Kobalt Liquidation!

[WestBrantKid]

I just replaced all my 20v Dewalt cordless tools with Kobalt 24v after my dad found them at a liquidation centre in Brantford. These are being liquidated through Rona as well, but the liquidation centre has them cheaper. Roughly 33% of the full price whereas Rona is about 50% or less depending on the tool.
I've been unhappy with Dewalt for a long time now because of the high cost and short life of the batteries. I've been thinking of making a shift to Milwaukee, but that's an expensive undertaking. I don't know much about Kobalt, but the reviews are good, so I'm hoping for the best. This replaces what I had in Dewalt, and a few more. I made sure to get enough batteries to last a long time in case they aren't any better then Dewalt.

Does anyone own or operate Kobalt tools? Are they any good? I'll be very happy if I get 8-10 years with light-duty work (home use).

What I bought:
Hammer drill
Large impact kit
Recep saw
Jigsaw
200lm Light
2000lm Work light
Brushless drill
Brushless impact
Circular saw
Router
Angle grinder
Oscillating multi-tool
BT Speaker
Weed trimmer
3 Chargers
10 4ah Batteries
2 6Ah Batteries

Total is roughly $1260.

 

[GreyGhost]

Holy crap. That's a lot of stuff. A lot of those tools are handy to have cordless as many jobs just need a few seconds of power. Why did you buy multiple drills and impacts? I have a bunch but mainly so I can leave them various places. I wouldn't be buying nearly as many if I had to start the collection again. If you had switched to red, the batteries would have cost more than your entire haul (but I have had good luck with red longevity). I also gave up on yellow due to longevity/reliability issues.

I assume the kit has a charger and you bought a couple spares or you have four chargers? If I was advising people, I would avoid the speakers/radios that are tool linked as I have used them but don't really see the value to have them tied into my expensive battery supply. At 70% off, they may be cheaper than generic stuff.

 

[spitRR]

If they’re being liquidated, doesn’t that mean they’re being discontinued? ( I could be wrong) If so, then batteries will be hard to come by in the future. The 12 batteries you got should do you good for a while though.

 

[Priller]

I would call Kobalt gear 'home handyman' grade, but at that price, you have definitely done very well. DeWalt went to absolute sh*te when they got bought by Black & Decker a while ago. Now they're just a Home Depot line, a small step up from Ryobi and well down from Milwaukee. There was a time when NiMh-powered DeWalt screwguns were so much better than the competition that they were literally all you'd see on a jobsite, but those days are long gone.

Every brand has good and bad tools, but when I was buying tools as a contractor, Makita and Bosch seemed on average to give the best bang-for-buck proposition, though Bosch stuff at the big box stores seems to be typically crappier. Hilti gear is the best, but super expensive if you don't buy enough to negotiate a blanket discount (plus they have really started pushing tool rentals for contractors). Milwaukee is decent but overpriced as they've spent a lot on marketing in the past few years. They do occasionally have good discount sales on packages at Home Depot (e.g. a free $150 battery with a $100 drill), but again, I'm suspicious that some of the gear sold in the big box stores is of a lower grade.

Then again, I have an early lithium Ridgid drill and driver set that are still kicking after what must be close to 20 years, and they're supposed to be junk, so who knows...

 

[Jayell]

Can you share the location of the sale, please?

 

[bitzz]

DeWalt went to absolute sh*te when they got bought by Black & Decker a while ago

Black and Decker bought controlling interest in Dewalt in 1960

 

[Priller]

Black and Decker bought controlling interest in Dewalt in 1960

You're absolutely right. Could have sworn they took over the company about a decade ago, but turns out that was just when they shifted the brand from being contractor-grade tools to consumer-grade tools sold in Home Depot...

Edit: turns out that shift coincided with moving manufacturing from Germany to a global supply chain and assembly in the US.

 

[Mad Mike]

I would call Kobalt gear 'home handyman' grade, but at that price, you have definitely done very well. DeWalt went to absolute sh*te when they got bought by Black & Decker a while ago. Now they're just a Home Depot line, a small step up from Ryobi and well down from Milwaukee. There was a time when NiMh-powered DeWalt screwguns were so much better than the competition that they were literally all you'd see on a jobsite, but those days are long gone.

