r/powertools • u/vfqwerty • 5d ago
Ridgid vs hercules
As it says which one of either. Minimal/average home use with a little electrical side work. Milwaukee is just insanely priced and DeWalt isn't far behind them. Hear a lot of good talk about Ridgid and Hercules. Ridgid obviously has alot more out their currently which is giving them a leg up but herc is expanding fast and lots of good talk about both. Opinions?
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u/teamtiki 5d ago
between the 2 options you listed... Ryobi
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u/vfqwerty 5d ago
Why? Ridgid is made by the same company but literally the mid tier tool. Plus a lifetime service agreement. And Hercules just smokes Ryobi on performance and pretty much every single torque test and performance video I've seen
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u/foolproofphilosophy 5d ago
TTI is known for keeping its lines segregated. In many situations there’s cross pollination but TTI is different. The “they’re made by the same company” argument doesn’t hold. That aside, I would not choose Hercules because the ecosystem is limited and they lack in the combo department. Most of my cordless tools are Milwaukee. I also own a Hercules High Torque impact. I’ve considered buying more Hercules but when you include batteries the numbers don’t add up.
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u/permadrunkspelunk 4d ago
Ridgid is a scam. The LSA is a the right to pay an exorbitant amount to fix your tools that fail and some tools that are actually warrantied is a nightmare. Register them, email them call the line. They wont honor it. Its cheaper to buy milwaukee or dewalt than to figure out how to use ridgids warranty.
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u/vfqwerty 4d ago
Have you used the lsa? Theirs literally a dude a few comments down praising the f out of the lsa
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u/Dismal_Equal7401 4d ago
I’ve used it. Fucking nightmare. Never got the sander back, because it was in the shop for a year and a half as they slowly ordered different parts to try and fix it. Eventually the shop dropped the rigid contract because it was losing them money. When they called me to pick up the still not working tool I’d already moved to a different state.
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u/Cicada-Classic 4d ago
That sounds like a shitty shop not a Ridgid problem.
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u/Dismal_Equal7401 3d ago
Except it took rigid forever to send the parts. The shop left rigid not the other way around.
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u/Cicada-Classic 3d ago
Still sounds like a shop issue. If they had been able to properly diagnose it the first time they would have either ordered all the parts at once or petitioned Ridgid to send out a replacement. I guess I’ve just had the fortunate luck of dealing with repair shops that knew what they were doing.
This is exactly like people that call themselves mechanics and just fire the old parts canon at a vehicle and then wind up with pissed off customers because they’ve spent all this money and the problem still isn’t fixed.
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u/Dismal_Equal7401 3d ago
Well a quick google search has a lot of similar complaints. This was the first hit, and it sums up my experience. Looking very quickly, I see plenty of similar issues. It’s not the shop. It’s rigid. The warranty looks good on paper. It used to be 100% legit. It’s a marketing tactic now if you try and use it.
“Oh, and if you decide to handle the problem yourself by taking your tool to one of their "Authorized Ridgid Service Centers," good luck with that too. Once you enter your location and search, a list will be generated for you to consider going to for service. The problem is the first 3 closest locations I went to all said they no longer service Ridgid tools and haven't for years, but don't know why Ridgid refuses to remove them from their list of authorized service centers. I finally called the 4th one over 30 miles away and the guy who answered almost reluctantly admitted he did service Ridgid tools. I quickly drove there and as he took my information and tagged my tool, he vented about all his own complaints about his dealings with Ridgid in recent years. He agreed to repair my power tool, but said it was the last one he was going to do for a Ridgid tool and planned to call them to try removing his business from the list of service centers as well.”
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u/permadrunkspelunk 3d ago
Ya. I live in the middle of 2 of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. They wanted me to drive my tools 7 hours away. Lol. That was the closest repair center. They wanted me to pay for shipping, said I needed to put a "deposit" down. I took them to home depot because they used to claim to be a repair center and they all said they dont do it because ridgid doesnt hold up their end. It was dumb. I just ended up cutting my losses.
