I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools (they'll
probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead of cash -
kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who use Mak,
Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.
I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

What do people think of their main brand (18V) tools?
Has anyone here tried the battery adapters for Ryobi-Mak-DeW?

On 03/07/2020 09:01, wrote:
I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools (they'll
probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead of cash -
kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who use Mak,
Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.
I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

What do people think of their main brand (18V) tools?
Has anyone here tried the battery adapters for Ryobi-Mak-DeW?

I would say the 3 main brands are DeWalt, Makita and Milwaukee.
Personally I think they are much of a muchness - but the ranges of
available tools do vary slightly. I wanted a few garden type tools as
well - hedge trimmer/weed whacker as well as all the normal workshop stuff.
You need to look at all your needs for the forseeable and make sure the
brand you go for covers it.
Once you have decided you are pretty much locked in - the batteries are
expensive to change ship.
Once you have a couple of batteries you only need to buy 'bare' tools in
the future.
There are many clone batteries on the market - IMHO they are all crap so
avoid.

Personally if it helps I opted for Makita and have no regrets.

Wrote in message:
I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools (they'll
probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead of cash -
kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who use Mak,
Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.
I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

What do people think of their main brand (18V) tools?
Has anyone here tried the battery adapters for Ryobi-Mak-DeW?


Adapters?
--
Jimk


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

In article ,
wrote:
I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools (they'll
probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead of cash -
kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who use Mak,
Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.
I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

What do people think of their main brand (18V) tools?
Has anyone here tried the battery adapters for Ryobi-Mak-DeW?

I've used Ryobi One+ for many years. Now that Lithium batteries are
available, I'm very happy and have bought two more (gardening) tools during
lockdown. You have to shop around for good prices, though.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

On 03/07/2020 09:20, Andy Bennet wrote:
On 03/07/2020 09:01, wrote:
I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools
(they'll probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead
of cash - kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who
use Mak, Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.
I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

What do people think of their main brand (18V) tools?
Has anyone here tried the battery adapters for Ryobi-Mak-DeW?

I would say the 3 main brands are DeWalt, Makita and Milwaukee.
Personally I think they are much of a muchness - but the ranges of
available tools do vary slightly. I wanted a few garden type tools as
well - hedge trimmer/weed whacker as well as all the normal workshop stuff.
You need to look at all your needs for the forseeable and make sure the
brand you go for covers it.
Once you have decided you are pretty much locked in - the batteries are
expensive to change ship.
Once you have a couple of batteries you only need to buy 'bare' tools in
the future.
There are many clone batteries on the market - IMHO they are all crap so
avoid.

Personally if it helps I opted for Makita and have no regrets.
I hadn't considered Milwaukee, but from a quick look they seem to have a
longer guarantee, and a bit more oomph than the Mak for about the same
cost. More study needed.

I use petrol tools in the garden so that's not an issue. I fully
understand the battery lock-in problem but there seem to be adapters for
some of the battery/manufacturer combinations.

wrote:

What do people think of their main brand (18V) tools?

Making your first choice of tool is important, as unless you like a
garage full of incompatible tools/batteries/chargers you'll tend to
stick to the first brand you buy.

I'm all Makita and very happy with the 18V and 2x18V tools I have, wish
I'd got 18V versions of some of the tools where I stuck with 240V a
couple of years ago ...

On 03/07/2020 09:01, wrote:

I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools (they'll
probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead of cash -
kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who use Mak,
Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.

I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

I have had a couple of combination line trimmer machines from Ryobi -
admittedly not battery, but the general experience has put me off the
rest of their stuff (short life due to poor design, and bad choice of
materials)

(IIRC Ryobi are owned by TTI, and they position it as their "mid range"
brand with brands like power devil at the bottom, and Milwalkee at the
top).

What do people think of their main brand (18V) tools?

I would expect the 18V LiIon tools from Mak, Bosch, Dewalt, Milwalkee,
and Hikoki (Hitachi) to all be pretty decent these days.

For years I ran some 18V NiMh makita kit that was *very* good, and some
14.4V dewalt NiCd/NiMh stuff that was a bit disappointing to be honest.
I wanted to add more tools, but also I had replaced the batts on the
Makita kit twice (in 10+ years or so) and was looking at the third swap,
but realised it was getting hard to find the range of tools in the old
format. So a few years ago I sold off the dewalt stuff, and jumped to
the LXT platform for the Makita.

All in all very pleased that I did. The range of tools is vast[1] (250+
machines), and the performance exceptionally good.

