Opinions on low priced hammer drills?

Dick2

Well-known Member
Contemplating buying one of the several low price hammer drills in the stores for light work. Does anyone have comments or recommendations on the low priced hammer drills that will only be used for occasional small holes in concrete?
 
I bought one and used it to drill and chisel some concrete. bought it and the bits at harbor freight. I have no complaints.
 
If you are in to cordless tools you may check to see if you can just buy just a hammer drill without batteries on ebay to fit your batteries.

I'm a fan of 18v dewalt tools. I have a 1/2 inch 3 speed drill/hammer drill. Works great, can use a slower speed and not fry the bits. I picked up just my drill for around $100, no batteries.

If I have need to make many holes, I go for a corded milwalkee, which I've had for 20 years.
 
Hi Dick,

If I had to name the best tool I've ever bought from Harbor Freight, it would have to be their SDS Rotary Hammer. I don't use it every day, by any means, but I'm sure I've drilled almost 200 holes in concrete with it. A few years ago I dragged it around in my crawlspace installing plates to anchor the superstructure of the house to the 60+ year old concrete foundation. Each plate was attached to the concrete with 2 anchor bolts, so right there was 64 1/2" holes. I couldn't always handle it with kid gloves in that difficult location but it worked flawlessly. Since then I've drilled dozens more holes with it, and also used it to break up concrete in a couple of small projects. I like it so much that I bought another one as a backup for when this one gives out, but I'm starting to think it never will.

Stan
SDS Rotary Hammer
 
I have a corded Dewalt DW511 1/2 hammer drill. I bought it because my large hammer drill is just too heavy for the light stuff, 3/4 and smaller holes. I have used and abused this drill for almost ten years.

Here is new one for sale on Ebay. Cost is right at $62 with freight.
Dewalt DW511 hammer drill on Ebay
 
The battery drills and smaller hammer drills work ok. The SDS style work better. With the smaller ones they don"t hammer near as hard which is useful if drilling floor tiles and such. Some times the lighter hammering saves from a big blowout if drilling through a wall. Also, most of these smaller drills have a regular chuck on them for use with any type drill bit. If time is an object or the holes you are drilling are 3/4" or larger then I would recommend the SDS style. However these drills usually only accept certain styles of drill bits. I just got a Hitli t-7? IIRC. It is only supposed to be used for bits up to 1". I love it so far, it hammers hard, came with a chisel, and with the plastic case is light to use(I"m not a fan of plastic tools either). With Hilti you pay for the name and a 5 year warranty, but I use it regularly so the peace of mind is worth it. If you are just thinking 4 holes a year then a small one would probably do just fine.
 
I bought a skil 1/2" hammer drill to use as a all purpose drill WON,T hardly handle a 3/4" auger bit in soft pine 2x4 stud a 3/8 angle drill from H P sails right though
 
Have had 2 from Cummins--one of the traveling tool shows and essentially identical to the Harbor Freight, Northern Tool, Grizzly, etc. ones. Mine are half inch, corded, keyed chuck. Believe they were $20. Bought one on the theory that if I used it enough to wear it out I'd buy a better one. Ended up that it got used so often by friends that I got another one so I wouldn't be without one. Truth be told, I prefer it to my larger Makita (that I bought when I found out how often I used a hammer drill once I had one) if only because it goes a bit slower, which seems to help when drilling larger holes. It's paid for itself many times over--it's certainly nowhere near the quality of a name-brand one, but well worth the money as it's one of those tools that really expands your capabilities. It's amazing how even the mild (compared to a big Hilti, Bosch, Milwaukee or similar one) hammer action makes drilling holes in concrete go from difficult to simple.
 
+1 on Stan's comments about the HF SDS hammer/drill. Bought ours after I saw a contractor at work using one and asked him how it'd held up. They'd had theirs 2 or 3 yrs and used the beejeezers out of it, no problems. We've used ours several times and it works great. Bought several other HF bits and chisels for it. Most recently bought a Tapcon SDS bit for some of those concrete screws.
 
A few years ago, I bought a 5/8" Hitachi hammer drill, thinking I'd only use it a couple of times. It turns out I use it quite a bit and now wish I'd spent more money and bought a better drill. Still, for the price (<100 bucks), it has held up well.
 
Be sure to distinguish between a hammer drill and a rotary hammer. They may look similar. The hammer drill is a wimp in performance compared to the rotary hammer. The Hitachi probably is a rotary hammer.
 
Don"t buy a Ryobi. Mine lasted about 10 jobs before it fried itself.
Got Makita for about $80. It seems to be pretty strong.
 
Bought the Harbor Freight one last year for drilling holes in some VERY old concrete. Didn't even hesitate. I looked around and asked the same questions you did. Got the same answers. I have no regrets.
 

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