When I visited Hilti for their Innovation Day 2018, they embargoed 4 products. Since they dropped the press releases, I’m free to talk about 2 of those products: their new 36V worm-drive style saw and 36V SDS Max Combihammer.
First lets look at the SC 60W-A36 worm-drive style saw highlights:
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- Brushless motor powered by a 36V battery
- 4000 RPM (no load)
- 7-1/4″ blade with 5/8″ arbor
- Max bevel angle 53°
- Cutting depth a 90°: 2-3/8″
- Cutting depth at 45°: 1-15/16″
- Weighs 12.8 pounds
- Rafter hook
- Electric brake
- LED lights
- One finger actuation
- Hilti Connect
Hilti says this saw is supposed to bring the performance and balance of a corded worm-drive saw to the jobsite, while weighing less and running all day without recharging.
The saw is designed for cutting HDO, MDO, plywood, hardwood, and pressure treated lumber.
Next we’ll look at the TE 60-A36 Combihammer highlights:
- Brushless motor powered by a 9.0Ah 36V battery
- SDS Max (TE-Y)
- 2350 impacts/minute or 3300 impacts/minute
- 3430 RPM
- Single Impact Energy: 8.1
- AVR (Active Vibration Reduction)
- ATC 2.0 (Active Torque Control protects user, tool and insert)
- Dust Removal System TE DRS-Y, TE DRS-D
- 17.8 lbs
- 21.4″ x 4.5″ x 9.2″
As the name implies, the TE 60-A36 Combihammer can be used either for drilling or hammering applications. For instance it can be used to drill or core holes in concrete or masonry. In hammer only mode, can be used to dig and tamp dirt, drive ground rods and metal stakes, or light concrete breaking.
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The Combihammer has Active Torque Control (ATC) for stopping the tool from spinning if the bit gets stuck, saving your body from damage. It also has Active Vibration Reduction (AVR) to reduce fatigue and strain on the operator. Finally it’s Table 1 compliant when paired with a Hilti dust removal system and Hilti vacuum cleaner.
Both tools are covered under the Hilti 20/2/1 warranty. For 2 years they’ll repair the tool for free. For 20 years they’ll repair or replace defective parts. And they guarantee a 1-day turn around on repairs. There are limitations, so you’re going to need to contact Hilti if you have a claim.
We don’t have pricing for the TE 60-A36 Combihammer or the SC 60W-A36 worm drive style saw yet, but they are available now for Hilti VIP customers and will be available to everybody January 2019.
Jim Felt
Hilti seems like the gold standard for commercial use tools. Their in-house repair or replace and return can’t be beat. Locally pretty good counter attitude too.
Kinda like a great Freightliner, KW or Pete Class 8 truck dealer.
Corey
That premium is generally out of the park unless you’re using their services as a company. Without a doubt they make quality tools, but by spec and performance against cost, they’re not quite the industry leader they’ve been known to be, for some time now. The big three all have higher performing and cost effective tools for everything Hilti offers, particularly in the premium full size hd/drill/driver arena. I’ve had the pleasure of using Hilti on several occasions and they’re very stout ans reliable. But they’re not the top in anything that comes to mind (this sds max will give me pause as it’s explored, if just because rotohammers have always been they’re best tool) and the cost is just astronomical and unreasonable for Joe contractor filling his truck toolbox out of pocket.
William
Not all their tools are that expensive. About a year ago I picked up a drill, impact and screw gun with 3 batteries for $200. Great setup and fantastic quality.
Corey
The 12v? I eyed those very hard, as well lol But for their heavy duty stuff without the fleet service it’s all pretty spendy for individual tools ie $400+ for the premium 4 speed brushed drill. I love em, just not justifiable for me as a solo contractor.
Robert.s.applegate
We one talks about Milwaukee and other more popular tool brands but forgot about hilti hilti sometimes is better
Joe
Only for commercial grade tools.and vacuums…sds,drills, impacts, sawzall, circ saw, worm drive are all beat easily by flexvolt..
fred
Hilti ( based in Liechtenstein) has reportedly been doing very well as a company – reporting record sales in the last 2 years with a reported ROIC of 21.3% . In terms of revenues they are something like 1.2 times the size of Makita . But their stores in the US are scattered about and few and far in between. Some Home Depots in my neck of the woods used to have some of their tools on display – but that was phased out. You can still buy Hilti via HD online. We had a few Hilti PATs – and I think the guys liked them as well or better than ones we had from Ramset and older Fixrammers and Remingtons. We were tempted to try them for rotohammers – but had good experience with Bosch at a lower price point – so we stayed with them.
Benjamen
Hilti said one of their strengths was that they control the entire cycle of the tool: manufacture, distributing, sales, and servicing. They said it makes them more responsive to the customer than other companies that don’t control the entire cycle.
I can see their point in some aspects — there is no buck to pass for warranty, no confusion on how to get a tool serviced, but it really limits their exposure.
Like you said there seem to be a few outside distributors like Home Depot (and also Acme Tool) that still are able to order Hilti products, but if you want a Hilti product, they want you to go though their own distribution network.
fred
And with an ROIC over 20% that seems to be on an upward trend they seem to be doing something right. I’m not sure what their WACC is – but the 21.3% ROIC probably gives their investors a pretty good profit margin.
