New Aldi "Ferrex" cordless tool range

[mpats]

Chainsaw is like the grinder, if you lean on it too hard there is a thermal trip that will kick in. Treat it with a bit of respect and it wont happen

Bob

If I manage to find one itll be fairly light use in the workshop, maybe the odd light pruning work. Mains ly for roughing down big bits of wood like joints in sleepers etc.

 

[TigTigger]

Was going to get the Ferrex angle grinder battery and charger, but they are now out of stock on-line, both as a package and individual items. Tried a couple of local stores but no luck. These were shown as a 'Special Purchase', does that mean they are unlikely to get anymore in, or will they come in and out of stock over time, rather like the Parkside tools that Lidl sell? From Sunday Lidl also had similar grinder, drill and Sabre Saw with their X20V batteries. However, I rather liked the Ferrex idea of 20/40v batteries but if the tools are not going to be available not much point in investing in the batteries. Other alternative is to buy the DeWalt angle grinder head as I already have a drill, battery and charger, but they are so expensive!! Although the DeWalt is only 18V they are very well reviewed and do not appear to lack power.

 

[Kayos]

The drill and batteries are going back, maybe I was expecting too much?

 

[armalites]

Was going to get the Ferrex angle grinder battery and charger, but they are now out of stock on-line, both as a package and individual items. Tried a couple of local stores but no luck. These were shown as a 'Special Purchase', does that mean they are unlikely to get anymore in, or will they come in and out of stock over time, rather like the Parkside tools that Lidl sell? From Sunday Lidl also had similar grinder, drill and Sabre Saw with their X20V batteries. However, I rather liked the Ferrex idea of 20/40v batteries but if the tools are not going to be available not much point in investing in the batteries. Other alternative is to buy the DeWalt angle grinder head as I already have a drill, battery and charger, but they are so expensive!! Although the DeWalt is only 18V they are very well reviewed and do not appear to lack power.

Sadly most major brands look expensive if you compare them to Aldi or Lidl specials but you are not comparing apple with apples.

You can buy a bare Dewalt grinder for £100-110 unless you want brushless which is £160.

 

[8ob]

There`s a fair bit of this ferrex gear on ebay, I got three of the 20/40v batteries and a chainsaw NIB for£95. Must have been an unwantd present or tealeafed

Bob

 

[Bluemotion]

There`s a fair bit of this ferrex gear on ebay, I got three of the 20/40v batteries and a chainsaw NIB for£95. Must have been an unwantd present or tealeafed

Bob

I would do the same but only after buying and checking something similar from the shop first

 

[TigTigger]

I agree that it's not comparing apples with apples, but the Ferrex angle grinder with 40volt battery and charger cost £70. If it's reasonably reliably and robust then for hobby / occasional use it represents good value for money compared with the £110 for a bare DeWalt grinder. In fact if you compare the bare Ferrex grinder at £25 with the DeWalt at £110, the DeWalt would need to be very much better to justify being over four times the price.

 

[armalites]

I agree that it's not comparing apples with apples, but the Ferrex angle grinder with 40volt battery and charger cost £70. If it's reasonably reliably and robust then for hobby / occasional use it represents good value for money compared with the £110 for a bare DeWalt grinder. In fact if you compare the bare Ferrex grinder at £25 with the DeWalt at £110, the DeWalt would need to be very much better to justify being over four times the price.

I totally understand what you are saying but there aren't that many things where the price of a quality item is directly related to it's differential form a cheap one.

At face value and first use the Dewalt will not be 4 times better but I suspect after a period of use if you had them back to back you would know why it cost more.Sometimes it will just be as simple as how it feels in use. Personally I find having multiple types of batteries a pain. I have probably a dozen tools that all take exactly the same batteries plus a few which take different batteries but use the same charger.

There are other factors, when stuff is cheap people see it as throw away and the minute it breaks they buy another because it's so cheap. Often that mind set will end up with yuo spending more in the long run and is far worse for the environment.

I'm not saying you should buy the Dewalt or any other brand, you should make the choice that is right for you. As you already have the batteries and charger arguably the Dewalt is £40 more than the Ferrrex because you have to buy the one with a battery and charger to achieve the same result.

 

[mpats]

Well, I have my makita brushless cordless angle grinder and drill so I suppose I can try and do a bit of a side by side comparison between the.
I'll maybe try a fully charged 5ah battery on each one and try to see roughly how long it'll last doing roughly the same jobs.
I'll try to do the same for the drill.

 

[Kayos]

I agree that it's not comparing apples with apples, but the Ferrex angle grinder with 40volt battery and charger cost £70. If it's reasonably reliably and robust then for hobby / occasional use it represents good value for money compared with the £110 for a bare DeWalt grinder. In fact if you compare the bare Ferrex grinder at £25 with the DeWalt at £110, the DeWalt would need to be very much better to justify being over four times the price.

Nope, got the drill and a fully charged 40v battery, 44mm hole saw, bit of pressure to make it cut and it stopped.
Thought it would be ok as I'm looking to update my tools but in the meantime have one less on the same batteries, looks like I will just have to update when I can

 

[8ob]

Nope, got the drill and a fully charged 40v battery, 44mm hole saw, bit of pressure to make it cut and it stopped.
Thought it would be ok as I'm looking to update my tools but in the meantime have one less on the same batteries, looks like I will just have to update when I can

I would not even attempt to run a 44mm hole saw in a small cordless no matter what make, that’s very slow gutbusterish territory or at their very least a drill with a geared very slow speed vs leccy trigger speed control. Hole saws kill my 18v dewalt which is why a got the bigger 24v dewalt stuff. That little ferrex of ours has been piloting/drilling holes for a few weeks now and not missed a beat, albeit with nothing bigger than twist drills or wood bits. It’s not going to run a plasterers mixing stick.

