Ridgid has come out with a new 18V cordless SDS Plus rotary hammer, model R86710B. Isn’t this a first for them? I don’t think I have ever seen a Ridgid rotary hammer before, corded or cordless.
I don’t know what to think about anymore. A month ago, I wrote about Milwaukee Tool, Ridgid, and Ryobi sitting in a TTI tree all cozy and picnicking together. I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising that Ridgid is stepping into new territories.
The new Ridgid cordless SDS rotary hammer isn’t available for sale yet, belied by the 10 5-star reviews on Home Depot’s site. Still there’s enough information to get a good sense of what it’s about.
It’s an SDS-Plus hammer with 7/8″ drilling capacity. Ridgid says it’s equipped with Extreme Vibration Reduction for reduced tool vibration. Less vibrational energy often means greater comfort and reduced user fatigue.
The product page says the same, with the added benefit of greater comfortability, but I don’t know that differs from greater comfort.
The Ridgid cordless rotary hammer has a 3-mode selector for rotary hammer, rotary-only, and chiseling operations.
It also features a mechanical clutch, which minimizes counter torquing in case the bit binds or jams.
Yes, there is a variable position chisel stop, as you want to see on any rotary hammer with a chisel-only mode, so that you can use it in any orientation. The aux handle is also adjustable and able to lock in any orientation.
No, it’s not brushless.
Price: $249
Buy Now(via Home Depot)
First Thoughts
I find the design to be curious. It looks like Ridgid designed their new (and first?) cordless rotary hammer to be compact. Maybe this was for ergonomics, or to improve balance. Or maybe the vibration dampening mechanism requires this type of geometry.
It has been the trend for cordless rotary hammers to be designed such that they could rest upright on a horizontal and level work surface. It looks like you can do that with this model, but it’s uncertain.
Ridgid doesn’t show the 18V SDS rotary hammer with a battery pack, at least not clearly, but from this side profile it looks like a Ridgid high capacity battery pack will give it a stable base.
I’m surprised by the price tag – $249 – which comes close to the bare tool price of Dewalt’s recent 20V Max brushless SDS rotary hammer. You can buy the Dewalt brushless rotary hammer for a little under $290 via Amazon. Hmm. $290 is a bit more than $249, isn’t it.
There are a bunch of other cordless rotary hammers in the $250 to $300 price range, such as this also-brushless Makita.
It’s hard to judge a tool like this, not knowing many of its selling points, but one has to have faith that Ridgid wanted their first cordless rotary hammer to be a winner.
I find myself wondering 2 things. If you already bought into Ridgid’s 18V platform, how likely are you to buy this SDS Plus rotary hammer? If you’re in the market for a new cordless rotary hammer, how likely are you to buy into Ridgid’s platform for this model?
Thank you to everyone who asked about it! We’ll share more as we learn more.
Buy Now(via Home Depot)