Every brand has good and bad tools, but when I was buying tools as a contractor, Makita and Bosch seemed on average to give the best bang-for-buck proposition, though Bosch stuff at the big box stores seems to be typically crappier. Hilti gear is the best, but super expensive if you don't buy enough to negotiate a blanket discount (plus they have really started pushing tool rentals for contractors). Milwaukee is decent but overpriced as they've spent a lot on marketing in the past few years. They do occasionally have good discount sales on packages at Home Depot (e.g. a free $150 battery with a $100 drill), but again, I'm suspicious that some of the gear sold in the big box stores is of a lower grade.

Then again, I have an early lithium Ridgid drill and driver set that are still kicking after what must be close to 20 years, and they're supposed to be junk, so who knows...

I dumped all my Dewalt and Rigid stuff, my ecosystem is Milwaukee, no regrets.

The 2 for $149 HD stuff is about the same as the Ryobi, Dewalt and Rigid stuff they sell. All good for weekend projects, but not tradesman quality tools.


Those might look the same, (HD on the left, pro tool store on the right), but the one on the right will drive a pail of screws without heating up and slowing down. It will not see a warrantee call (5 years).

 

[Hardwrkr13]

Milwaukee and Ryobi both made by TTI so I’ve been told albeit to different standards I’m sure. I’m mostly the home handyman type but friggin adore the Dewalt drill and driver for the basic stuff I do around the property like building stuff like this and other projects.

 

[crankcall]

Tool wars …. Dewalt was a commercial branch of B&D , then they dumbed it down about the same time they bought Delta / Porter Cable and destroyed both brands . My 30yr old Porter cable belt sander and routers may out live me . My Delta table saw is already 2nd generation. I have boxes of Ryobi tools because no one steals them.
With the amalgamation of Lowes back into Rona stores the Kobalt brand had no home . It didn’t sell well and is considered on par with Craftsmen , I have an opportunity to convert everything to Einhell, a new German brand coming into Canada , but my $79 Ryobi drill will drill a hole so…


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[backmarkerducati]

Good price, the risk is longer term support of the ecosystem, mostly batteries. Like others noted, Kobalt is a bit of an orphan these days with Craftsman taking its place in stores--likely why the deal is so good. As long as the batteries that came with it last it is a solid deal. Or if it becomes a problem one can always make an adapter to use other brand batteries.

 

[oioioi]

Milwaukee and Ryobi both made by TTI so I’ve been told albeit to different standards I’m sure. I’m mostly the home handyman type but friggin adore the Dewalt drill and driver for the basic stuff I do around the property like building stuff like this and other projects.

I guess it all comes down to marketing.
Ryobi seems like a toy brand here in Canada but in Australia that is their go to brand. Even from contractor grade.
All the major brands have recently stepped up their marketing down in AUS and not finally becoming more popular, but at a higher price.

On a side note,
All the Milwaukee packout stuff that we have here in red, is available in Europe in black only.
Has something to do with patents that Hilti own in Europe.

Some guys will pay a premium in NA (mainly USA) to get the black version of the puckout tool boxes.

 

[crankcall]

Before Ryobi became the lime green homo depot house brand , it was blue mid level industrial. I still have a router and maybe a belt sander from the Blue line , it was on par with Makita for a lot less . Triton was a big Aussie brand that pops up here occasionally.
One problem with most major brands , it’s not a good better best . It’s 6 or 8 different 7 1/4 saws , and you’ll find two at the lumberyard . Go to Atlas tool or Tegs or Markham industrial and you’ll find actual selection, but most of us don’t “need” a $500 circular saw .


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[oioioi]

I also have a biscuit joiner from the blue Ryobi line. Don't think I ever used it (yet) but it was $25 at Restore several years ago so I bought it.

 

[crankcall]

I use a biscuit joiner constantly in my little home shop . Getting a good fit with no visible fasteners is what I like .