[1] Although there are a couple of gaps - for example if you want an 18V
framing nailer that does not need gas they don't yet have one (Hikoki,
have had that for ages, and Milwalkee also now)

I started with combi drill, ID, circ saw and angle drill (that replaced
all the original Mak and Dewalt kit, and have added Brushless angle
grinder, hedge trimmer, and line trimmer, plus an extra dual charger.

(The hedge trimmer in particular surpassed expectations - I can do lots
of serious work with it, and think, "this battery must be close to done
now", push the charge state button, and find its still reading full or
close to it!)

Personally I quite like it that Mak are sticking with 18V as their main
battery, and just use two of them in machines that need the extra power,
rather than adding a whole new 36V battery platform. So you get the
choice of running 36V with no new investment in batteries etc if you
need a chainsaw or 9" grinder etc.

Has anyone here tried the battery adapters for Ryobi-Mak-DeW?

I have a couple of adaptors that let me power my old NiCd/NiMh Makita
kit from LXT LiIon batteries. They work ok.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

John Rumm wrote:
On 03/07/2020 09:01, wrote:

I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools (they'll
probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead of cash -
kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who use Mak,
Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.

I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

I have had a couple of combination line trimmer machines from Ryobi -
admittedly not battery, but the general experience has put me off the
rest of their stuff (short life due to poor design, and bad choice of
materials)

They vary. I have a collection of Ryobi 'Expand-it' tools and two
electric and two petrol power heads. The tool ends (brush cutter,
strimmer, hedge trimmer, rotavator) have all been pretty robust and
reliable. The strimmer and rotavator get quite heavy use (we have a 9
acre smallholding).

The power heads are more 'variable' shall we say. The 2-stroke petrol
power unit is awful, difficult to start when cold, impossible to start
when hot and it was like this from new. The 4-stroke petrol unit is
much better, easy to start hot or cold, runs relatively quietly etc.
It's not perfect, it's needed a bit of maintenance, in particular the
mixture adjustement tends to drift but it's easy to change with the
right tool so that's not a big issue.

The electric power heads are, again, not perfect but they're OK given
the amount of quite heavy work they get here. Looking back I see that
I bought my first bits of Expand-It back in 2008 so they're 12 years
old now, not too bad for fairly inexpensive hardware.

--
Chris Green
·

On 03/07/2020 09:01, wrote:
I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools (they'll
probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead of cash -
kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who use Mak,
Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.
I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

What do people think of their main brand (18V) tools?
Has anyone here tried the battery adapters for Ryobi-Mak-DeW?

I have had Ryobi but my main kit is now Makita (running on NiCad, but
you can now get third party NiMH replacements that use the same
charger). I'm moving over to Lidl 20V Li-Ion for "less frequently used"
stuff since it looks as though my Makita combi drill and impact driver
will both last forever.

newshound wrote:

it looks as though my Makita combi drill and impact driver will both
last forever.

No worries about my impact driver, but the keyless chuck on the combi
went graunchy for a bit, seems to have recovered ...

On 03/07/2020 11:41, Chris Green wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
On 03/07/2020 09:01, wrote:

I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools (they'll
probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead of cash -
kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who use Mak,
Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.

I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

I have had a couple of combination line trimmer machines from Ryobi -
admittedly not battery, but the general experience has put me off the
rest of their stuff (short life due to poor design, and bad choice of
materials)

They vary. I have a collection of Ryobi 'Expand-it' tools and two
electric and two petrol power heads. The tool ends (brush cutter,
strimmer, hedge trimmer, rotavator) have all been pretty robust and
reliable. The strimmer and rotavator get quite heavy use (we have a 9
acre smallholding).
Yup to be fair I still have some of the Ryobi attachments, and they work
ok on my Stihl power head.

The power heads are more 'variable' shall we say. The 2-stroke petrol
power unit is awful, difficult to start when cold, impossible to start
when hot and it was like this from new.

I found my two stroke was ok ish for the short time it worked. However
at some point something fell off inside it, and it then ingested it. The
results were not pretty:

http://internode.co.uk/ryobi/

The 4-stroke petrol unit is
much better, easy to start hot or cold, runs relatively quietly etc.

I had not intended to get another, but was tempted by a very good deal
for a new 4 stroke (about £60 IIRC).

It's not perfect, it's needed a bit of maintenance, in particular the
mixture adjustement tends to drift but it's easy to change with the
right tool so that's not a big issue.

I found that since many of its internal components were plastic it was a
bit wafty from the start. First the mixture drifted - getting the right
adjustment tool helped a bit, but in the end the timing drifted in a non
adjustable way as well and it became impossible to keep running reliably.

In the end I paid out for a Stihl power head, which starts and runs
reliably, has far more power, better fuel economy, and works at any angle.

The electric power heads are, again, not perfect but they're OK given
the amount of quite heavy work they get here. Looking back I see that
I bought my first bits of Expand-It back in 2008 so they're 12 years
old now, not too bad for fairly inexpensive hardware.

