Same battery, lawn and carpentry tools

[vegabundo]

There are a lot of good multi-tool same battery options out there, but not all of them cover all tools.  For instance, I am a landlord (in my spare time) and the two most useful cordless tools I have are a drill and a weed-eater.  I bought a 18V Black and Decker single source of each back when I only had to take care of my own house, and as my side-hustle has grown I have come to consider those two of the best purchases I have ever made.  I know B&D has a less than stellar reputation, but I love them.  But, as the number of homes I take care of has grown from 1 to 17, I am seriously considering buying some new tools, but would like to keep the same basic concept of one battery for all, so I can keep of a couple charging at all times and just grab and go no matter what job I am on.

So that leads to my question.  So far, the only battery options I have found that have both a drill and a weed-eater or B&D and Makita.  Are there others I haven't found yet?

[jtkendall]

Milwaukee and Dewalt both have drills and string trimmers. Milwaukee tends to have deals where you buy a string trimmer kit and get a free leaf blower or hedge trimmer.

[jtkendall]

Example of the Milwaukee deal. http://www.acmetools.com/shop/tools/milwaukee-outdoor-power-equipment/DiscountDetailsDisplayView?code=Milwaukee+2725-21HD+Your+Choice+May-10113560&langId=-1&storeId=11301&catalogId=10551&productId=3074457345617432902

[fm2176]

I have numerous DeWalt drills as well as their string trimmer, hedge trimmer, and blower.  All are excellent tools, and the string trimmer will run for a fair amount of time with one of the newer 6+Ah batteries.

 

I haven't tried the Milwaukee OPE amd only have two of their drills.  I can wholeheartedly recommend DeWalt, though, and given Milwaukee's reputation you couldn't go wrong with them either.

[Jronman]

Milwaukee and DeWALT have both tools but in my opinion Makita is the best option. DeWALT has two trimmers you will want to look at. The 20v and the Flexvolt. The 20v trimmer works with any 20v or Flexvolt battery but the Flexvolt trimmer only works with Flexvolt batteries. The Flexvolt is the better trimmer in my opinion but it can't use 20v batteries but you drill will be able to use both 20v and Flexvolt batteries. The Milwaukee trimmer is kinda in the same boat as the Flexvolt but not quite. Like the 20v trimmer you can use any m18 battery with the m18 trimmer but like the Flex it will benefit from using a specific battery. In Milwaukee's case you will want the 9 ah or 12 ah batteries. The Makita doesn't need specific batteries to get full benefits of the tool. Many Makita kits come with 5 ah batteries which are a good size for any 18v and x2 tool Makita offers. I suggest you get Makita's multihead system. It is part of the x2 platform . The main feature of this tool is you can change out the head. If you need to use a string trimmer you can attach the string trimmer head. Is a tree or bush needing trimmed? There are pole saw and pole hedge trimmer attachments available as well.

[D W]

Nearly all the major brands have 18V/20V string trimmers now (they all have drills). Hitachi, Ryobi, Makita, Dewalt, Milwaukee, and Ridgid/AEG have 18V string trimmers. I believe Metabo and Bosch (Blue) are the only major brands that don't. 

 

I have the 20V Dewalt string trimmer and it works great. It can feel underpowered on low setting at times but has great runtime. It has no problem with pretty much anything residential on high setting (at the expense of runtime). It also doesn't need to use big batteries and runs great with the normal sized XR 5ah and compact XR 2ah batteries (both appropriate sized batteries to use with a drill).

 

I also have Dewalt's DCD796 compact hammer drill and 20V oscillating multitool and they're both great for use in and around homes.

[Biggie]

One thing to keep in mind when looking at all of these brands is that most of the outdoor equipment is going to run best on their higher amp batteries.  I'm just guessing that coming from black and decker you've been using 2.0 or less a/h batteries so even a 5.0 will give you a good bump in run time on the trimmer.  But as a maintenance/homeowner you might find that a slim pack battery is all you really need/want on a drill.  Long story short you might find that while you can run both on the same battery you might be happier having a couple different size batteries.

[vegabundo]

Thanks for all the good feedback.