Site Power Tools

Different components. Different market. Different quality level. Different price point. Nothing new in that

Matt, you made that up. Are you distressed at hearing all of this?

Are you going to burn your bound Makita manuals?

Probably Maktec branded. They have been doing these for a number of years. Vis:

B&D started making different qualities in the '80s - their Tradesman range, Bosch have their blue and green ranges. What makes you think cheap 'Makita' will be any different?

Hardly. I don't have any.

I used to have some leatherbound Rolls Royce manuals with coloured acetate overlays though. They were quite something.

Just saw the screwfix page.... these are not the same as the Maktec ones

- darker colour for starters.

From the little I can see they look more like the normal Makita tools but "last years model"... the jigsaw for example looks very similar to the 4340 range that has just been replaced by the 4350. Pricing is slightly cheaper than the normal tools, but not significantly so like in the case of the Maktec.

The B&Q ones (the cordless drills at least) were made by Ryobi, and weren't bad kit: very solid, though a bit bulky. Presumably Kingfisher group being the parent of both B&Q and Screwfix they've kept the name for this completely different range.

I thought that. But would Makita go along with that? They have image to protect. Were some of the older Site products made by Makita too?

This is the concept of design, manufacturing and brand.

DeWalt, in effect have a cost reduced brand, Black and Decker

Bosch have their two ranges in green and blue and it's completely clear which is in which. They have Skil as a different label because that has some brand value.

Even Techtronics does this with Milwaukee, Ryobi, AEG and Power Devil in order of declining quality.

Makita has their flagship brand with high quality, latest technology and full service. They introduced Maktec as a cost reduced version. Site is a private label, and the clue to that is Screwfix claiming exclusivity. Normally, private label products are not sold revealing who the manufacturer actually is, so this one is unusual. Clearly Makita are sufficiently confident of their brand position and market share for the flagship line that they feel that they can afford to reveal their hand for their private label product.

From the perspective of Screwfix, this gives them another range of private label tools at a middle price point. They have the Titan and Erbauer stuff at the bottom, then Ryobi, green Bosch etc., followed by Site and the main brand products.

But did no-one tell them that Site rhymes with s**te?

Owain

Look, they are Japanese.

Besides, when the Swedes have a choccy bar called Kex, the Poles have one called Fart, there's a canned drink called Erektus in the Czech Republic and a French product called Coq Fromage, this one is neither here nor there.

Must admit I misread the subject line initially as "S**te power tools" and immediately thought of Black and Decker. On the subject of dodgy names for things:

You should see what the French call a rubber stamp! (A Tampon) I can just picture the builders merchant stamping your bill as "paid" with one of those.

Shops have signs outside advertising "Pain". However, rather than being suppliers of whips and bondage items they refer of course to bread.

There is a telecoms advert on TV at the moment advertising Wi-Fi. Being French of course there is a pronunciation difference. There are a bunch of girls dancing around shouting "Whiffy!" - yes I'm sure they are :-)

I saw a coach from Germany branded with "Fücker" down the sides ;-)

Anybody know anything about "Sparky" tools? I've a core drilling machine by them that I've been pleased with during a year or so's use doing maybe a couple of 110mm and some smaller cores per month.

Intentionally, or had the driver left it unattended outside a British Legion in a really rough neighbourhood?

Owain

They are supposed to be robust, but not that refined. They are common with pros in the eastern block and Germany.