I think mine lasted about 7 years all in (the 2 stroke died at about 18
months IIRC). The pruning saw attachment is still working well, the auto
feed line trimmer went on for a far bit until one day it flew apart in
use - one bit went flying through the open patio doors, and just missed
hitting my son on the head! So I decided it was time to retire that. The
hedge trimmer is ok, but then that was a Husqvarna attachment anyway.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 03/07/2020 13:48, newshound wrote:
On 03/07/2020 09:01, wrote:
I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools
(they'll probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead
of cash - kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who
use Mak, Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.
I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

What do people think of their main brand (18V) tools?
Has anyone here tried the battery adapters for Ryobi-Mak-DeW?

I have had Ryobi but my main kit is now Makita (running on NiCad, but
you can now get third party NiMH replacements that use the same
charger).

You can also get adaptors that let you use LXT batts on the old format
tools (although you will need a new charger).

My original combi and ID from about 2004 are still going strong that way.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In article ,
newshound wrote:
I'm moving over to Lidl 20V Li-Ion for "less frequently used"
stuff since it looks as though my Makita combi drill and impact driver
will both last forever.

It's a quandary, isn't it? Those Lidl tools likely outperform the Ni-cad
Makitas of not so long ago, and at a fraction of the price. I bought the
earlier Lidl 18 volts ones - combi drill, jigsaw and circular saw with a
couple of extra batteries too, and they've been great for my DIY use.

One nice thing about the current Lidl 20v range is the choice of two
battery capacities.

--
*I believe five out of four people have trouble with fractions. *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Fri, 3 Jul 2020 11:12:04 +0100, Andy Burns wrote:

wrote:

What do people think of their main brand (18V) tools?

Making your first choice of tool is important, as unless you like a
garage full of incompatible tools/batteries/chargers you'll tend to
stick to the first brand you buy.

I'm all Makita and very happy with the 18V and 2x18V tools I have, wish
I'd got 18V versions of some of the tools where I stuck with 240V a
couple of years ago ...

I've at least 5 Makita tools, mains or battery, but went for Bosch Pro fo a
10.8V drill/driver and an 18V combi, mainly because they're about the
shortest ones. DeWalt always look long - I haven't actually looked at the
specs.
The hedge trimmer is Bosch green - I would have got the Pro but it was too
long for my uses. The green seems to be quite happy withe minor challenges,
such as 35+ year old cahain-link fence wire (rather thicker than the modern
crap) in good condition.
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

On 03/07/2020 14:18, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
newshound wrote:
I'm moving over to Lidl 20V Li-Ion for "less frequently used"
stuff since it looks as though my Makita combi drill and impact driver
will both last forever.

It's a quandary, isn't it? Those Lidl tools likely outperform the Ni-cad
Makitas of not so long ago, and at a fraction of the price. I bought the
earlier Lidl 18 volts ones - combi drill, jigsaw and circular saw with a
couple of extra batteries too, and they've been great for my DIY use.

One nice thing about the current Lidl 20v range is the choice of two
battery capacities.

Yes, although you have to wait for them to come into stock if you need
one suddently. The secret is to look on their "offers" pages. "Next
weeks" is dated, the one after that will be for the week after.

In article ,
newshound wrote:
On 03/07/2020 14:18, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
newshound wrote:
I'm moving over to Lidl 20V Li-Ion for "less frequently used"
stuff since it looks as though my Makita combi drill and impact driver
will both last forever.

It's a quandary, isn't it? Those Lidl tools likely outperform the Ni-cad
Makitas of not so long ago, and at a fraction of the price. I bought the
earlier Lidl 18 volts ones - combi drill, jigsaw and circular saw with a
couple of extra batteries too, and they've been great for my DIY use.

One nice thing about the current Lidl 20v range is the choice of two
battery capacities.

Yes, although you have to wait for them to come into stock if you need
one suddently. The secret is to look on their "offers" pages. "Next
weeks" is dated, the one after that will be for the week after.

Yup. I look at the offers each week. In better times, an offer that got me
to their store also got (most) of the grocery shop for the week too.

However, in a year's time, the range will likely be different.

--
*I'm not your type. I'm not inflatable.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 03/07/2020 14:13, John Rumm wrote:
On 03/07/2020 11:41, Chris Green wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
On 03/07/2020 09:01, wrote:

I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools
(they'll
probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead of cash -
kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who use Mak,
Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.

