re: Recommendations for battery-powered tool brands?

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Ryobi, Makita, DeWalt, Milwaukee are all good tools but if I were to go battery powered I would go Ego. I really like my Echo gear and have tried battery powered in the past with good and bad experiences, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about Ego on lawn forums from people that I wouldn’t expect to use nothing but gas motors.

Tools are one thing. Lawn tools are another.

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I was mostly looking at it from the hand tool perspective, but I have picked up quite a few lawn tools too.

I've been doing a lot of home repair, as well as maintenance and lawn work. It happens with an old house. I've picked up a number of lines, all of which I find useful;

Dewalt 20V. For heavy duty drilling and driving, and with the oscillating multitool/sander. These cost more than the Ryobi, but if I'm going to really push something I reach for these.

Ryobi 18V One+. Functional, pretty inexpensive, and loads of options. If I want/need a gadget tool, this is the brand. Reciprocating saw, 1/2" impact wrench, smaller circular saw, hand vac, dremel tool (along with the main kit tools). I like the JobPlus that takes Ridgid Jobmax heads, I've got the oscillating tool head, metal shears, ratchet, and dremel head. Also a small blower and weedeater. I use these most often.

Milwaukee 12v. Got a kit on sale, they're small but powerful, and really nicely built. I use the ratchet a LOT. I use the drill and driver occasionally, and have used the little reciprocating saw a few times.

Here's a surprise entry- Hyper Tough 20V (Walmart cheapo red brand). Ha Ha, but don't laugh- I bought some kits when Walmart was blowing them out ($35 for awhile), and they're actually decent. The reciprocating saw is a hoss, the drill and driver are pretty compact and functional. Not much larger than the Milwaukee 12V lineup. I ended up grabbing a bigger blower (uses 2 batteries so it's 40V), a weedeater, a larger circular saw and a hedge trimmer. All work for what I use them, and the blower/weedeater kit came with a 2 battery charger. I probably don't have $150 invested total in the brand, have 6 batteries and a bunch of tools. Oh yeah, I like the light from this kit, too- it's shaped like the Dewalt one, but it has an adustable focus, so you can go tight or wide angle. Helpful under a car.

I've done some internet research, these all seem to use the same Lithium cells (3 for the 12v, 5 for the 18/20V). There are disassembly videos showing how they go together, and services that rebuild your batteries when the cells go. As long as the charger and tools hold up, you should be good to go with them all for quite awhile.