Power Tools

I've made some purchases of some cordless power tools recently, and thought I'd share.

The earliest ones I'd gotten were drills. My parents had bought me a 1/2” chuck Craftsman years ago that was really nice, but back then most of them used NiCad batteries, and it didn't last more than a few years. I replaced it with a Hitachi with NiMH batteries back when I used to frequent Woot, and it's served well and has lasted.

Around 3 years ago I replaced the second corded hedge trimmer with a cordless version. It cost about twice as much as the corded one, but it was also a duo, with a leaf blower included. It's from Westinghouse, and if the battery ever gives up on it, I don't think I'd be able to locate a replacement!!! Works very well, though, and the leaf blower is handy.

About a year ago I bought a tire inflator off Ebay. It was super handy!!! I wasn't able to locate any mention about it, but after I'd bought the new tires for Kutcher, the front ones would always lose air. I'd taken it back to the place I'd bought the tires, but they went out of business!!! I took it to another tire store, and they checked it out, and couldn't find any leaks, but re seated the tire, and recommended filling them to a higher level. The issue persisted, but recently got better on it's own!!! A few months ago, the inflator quit working right, not showing an accurate pressure and not inflating properly. I'd bought a warranty from Square Trade when I got it, and they turn out to be a real pain in the ass to deal with!!! Finally got them to make with the purchase amount (in two checks, since they wanted to underpay by a lousy $3.25 at first) and I bought another one.

Around the time I did the front end on Kutcher, I bought myself a cordless impact wrench, since up to that point I'd been very happy with the no name tire inflator I'd bought. It could work better, it struggled to loosen lug nuts, but it did work for some of the suspension bolts. The bonus, it came with two 3.0 amp batteries of the same style and voltage that the inflator uses.

And since I'd had pretty good results with both of those, I just recently bought a cordless weed eater. This one uses a higher voltage battery, but comes with two of them. It came with some plastic blades, a couple of metal blades, and what looks like a circular saw blade. I've used it for the area across the street where I park the cars, and for the uphill side of the house. I have yet to run a battery out using it!!! It's got a smaller cut diameter than the corded one I've got, and less power, but it will get the job done. Oh yea, it's a lot lighter, too!!!

Speaking of the corded weed eater, I recently replaced it as well. I think it may be the third one I've bought, the Black & Decker GH3000, which is an excellent machine!!! Most electric weed eaters spin quickly, but without much torque. This model has a gear reduction on the motor, giving it the torque of a gas powered unit. The brushes on the old one had worn out, and the contact area was pretty torn up as well. Since I had it apart to check the brushes, I noticed that the plastic body has a nice shape to it, that with a little paint could be modified into a steampunk look blaster gun of some sort, so I've held onto it.

Also pictured, my dad had a DeWalt cordless drill with two batteries, and I got it when my mom moved out. It's an older model, but it still works very well. Also pictured is one of the batteries from the impact wrench.

A lot of the reason I've bought several of these is because the price is pretty low. I'm thinking I might buy myself a cordless pressure washer, too!!!