I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

I have had a couple of combination line trimmer machines from Ryobi -
admittedly not battery, but the general experience has put me off the
rest of their stuff (short life due to poor design, and bad choice of
materials)

They vary.Â* I have a collection of Ryobi 'Expand-it' tools and two
electric and two petrol power heads.Â* The tool ends (brush cutter,
strimmer, hedge trimmer, rotavator) have all been pretty robust and
reliable.Â* The strimmer and rotavator get quite heavy use (we have a 9
acre smallholding).
Yup to be fair I still have some of the Ryobi attachments, and they work
ok on my Stihl power head.

The power heads are more 'variable' shall we say.Â* The 2-stroke petrol
power unit is awful, difficult to start when cold, impossible to start
when hot and it was like this from new.

I found my two stroke was ok ish for the short time it worked. However
at some point something fell off inside it, and it then ingested it. The
results were not pretty:

http://internode.co.uk/ryobi/

Â*The 4-stroke petrol unit is
much better, easy to start hot or cold, runs relatively quietly etc.

I had not intended to get another, but was tempted by a very good deal
for a new 4 stroke (about £60 IIRC).

It's not perfect, it's needed a bit of maintenance, in particular the
mixture adjustement tends to drift but it's easy to change with the
right tool so that's not a big issue.

I found that since many of its internal components were plastic it was a
bit wafty from the start. First the mixture drifted - getting the right
adjustment tool helped a bit, but in the end the timing drifted in a non
adjustable way as well and it became impossible to keep running reliably.

In the end I paid out for a Stihl power head, which starts and runs
reliably, has far more power, better fuel economy, and works at any angle.

The electric power heads are, again, not perfect but they're OK given
the amount of quite heavy work they get here.Â* Looking back I see that
I bought my first bits of Expand-It back in 2008 so they're 12 years
old now, not too bad for fairly inexpensive hardware.

I think mine lasted about 7 years all in (the 2 stroke died at about 18
months IIRC). The pruning saw attachment is still working well, the auto
feed line trimmer went on for a far bit until one day it flew apart in
use - one bit went flying through the open patio doors, and just missed
hitting my son on the head! So I decided it was time to retire that. The
hedge trimmer is ok, but then that was a Husqvarna attachment anyway.



I wish I'd known that Ryobi attachments work with a Stihl head. I have
the Stihl Combi system (brush cutter, hedge trimmer, pole saw, blower
and a 1m extension) - an excellent device but the cost made me wince. I
look forward to the day when I can justify replacing the Dakota chainsaw
with a Stihl and end the "start ya *******" sessions before giving-up
and getting the electric saw out.

wrote:

I wish I'd known that Ryobi attachments work with a Stihl head. I have
the Stihl Combi system (brush cutter, hedge trimmer, pole saw, blower
and a 1m extension) - an excellent device but the cost made me wince. I
look forward to the day when I can justify replacing the Dakota chainsaw
with a Stihl and end the "start ya *******" sessions before giving-up
and getting the electric saw out.


Im still waiting for my £79 Parkside chainsaw to die but whilst Ive had
to do some repairs the engine has been ridiculously reliable. It very
nearly *always* starts first time. Ten pumps on the primer, full choke,
ignition off, three pulls on the starter, choke off, ignition on, one pull
on the starter and away it goes 99% of the time. It even started first
time *after I told someone that it would*!

Somehow seems all wrong for a two stroke engine. ;-)

Tim


--
Please don't feed the trolls

On 03/07/2020 18:36, wrote:
On 03/07/2020 14:13, John Rumm wrote:
On 03/07/2020 11:41, Chris Green wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
On 03/07/2020 09:01, wrote:

I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools
(they'll
probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead of
cash -
kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who use Mak,
Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.

I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

I have had a couple of combination line trimmer machines from Ryobi -
admittedly not battery, but the general experience has put me off the
rest of their stuff (short life due to poor design, and bad choice of
materials)

They vary.Â* I have a collection of Ryobi 'Expand-it' tools and two
electric and two petrol power heads.Â* The tool ends (brush cutter,
strimmer, hedge trimmer, rotavator) have all been pretty robust and
reliable.Â* The strimmer and rotavator get quite heavy use (we have a 9
acre smallholding).
Yup to be fair I still have some of the Ryobi attachments, and they
work ok on my Stihl power head.

The power heads are more 'variable' shall we say.Â* The 2-stroke petrol
power unit is awful, difficult to start when cold, impossible to start
when hot and it was like this from new.

I found my two stroke was ok ish for the short time it worked. However
at some point something fell off inside it, and it then ingested it.
The results were not pretty:

http://internode.co.uk/ryobi/

Â*The 4-stroke petrol unit is
much better, easy to start hot or cold, runs relatively quietly etc.

I had not intended to get another, but was tempted by a very good deal
for a new 4 stroke (about £60 IIRC).

