200 all over. Why 1200-watt? Basically because the 1000 and 1100 watt units you have to mix fuel for, the 1200 uses regular gasoline. Then I only need one recip saw and one grinder, too. You'll go through blades like crazy with the saw especially on sheetmetal. The best deal I saw on those was a 10-pack in Home Depot for about $12.
Don't EVER get a craftsman, I've had nothing but problems with mine. Battery life sucks, and its been sitting under the workbench for 2 years awaiting swtch #4(@$50 a crack).
I have two craftsman 19.2 volt cordless sawzalls. and I think they kick but.. however I also have a cordless milwalkee.. and its my first choice..
I got a Milwaukee 18 volt power plus with 2 batteries last about 10 min per charge with stock packs,bought an extra pack from voltman batteries on net and that pack lasts 15min.Overall i cant complain works trouble free but i got 3 batteries for it.Id really like it if i could build a rapid charger to charge off cig lighter.May want to look into diff brand that doesnt eat batteries so fast.
My 18V dewalt set has worked great, probably one of my best tool purchases, but I would probably go with the new dewalt or milwaukee 24volt stuff, more battery life, much more power.
Mine is also DeWalt 18V. I use Black & Decker for spare battery packs, same item much lower cost. B&D owns DeW. For long jobs I have a 300W 120VAC inverter in the vehicle for the charger.
I made up the battery packs because locally a new pack was $60. I found some new battery packs at an outlet store for $5 but the cases were different. I bought the packs took them apart and reconfigured them to fit in my case. Same number of cells in series, just put together in a different shape.
First of all anyone who use Ryobi you might as well say that it is a Fisher Price My first sawzall ,these are toys good for the honey-do list that's it ! The DeWalts are OK if your not using them every day, there good for your shop,but just don't hold up under every day use. Craftsman same thing ! 10 Years in the construction trades the only one that holds up to daily use has been Milwaukee.....the sawzall name sake, the story on batteries is that they are all pretty much the same , Batteries Plus will rebuild them no matter which one for about 30- 40$ they are then new batteries in the old case.
Check your local Home Depot again if you have one near by. The 18v Ryobi's dropped from $59.99 each to 2/$40 in my area also, a few months back. I can't buy the new cells to roll my own for that. My friends in the metal roofing buisness have been raving about new 24 and 30 volt cordless stuff. Bring your wallet and couple of friend's, as they are pretty spendy!
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