Boat Drill

laika

laika

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 Apr 2011
Messages
8,307
Location
London / Gosport
Visit site
Never having owned a house I never needed power tools until I bought a boat and my experience with them is purely limited to boat-related tasks. I have a very rubbish drill (which was given to me) which I'm looking to replace (chuck slips, won't accept the arbour I need for big hole saws...).

Am I right in thinking that not having a ferrocement boat there's no point in a "combi drill" and I just need a "drill/driver"? That seemed logical and the same model seems to be marginally lighter without the hammer function, but why on earth do drills get cheaper if they have the extra hammer feature? Economies of scale because more people want them?

Any tips for selecting a cordless drill which I can't foresee being used on brick or concrete?
 
I have a Neilsen 18v drill without hammer function, it has been a faithful chum for a few years.

However deals change all the time; with or without hammer, I find Screwfix hard to beat on such things.
 
I'd be surprised if you need a hammer drill on a boat, but if they are cheaper than the non hammer ones......

PBO did a test on drills a couple of months ago, possibly worth a read, but didn't test their longevity.

I've had an 18 v Makita Combi drill for about 5 yrs, which is used at home and on the boat, and have been very pleased with it. About £100 from screwfix with 2 lithium batteries. The downsides for boat use is that you need shore power to charge the batteries, (but they seem to last ages, and this will be the same with all 18 v drills) and the carry case is huge.
 
I bought a cheap Aldi 18 volt drill. The drill's OK'ish but the batteries self-discharge to zero after a few days of non-use, A PITA.
Just replaced it with an 18 v. De Walt. B & Q offer was best at the time. A different animal altogether, v. pleased.
I wouldn't worry about hammer feature or not.
I'd imagine your big hole saws will take it out of your battery, so think about re-charging needs.
 
Last edited:
Kwik Decision said:
I'd be surprised if you need a hammer drill on a boat, but if they are cheaper than the non hammer ones......

PBO did a test on drills a couple of months ago, possibly worth a read, but didn't test their longevity.

I've had an 18 v Makita Combi drill for about 5 yrs, which is used at home and on the boat, and have been very pleased with it. About £100 from screwfix with 2 lithium batteries. The downsides for boat use is that you need shore power to charge the batteries, (but they seem to last ages, and this will be the same with all 18 v drills) and the carry case is huge.
Click to expand...

Another vote for Makita as a quality product. I've had two Dewalt cordless in the past but the Makita is much nicer/better. The 18 volt Lithium Ion battery lasts very well. (It also fits the Makita multi tool. )
 
Kwik Decision said:
I've had an 18 v Makita Combi drill for about 5 yrs, which is used at home and on the boat, and have been very pleased with it. About £100 from screwfix with 2 lithium batteries. The downsides for boat use is that you need shore power to charge the batteries, (but they seem to last ages, and this will be the same with all 18 v drills) and the carry case is huge.
Click to expand...

I too have an 18v Li-ion Makita combi (drill, screw, and hammer) which got used on the boat during major refit work but is normally the home drill. It replaced a 12v NiCad Makita drill/driver which then became the boat drill. The NiCad doesn't need shore power to charge, when it moved to the boat I bought a 12v charger intended for tradesmen's vans and I'm fairly sure these are available for the newer battery types too.

Been very happy with both of them, it would take something quite significant to cause me to buy any drill other than Makita in future.

Pete
 
I usually borrow my son's cordless, bought from Lidl, and it also can drive screws; it has never let me down. On the boat I usually carry an old-fashioned two-speed breast-drill... although I have never tried it on a breast... so far.

ken5970620k.eps_large.jpg
 
After much consideration, I have just bought one of these http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/bosch-psb-1800-li-2-cordless-hammer-drill---2-batteries---18v-289924?_$ja=tsid:49590|cid:498058216|agid:29554621696|tid:pla-52155184734|crid:114310179496|nw:g|rnd:4975804448474133749|dvc:m|adp:1o4&gclid=CJKPv-COlM4CFccp0woddlgJWw for my son from Amazon. I have an ancient Bosch cordless with which I have been very pleased but things have moved on and the 18v li ion battery gives more power and other advantages.
 