It's not perfect, it's needed a bit of maintenance, in particular the
mixture adjustement tends to drift but it's easy to change with the
right tool so that's not a big issue.

I found that since many of its internal components were plastic it was
a bit wafty from the start. First the mixture drifted - getting the
right adjustment tool helped a bit, but in the end the timing drifted
in a non adjustable way as well and it became impossible to keep
running reliably.

In the end I paid out for a Stihl power head, which starts and runs
reliably, has far more power, better fuel economy, and works at any
angle.

The electric power heads are, again, not perfect but they're OK given
the amount of quite heavy work they get here.Â* Looking back I see that
I bought my first bits of Expand-It back in 2008 so they're 12 years
old now, not too bad for fairly inexpensive hardware.

I think mine lasted about 7 years all in (the 2 stroke died at about
18 months IIRC). The pruning saw attachment is still working well, the
auto feed line trimmer went on for a far bit until one day it flew
apart in use - one bit went flying through the open patio doors, and
just missed hitting my son on the head! So I decided it was time to
retire that. The hedge trimmer is ok, but then that was a Husqvarna
attachment anyway.



I wish I'd known that Ryobi attachments work with a Stihl head.

They do, but with some caveats...

The ryobi attachments don't have the self centring gizmo that makes them
easy to get the inner shaft to mate with the end of the Stihl. On some,
I found that drilling out the little rivet at the end of the ryobi
shaft, and in another case actually trimming 5mm off the outer shaft
making the inner protrude a little made them much easier to mate *and*
couple drive to the business end.

Husqvarna attachments also fit (I bought their pole hedge trimmer in
preference to the ryobi since it allowed the end angle to adjust). One
day will re-engineer the knob that tightens the pivot to stop it
flapping about in the breeze half the time!

I have
the Stihl Combi system (brush cutter, hedge trimmer, pole saw, blower
and a 1m extension) - an excellent device but the cost made me wince. I
look forward to the day when I can justify replacing the Dakota chainsaw
with a Stihl and end the "start ya *******" sessions before giving-up
and getting the electric saw out.

Yup that is one thing to be said for the lekky or cordless versions :-)

I got the 18V hedge trimmer ostensibly so SWMBO could use it (there is
no way she would go to the effort of getting, setting up, fuelling, and
starting the petrol one!) Now having used it, unless I need the reach of
the long one, I don't bother with the loud heavy smelly version (which
to be fair is a fairly cheap heavy lump I got at a cash and carry)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 03/07/2020 09:01, wrote:
I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools (they'll
probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead of cash -
kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who use Mak,
Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.
I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

What do people think of their main brand (18V) tools?
Has anyone here tried the battery adapters for Ryobi-Mak-DeW?

Makita. So much better balanced.

--
Adam

On 03/07/2020 09:01, wrote:
I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools (they'll
probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead of cash -
kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who use Mak,
Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.
I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

What do people think of their main brand (18V) tools?
Has anyone here tried the battery adapters for Ryobi-Mak-DeW?

Thanks everyone. Makita seems to be favourite and TBH that's the way I
was leaning at the start, but Milwaukee is tempting as well. A bit more
research needed.

wrote:

The electric power heads are, again, not perfect but they're OK given
the amount of quite heavy work they get here.Â* Looking back I see that
I bought my first bits of Expand-It back in 2008 so they're 12 years
old now, not too bad for fairly inexpensive hardware.

I think mine lasted about 7 years all in (the 2 stroke died at about 18
months IIRC). The pruning saw attachment is still working well, the auto
feed line trimmer went on for a far bit until one day it flew apart in
use - one bit went flying through the open patio doors, and just missed
hitting my son on the head! So I decided it was time to retire that. The
hedge trimmer is ok, but then that was a Husqvarna attachment anyway.



I wish I'd known that Ryobi attachments work with a Stihl head. I have
the Stihl Combi system (brush cutter, hedge trimmer, pole saw, blower
and a 1m extension) - an excellent device but the cost made me wince. I
look forward to the day when I can justify replacing the Dakota chainsaw
with a Stihl and end the "start ya *******" sessions before giving-up
and getting the electric saw out.

Yes, manufacturers don't tend to publicise "works with other makes" do
they. It would be very handy to know both from the point of view of
being able to buy cheaper accessories (for less heavily used ones
maybe) and to be sure of some sort of long-term availability
(especially if buying less well known brands).

I think I sort of knew that Stihl and Ryobi Expand-it will inter-work,
does anyone know of other makes that are similar enough?

--
Chris Green
·

On 04/07/2020 09:43, Chris Green wrote:
wrote:

The electric power heads are, again, not perfect but they're OK given
the amount of quite heavy work they get here.Â* Looking back I see that
I bought my first bits of Expand-It back in 2008 so they're 12 years
old now, not too bad for fairly inexpensive hardware.

