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Hidden agenda? Not me. I just prefer good quality tools and you will not find quality in any Dewalt product. I agree they do sell a lot of tools but that is mainly because they are cheap in price. Why are they cheap in price? Because they are cheaply designed and constructed.
When I was Superintendent for a nationwide GC several years ago, we had to purchase ALL tools, supplies, self perform material, etc, through our Purchasing Dept.
One day I ordered a Panasonic Drill for a Lightrail job and my purchasing agent told me he could not buy a Panasonic, only Dewalt. I asked him why and he told me "Because the yare the cheapest." I said "Fine!"
On it's 1st day, that piece of crap cordless drill cost the company about $875.00 due to it's failure.
The rep came out and gave me a new one at no charge and told me that it's cheaper for them to make a cheaply made product and replace them, than it is to make a good quality product.
I wasn't taking anymore chances so I bought a Panasonic as well as some other higher tier tools with my own cash and expensed it. Since most of our carpenters worked on other jobs, it didn't take long for word to spread about the better quality tools found on my job as opposed to others. About 2 months later the VP of Operations came out for a visit and he told me that he had been reviewing manhour production rates for the last month and he noticed that our production had increased almost 40% compared to the previous month. I said "Well the men are able to work more because their tools aren't breaking and they're able to get more work done."
He told me to "Keep doing what you're doing!"
Well I just know what I have experienced over the years...as I have been in the commercial construction business for 34 years. As you stated, DeWalt certainly sells a lot of tools and I have heard a lot of thing but DeWalt being cheap in price is not one of them, in fact DeWalt, Milwaukee, Bosch, Metabo tend to be 15-20% more expensive than the others (Hilti is the highest... nose bleed prices) and Makita, Hitachi at the lower end of the scale. In most cases I have never seen a company stand behind there products better than the yellow and black guys, including air freighting product overnight to keep my customers jobs on schedule and minumize down time. Most of my PT sales go to the big GC's that have millions of $'s in their tool cribs and build large projects around the world i.e dams, stadiums, Petro chemical projects, complex high rise towers/buildings, military projects, etc, etc...60-65% of my professional customer base ask for DeWalt and are extremely pleased with the tools and their service operations. Milwaukee and Makita make good tools, hey, they all have their strengths and weakness. One thing I do know is that our warranty rate on Dewalt is less than 1.6% of our sales and the rest are in the 2.5 to 3.8% range.
I guess thats why there are Fords & Chevys...well we will see if Obama keeps our Ford & Chevys!
And oh, by the way name another American owned Tool company that the profits stay in this country besides DeWalt...there is not one. Not Milwaukee they are part of TTI who owns Ryobi, and the orange tools at HD, not Bosch, not Makita, not Panasonic.
I think there is a certain hesitation of pro's to buy tools that the weekend warrior would buy. Or tools that you can find in HD or lowes. This doesn't necessarily make them better or worse.
We used to buy nothing but top of the line stuff (read: expensive) but over the years, most of these tools would end up as being cost prohibitive due to the lifespan. Snow, rain...Whatever.. We are tough on stuff..
Also, if your a finish carpenter, you would (I hope) spend more on miter saws, table saws, ect....
We finish concrete, so we spend our big bucks in the state of the art stuff in this industry, but for circular saws and common tools like this, we are normally buying stuff in a local Lowes or someplace unknown to us because it got ran over by an excavator.
I got ONE Hilti Tool. I gotta say, I'm not so impressed. Its not bad, just not impressive given the price.
I also got some Rigid (home depot brand) stuff, they replace it when we beat the crap out of it. Its a pretty good warranty. So in this case, the warranty wieghs more than quality to us.
Bottom Line? Depends on your specialty. If your a carpenter, your not going to buy a miter saw that can't cut inside an 1/8", but your not going to spend big bucks on the power screed to do your sidewalk either.
To each his own. I will say this though, there are a lot of workers who simply do not know how to take care of a tool or how to properly use the tools their company supplys and the tool, no matter whose brand it is, WILL fail. This tends to make most companies wary of spending a couple extra bucks on QUALITY tools. And that is understandable. Case in point: I had just bought a Fein MultiMaster and went to a jobsite and saw one of my guy's "forcing" it to cut something and after he broke the fork mechanism inside I had to get in his a$$ and tell him "LET THE TOOL DO THE WORK!!"
There have been quite a few threads on tools here and as a pro, who has been in the construction business for almost 25 years, I have found that there is no substitute for quality. I have listed my Top 17 brands of power tools and I thought it would be interesting to hear from others. Keep in mind, these tools are required to perform everyday:
Cordless Drills/Drivers: Panasonic (hands down) I've had one of the 15v for 15 years and the only thing it ever needed was a new set of batteries last year. The 18v is simply bulletproof!
Circular Saws: Makita all the way, although I do have 2 Bosch and like them. The Makita Magnesium line is in a class all it's own.
Portable Compressor: Makita MAC5200. LOVE IT!
Nail Guns (air): Senco and Paslode
Drills: Bosch and Porter Cable
Sanders (Belt and Random Orbit): Porter Cable (No one else even comes close)
Grinders: Makita and Bosch (Had a Metabo but was REALLY disappointed when it EXPLODED, in my hands!)
Jig Saw: Bosch (hands down)
Planers (hand power): Bosch
Planer (stand-up): Jet
Band Saw: Jet
Table saw: Jet, although I do have a portable Bosch and a Rigid that I bought several years ago that isn't half bad.
