Welcome back Power Tool Fans. THIS WEEK! Todd is riding a blower bike, Tim cleans up after Ian, Milwaukee impact wrenches are breaking, plus I have a full new line of tools in the studio to show you. THIS is your power tool week in review.
Hey guys I’m Rob, Sarah is on a break this week. As you can see, I’m joined by the full new line of SKIL PWRCORE 20 tools, but we’ll get to those in a bit, because we’re starting our show with Rob Robillard, who has a pin nailer you’ll want to see.
Tool Box Buzz | DeWALT Atomic Pin Nailer
That is the DeWALT DCN623 20V ATOMIC 23 GA Pin Nailer. And while it does bare the name Atomic, which usually means small and powerful, Rob found it to be a big bigger than he liked, and the 4 lbs is 33% heavier than the M12 pin nailer from Milwaukee, which Rob usually take to work. Ergonomics aside, Rob tests it’s power, accuracy, capacity and runtime, and ends up finding a lot to like in DeWALT’s latest addition to their finish nailer lineup. Before you buy your own, head over to Tool Box Buzz.
Torque Test Channel | Milwaukee’s Failing Impact Wrenches
Milwaukee Impact Wrenches are failing. How many? No one really knows, but enough people are speaking up, that the team at Torque Test Channel decided to investigate.
As it turns out, the ultra-popular, and well-tested M18 ½” High Torque Impact Wrench, the 2767, went through a stealth update recently, which means the tool was changed on the inside, but kept the same product number. These sorts of things happen all the time, often to adapt to pricing or sourcing issues. In this case, the change seems to have resulted in a bunch of tool failures. One viewer even sent them a video in which they bought 4 2767s, all with the new serial code, brought them out into the parking lot along with a Home Depot manager, and proceeded to break all 4 in front of him. In response, the TTC team went WAY out of their way to understand this issue before sharing it. They not only bought their own, but also had 2 failed models shipped to them and opened them up.
They reached out to the community and collected dozens of stories, photos and serial numbers. They also teamed up with Stuart over at ToolGuyd, who wrote an absolutely brilliant article detailing this new issue. And from the beginning, they also brought Milwaukee into the conversation, providing them with serial numbers, photos and reports. Milwaukee has since stated that they are actively investigating, and if anyone is currently dissatisfied with their 2767 “Model B”, that they can get it repaired using their eService portal, or simply call 1800 Sawdust for help. Now TTC did all of this over a period of several weeks before putting together a video. And why did they make this video? Well I think Torque explains it best. (12:22 – 12:42) They did such a thorough and professional job, and because of that, over a half million people know about this issue before they make a purchase. If you’re looking at a 2767 or your own, be sure to check out Torque Test Channel, and we’ll link to Stuart’s Toolguyd article in the description.
Mark Thomas Builder | ECHO Trimmer
Mark Thomas had some brush that needed trimmed, so he naturally got his hands on the biggest, baddest, brush trimmer ECHO makes.
That is the SRM-410U, featuring a huge 80tooth brush blade, metal guard, and a 42.7 cc professional-grade 2-stroke engine. And did I mention that 10 inch 80 tooth rambo frisbee at the end? And does Mark test it on some proper brush? Yup. What about thorny bushes? Sure. Trees and saplings? You bet! Pumpkins? Well, actually yes. But before that he details the operation procedures, features and more. And Mark isn’t even done, as he has a few more brush blades to try. So if overgrown brush is a problem you need solved, you can see if the ECHO will solve it, over at MarkThomas builder.
Robs Favorite Tools | Stabila Black Edition
It’s time again for Rob’s favorite tools, and last week several of you guys pointed out some really rare hand tools I could find on eBay, and I’m actively working on getting a hold of a few of them. But this week I wanted to show you this. This is my Stabila 48” Black Edition, sold for a limited time in 2009 to celebrate Stabila’s 120th anniversary. Of course, in 2019, they celebrated their 130th anniversary and once again released limited edition levels, but they were all based on their entry-level… levels, not their Jobsite levels like this one. So they weren’t very popular. But the 2009 editions came in 24” 48” or 78”/32” Jamber Set. And I’m missing the other 3. My buddy Murray over at Kruger Construction noticed this on our set a few years back, and offered me 300 million for it. Technically his message said “a fair price” but his eyes said 300 million. Anyways, Stabila makes spectacular levels, and I have several. They’re not only accurate but tough as nails. And if you ever run across a 2009 Black Edition, grab it for me will ya? If you know of a rare tool you think I’d like, let me know in the comments.
Deals of the Week | Ohio Power Tool
Alright who wants a tool deal? So much harder to do this without Sarah. It’s time for our deal of the week! This time DeWALT has free bare tool or battery with select 20V Kits, A free FLEXVOLT ADVANTAGE Tool or battery with with select kits, you can get a free Bandsaw kit when you purchase a pipe threader kit, And like 5 other DeWALT deals all going on at Ohio Power tool right now. Links will be below.
