HF Cordless Drill/Drivers (Hercules)

Has anyone tried out the Hercules 20v Lithium cordless tools at Harbor Frighting? I'm thinking of getting a couple of the 20V 1/2 Drill driver kits, one 20V 1/4" Compact Impact driver kit, and a few extra 20V 2.5 or 5.0Ah batteries.

My current Ryobi's are at least 10 years old now and I've been very pleased with them. I'm wondering how the HF Hercules 20V driver kits compare quality wise. ?

https://www.harborfreight.com/20v-lithium-cordless-12-in-compact-drilldriver-kit-63381.html

https://www.harborfreight.com/20V-Lithium-Cordless-14-in-Hex-Compact-Impact-Driver-Kit-63380.html

[old mart]

Do you have LIDL stores in the states? In the UK they sell a 20v range and I have a combi drill, jigsaw and an SDS hammer drill. They are made in Germany, some are available with the box, but no charger or battery, the batteries are cheap, a 2AH is £11. I will get the 3" angle grinder when it reappears.

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

Do you have LIDL stores in the states? In the UK they sell a 20v range and I have a combi drill, jigsaw and an SDS hammer drill. They are made in Germany, some are available with the box, but no charger or battery, the batteries are cheap, a 2AH is £11. I will get the 3" angle grinder when it reappears.

I've got HF gift cards that I want to get rid of so I'm specifically looking for something at HF. I could use some new cordless tools w/new batteries so I figured that would be a good choice.

[Dan Dubeau]

Gift cards obtained via class action lawsuit stemming from misrepresented performance figures, being used to purchase cordless tools with dubious performance figures..... Seems legit

With a name like that, they MUST be strong tools

Edit: I had the sears lawsuit in mind about the misleading performace #'s, not the HF one about misleading sale prices.

[Lew Hartswick]

:-) I won't buy another battery powered tool till the manufacturers adopt a common battery connection. That is probably not ever going to happen.
...lew...

[MattiJ]

Do you have LIDL stores in the states? In the UK they sell a 20v range and I have a combi drill, jigsaw and an SDS hammer drill. They are made in Germany, some are available with the box, but no charger or battery, the batteries are cheap, a 2AH is £11. I will get the 3" angle grinder when it reappears.

Sorry, mostly made in china and importer is german sounding company.

(Corded jigsaws were at one point made by bosch in switcherland(sp?)

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

Interesting, it looks like the Hercules brand might be comparable to Dewalt

https://www.protoolreviews.com/tools/power/cordless/drills-drivers-cordless/whats-harbor-freight-hercules-20v-drill/33747/

[Ohio Mike]

Everyone has their favorite tool color. I have lots of DeWalt because that is what I started out with and now I have a few 12v Milwaukee tools too. Plenty of other options out there if you don't like those... The problem I have with Hercules is for about the same money I can go to Lowes/Home Depot/Amazon and get a brand name tool. If HF decides not to carry Hercules anymore and you're screwed.

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

I just ordered three 1/2" compact drill driver kits and one 1/4" compact Impact driver kit. That gives me 4 batteries and 4 chargers. I also found some coupons for an additional $70 off all 4 of them. Cool beans. I'll post some pictures and thoughts after I get them. I currently have Ryobi 18v units that I'll be basing my comparison on.

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

Everyone has their favorite tool color. I have lots of DeWalt because that is what I started out with and now I have a few 12v Milwaukee tools too. Plenty of other options out there if you don't like those... The problem I have with Hercules is for about the same money I can go to Lowes/Home Depot/Amazon and get a brand name tool. If HF decides not to carry Hercules anymore and you're screwed.

After looking at the new DeWalts I was quite impressed and I decided to get some new brushless MAX XR tools as my "main" tools. When the HF Hercules units come, I'll use them in my less frequently used shop areas. The new compact Dewalt brushless drill/driver/impact tools are unbelievable.

[fjk]

I’ve gone dewalt 20v-max for drills/saws/etc and am quite happy

These Hf units look exactly like the dewalts... id wonder if the factory in the PRC ran an extra shift or two when mr. dewalt wasn’t watching ... it’s happened in other businesses. Sigh

[BobinOK]

That HF stuff sure does look like my Dewalts, for the price I would probably take the chance. I went from Maketa to Dewalt simply due to availability and kinda got carried away. After the normal couple drills and an impact diver I bought a 20v-max string trimmer which worked so well I bought a chain saw which worked so well I bought the hedge trimmer and leaf blower. They all use the same battery and the big battery from the chain saw on a drill or the impact you won't worry about running out of juice.

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

That HF stuff sure does look like my Dewalts, for the price I would probably take the chance. I went from Maketa to Dewalt simply due to availability and kinda got carried away. After the normal couple drills and an impact diver I bought a 20v-max string trimmer which worked so well I bought a chain saw which worked so well I bought the hedge trimmer and leaf blower. They all use the same battery and the big battery from the chain saw on a drill or the impact you won't worry about running out of juice.

I did the same when I bought my first Ryobi combo kit. I bought another 2, then another 2, then another 2 , then another 2, etc. I did find that I rarely use the other Ryobi cordless tools (jig saw, hack saw, circular saw, etc) as they just don't compare to my quality corded versions but I do use cordless drills/drivers a lot and definitely prefer cordless drills.

I am thinking I might get the cordless vacuum though. I can see that could be really handy for those small messes that you don't want to drag the big(er) vac over to clean up.

[Ohio Mike]

I did the same when I bought my first Ryobi combo kit. I bought another 2, then another 2, then another 2 , then another 2, etc. I did find that I rarely use the other Ryobi cordless tools (jig saw, hack saw, circular saw, etc) as they just don't compare to my quality corded versions but I do use cordless drills/drivers a lot and definitely prefer cordless drills.

I am thinking I might get the cordless vacuum though. I can see that could be really handy for those small messes that you don't want to drag the big(er) vac over to clean up.

Kind of the same deal for me. You buy a drill, then a combo set. Then a drill dies so do you buy a different set? No you buy another drill of the same type. Then you finally have batteries die and you can buy another tool pack with changer and batteries for the same price as two batteries. Its a endless cycle.

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

Kind of the same deal for me. You buy a drill, then a combo set. Then a drill dies so do you buy a different set? No you buy another drill of the same type. Then you finally have batteries die and you can buy another tool pack with changer and batteries for the same price as two batteries. Its a endless cycle.

I've actually never had a Ryobi tool fail except for the batteries. I do notice that my Roybi's fart out brush smells for a moment when you use them for the 1st time after they have been sitting for a little while. I was expecting them to fail but none of them have.