I think mine lasted about 7 years all in (the 2 stroke died at about 18
months IIRC). The pruning saw attachment is still working well, the auto
feed line trimmer went on for a far bit until one day it flew apart in
use - one bit went flying through the open patio doors, and just missed
hitting my son on the head! So I decided it was time to retire that. The
hedge trimmer is ok, but then that was a Husqvarna attachment anyway.



I wish I'd known that Ryobi attachments work with a Stihl head. I have
the Stihl Combi system (brush cutter, hedge trimmer, pole saw, blower
and a 1m extension) - an excellent device but the cost made me wince. I
look forward to the day when I can justify replacing the Dakota chainsaw
with a Stihl and end the "start ya *******" sessions before giving-up
and getting the electric saw out.

Yes, manufacturers don't tend to publicise "works with other makes" do
they. It would be very handy to know both from the point of view of
being able to buy cheaper accessories (for less heavily used ones
maybe) and to be sure of some sort of long-term availability
(especially if buying less well known brands).

I think I sort of knew that Stihl and Ryobi Expand-it will inter-work,
does anyone know of other makes that are similar enough?

Husqvarna as mentioned elsewhere.

This gives some info:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNWgncahDjQ

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 03/07/2020 20:05, Tim+ wrote:
Im still waiting for my £79 Parkside chainsaw to die but whilst Ive had
to do some repairs the engine has been ridiculously reliable. It very
nearly*always* starts first time. Ten pumps on the primer, full choke,
ignition off, three pulls on the starter, choke off, ignition on, one pull
on the starter and away it goes 99% of the time. It even started first
time*after I told someone that it would*!

Somehow seems all wrong for a two stroke engine.;-)

Just how long did it take you to work out that sequence?

Andy

Vir Campestris wrote:
On 03/07/2020 20:05, Tim+ wrote:
Im still waiting for my £79 Parkside chainsaw to die but whilst Ive had
to do some repairs the engine has been ridiculously reliable. It very
nearly*always* starts first time. Ten pumps on the primer, full choke,
ignition off, three pulls on the starter, choke off, ignition on, one pull
on the starter and away it goes 99% of the time. It even started first
time*after I told someone that it would*!

Somehow seems all wrong for a two stroke engine.;-)

Just how long did it take you to work out that sequence?

As long as it took to read the instructions.

Tim


--
Please don't feed the trolls

On 03/07/2020 16:17, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
newshound wrote:
On 03/07/2020 14:18, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
newshound wrote:
I'm moving over to Lidl 20V Li-Ion for "less frequently used"
stuff since it looks as though my Makita combi drill and impact driver
will both last forever.

It's a quandary, isn't it? Those Lidl tools likely outperform the Ni-cad
Makitas of not so long ago, and at a fraction of the price. I bought the
earlier Lidl 18 volts ones - combi drill, jigsaw and circular saw with a
couple of extra batteries too, and they've been great for my DIY use.

One nice thing about the current Lidl 20v range is the choice of two
battery capacities.

Yes, although you have to wait for them to come into stock if you need
one suddently. The secret is to look on their "offers" pages. "Next
weeks" is dated, the one after that will be for the week after.

Yup. I look at the offers each week. In better times, an offer that got me
to their store also got (most) of the grocery shop for the week too.

However, in a year's time, the range will likely be different.

They have started doing 12v ones for "lighter" tools, but I am sort of
hoping they will retain the current 20v ones for a reasonable number of
years. They will have some ****ed off customers otherwise. (I guess
third party sources might step in, I've been happy with the Floureon
NiMHs to fit the old Makitas).

Tim+ wrote:
Vir Campestris wrote:
On 03/07/2020 20:05, Tim+ wrote:
Im still waiting for my £79 Parkside chainsaw to die but whilst Ive had
to do some repairs the engine has been ridiculously reliable. It very
nearly*always* starts first time. Ten pumps on the primer, full choke,
ignition off, three pulls on the starter, choke off, ignition on, one pull
on the starter and away it goes 99% of the time. It even started first
time*after I told someone that it would*!

Somehow seems all wrong for a two stroke engine.;-)

Just how long did it take you to work out that sequence?

As long as it took to read the instructions.

They're pretty standard I think, even my 4-stroke Ryobi is near enough
the same.

--
Chris Green
·

On 06/07/2020 09:18, Chris Green wrote:
Tim+ wrote:
Vir Campestris wrote:
On 03/07/2020 20:05, Tim+ wrote:
Im still waiting for my £79 Parkside chainsaw to die but whilst Ive had
to do some repairs the engine has been ridiculously reliable. It very
nearly*always* starts first time. Ten pumps on the primer, full choke,
ignition off, three pulls on the starter, choke off, ignition on, one pull
on the starter and away it goes 99% of the time. It even started first
time*after I told someone that it would*!

