Must Have YELLOW Cordless Unique Specialty Tools

[PAToyota]

Must Have Yellow Cordless Unique Specialty Tools

Prompted by this thread: Ryobi tools upgrade to ????

So a few of the comments there are that red or yellow is the better choice because of this or that offering.

There are the standard "must have" cordless tools everyone typically has - drill, driver, and impact. Then the typical power tools that people might get in cordless versions too - angle grinder, circular saw, sawzall, and such - depending on the work they do most frequently. Both colors have these categories covered pretty well and jockey back and forth year to year for having the best specs.

But what are some of the unique specialty tools in the yellow brand that people have found and have really appreciated? Things you might not normally be looking for, but really found a place in your tool arsenal once you had them? It can be difficult to find every tool in a brand's lineup. The box stores generally have a selection of the "must have" and "typical" tools and even looking at the brand websites, it can be difficult to go down every rabbit hole to see every single tool they have available.

I'll even open this up to "aftermarket" stuff that works with yellow batteries. I've found a few third party tools I've found useful that aren't made by the yellow brand itself.

 

[SomeGuy]

Geeze...

So I have around 18 or so different models of their drills/impact drivers/impact wrenches/etc. the really only odd ball ones are the 12v screwdriver which is awesome, and the 60v mixing drill which is torquey AF. Cordless ratchets are ok but bulky.

Grinders are good, sawzalls, jigsaws, oscillating multi-tool, circular saw the 60v cordless makes corded pointless, lights are nice (I just did a video on the DCL050).

Otherwise, getting into the odd ball stuff...their pex expander is life changing if you do pex plumbing. I have their caulking gun in 10oz variety but you can interchange the heads if you buy them to get sausage or larger tubes or whatever.

The new USB-C charger is awesome as it goes both ways and gives you enough for a laptop even. I also have two of their vacuums, the 2 gallon and the stick vac, use the shit out of both even though they're not as sucky as a regular vac, they're super handy.

I have the jobsite fan, it moves enough air and is quiet enough to be useful, like it. I also have the old 20v blower and trimmer, both work well, but the blower is showing its age and I'm itching to order the new 60v blower that just came out.


I think that's the bulk of what I have kicking around, none of their concrete tools in cordless as I have corded versions from back in the day...and none of their linesman stuff like big cable strippers/crimpers as I don't work with heavy gauge cable.

 

[dirtybird]

The small blower and the vacuum are real handy.

 

[PAToyota]

I picked up one of these: Amazon.com

I had been looking at the plastic staple welders for awhile, but when I first looked at them the types with the box and gun started at a couple hundred dollars. Then I started seeing corded ones like this for $40 or less. When I saw this one that would work with yellow batteries for $30, I figured I'd give it a try. It actually works pretty well and I've used it to repair a few trim pieces as well as some household stuff. I think having it on the battery is better than corded because the battery acts as a base and you don't have to worry about laying it down when the nozzle is still hot - like you would with the corded versions.

A bit more mainstream, but this has gotten a lot more use over the years than I thought it would: Amazon.com

I picked it up when it was on sale for $89 and figured I'd use it on the bicycles, motorcycle, lawn equipment, and such, but it will do automobile tires and has filled a 285/75-R16 on my truck at times. Granted, it takes awhile and is fairly loud, but you can set the pressure and screw the chuck on and walk away from it.

 

[SomeGuyFromOlympia]

this one has never let me down
even fell off the roof with me once, my always loyal companion

 

[arse_sidewards]

this one has never let me down
even fell off the roof with me once, my always loyal companion

I love the chucks on those. Way better than what came on a lot of other shit back then.

 

[PAToyota]

As I said, most everyone has a drill, driver, and impact. I'm looking for the unique stuff people may not know about or consider at first.

 

[buzzbombxj]

I have A bunch of the same yellow stuff everyone has. But I also have some Chinese crap that works on the yellow battery system. 20$ work light, cheap USB/12v adapter, cheap fan. It pretty much was all a third of the price of the yellow stuff and works great. I bring all that stuff camping now. For a real tool I get the actual thing, but my little fan is very popular when it gets hot.

 

[rattle_snake]

The small blower and the vacuum are real handy.

I like this particular vac.

Just bought this thanks dirtybird

The 18v jigsaw is a nice piece.

I only use cordless grinders now.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

18v is still a thing?

My 60v worm drive (style) circ saw is the mvp of my yellow tool wood butchering arsenal. Leagues better than any other hand saw I've used.

 

[Gots_a_sol]

The metal circular saw DCS373 works pretty damn good other than covering everything in hot ass chips

12" 20v chainsaw has some snot for its size. Most of my property clearing is done with that. I have the 20" 60v saw also which works well too but doesn't seem to like my biggest 60v battery for some reason.

String trimmer works decent after replacing the string head on it with a better one. The woman runs this mostly.

The big leaf blower is decent but I have the small blower also that gets reached for first most of the time since it more compact.

The air compressor/inflator is great. Again, super simple for the woman to be able to use.

 

[Gots_a_sol]

Anybody used the pruners?

 

[PAToyota]

The small blower and the vacuum are real handy.

I've got this one:

It's good for smaller stuff when I don't want to drag out the shop vac - particularly for things like taking it out to the car. I've also ended up using it quite a bit in the house to clean up a spill or such when I don't want to pull out the big vacuum.

 

[PAToyota]

I only use cordless grinders now.