Link doesn't seem to work. Makita are good but expensive and more suitable to professional use i think. Certainly too good to have on a boat for occasional use.
Revised link

Bosch PSB 1800 Li-2 Cordless Hammer Drill - 2 Batteries - 18V
Bosch PSB 1800 Li-2 Cordless Hammer Drill - 2 Batteries - 18V
 
I've bought the Lidl/Parkside 4-in-1 drill/multitool contraption last year and still believe it's the best thing that happened to my onboard workshop. It's just a lot of tools in one box that would otherwise take three more boxes that I couldn't justify carrying. Coincidentally, it's just about to come up for sale again: http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=35953

I'm using the drill/driver all the time, including drilling 10mm holes into my stainless steel bow fitting. The detail sander is handy too, as is the saw. The oscillating tool I've only use a few times, but it was handy then (cutting out seized rudder donut bearing). I do recommend you beg/borrow/steal (eBay or another Parkside 14.4V tool) a second battery pack for it. In drill mode it lasts forever, but when sanding it can run for approximately 30 minutes (but then I have a AC powered RO sander for bigger jobs).
 
Thanks for advice so far. To clarify, "boat drill" isn't the sacrificial spare for me (liveaboard). I've had to borrow a neighbour's drill a couple of times recently because my aldi cheapie wouldn't drill through teak and fibreglass to install a winch and because its chuck isn't big enough for my hole saw arbor. I don't like borrowing stuff so I want something that will be all the drill I'll ever need. Being able to charge from the boat battery is vital but I do have an inverter. The makitas are attractive (though expensive) because I've used them before (borrowed), the batteries seem interchangeable and I might want to buy a jigsaw. Also because my spell checker amusingly changes "Makita" to "Akita" so maybe I can protect the boat with a "beware of the akita" sign. The DHP versions (combi) seem to be rather cheaper than the DDF (drill/driver) equivalents though (but the DDFs are slightly lighter). I suppose for things awkwardly inaccessible that I can't get a hand to a "Hammer" setting might be useful..
 
Last edited:
Go to a car boot sale and look for a cordless drill being sold without a battery or with a duff battery. Ideally a 12 - 14.4 volt one but 18 volts are OK. Discard the batteries but keep the battery case. Wire up to the main battery bank with fairly meaty cable long enough to reach anywhere on the boat.

Now you need never wait for it to recharge.

N.B. A 9.6 v drill driver can get the same treatment. Mine was bought for a couple of quid and is still going strong 10 years on despite being fed 12 volts. .
 
Unless you liveaboard or are renovating then a hand drill would suffice. Electric drills don't like not being used for long periods of time as the batteries tend to go bad.
 
TQA said:
Go to a car boot sale and look for a cordless drill being sold without a battery or with a duff battery. Ideally a 12 - 14.4 volt one but 18 volts are OK. Discard the batteries but keep the battery case. Wire up to the main battery bank with fairly meaty cable long enough to reach anywhere on the boat.

Now you need never wait for it to recharge.

N.B. A 9.6 v drill driver can get the same treatment. Mine was bought for a couple of quid and is still going strong 10 years on despite being fed 12 volts. .
Click to expand...

Now thats a good idea that gets around the bad battery dilema. Power it off the boats batteries!
 
john_morris_uk said:
Another vote for Makita as a quality product. I've had two Dewalt cordless in the past but the Makita is much nicer/better. The 18 volt Lithium Ion battery lasts very well. (It also fits the Makita multi tool. )
Click to expand...

+1 for Makita. About £100 for drill with 2 lithium ion batteries. When one runs out, pop the charged one in, and charge the other up via the inverter. I'm expecting it to last a very long time.
 
Richard10002 said:
+1 for Makita. About £100 for drill with 2 lithium ion batteries. When one runs out, pop the charged one in, and charge the other up via the inverter. I'm expecting it to last a very long time.
Click to expand...

Make sure you buy one with interchangeable batteries... Mine is the LXT model, so I could buy other tools and use the same batteries.
 
I see a few people are charging with inverters. It would be more efficient to use a DC to DC converter. it also allows those without inverters to use 18v drills onboard without a mains hookup.
 
I have four Makita drills, so that counts as a vote for them (they are all different and there is a good reason). A massive fraction of the price is in the battery. With the Makita 18v you can charge the battery fast. If you do have an inclination to extend the range you can buy the circular saw for £100 without a battery. I bought the saw with the expectation that it would be lightly used. Couldn't have been more wrong.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top