New SKIL PWRCore 12 / PWRCore20 Compact Series
Now you might be wondering why I’m surrounded by all of these awesome new tools. As Kanye once said, “My life is dope, and I do dope sh*t” These are the all new tools just announced by SKIL, in both their PWRCore 12 and PWRCore 20 line of power tools But these are special, because not only are they powerful as we’ve grown to expect from modern SKIL tools, but now they’re super small. The new line of compact tools are up to 17% smaller than their predecessors, but all the power is still there. All of these new tools retain the PWRCORE battery tech, and both 12v and 20v batteries all include a usb A port for charging your electronics, which is ridiculously awesome. The new tools include 5 new PWRCore 12 tools, and 5 new PWRCore 20. The 12s include a new 1/2in Drill Driver, Hammer Drill, Impact, 3/8in impact wrench, and this awesome new 12V compact detail sander which is super low profile, has a dust sealed switch, and this genius see through integrated dust canister that I wish was on every sander I ever use. The new Drills all include their super bright Halo light with 5x more light than common LED’s. Another feature that should be on every drill.
On the 20V Side, we have a new ½ Drill, Hammer Drill, Impact, 3/8in impact wrench, and this thing has to be my favorite. This is the SKIL PWRCore 20 Brushless 20V Compact 4 ½” Circular saw. This one-handed saw will cut through 2 by material at 90 degrees and 1 by at 45! This is easily the most comfortable and easy to handle mini-saw I’ve ever used. It has an led light, dust port, a super slim handle, and it all comes in 38% lighter than their already compact 6 ½” circular saw. The best part, is that all of these new tools are coming out this week. You’ll be able to find them at Lowes and Amazon.
Project Farm | Leaf Blower Review
Todd is back with a new blower review, this time he included a huge collection, and decided the best way to test them was to strap them all to a bike.
But first, he ran his usual gauntlet of tests on examples from Ryobi, 2 DeWALTs, both Milwaukees, Greenworks, atlas, makita, enhulk, and of course, our personal sponsor, and favorite, EGO. <cut to me> Guess who won… And while the testing is always fun to watch, its rare that Todd does something crazy as this. Youtube’s favorite tool tester hits 32 mph on his bike, purely under blower power. Do I really need to tell you to go watch this?
Pro Tool Reviews | Ryobi Tiller
Meanwhile, the boys at Pro Tool Reviews were the first to get their hands on the all new Ryobi 40V HP brushless rear tine tiller.
Powered by 2 6ah 40v Ryobi batteries at a time, this is not a toy, but a proper tiller for getting done some proper work. But just in case you have a lot of proper work, it’ll hold 4 batteries, and let you switch to the second pair when the first wears out. All that power goes into 18” into tilling width, and 10” of tilling depth. That depth is easily adjusted, and the controls are intuitive and easy to control. This is the first battery powered rear tine tiller like this on the market, and as kenny points out, they could have just phoned it in and say “Hey, we’re first”, but instead they delivered a powerful, capable tiller without all the mess, maintenance and frustration of a gas engine. For the full story, visit Pro Tool Reviews.
Shop Tool Reviews | HART Chainsaw
And finally, our buddy Tim Johnson over at Shop Tool Reviews, was right in the line of hurricane Ian last week. And after the big bully worked it’s way through town, it left Tim with a huge oak tree on top of his shed, and there was only one way to fix it. With HART.
Fortunately he had one. That is the all new HART 40V 16” chainsaw, and it just happened to arrive just before the storm. Makes you wonder if TTI can control the weather. Nah. After pulling out the saw for the first time, he noticed immediately how nice the entire kit was. The case completely contains the saw, battery and charger, making it easy to keep it all together. After reviewing the features he put it to work on the oak, and he was pleasantly surprised with the power and capability he got from a consumer grade saw. It easily ate up smaller 6 and 10” trunks. For a full test, he fed it an enormous 15” log, and it did and excellent job. Considering the price, he was thoroughly impressed with the performance. If you’re looking for a capable saw that you’ll likely never outgrow at home, head over to Shop Tool Reviews.
Production Crew Update
Last Saturday we held our monthly live giveaway, and our winner, Phil Lewis, chose the Makita shelf, and took home over $2,000 worth of the teal power tools, and a full collection of Spyder bits and blades, because you should never use Pro Tools, without Pro Accessories from Spyder.
We giveaway over $2,000 worth of tools to one of our channel members every month. If you’d like to learn more about supporting our channel through our Production Crew program, just look for the Join button after you subscribe.
That’s it for this week, I want to thank EGO and SPYDER for sponsoring this episode. Guys, we couldn’t do this without you. And finally, on behalf of our production crew, we hope that if you can, you’ll do something kind for someone else this weekend. I’ll see you next week.
