Spent $90 on a corded hammer drill vs a $40 cordless one - which side are you on?

I bought a cheap cordless hammer drill for $40 last spring for some bathroom tile demo. Worked great for two holes then the battery died mid-job on a Saturday. Next day I grabbed a $90 corded Rotary hammer from Harbor Freight. That thing tore through concrete like butter but now I'm tripping over extension cords everywhere. What's your take - pay for power or pay for portability?

3 comments

3 Comments

sandragrant15d ago

lol you said "cordless hammer drill" but then called the Harbor Freight one a "Rotary hammer" - those are actually different tools my dude. A rotary hammer is way more powerful than a regular hammer drill, it uses a piston mechanism instead of just two gears clacking together. That's probably why the cheap cordless one died on you, it wasn't meant for real concrete work. For $90 you got a proper tool, not just an upgraded version of the same thing. Portability doesn't matter if the tool can't do the job lol.

jesse_smith1015d ago

Gotta push back a little here, @sandragrant. Yeah, the mechanism is different, but calling a rotary hammer just a "powerful hammer drill" isn't quite right either. A rotary hammer literally hammers while it spins, using that piston setup you mentioned. But a cordless hammer drill with the right bits can handle plenty of concrete work for like a weekend warrior. My old cordless one held up fine for drilling anchor holes in my patio and tapping stuff into brick. The Harbor Freight one probably just had cheaper gearing, not that it was a different category of tool. I'm just saying a decent cordless hammer drill could totally do the job if you pick the right one, not every project needs a full rotary hammer.

ray_burns15d ago

And honestly @jesse_smith10 is right that a good cordless can hang for most home stuff, but the line between them gets blurry once you push into real masonry. I'd say keep the rotary hammer for the tough jobs and maybe grab a cheaper cordless just for quick holes around the house.