Best Drill?

I have an m12 and recently bought a Bosch 18v for retrobolting. The m12 with higher amp batteries is a bolting marvel. If your doing more 1/2 holes or for some reason bolting multiple sport routes in a day on a regular basis get something larger. My Bosch is WAY bigger and heavier than the m12 but the little electric blowers are a game changer. 

Chris Stocking wrote: I've been leaning this way, but have noticed that basically all of the 36v drills out there are brushed motors. I've seen quite a few recommendations here that say brushless is the only way to go. It seems like battery life is the reason to go brushless. But, if I'm remembering my physics correctly (and it's been a long time, so I'm probably not), it seems like you should get better battery life out of a 36v system, all else equal, and maybe that balances out the lack of a brushless motor.

Any thoughts on the tradeoffs between a brushed 36v drill vs a brushless drill at a lower voltage?

Looks like you're in Seattle, so you'll probably be bolting lots of granite. I think you'll be much happier with the power of a 36v drill. 

Chris Stocking wrote: I've been leaning this way, but have noticed that basically all of the 36v drills out there are brushed motors. I've seen quite a few recommendations here that say brushless is the only way to go. It seems like battery life is the reason to go brushless. But, if I'm remembering my physics correctly (and it's been a long time, so I'm probably not), it seems like you should get better battery life out of a 36v system, all else equal, and maybe that balances out the lack of a brushless motor.

Any thoughts on the tradeoffs between a brushed 36v drill vs a brushless drill at a lower voltage?

The bosch compact 36V is brushless.  

ROCKMAN2 wrote:

Looks like you're in Seattle, so you'll probably be bolting lots of granite. I think you'll be much happier with the power of a 36v drill. 

I've been using an 18v Bosch for bolt replacement and putting up lines on the the quartz monzonite we have in our area as well as our local limestone. So far I haven't encountered a situation where I wanted or needed more power or was able to kill both batteries in a single day. I can spin more than 10 3/8 studs or dill more than 15  3/8 x 4 holes on a single 6 ah battery. A bigger drill just seems like overkill. EDIT I'm running 4 ah batteries not 6 ah

I bought both of these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6ultw3ZnZM

They were both nice, but I ended up keeping the Dewalt Brushless DCH273 and returning the Milwaukee 2712-20.

Dan Bachen wrote:

I've been using an 18v Bosch for bolt replacement and putting up lines on the the quartz monzonite we have in our area as well as our local limestone. So far I haven't encountered a situation where I wanted or needed more power or was able to kill both batteries in a single day. I can spin more than 10 3/8 studs or dill more than 15  3/8 x 4 holes on a single 6 ah battery. A bigger drill just seems like overkill.

Dan - did you have to modify your Bosch at all to get a 6ah battery to work? I have an older bosch 24v but am not sure if I can get a higher ah battery to work for it.

BTW, I looked at the Bosch GBH18V-26K24 18V (I had a Bosch Bulldog back in the 80's for putting up routes) and it appears to be 1/2 a pound lighter and maybe a slightly better tool, I'm not sure. But, I'm a GC and have a ton of Dewalt & Milwaukee batteries & tools, and no Bosch batteries or tools. So, just seemed easier to not start up with Bosch for this one tool. I'm pretty happy with the Dewalt, it pops in a 3/8"x4" hole in seconds... just like drilling butter. 

M12 Rotohammer 4ah - $200

For all the praise this thing gets it's tempting to buy one at that price.  Any bolt I've drilled in the last 5 years has been at least 3 hours from the car.

John L wrote:

Dan - did you have to modify your Bosch at all to get a 6ah battery to work? I have an older bosch 24v but am not sure if I can get a higher ah battery to work for it.

My mistake thought I was running 6s but they are actually 4 ah batteries. I've got the RHH181-01-RT and my understanding is that the 18v li batteries are compatible so the 6 ah or even the 8 ah batteries would work. No clue if this is the same for the 24 v tools. When i first picked up the drill I had planned to get an extra battery but haven't needed to yet. 

Darin Berdinka wrote:
M12 Rotohammer 4ah - $200

For all the praise this thing gets it's tempting to buy one at that price.  Any bolt I've drilled in the last 5 years has been at least 3 hours from the car.

I love the M12 rotary hammer. Considering the price, size and weight, it really makes sense for alot of people.

Darin Berdinka wrote:
M12 Rotohammer 4ah - $200

For all the praise this thing gets it's tempting to buy one at that price.