Somehow seems all wrong for a two stroke engine.;-)

Just how long did it take you to work out that sequence?

As long as it took to read the instructions.

They're pretty standard I think, even my 4-stroke Ryobi is near enough
the same.

Similar on my Makita - although there is no primer on that. I normally
do Choke on, couple of pulls, choke off, throttle set to start position,
ignition on, and then it normally starts first or second attempt.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Saturday, July 4, 2020 at 9:48:04 AM UTC+1, Chris Green wrote:
wrote:

The electric power heads are, again, not perfect but they're OK given
the amount of quite heavy work they get here.Â* Looking back I see that
I bought my first bits of Expand-It back in 2008 so they're 12 years
old now, not too bad for fairly inexpensive hardware.

I think mine lasted about 7 years all in (the 2 stroke died at about 18
months IIRC). The pruning saw attachment is still working well, the auto
feed line trimmer went on for a far bit until one day it flew apart in
use - one bit went flying through the open patio doors, and just missed
hitting my son on the head! So I decided it was time to retire that. The
hedge trimmer is ok, but then that was a Husqvarna attachment anyway.



I wish I'd known that Ryobi attachments work with a Stihl head. I have
the Stihl Combi system (brush cutter, hedge trimmer, pole saw, blower
and a 1m extension) - an excellent device but the cost made me wince. I
look forward to the day when I can justify replacing the Dakota chainsaw
with a Stihl and end the "start ya *******" sessions before giving-up
and getting the electric saw out.

Yes, manufacturers don't tend to publicise "works with other makes" do
they. It would be very handy to know both from the point of view of
being able to buy cheaper accessories (for less heavily used ones
maybe) and to be sure of some sort of long-term availability
(especially if buying less well known brands).

I think I sort of knew that Stihl and Ryobi Expand-it will inter-work,
does anyone know of other makes that are similar enough?

--
Chris Green
·

Stihl do a small hand held battery operated trimmer. The battery looks identical to the Bosch 10.8v to 12n one ( https://www.axminstertools.com/ie/bo...glCurrency=GBP )but of course it isn't.( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stihl-GTA-H.../dp/B083QLK92H ) The terminals are different. Fooled me as I have a few of the Bosch batteries and was hoping I could use them, But in fact the Stihl battery lasts long enough for me to do odds and ends of trimming with it.

On 03/07/2020 21:21, wrote:
On 03/07/2020 09:01, wrote:
I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools
(they'll probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead
of cash - kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who
use Mak, Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.
I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

What do people think of their main brand (18V) tools?
Has anyone here tried the battery adapters for Ryobi-Mak-DeW?

Thanks everyone. Makita seems to be favourite and TBH that's the way I
was leaning at the start, but Milwaukee is tempting as well. A bit more
research needed.

Milwaukee is American, that is enough to put me off these days.
Apparently Makita have factories in the UK, Germany, etc.

On 06/07/2020 18:11, newshound wrote:
On 03/07/2020 21:21, wrote:
On 03/07/2020 09:01, wrote:
I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools
(they'll probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools
instead of cash - kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from
those who use Mak, Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.
I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are
best described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and
the Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

What do people think of their main brand (18V) tools?
Has anyone here tried the battery adapters for Ryobi-Mak-DeW?

Thanks everyone. Makita seems to be favourite and TBH that's the way I
was leaning at the start, but Milwaukee is tempting as well. A bit
more research needed.

Milwaukee is American, that is enough to put me off these days.
Apparently Makita have factories in the UK, Germany, etc.

Milwaukee has factories in China and Europe, as well as the USA.

Tim Streater wrote:
On 06 Jul 2020 at 18:11:02 BST, newshound
wrote:

On 03/07/2020 21:21, wrote:
On 03/07/2020 09:01, wrote:
I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools
(they'll probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead
of cash - kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who
use Mak, Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.
I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

What do people think of their main brand (18V) tools?
Has anyone here tried the battery adapters for Ryobi-Mak-DeW?

Thanks everyone. Makita seems to be favourite and TBH that's the way I
was leaning at the start, but Milwaukee is tempting as well. A bit more
research needed.

Milwaukee is American, that is enough to put me off these days.
Apparently Makita have factories in the UK, Germany, etc.

And if anything's Chinese that should be putting us all off. Trouble is, too
much stuff is, these days.

I suspect that Makita, Milwaukee and others that are nominally UK or
US or EU made all have underlying Chinese manufacture. Where do the
components come from?

What you (may) get with a good 'brand' is better testing and quality
control.

