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SDS+ Cordless Hammer Drills

Z

Zen Monkey

New member
I know this has featured a few times before but has anyone a current recommendation for a reasonably-priced, robust(of course) and reliable drill for bolting and other tasks underground? Or am I searching for something that doesn't exist? Many thanks for any assistance (or enlightenment...)
 
pwhole

pwhole

Well-known member
My Makita mentioned in one or more of the other threads on here is still going strong after a few years now and has taken some serious hammer. Last time it got so covered in thick dark mud that I had to hose it down to have a hope of cleaning it, and it worked fine the next day after a dry-off.
 
Pitlamp

Pitlamp

Well-known member
I also have a Makita which has been used and abused for some time and still works well. I have to thank Badlad for recommending this excellent tool.

If Badlad offers advice in your topic here it's likely to be well worth taking into account.

Somewhere on this forum there is a post by Sam T which includes a photo of a different model of Makita drill from mine. I think it was a "DHR242" (from memory). This fits nicely in a Peli 1400 case, with batteries etc.
 
Pete K

Pete K

Well-known member
Done a fair bit of bolting alongside pwhole with his Makita. Good bit of kit.
I'd also highly recommend the Bosch 18v GBH. The more compact of the 2 versions currently on the market has been my tool of choice for around 4 years now. I've hammered it and it is still going strong. Excellent little drill and man enough to do 17mm holes every now and again for BP anchors.
 
M

maxf

New member
I have a Dewalt Dch243, its been superceded by a brushless motor version now but when i bought it it was the smallest lightest drill with the strongest hammer action, 2.1 j. Also does chisel only.

Has been used for bolting and shot hole drilling

Yes some are more powerful but they are much bigger and heavier...
 
cavemanmike

cavemanmike

Well-known member
I use a brushless dewalt and have bolted a 400 foot ladder way including platforms. 10mm and 12mm bolts. Eats through limestone even use a core drill bit to wedge scaf tubes in.
Would highly recommend one
 
tim.rose2

tim.rose2

Active member
My Bosch 18v GBH does all the hard work on Portland.  Had it caked in mud a load of times and always been fine.  It's about 3 years old now.  Think I paid about ?160 but that was without battery & charger as I already had both.
 
SamT

SamT

Moderator
To be fair, you cant go wrong with either Bosch or Makita.. both well tried and tested.

Bosch are just as easily repairable/maintainable as Makita in my experience.

The deciding factor for me was that I know a bunch of people with Makitas, thus if I needed a couple of extra batteries for an extended session, then I knew they were easily borrowable.




 
SamT

SamT

Moderator
Page 2 of this thread..

https://ukcaving.com/board/index.php?topic=19468.msg250416#msg250416

for a pic of mine in the Peli 1400.  (just about the most compact Peli you could get to fit an SDS drill in!)
 
pwhole

pwhole

Well-known member
It will also float quite happily with the drill and three batteries inside. Downstream Speedwell trips are a breeze - just chuck it in and walk along behind it ;)
 
Leclused

Leclused

Active member
Zen Monkey said:
I know this has featured a few times before but has anyone a current recommendation for a reasonably-priced, robust(of course) and reliable drill for bolting and other tasks underground? Or am I searching for something that doesn't exist? Many thanks for any assistance (or enlightenment...)
Click to expand...

In our club we use the following machines

- For bolting : Bosch 18V
- for capping : Hilte TE6A-36V (AVR) Lion or Bosch 36V-LI

The 18V Bosch machines are very good balanced machines and can be handled with one hand for drilling. The 36V machines (Hilti and Bosch) are much heavier;

I know I'm spoiled in my club :)

BR
 
DaveyDubz

DaveyDubz

New member
At Imperial we have several Makita BHR162 drills which have been going strong for 5 years now (5 expeds). The difference with these and the other drills mentioned is that they run off 14.4V and are no longer available unused.
In 2019 we bought a 14.4V Sds+ Cel drill https://cel-uk.com/shop/14-4v-hammer-drill-sds-plus/
This performed well for the 2019 exped and although not as powerful as the Makitas it was lighter, only cost ?30 and allowed us to use the same batteries and bits as the Makitas.
We run our drills off lipo batteries attached via flyleads to the drills.
 
J

Jackhal

New member
To add to DaveyDubz's comment, we are pretty committed to 14.4 V because of the solar charging system used for ICCC's expedition in Slovenia [1].
Adapting the drills to take LiPo batteries is also primarily to allow the drills to be charged off-grid, but also makes the drill much less heavy for easy bolting.
I think YUCPC first came up with the idea of using external LiPo batteries [2]. The process used to adapt the Makitas is also well described here [3].   

Putting aside the (fairly specific) solar charging requirements, the Cel SDS+ drills which we purchased in 2019 seem to be very good value for money. I'm sure you'll get a better quality product from some of the other brands mentioned, but it's unlikely there's something which does the job at a cheaper price point...

[1] https://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/slovenia 
[2] http://durmitor.yucpc.org.uk/misc/drill_batteries.php
[3] https://union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/newzealand/articles/2015-03-21-makita.html
 
Badlad

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
I followed Sat T's link to the older thread and noted my comment from March 2016

I just bought a Makita DHR165 myself.  Thought others might be interested in cost.

Purchased the body from Lawson for ?130.  As I didn't already have a charger or batteries to fit I found them cheaper at Toolstore.  2x4aH batts and charger for ?168.  So ?298 the lot.
Click to expand...

Used this drill for caving and work and it's still going strong.  Been using it today, batteries still got plenty of life.  I do use my 36v Bosch for  longer capping trips and banging stuff, but the Makita is lighter to carry for longer trips.

As mentioned several drills perform well.  Well worth looking at what drills friends have got as that gives more scope for sharing batteries etc.
 
Ed W

Ed W

Member
Some good advice on this thread.  Thought it might be worth giving my experience. Personally I have a Bosch GBH18V and a GBH36V compact.  Both drills have had a lot of use.

The "little" Bosch 36V is a great piece of kit but can struggle with big (diameter or length) shotholes.  I bought mine about 10 years ago and I still use it regularly and it has seen a lot of abuse.  However saying this the current drill is a bit of a Frankenstein after I destroyed the hammer action drilling a number of 12mm x 500mm shotholes.  I managed to source another one on ebay being sold for parts with fried electronics for a few pennies and managed to make one functioning drill from the pair - still working about 7 years on.

The GBH18V is really in the same class as the GBH36V compact (same impact energy, 1.8J I think) and was bought after I knackered the 36V and before I resurrected it.  It drills just as well as the 36V and there is little to chose between them.  The big difference is that the 18V batteries also fit other tools - in my case the 5" disc cutter that I find is a must when doing lots of scaffolding (as I seem to be doing very often). 
 
Z

Zen Monkey

New member
Gentlemen, many thanks for all the advice and recommendations. What price manufacturer's claims in comparison with users recommendations? No contest. Having faced an impossible task of selection, I can now make a purchase with confidence. Much appreciated!
 
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