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[FullMotoJacket]

All the Milwaukee packout stuff that we have here in red, is available in Europe in black only.
Has something to do with patents that Hilti own in Europe.

There's a reason why Drumpf's gaudy gold sneakers quietly disappeared.

 

[ReSTored]

I decided on Ridgid about 5 years ago and been happy with them.

In the past all of my battery powered tools had either charger or battery issues. Ridgid has a lifetime warranty if you register them within 90 days, which I've done. I had 1 battery die, replaced within several days, no hassle.

I'm now 66 years old. My "lifetime" warranty period might be effectively 15 - 20 years or so, who knows, before my own internal battery dies (no warranty on that unfortunately........) . If you're a young guy 30 - 45 years old think about the long term value of a "lifetime" warranted tool.

 

[GreyGhost]

I decided on Ridgid about 5 years ago and been happy with them.

In the past all of my battery powered tools had either charger or battery issues. Ridgid has a lifetime warranty if you register them within 90 days, which I've done. I had 1 battery die, replaced within several days, no hassle.

I'm now 66 years old. My "lifetime" warranty period might be effectively 15 - 20 years or so, who knows, before my own internal battery dies (no warranty on that unfortunately........) . If you're a young guy 30 - 45 years old think about the long term value of a "lifetime" warranted tool.

Maybe. I don't expect "lifetime" warranties to extend to decades anymore. To relieve themselves of an ever growing liability, I expect most brands to roll/rebrand once in a while to clear those liabilities off the books. Dewalt was black and decker pro at one point. I'm not sure of warranty but I would be shocked if they let you swap and B&D pro tool for yellow. What happens when the battery format changes? I am more familiar with red than orange but in my life they have been through at least four battery systems. If they change battery systems do they replace your tote of tools or is it piecemeal (and what if some of the tools work fine but there are no more batteries available?).

If I get a decade or two out of battery powered tools I am satisfied. Most corded tools will last until I die.

 

[Priller]

Maybe. I don't expect "lifetime" warranties to extend to decades anymore. To relieve themselves of an ever growing liability, I expect most brands to roll/rebrand once in a while to clear those liabilities off the books. Dewalt was black and decker pro at one point. I'm not sure of warranty but I would be shocked if they let you swap and B&D pro tool for yellow. What happens when the battery format changes? I am more familiar with red than orange but in my life they have been through at least four battery systems. If they change battery systems do they replace your tote of tools or is it piecemeal (and what if some of the tools work fine but there are no more batteries available?).

If I get a decade or two out of battery powered tools I am satisfied. Most corded tools will last until I die.

In trying to puzzle out how old my Ridgid driver set is, I did some Googling and came across a thread about the now-discontinued 24V Ridgid tools that came with a lifetime warranty. Many reported that they'd been told to pound sand by Ridgid, but one guy said he'd been provided a full equivalent replacement set of the still-active 18V tools and batteries after arguing long and loud enough. I suspect success in making a claim would come down to a combination of the squeakiness of your wheel, along with getting a sympathetic CSR...

 

[ReSTored]

In trying to puzzle out how old my Ridgid driver set is, I did some Googling and came across a thread about the now-discontinued 24V Ridgid tools that came with a lifetime warranty. Many reported that they'd been told to pound sand by Ridgid, but one guy said he'd been provided a full equivalent replacement set of the still-active 18V tools and batteries after arguing long and loud enough. I suspect success in making a claim would come down to a combination of the squeakiness of your wheel, along with getting a sympathetic CSR...

I asked the question at HD in regards to battery replacement or tool replacement in the event the original format was no longer available. They told me that I'd be offered an equivalent tool in the then current format.

So............, given that current warranties for non Ridgid tools are a couple of years and then you're on your own, I think the Ridgid warranty is a cut above. Ask me in 10 - 15 years.

As I mentioned, if you're a young guy a "lifetime" warranty could mean coverage for 30 - 40 years. The relatively small premium you pay for Ridgid over Ryobi would be more than offset if Ridgid replaced your tools every 15 - 20 years.