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[thatguy]

could the reason why the dewalt did better than the makita be because the dewalt has a 3 speed?

the makita only has a two speed while the dewalt has a three speed, giving you a faster top gear, and a slower first gear.

I think the reason why makita went away with the 3 speed bhp451 was because the transmission was prone to failure due to the plastic shifter ring...hammerdrilling in 3rd gear would put a lot of stress on the ring, so they simply ditched the 3 speed and gave it a two speed...which sucks because I want a heavy duty 3 speed to go with my set of makita cordless tools.

[DEWALTDUDE]

Dewalt is 0-500 RPM's in 1st gear, 0-1250 in 2nd, and 0-2000 in 3rd. While Makita is 0-400 RPM's in 1st gear, and 0-1700 in 2nd gear. So in this test that does not apply to your question. Makita did away with the 3 speed because it is a Dewalt patent. Hence the reason why you do not see 3 speed transmissions on any other brand, with the exception of Hilti.

[KDamericano]

Dewalt is 0-500 RPM's in 1st gear, 0-1250 in 2nd, and 0-2000 in 3rd. While Makita is 0-400 RPM's in 1st gear, and 0-1700 in 2nd gear. So in this test that does not apply to your question. Makita did away with the 3 speed because it is a Dewalt patent. Hence the reason why you do not see 3 speed transmissions on any other brand, with the exception of Hilti.

Are you talking about only in a hammer drill? Makita still makes the BDF451 that has a 3 speed transmission, but it's just a drill driver.

 

[Bingobelle]

Dewalt is 0-500 RPM's in 1st gear, 0-1250 in 2nd, and 0-2000 in 3rd. While Makita is 0-400 RPM's in 1st gear, and 0-1700 in 2nd gear. So in this test that does not apply to your question. Makita did away with the 3 speed because it is a Dewalt patent. Hence the reason why you do not see 3 speed transmissions on any other brand, with the exception of Hilti.

Are you talking about only in a hammer drill? Makita still makes the BDF451 that has a 3 speed transmission, but it's just a drill driver.

That is true but the 451 have 300 rpm in first gear and 600 rpm in second gear so in my opinion that gearbox is just a joke. 300 rpm is to slow for anything practical and the extra 300 rpm in second gear is to less to make a sense. And the 1700 rpm is also not as good as 2000 rpm for smaller spadebits. Do not understand how makitas engineers where thinking wenn they engineered the 451 drill.

 

[Steven]

...If Dewalt jumps on board with PTI , then you might start seeing public torque specs for Dewalt drills...

When Dewalt came out with their own UWO standard, they should have kept the industry standard of in/lbs torque too.  But when they totally drop the in/lbs for the UWO rating, no one has a clue on how they measure up to the competition.

For example (how can you compare these?);
Drill A is 500 in/lbs
Drill B is 450 in/lbs
Drill C is 525 in/lbs
Drill D is 480 in/lbs
Drill E is 380 UWO

[golden valley const.]

Even comparing Drills A through D, you don't really have a clue how they compare in the real world.  UWO is a little better because it measures power.  Torque alone is not an indicator of power. 

[FMC]

My mistake if I posted this in the wrong area....

Also, two of the many good HD out there, the 950 and the 454 are two I was looking at. Your test shows me that they are both good. If tests show that that was a 50% diff or more, that would be a concern. Being that they are both capable, then other criteria such as weight and feel, features like LED's, belt clips, other tools offered with the same batteris..etc, also make a diff. The battery  technolgy is also important, hence my concern about how good the XRP nicads are. Last, this kit has the 951, that I saw on Dewalt's site is almost like the 950...how close or different is it?

Thanks

[DEWALTDUDE]

You can get the DCD970 Cheaper than the DCD950 right now at Home Depot. The DCD970 comes with 2 Lithium batteries. If NiCd was your hick-up, now you don't have to worry about the price difference.

[Bearcat]

 
Just wanted to say that I just bought a new DCD970.   

[DEWALTDUDE]

What are your thoughts on your new purchase?

[ToolCHuck]

Great review! I don't think I've seen a tool completely disassembled like that. The wite up was excellent too.

[Edge]

Just got a Makita 454 as a gift, thought I'd try it out against my 970 under actual work conditions and have not compared spec's beforehand. It's been a week and impressions overall IMO I slightly prefer the Makita over the Dewalt, simply for balance,feel,weight and chuck. but I do feel the Dewalt has slightly more torque and spins faster. Nonetheless both great drills.

[DEWALTDUDE]

I did enjoy the ergomoics, balance, and soft rubber grip on the 454 as well. I didn't care much for the chuck. What do you like more about the jacobs chuck, vs the Rohm?

[Edge]

The Rohm, although more robust, masonry bits would work loose on a few occasions, The hand tightning distance on the Jacobs is a tad farther than on the Rohm,dunno if that's the reason. Also looking at your drill with batt weight spec's, I was kinda shocked that the 970 was only 7oz's heavier, The 454 feels considerably lighter in the hand,guess due to tool balance. In the end, they are both great drills, not one better than the other,just different.

[sparkey]

I've had the Makita BHP 451 and the Dewalt DC725 (compact hammer drill). The Dewalt outperforms the Makita. Against manufacturer's recommendations I routinely use 7/8" and 1" ship augers in my cordless drills. Even my old Dewalt 925 with a 1" ship auger drilled through a double top plate where my newer Makita couldn't. The 725 does it as well. The cordless Makitas are gone and the Dewalts are still working away.