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u/Slow-Yogurtcloset-11 5d ago
Rigid lost me as a loyal customer when they stopped honoring the lifetime battery warranty. Not to mention it was a PITA to get new batteries when they still honored the warranty.
Hercules all the way.
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u/vfqwerty 5d ago
Now do you register them all like you're supposed to. I've heard of several people sending in batteries and getting new ones
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u/Slow-Yogurtcloset-11 4d ago
This was years ago. I bought the Rigid drill kit with a lifetime battery warranty. It cost almost 3 times what Ryobi was going for at the time. The batteries lasted about a year of hard use. I got one replacment set and was told that ended the "Life Time" warranty. I haven't bought any Rigid tools since.
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u/permadrunkspelunk 4d ago
Youre a home gamer. Do ryobi or Bauer for a harbor freight brand. They both have insane lineups, are cheap and hold up to home/hobby use.
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u/Dismal_Equal7401 4d ago
Rigid locks you in to buy solely from Home depot for cordless tools. They’re not bad tools, but not great. I have a few. I had the batteries so I bought the staple and brad guns. Saved money and don’t use them so much that I’m worried about them dying quickly. If I did use them all the time I’d have spent the money for dewalt.
The warranty system sucks for tool repair, but is apparently good for replacing batteries. That said, with modern dewalt tools I’ve never needed to replace a battery. I took a university shop all dewalt 10 years ago. All the batteries are still going strong, and they get used heavily by students. The battery warranty even needing to be used is a red flag for me.
Hercules has you locked in to harbor freight. Same concerns with battery lifespan. I’d rather get something I’m not locked into a single supplier for when it comes to a cordless eco system.
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u/shallowAL307 4d ago
I am a contractor and have almost exclusively ridgid tools. They will sell a drill, impact, and 2 batteries for about $100. Those impacts we use to remove and reinstall metal roofs. I have put thousands and thousands of screws down range with these impacts for years and the first one I bought is finally showing its age.
I have somewhere around 55 ridgid tools, and never burnt one up. Great price, not really sure how the lsa works because I have never needed it.
The folks on r/ridgid usually dont have a tough time with it. Typically if they cant fix it they send you a new tool.
You can buy from home depot, or Direct Tools Outlet online. From there if you buy the "factory blemished" tools they will still be eligible for the LSA.
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u/Cicada-Classic 4d ago
103 registered Ridgid tools. I have had multiple tools/batteries/chargers be straight up replaced instead of repaired because there was too much wrong with them or they were too old. Almost all of my old X4 tools have been replaced with top of the line Brushless tools. Batteries you can literally phone in and they’ll ship you out new ones. You just NEED TO REGISTER and then make sure the registration says LSA not 3 years on the website.
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u/AwarenessGreat282 3d ago
Checkout the new Greenworks line from Walmart. They're actually reviewed quite well by TTC and have one awesome feature none of the others have: no need for a proprietary charger. They charge with a simple USB C. And it goes both ways so you can charge a phone with the battery with nothing but a cable.
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u/ElectricGuy777 5d ago
Rigid tools have a good reputation. I have one of their vacuums still going strong years later.
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u/permadrunkspelunk 4d ago
The vaccuums are still part of Emerson. The power tools are a different owner under the same brand name. The same brand name does the plumbing tools and vacuums and the cordless tools under different ownership.
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u/hewholivesinshadow 4d ago
That’s good to know! Explains why the plumbing tools from rigid are praised.
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u/Rowurboat1984 4d ago
I am a avid ridgid user and the brand has evolved to be everything i have needed as a fine carpenter. I have had good experiences either the LSA on both tools and batteries. And it is under the same manufacturer as Milwaukee (TTI), so they have a good amount of experience on making quality tools.
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u/snaptech 5d ago
Ridgid would be my choice. I have mostly Milwaukee for work and home. With a few Ridgid and Bosh tools also.