I've got 20V and 60V grinders, but my corded ones still get a lot of use too. If I'm just cleaning up something quick, the cordless is nice. But if you're grinding for any amount of time the cordless ones chew through batteries in no time.

 

[PAToyota]

12" 20v chainsaw has some snot for its size. Most of my property clearing is done with that. I have the 20" 60v saw also which works well too but doesn't seem to like my biggest 60v battery for some reason.

I've got the 60V 16" chainsaw. For the few times I use it in a year, it beats fighting with getting the gas powered one running again. But it has also had no problem with cutting up 8" to 10" limbs off my oak tree.

 

[PAToyota]

Anybody used the pruners?

I've got to say, just looking at that thing scares the beejeesus out of me. Years ago I cut through to the bone of my thumb with regular pruners. I was bunching stuff together with one hand and lopping it off with the pruners in the other hand and zigged when I should have zagged...

 

[PAToyota]

I picked this up when Fasteners Inc. was blowing them out half price:

It's a copper pipe cutter attachment that attaches to an impact driver. Somewhat gimmicky and fits in a grey area between homeowner and professional. If you're a homeowner, you're unlikely to be cutting enough copper pipe to bother with it and if you're a professional it isn't really robust enough.

However, at half price I feel it was worth it as I have been doing a bunch of plumbing work.

By the way, I've ended up buying a bunch of DeWalt stuff from Fasteners and Murdoch's. Both are authorized dealers, so the two DeWalt items I've had to warranty were purchased through them and I didn't have any issues warrantying the items. I've heard of people having issues with some online places that aren't authorized dealers. Keeping an eye on Slickdeals is also a good way to not pay full prices.

• Fasteners Inc: Promotions
• Murdoch's: Search
• Slickdeals: Slickdeals: Searching for "dewalt"

 

[D Nelly]

The yellow rivet guns are way better than the m12 rivet gun. The yellow ones are pretty close to the air guns in speed

 

[Thag]

Huge fan of the yellow Bluetooth speaker standard battery lasts a long time, also the grease gun is a game changer.

 

[wvracer821]

I like this particular vac.

Just bought this thanks dirtybird

The 18v jigsaw is a nice piece.

I only use cordless grinders now.

I have both of those and use them a lot.

 

[WaterH]

I like this particular vac.

I need that.

 

[Lbhsbz]

I picked up one of these: Amazon.com

I had been looking at the plastic staple welders for awhile, but when I first looked at them the types with the box and gun started at a couple hundred dollars. Then I started seeing corded ones like this for $40 or less. When I saw this one that would work with yellow batteries for $30, I figured I'd give it a try. It actually works pretty well and I've used it to repair a few trim pieces as well as some household stuff. I think having it on the battery is better than corded because the battery acts as a base and you don't have to worry about laying it down when the nozzle is still hot - like you would with the corded versions.

Just ordered one of those...been wanting one and $30 is easy enough if it's a piece of shit.

Also found a $30 heat gun....got that coming too.

 

[PAToyota]

I have no idea how long it will last, but so far it has been good. And, as you say, for $30 I can't complain. If it dies, then I'll probably look into something more robust because it has become a tool I use.

I also picked up a glue gun: https://a.co/d/4ceLpVY

Like the staple welder, the battery gives it a good base so you're not looking for a way to keep the hot part off stuff when you lay it down.

I've been using the glue gun more than I thought I would. It's handy for holding things in place while mocking up all sorts of things or for working with cardboard.

 

[Projectjunkie]

I've got the bigger impacts, the sawzalls, the circular saw, oscillating tool, the grease guns are sweet, as said, and the heated jackets

Basically, buy a heated jacket, and enjoy the next 6 years of mild winters, because Murphy. I still win

 

[Gbkeith]

Anybody bought the 20v inflator or the compressor?

 

[PAToyota]

Anybody bought the 20v inflator or the compressor?

A bit more mainstream, but this has gotten a lot more use over the years than I thought it would: Amazon.com

I picked it up when it was on sale for $89 and figured I'd use it on the bicycles, motorcycle, lawn equipment, and such, but it will do automobile tires and has filled a 285/75-R16 on my truck at times. Granted, it takes awhile and is fairly loud, but you can set the pressure and screw the chuck on and walk away from it.

This one?

 

[ThePanzerFuhrer]

Huge fan of the yellow Bluetooth speaker standard battery lasts a long time, also the grease gun is a game changer.

Sad thing is that grease gun is garbage compared to the red ones

 

[blakes]

I have the Flexvolt pancake compressor. It works great and I mostly use it to fill tires. It wouldn't be very good to fill big tires and would take too long requiring a second battery.

 

[Lbhsbz]

That staple welder showed up today....so naturally, I spent 30 minutes walking around the shop looking for broken plastic shit to fix.

I have a bunch of U-line plastic bin boxes that always break...fixed those all up. The went to throw the box away and saw the top of my recycle bin was cracked in half. Put about 30 staples in that and it's solid.

This thing is neat! I wish I'd bought one years ago.

 

[SMI17]

That pex tool is a game changer for sure, one of my favorite tools in my yellow collection. I also have the inflator a few posts up, takes a while to inflate a 285-16 tire from 20psi to 80psi but it's easy. Also have the grease gun, it's been more reliable then the manual guns I've had.

I want the portaband, pole trimmer, small blower, bit grinder and another couple angle grinders.

If I had to start all over again I would be very tempted to go red but I've been very happy with all my 20v yellows. Each to their own.