Hammer Drill: Hilti (nothing about Hilti is cheap, but the damn things work better than any other HD on the market)
Drywall Screw Gun: Milwaukee (no other brand comes close)
Detail Sander: FEIN. The name says it all.
Miter Saw: Makita (I have Dewalt and HATE IT! )
Router: Porter Cable
Close on all...
Drill- 18V Makita, but have to buy another and will look seroiusly at Panasonic
Circ saw- Makita is the best, but the Porter Cable is a close second, the balance is excellent
Compressor- Emglo or Rol Air (same compressor units)
Nail Gun- Senco and Makita. Makita Framer is soo smooth. Bostitch is like a bucking bronco
DW gun- Milwakee all the way
Router- Makita
table Saw- Delta Unisaw, the original.
Grinder- Makita
Sander- Porter Cable, but am taking a collection for a Fein....
Planer- Makita
Hand Planer- Makita. Have a Bosch, but it is too light...
Miter saw- Makita.
No, your bashing is smelling like old Japanese sushi!!
I think someone has a hidden agenda??
Dewalt once upon a time had a few good tools, but they've surrendered to the big box stores and the weekend warrior!
Just look down everyone’s lists. The good guys I know around here are pretty damn close to being spot on with the tools they have for the job the tool was designed to do (other than the Jet stuff > ~ ).
Some tool fields have very close rivals as far as quality and performance goes. Three things I know, 1) I need a tool that will work for me, I'm not after a tool that I have to work. 2) The better a tool works for me the better the job I can do. 3) I never worry about the cost of a tool when buying it.... refer back to point 1 & 2. Top Qaulity always comes at a cost.....and I just pass those costs on to the client.
Close on all...
Drill- 18V Makita, but have to buy another and will look seroiusly at Panasonic
Circ saw- Makita is the best, but the Porter Cable is a close second, the balance is excellent
Compressor- Emglo or Rol Air (same compressor units)
Nail Gun- Senco and Makita. Makita Framer is soo smooth. Bostitch is like a bucking bronco
DW gun- Milwakee all the way
Router- Makita
table Saw- Delta Unisaw, the original.
Grinder- Makita
Sander- Porter Cable, but am taking a collection for a Fein....
Planer- Makita
Hand Planer- Makita. Have a Bosch, but it is too light...
Miter saw- Makita.
Great thread!!!
Well am I ever glad I never voiced my opinion in my above thread on brand loyalty buyers.
Dewalt once upon a time had a few good tools, but they've surrendered to the big box stores and the weekend warrior!
Just look down everyone’s lists. The good guys I know around here are pretty damn close to being spot on with the tools they have for the job the tool was designed to do (other than the Jet stuff > ~ ).
Some tool fields have very close rivals as far as quality and performance goes. Three things I know, 1) I need a tool that will work for me, I'm not after a tool that I have to work. 2) The better a tool works for me the better the job I can do. 3) I never worry about the cost of a tool when buying it.... refer back to point 1 & 2. Top Qaulity always comes at a cost.....and I just pass those costs on to the client.
This is funny since both Milwaukee & Makita signed exculsive brand contracts with Home Depot...education is a wonderful thing!
That's eactly my point...DeWalt never sold it's soul/brand exculsively to any of the boxes or any one channel of distribution. You don't want as a manufacture to have the 600lb gorilla on your back like TTI "Milwaukee, Ryobi and Ridgid" and now Makita have on theirs. Bad things happen.
That's eactly my point...DeWalt never sold it's soul/brand exculsively to any of the boxes or any one channel of distribution. You don't want as a manufacture to have the 600lb gorilla on your back like TTI "Milwaukee, Ryobi and Ridgid" and now Makita have on theirs. Bad things happen.
I don't understand? I can only buy Makita at a Home Depot? Maybe my town is different, but they sell Makita pretty much everywhere that sells power tools around here. The closest Home Depot to me is over 100 miles away. Also, how can all of Dewaults' money stay in America when my last Dewault said Made in Mexico on it? I just bought a Makita that says Assembled in America.
I don't understand? I can only buy Makita at a Home Depot? Maybe my town is different, but they sell Makita pretty much everywhere that sells power tools around here. The closest Home Depot to me is over 100 miles away. Also, how can all of Dewaults' money stay in America when my last Dewault said Made in Mexico on it? I just bought a Makita that says Assembled in America.
Of the Big Boxes, Makita & Milwaukee are only sold at Depot...not any of the others i.e Lowes or Menards. All of them still sell thru small independent dealers/distributors, but Makita & Milwaukee have hitched their wagon to Depot when it comes to large Big box retailers.
I also said the profits of DeWalt stay in this country, unlike the other PT manufactures that send their profits back to the country where they are head qtred. Makita "Japan" TTI "Hong Kong", Bosch "Germany".
Unfortunately, all manufactures of PT and other industries manufacture products all over the global. Sadly, thats the nature of the business today...chasing labor rates to stay competitive!
Well, if HD keeps going the way they are, they will be gone in about 5 years, hopefully. That HD is run by the most worthless group of people I've ever seen. I was really impressed with the Lowes that opened in Millsboro, though.
Worked construction for my brother in law during the summers from age 14-18 and reading that list brought back some memories. Lots of familiar names.
He is a custom home contractor who mainly frames but does general a lot of jobs now too for homeowners. List looks very similar to what is in his trailer now.
I am suprised with how nice the Fein vacuum, orbital sander, and multimaster is that nobody has those items on the list. I have those 3 items for working on the boat and they are very high quality tools.
The Fein Multi-Master is on my list!
I have heard good things about the Fein vacs too. The Wacker vacuums are excellent, even when drywall dust is involved.
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