Yeah, agreed. Are the product specs on that page accurate? It states a blow energy of 4.6 ft lbs, which if accurate, would be almost 4x more than the 18v Bosch that seems so popular. 

Is there something I'm missing here? It seems like this is almost a no-brainer...

Chris Stocking wrote: I've been leaning this way, but have noticed that basically all of the 36v drills out there are brushed motors. I've seen quite a few recommendations here that say brushless is the only way to go. It seems like battery life is the reason to go brushless. But, if I'm remembering my physics correctly (and it's been a long time, so I'm probably not), it seems like you should get better battery life out of a 36v system, all else equal, and maybe that balances out the lack of a brushless motor.

Any thoughts on the tradeoffs between a brushed 36v drill vs a brushless drill at a lower voltage?

I can’t speak to 36v, but I have a Bosch brushless 18v and it is powerful.  Last time out, I drilled eight 3/8 holes in very hard sandstone and battery was still showing 5/5.  

Chris Stocking wrote:

Yeah, agreed. Are the product specs on that page accurate? It states a blow energy of 4.6 ft lbs, which if accurate, would be almost 4x more than the 18v Bosch that seems so popular. 

Is there something I'm missing here? It seems like this is almost a no-brainer...

I can't find that spec on that link or any other.   Anyway that can't be the case.   Makita makes a similar size 18v drill thats only rated at 0.88ft/lbs of whatever.   Regardless people says it works in granite.   Probably don't get it if you need to drill 1/2" holes or plan on hitting something like quartzite.

There is no free lunch. The impact force of the drill is proportional to a large extent to the weight as the internals involved all have to move that mass to "hammer". The quality small 12V drills are fine for the occasional 1/2" hole but best not to make a steady diet out of it.

hillbilly hijinks wrote: There is no free lunch. The impact force of the drill is proportional to a large extent to the weight as the internals involved all have to move that mass to "hammer". The quality small 12V drills are fine for the occasional 1/2" hole but best not to make a steady diet out of it.

I use my M12 mostly for 3/8x3.5" holes in granite and limestone. It seems to work great.

Dylan Pike wrote:

I use my M12 mostly for 3/8x3.5" holes in granite and limestone. It seems to work great.

For sure! Its a great compact drill.

But, as I said, best not to make a steady diet out of 1/2" holes.

Any thoughts on this guy?
Bosch Rotary Hammer 18v

I've done some bolting in the past but always with borrowed drills.  Looking at a spot that would be primarily gear routes but need a few bolts (2-3 per route plus anchors in granite).  I've got quite a few 12mm wedge and 1/2" glue-ins leftover from a past project I am hoping to use.  Anyway, I know the basics but don't want to spend the money on the wrong drill. 

Brandon.Phillips wrote: Any thoughts on this guy?
Bosch Rotary Hammer 18v

I've done some bolting in the past but always with borrowed drills.  Looking at a spot that would be primarily gear routes but need a few bolts (2-3 per route plus anchors in granite).  I've got quite a few 12mm wedge and 1/2" glue-ins leftover from a past project I am hoping to use.  Anyway, I know the basics but don't want to spend the money on the wrong drill. 

For your application, if I were starting from scratch, I'd look for a lighter drill and use 3/8 bolts. 

That drill would work fine though, especially since you already have some 1/2" and 12mm bolts you are planning on using. It also seems to be a pretty good deal with the 2 included 4 AH batteries.

Its a bit overkill for occasional use. (*edit and you should go brushless).

More like a full-on developer's tool or for rebolting.

Drills like the M12 or comparable from Bosch and Dewalt are nice to have if you are not grid bolting whole sectors etc, esp if you may end up doing some on lead stuff.

SS 3/8" bolts can be had for ~$1 a piece in orders of 50 or more. Use the fattie 12mm for crux bolts that may hold whips.

Brandon.Phillips wrote: Any thoughts on this guy?
Bosch Rotary Hammer 18v

I've done some bolting in the past but always with borrowed drills.  Looking at a spot that would be primarily gear routes but need a few bolts (2-3 per route plus anchors in granite).  I've got quite a few 12mm wedge and 1/2" glue-ins leftover from a past project I am hoping to use.  Anyway, I know the basics but don't want to spend the money on the wrong drill. 

See my thread from last week:

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/118740102/bosch-gbh18v-20n

If you’re rarely needing just a couple bolts, it seems like it would be fine. They can be found for $125 (tool only) on amazon or even cheaper locally. Lots of people selling them NIB b/c it was thrown in with other Bosch tool bundles at the big stores. I personally have decided to go for a brushless model instead