--
Chris Green
·

On 06/07/2020 18:21, Tim Streater wrote:
On 06 Jul 2020 at 18:11:02 BST, newshound
wrote:

On 03/07/2020 21:21, wrote:
On 03/07/2020 09:01, wrote:
I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools
(they'll probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead
of cash - kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who
use Mak, Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.
I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

What do people think of their main brand (18V) tools?
Has anyone here tried the battery adapters for Ryobi-Mak-DeW?

Thanks everyone. Makita seems to be favourite and TBH that's the way I
was leaning at the start, but Milwaukee is tempting as well. A bit more
research needed.

Milwaukee is American, that is enough to put me off these days.
Apparently Makita have factories in the UK, Germany, etc.

And if anything's Chinese that should be putting us all off. Trouble is, too
much stuff is, these days.

I have Makita kit made in the UK, Japan, and China - possibly Germany as
well. Chainsaw is probably Italian (but then they rebadge Dolmar saws -
so no surprises there). What matters more is the spec, the materials and
the quality control, more than where its actually assembled.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In article ,
newshound wrote:
On 03/07/2020 21:21, wrote:
On 03/07/2020 09:01, wrote:
I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools
(they'll probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead
of cash - kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who
use Mak, Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.
I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

What do people think of their main brand (18V) tools?
Has anyone here tried the battery adapters for Ryobi-Mak-DeW?

Thanks everyone. Makita seems to be favourite and TBH that's the way I
was leaning at the start, but Milwaukee is tempting as well. A bit more
research needed.

Milwaukee is American, that is enough to put me off these days.
Apparently Makita have factories in the UK, Germany, etc.

The Milwaukee drill I have says it was made in Germany. I bought it going
cheap - end of range NiCad type. Dreadfull.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

On 06/07/2020 20:20, John Rumm wrote:


I have Makita kit made in the UK, Japan, and China - possibly Germany as
well. Chainsaw is probably Italian (but then they rebadge Dolmar saws -

Makita acquired Dolmar in 1991.

https://www.chainsawsdirect.com/stor...Chainsaws.html



so no surprises there). What matters more is the spec, the materials and
the quality control, more than where its actually assembled.




--
djc

(–€Ì¿Ä¹Ì¯–€Ì¿ Ì¿)
No low-hanging fruit, just a lot of small berries up a tall tree.

On 06/07/2020 19:13, Andy Bennet wrote:
Milwaukee is American, that is enough to put me off these days.
Apparently Makita have factories in the UK, Germany, etc.

Milwaukee has factories in China and Europe, as well as the USA.




https://www.protoolreviews.com/news/...ns-them/43632/


https://toolguyd.com/tool-brands-cor...-affiliations/


--
djc

(–€Ì¿Ä¹Ì¯–€Ì¿ Ì¿)
No low-hanging fruit, just a lot of small berries up a tall tree.

On 06/07/2020 21:30, DJC wrote:
On 06/07/2020 19:13, Andy Bennet wrote:
Milwaukee is American, that is enough to put me off these days.
Apparently Makita have factories in the UK, Germany, etc.

Milwaukee has factories in China and Europe, as well as the USA.




https://www.protoolreviews.com/news/...ns-them/43632/



https://toolguyd.com/tool-brands-cor...-affiliations/



Ah good - so it seems Makita still owns itself!

In article ,
newshound wrote:
Milwaukee is American, that is enough to put me off these days.
Apparently Makita have factories in the UK, Germany, etc.

Does that mean some Makita products are actually made here? Or indeed
Germany?

Lidl Power stools usually give Germany as their place of origin. But I'd
be most surprised if they are made there.

--
*After the game, the King and the pawn go into the same box.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Chris Green wrote:
And if anything's Chinese that should be putting us all off. Trouble
is, too much stuff is, these days.

I suspect that Makita, Milwaukee and others that are nominally UK or
US or EU made all have underlying Chinese manufacture. Where do the
components come from?

Quite. The rules about saying where something is made are more to do with
'value added' rather than true origin.

What you (may) get with a good 'brand' is better testing and quality
control.

The Chinese seem happy to make anything to the standards the market is
willing to pay for.

--
*My dog can lick anyone

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 06/07/2020 21:25, DJC wrote:
On 06/07/2020 20:20, John Rumm wrote:


I have Makita kit made in the UK, Japan, and China - possibly Germany
as well. Chainsaw is probably Italian (but then they rebadge Dolmar
saws -

Makita acquired Dolmar in 1991.

https://www.chainsawsdirect.com/stor...Chainsaws.html

I had a recollection they had bought them - did not realise it was that
long ago though!

(never seen any Makita branded petrol saws in Dolmar colours though, as
suggested in the article)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/