Blains Farm & Fleet/Duracraft Brand

[sleddogg]

Has anyone used the Duracraft brand sold only at Farm & Fleet stores? They have a cordless 18v drill with 24 position clutch, hammer feature and 2 batteries for 49.95. I don't remeber if it has 2 speeds. It feels pretty well built. I tried a makita lithium ion at HD priced at 329.00 and it was sooooo sweet but thats a ton of loot for a drill.
Just wondering if anyone has any experience with the Farm/Fleet brand. I know it will never compare to the Makitas, Dewalts and Milwaukees but it just needs to drive screws without slipping, overdriving.

On a side note, when I use a conventional corded drill to drive screws and my body position doesn't allow me to push hard on the screw head, if I pull the trigger and overspeed the bit I get slippage and strippage. Will a cordless drill clutch overcome this limitation? I can't seem to control the speed to a constant. Is there a drill that has a seperate speed control rather than the trigger type variable speed?

[Whaler]

The best investment I have made for driving screws is the DW052K2 impact driver.

[sweensdv]

Menards has Tool Shop and Farm & Fleet has Duracraft. They're probably made in the same factory. If you don't plan on driving 3" screws al day long, either brand would be OK for puttsing around the house.

The price point on house brands like these is a plus but there are negatives also. The amount of torque they deliver will not be as high as the name brands, battery recharging may take longer and the batteries themselves may not last as long as the name brands.

[steve-u]

I agree with Whaler in that an impact driver is a dream to drive screws. I have a 12v Bosch Impactor kit that I got new on Ebay for $99 shipped. You can get a new Makita 14.4v impact driver at Amazon right now with two batteries and charger for $146.29 while supplies last. If you drive a lot of screws the pain of that expense will fade quickly as it becomes one of your favorite tools. Amazon also has the Makita 14.4v drill and impact driver kit for Around $218 before any other discounts. --- Steve

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...lance&n=228013

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...lance&n=228013

[Stormbringer]

IMPACT DRIVER

[bigsteel15]

Is there a drill that has a seperate speed control rather than the trigger type variable speed?

I know some will cringe, but I have the Craftsman 19.2V (C3) set and the drill has a high speed and low speed setting, plus the adjustable clutch.
For driving screws, I set the speed to low and adjust the clutch. For drilling I set it to high speed and turn the clutch to drill.

Some have knocked the battery life of the Craftsman units but I have had mine for a year and basically used the 5" saw and the drill to build my garage.
Fully charged battery lasted about 4-5 hours of work.

[sleddogg]

Splooooosh

Took the plunge, went back to HD and this time noticed a tag on the Makita offering a free 18v Lithium-Ion impact driver with purchase of 18v Lithium-Ion hammer drill/driver. Offer is by mail in rebate. That's all it took, so that's both drivers for 329.00. Still a lot of loot, but I read customer reviews online and they all seem to love the impact driver as well as the hammer drill/driver. Now to go drive a bunch of screws until the impact driver comes in the mail. I think it's time to set up the kreg k3 master system and start doing the face frames for the laundry shelving I built 3 months ago and never finished. Looks like LOML's mothers day present is shaping up just fine.
Thanks for the input everyone.

[sweensdv]

Looks like LOML's mothers day present is shaping up just fine.

Shelves are nice but it sounds like you got the better Mothers Day present.

[Flatlander]

]I have a Duracraft bandsaw from Farm and Fleet, and I know it is made by Tradesman. From what I can tell Tradesman doesn't make cordless tools, so I assume they brand some other one. Don't know if it means anything but here is a link for the Duracraft drills:

http://www.duracrafttools.com/power_tools/drills.aspx