[62131]

I sell industrial tools and most of my customers like the I/R brand

[sixball]

Yeah, great adventures out west. 
Chopper, I've had poor luck with cordless tools in the past. My son has several Milwaukee tools and likes them so I used a couple of his. Then I bought a bunch of the M18 Fuel models (18 volt). I got a chain saw, circular saw, jig saw, multi tool, 4 1/2" cut off/angle grinder, hammer drill, 1/4" driver, 1/4"router, 3/8 impact, and 1/2" impact and 4 batteries, two 5AH and two 12AH. I haven't used them all yet but so far I'm very happy with them. There are so many to choose from that it is confusing. I did a lot of reading and chose the most powerful of each tool when there were choices. The new red lithium-ion battery tech seems to be the deal. I even got a battery adapter so I can use a Milwaukee battery on an old Black & Decker trim saw. I'll be using some of these on the wood for my roadster when I get back on it.
 
My son used the 3/8 impact to change the steering box and do some suspension work on his F350 and really likes it. It is no bigger than the drill or 1/4" driver. The driver is more powerful than I expected. It will replace my air ratchet. All of our power comes from solar and a big enough compressor to run tools is a problem. Charging these batteries is not. No cords and no hoses is a real plus. No two stroke fuel is a good thing. I haven't really used the chain saw but little tests show it is more powerful than my corded electric and about the sam as my last 3 Poulan saws. I'm still planning on getting a line trimmer and a hedge trimmer. I doubt that I would ever burn enough two stroke gas to cover the cost on one 12AH battery.

[chopper526]

Ingersol I hear is good, but no local dealers around me, that I know of.
Sixball, that's all good information, thanks. I wonder if it's too late to put on Santa's list?

[62131]

Has something changed on the site, its no longer secure

[TFoch]

62131 I don't know that anything has changed.

Chopper, the company I worked for used Makita batteries on all the tools we designed.  I have a Makita chainsaw, lawn trimmer, drill, small impact driver and reciprocating saw.  All work great and are available at Home Depot.  I'm thinking about getting a large Makita impact wrench.  We tested them at work and they work well.  The Ingersol Rand is the best but Makita is not far behind it.

[sixball]

I forgot to mention Makita. They have always been good tools. My Milwaukee 1/2" impact has 1,100 foot pounds of tightening torque and 1,600 foot pounds of  "nut busting" torque. The smaller 3/8 impact delivers 450 foot pounds and is good fo lugs and just general impact work. It is small and pretty light. The 3/8" has 3 power settings and the 1/2" has 4. I think the big break through with all of these tools is the switch from ni-cad batteries to lithium-ion.

[sixball]

I found my impact socket in the dirt and got the last shock off. The nuts actually unscrewed!  They all work but I don't know how well.

[RoarsRods]

I put a new propane heater in my shop a couple of weeks ago. I't keeping the shop at 60 degrees on a setting below the actual #1 position. It is 2 1/2 weeks into a 100 lb propane bottle and seems to have used less than 1/2 of it. 60 is pretty comfortable if I'm moving around. I can turn it up when I'm actually there working. Much more stable heat than the wood stove.

I have a 25000 btu propane portable upright heater but would only use it when I’m building a house just to keep all the sheet rock at a stable 50 degrees and just before skim coating and paint! Had for awhile used it in my backyard garage but the fumes it produces is very bad plus you need to keep a window open! Here’s my second heater with the first one was for free and brand new from a job site! Yeah I knew that it was under size but free is for me! What happened was that it was very hard to bring up the inside garage temperature plus would run constantly plus it used tons of propane! So ended up selling this under size heater and up installing a American Standard 140,000 btu horizontal heater! Got a lot of volume 30 x 52 x 12 ceilings! Today outside  was 30 degrees with the inside garage with no heater on at 45 degrees and only takes 1 hour to bring the temperature up to 60 degrees! That is a comfortable working temperature! Here’s a few pictures of my old stand up unit and my new heating system! RoarsRods

[62131]

I worked on mounting my mini split system over the weekend, Have the outdoor unit mounted inside unit mounted, electric ran with disconnect, working on line set. Its not as easy as they make it look on you tube

[RoarsRods]

Picked up my Proline 20 foot enclosed car trailer today up in Milton New Hampshire on the Maine boarder the way life should be! Custom order it 3 months ago plus got it all setup for camping plus toy hauler for if and when we open up the country for NSRA venues! Trailer is all aluminum empty 2,345 lbs with 7,000 GVW! Plus have a power winch setup and V cabinet storage and also screen door! Yeah tax free state but Massachusetts has their hand out for 6.25% taxes! It was winter wonderland with about 10 inches covering all the mountains! Lots of rolling hills and open space farms with lakes plus had to drive 3 miles before I could find a gas station before my trailer pickup! RoarsRods

[62131]

Very nice,

[Rattiac]

Started working on another convertible yesterday.
It's a 85 mustang that the owner cut the top/material off. Total skeleton.💀
People think they are helping, they are not.

[chopper526]

How so Rattiac, seems like all of the "grunt" work is done for you?

[Rattiac]

It actually adds time cause we gotta figure out where everything went and it came in a box of parts in the trunk.
I got the rear window and pads on and started getting the top stapled on by the end of the day.
Tops are like setting up gears in a axle. Sometimes it gets taken apart 3 - 4X to get all the wrinkles out.

[Rattiac]

The car is rough, but now it has a great top. 😉
Finished it up this morning.