Bob

 

[Kayos]

I would not even attempt to run a 44mm hole saw in a small cordless no matter what make, that’s very slow gutbusterish territory or at their very least a drill with a geared very slow speed vs leccy trigger speed control. Hole saws kill my 18v dewalt which is why a got the bigger 24v dewalt stuff. That little ferrex of ours has been piloting/drilling holes for a few weeks now and not missed a beat, albeit with nothing bigger than twist drills or wood bits. It’s not going to run a plasterers mixing stick.

Bob

I run a 127 in my 18v Makita, did it yesterday through about 5 layers before I put the core bit through

 

[mart]

I had an accident while shopping in Aldi`s today and this lot fell into my trolley. Got two 5ah batteries ,drill, impact driver, and charger, my lads will be using them next week so we will see if they are any good

Bob

View attachment 178547

There is this review from a guy on YT

 

[Bluemotion]

Doesn’t really make any progress with that film

 

[Maker]

I wonder how long the 20/40 volt battery system will last. Same idea as the DeWalt "Flexvolt" batteries that charge at 18 volt but power can some tools at 54 volts, there needs to be careful cell balancing to stop some discharging slightly more than others and getting charged faster than they're rated for when the cells get parallel'd up to charge at a lower voltage. It's something I like to think DeWalt will have done properly but I have my doubts Aldi will have, definitely an easy thing to skip over to cut costs. I'd be very interested in seeing this thread updated after a year or so of use, I wouldn't be surprised if the 40V batteries don't hold their charge like they used to.

Nope, got the drill and a fully charged 40v battery, 44mm hole saw, bit of pressure to make it cut and it stopped.
Thought it would be ok as I'm looking to update my tools but in the meantime have one less on the same batteries, looks like I will just have to update when I can

I'd half typed a "Well what did you expect..." response comparing them to other DIY brands like Ryobi and Black and Decker but it occurred to me I drilled (Sawed? ) countless 104mm holes with a green (AKA DIY model) Bosch drill without it struggling so that is quite surprising actually . Looks like the Makita is doing you fine though, why change?

 

[Bluemotion]

Well I’ve done a full week on a20/40 battery first off on a chainsaw (short blast) then on impact gun (medium use) and five days screwing cabinets on the drill driver, hole drilling, hole sawing and I just got impatient waiting for it to go flat but now it’s just gone onto two lights from three on the power indicator. I’m very impressed with a the quality never mind the price...

 

[Kayos]

I wonder how long the 20/40 volt battery system will last. Same idea as the DeWalt "Flexvolt" batteries that charge at 18 volt but power can some tools at 54 volts, there needs to be careful cell balancing to stop some discharging slightly more than others and getting charged faster than they're rated for when the cells get parallel'd up to charge at a lower voltage. It's something I like to think DeWalt will have done properly but I have my doubts Aldi will have, definitely an easy thing to skip over to cut costs. I'd be very interested in seeing this thread updated after a year or so of use, I wouldn't be surprised if the 40V batteries don't hold their charge like they used to.



I'd half typed a "Well what did you expect..." response comparing them to other DIY brands like Ryobi and Black and Decker but it occurred to me I drilled (Sawed? ) countless 104mm holes with a green (AKA DIY model) Bosch drill without it struggling so that is quite surprising actually . Looks like the Makita is doing you fine though, why change?

It's all showing its age, sds was smoking the other day and it rattles now, circular has lost its oomph and the drill is killing batteries quickly

 

[Diwali]

Was going to get the Ferrex angle grinder battery and charger, but they are now out of stock on-line, both as a package and individual items. Tried a couple of local stores but no luck. These were shown as a 'Special Purchase', does that mean they are unlikely to get anymore in, or will they come in and out of stock over time, rather like the Parkside tools that Lidl sell? From Sunday Lidl also had similar grinder, drill and Sabre Saw with their X20V batteries. However, I rather liked the Ferrex idea of 20/40v batteries but if the tools are not going to be available not much point in investing in the batteries. Other alternative is to buy the DeWalt angle grinder head as I already have a drill, battery and charger, but they are so expensive!! Although the DeWalt is only 18V they are very well reviewed and do not appear to lack power.

I enquired with Aldi when the Ferrex impact driver would be back in stock (I also wanted a 40V battery) and this was the reply:

“We apologise that you were unable to purchase this product on this occasion, and for any disappointment caused. As this product was one of our Specialbuy items, it was only available on a first come, first served basis whilst stocks lasted. I would like to advise that stock is not replenished and the item will not be back in stores unless the promotion is repeated.
Although we currently do not have a new release date our Specialbuy products are usually repeated every 6 or 12 months; however we would recommend signing up to our online newsletter for any Specialbuy promotions https://www.aldi.co.uk/newsletter
Once again, thank you for contacting Aldi Customer Services and we look forward to your continued custom.
Yours sincerely
Amy Lawrance
Aldi Customer Services”

So you take your chances with ‘Special Promotions’. You certainly cannot expect a continuity of service or spares as you might expect with Makita, DeWalt etc etc.
Having said that, I’m pleased with my Ferrex drill and multi-function tools and the 20v batteries (which are still running after one top up chargej.

 

[Migmac]

I bought a drill and a driver, three 20v batteries and a charger. So far they have done well. I only use them as a DIYer so nothing to heavy. I wanted the bigger battery but all sold out online, the only shop I could get to was sold out too. Need to keep an eye on eBay

 

[Ruffian]

I am interested in if the ferrex system is the same as the parkside stuff now.

The impact drivers look very very very similar,
(And the parkside stuff is Draper storm items in a different colour)
So wondering if my parkside battery would fit a ferrex tool etc.