18V tools: Makita, Ryobi, or DeWalt?

[ARW]

Makita. So much better balanced.

[nothanks]

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.

[Chris Green]

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?

[John Rumm]

Husqvarna as mentioned elsewhere.

This gives some info:

[Vir Campestris]

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

Andy

[Tim+]

As long as it took to read the instructions.

Tim

[newshound]

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 pissed off customers otherwise. (I guess third party sources might step in, I've been happy with the Floureon NiMHs to fit the old Makitas).

[Chris Green]

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

[John Rumm]

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.

[fred]

Stihl do a small hand held battery operated trimmer. The battery looks identical to the Bosch 10.8v to 12n one (

)but of course it isn't.( ) 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.

[newshound]

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

[Andy Bennet]

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

[Chris Green]

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.

[charles]

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

[Dave Plowman (News)]

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.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

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

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

[Andy Burns]

Yes, several of mine are, others are variously Japan, China or Romania

[John Rumm]

You prompted me to go look at mine and take a photo of the plates...

Apparently I have 3 from China, 2 from England, 3 from Germany[1], 7 from Japan, and 1 from Romania.

[1] Includes the chainsaw which is missing part of its label - includes a German address, but not a "made in" statement.

or made by Lidl for that matter.

[DJC]

In these days of globalisation 'place of origin' is a rather flexible concept.

Rules of origin are the criteria needed to determine the national source of a product. Their importance is derived from the fact that duties and restrictions in several cases depend upon the source of imports.

There is wide variation in the practice of governments with regard to the rules of origin. While the requirement of substantial transformation is universally recognized, some governments apply the criterion of change of tariff classification, others the ad valorem percentage criterion and yet others the criterion of manufacturing or processing operation.