Mikita $400 or Harbor freight $99 cordless sawzaw?

On Monday I have to go down to where I bought a car shell and cut out some sheetmetal as what I need is not reproduced (firewall, misc sheetmetal parts). Been raining down here and all I have are old school sawzaw’s that are coed plug in. Not sure if there is power near where I got to cut the parts, but it has been raining and running a live current to an all metal shell while it’s damp/soaked does not sound good to me. I’ve been thinking of getting a cheap cordless unit and seen that most of the major manufacture charge extra for the battery! Mikita, Milwaukee and others with an extra battery is from $300-$400. Not something now Harbor Freight has a new line called ‘Hercules’ on sale for like $100 with battery. I was thinking of getting two batteries as they throw in an other tool of your choice. Now I don’t use this stuff very often, but might be worth getting an impact for the second tool. Normally I would just go and wait til it dries, but this yard has lots of metal coming and going and afraid what I need could get damaged or destroyed, so I can’t wait for better weather. Is it worth it to get the cheaper unit, or spend double for a pricier one? They say you get what you pay for, but looks like all the high prices ones are coming from countries I won’t visit instead of the states, so I doubt the quality is that much different? Any suggestions?

I just bought one of the grinders and it was great for what I needed it for. They will work fine, just go ahead and get the extra warranty to go in and another unit when the first one fails...

One of the secrets of the Harbor Freight warranty is that you tell them it doesn't work and they give you another, no questions asked. When you get the new one, you can buy the extended warranty on THAT ONE and do the same thing again. I've been told by employees that they regularly get tools brought in a couple days before a date engraved on the side with the warranty expiration.

Their 20V Bauer line seems to work fine, and it's what I keep in my truck box.

I removed a entire trunk floor with just a chisel, sheet metal cutters and a manual saw. You might be better off looking for a good brand used one. I was looking to get a Dewalt drill driver(used) with a decent battery. Ebay wasn't very helpful so started looking elsewhere. Found a site that you can search pawn shops. Found a great deal on just what i was looking for with two batteries.

Ive got a Milwaukee cordless. It’s one of the small one handed saws. That is my favorite tool. I have all there 18 volt stuff. Batteries last a long time.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy the Harbor Freight cordless tools. But I would pony up and buy a spare battery. Nothing worse than getting 90% of the job done and the battery craps out. I've got an 18V DeWalt sawzall and unless you're cutting cardboard, a fully charged battery (5 AH IIRC) doesn't last that long.

The line of HF electric tools that are really really cheap is Warrior and Chicago Electric -(Chicago electric I believe they discontinued.) I think you will be fine with the Hercules. Its not as good as Dewalt obviously- Id guess its equal to like Black and Decker. The Chicago brand and Warrior brand are cheap cheap.

No personal experience with either but if you plan on using it regularly, buy the good one although my preference would be Milwaukee. Buy once, cry once. If it's just a one off I'd do the HF. If it's half as good as a Milwaukee, it still beats a hammer and chisel by a bunch.

Kevin

I have to say...I owned a complete Milwaukee set once. Batteries were pathetic. After the second set completely failed, I gave all the tools to my buddy. It was either that or throw them away. Not that Dewalt is a shining star, but I have had much better luck with my Dewalt set beyond a doubt. I bought a Ridgid set once as well...."Lifetime Battery Warranty".....until you redeem the warranty ONCE. Then, they are done. Their "Lifetime" is one lifetime of your original batteries...then you are done. I can fully charge my Dewalt batteries and leave them on my bench and when I come to use them a month later they are good to go. My Ridgid batteries will be stone dead within a week.

I have good luck with all my Dewalt products. I usually stay with what works.

I have some HF tools and have had zero issues ( Not the tool your interested in though )

IMO unless you're trying to make a living with your tools. I say go for it.

btw no matter which brand you choose , an extra battery would be mandatory

I have all Ryobi stuff , ( including the tool you need ) And for the most no complaints wit the tools themselves. But , I must say battery life leaves a little to be desired lately.
If I get a year out of one before it no longer charges Im lucky.

If you have a Tractor Supply nearby, see if they have Porter Cable. They often have them on sale and are what I have in all my yard boxes. Can't kill 'em. Similar return policy as HF. Most P-C boxes have two batteries.

Thanks for all the info everyone. Gonna pick up the Harbor Freight before work tonight so I can charge them for the morning.

Thanks for the link now I have another place to spend time and 🤑🤑 I don't have🎯🙄 🤣🤣

Glad I went today and not Monday as it was a weekend only sale. Got two each of the Bauer batteries, chargers, impact gun, sawzaw, blades, extended warranty and free measuring tape for just under $225!
Gonna put them charge tonight and will post tomorrow how it all worked out.

Bauer is a step above the original name brand that was being asked about. You will be all set.

Holy moly, I can't take it anymore. It's Sawzall, not sawzaw. Sawzall is a brand name for a reciprocating saw from Milwaukee Tool, like Xerox is for a copy machine.

I will say get some Lennox blades.

Been in a junkyard with cheap blades and chewed them up fast. Had 1 Lennox blade left in the box and it outlasted a 5 pack of cheapo blades.

There are other good brands but bad blades are as good as a dead battery.

x2. The blade is more important than the reciprocating tool. I have a Milwaukee (not cordless) and only use Milwaukee blades. If I had a HF saw I would still use the Milwaukee blades. Their "Torch" blades are awesome.

same thing with cutoff wheels.
i only use the dewalt brand. they are only a few bucks more, and i buy them in multi-packs of 25 or 50. they last a LOT longer, cut better, and believe it or not, they will BEND an incredible amount without exploding into a million pieces of face scaring shrapnel !