OhioHead
I thought Hilti was privately owned (not like TTI/SBD (DeWalt)) so they can take a longer term view on development vs. quarterly Wall Street earnings pressure.
Todd
That saw is sexy looking. I bet its going to be north of $1000 as a kit. Love to have it, never will. The rotary hammer looks nice too. Again, I bet its going to be $2500 + as a kit. If you are running a big company or crew and absolutely can’t afford to have downtime, I’m of the opinion you can’t beat Hilti. Their support system is orders of magnitude above anyone else in the business. We had a Hilti rep on our job sites at least twice a week, and was available on call and would be there in 2 hours or less . Would bring rotary hammer bits, concrete epoxy, fiber and diamons blades for the demo saws and if I tool went down he would bring a loaner and take the out of service one to their shop and fix it. Only tool ever went away was a gas saw, and it had a LOT of hours on it.
Man I do love me some Hilti tools. Had one of their cordless hammer drill/drivers and a large SDS -Plus rotary hammer 12 or so years ago when I was doing structural steel work, mostly seismic retrofits in Los Angeles. One job I was on for 6 months or so, drilled about 30,000 3/4″x5″ holes for steel expansion joint brackets and that rotary hammer ran all day, ever day without issue. Ended up with boxes full of broken, burnt up or just worn 3/4″x12″ Hilti concrete bits. If I had to guess we went through 500 bits. One of a subcontractors laborers grabbed a hacked together spiderbox adapter which for some reason the guy put a 110v female receptacle on the end of a 220v twist on plug, and ran one of their Hilti drills on 220v for about 15 minutes. The extension cord started overheating and curling up which is when his foreman yelled at him to stop. The hammer drill seemed fine.
The drill was also a great tool, I accidentally kicked it off a 25″ scaffold onto concrete and aside from the battery popping out, it was perfectly fine. Had they not both been stolen off a job, forcing me to run to Home Depot to buy new drills (bought Makitas drill/impact kit and 1-1/8 rotary hammer) I probably would have primarily Hilti tools now instead of Makita.
Flotsam
I am most familiar with Hilti for their powder actuated tools. I have one for attaching framing materials to concrete, but i understand it can be used for attache to steel (!!) as well.
They make good stuff
fred
With the appropriate pin and charge – many PAT’s can be used to attach items to steel. We had an old Remington single shot PAT that fired 38’s – with no intermediary drive pin. It could fire a 3/8 stud into a WF. Alas it was deemed illegal in most jurisdictions.
Doresoom
Doesn’t 4,000 RPM seem a little slow for the saw? Most other cordless competitors are up at 5,000 – 5,800.
Benjamen
I double checked the specs they gave us and yes it’s 4000 RPM.
I’m not sure how they justify the slower speed.
CountyCork
Skilsaw Super Sawsquatch Worm Drive is only 2,500 rpm so maybe with more power you don’t need the higher RPM?
fred
The Skil Sawsquatch turns at 4700rpm and drives a 10.25 inch blade (32.2 inch circumference) – the SuperSawsquatch drives a 16-5/16 inch blade (51.25 inch circumference) . Blade cutting efficiency relates to surface feet per minute – hence a higher circumference blade should spin at a lower speed. That accounts for the lower speed on the Super Sawsquatch – but does not explain Hilti’s choice of rotational speed for their 7-1/4 inch saw that has a circumference of 22.8 inches
CountyCork
In general worm drives spin slower but have more torque due to the gear setup at 90 degree angle. I think 4000 could be acceptable if the torque is higher.
Doresoom
The corded Skillsaw 7-1/4″ worm drive is 5300 RPM. This Hilti is also a “wormdrive style” saw, not necessarily a true worm drive. The DeWalt FlexVolt is the same way – looks like a worm drive form factor but doesn’t have the gearbox.
I’m not saying this saw will underperform – we should definitely wait for real world tests. It just seems slow on paper.
Yanni
Guy’s. I’ve had this Saw since late October. I also have the Maki and dewalt.
Pricey at 800 with 2- 36v Batts, 1- fast charger, pack of premium blade’s and the luxurious Hilti bag I’ve used all 3 extensively. . Dewalt dies to quick and takes to Long for Batts to charge even with fadst charger. Still an HR if tempature is perfect. In my hot/ cold rooftop environment they take longer….too Long..
Maki significantly more balanced not that effected by tempature. Really nice saw. There batteries don’t keep up and I have to carry a DBL charger with 4 batteries to get a days worth of work out of it.
Hilti is the cats meow….. In s class all by it’s self like Mafell. Balance is impeccable. Gaurd never snags regardless of what or how your cutting.
I haven’t been able to to kill 2- Batts in 1-day. The charger is about 35 min do it’s impossible to kill 1 before other is charged. It also has bright red light so no more 5 o clock excuses or if doing Reno work chrystayclear view of your line.
You would never know this is 12.5lbs. the service is ridiculous. Any and all repairs 24-48 hrs. I’ve switched primarily to Hilti. No more dewalt headaches and constant repairs.
I use this Saw to primarily cut PT. No more bogging while cutting soaking wet and frozen lumber. No more carrying 8 + batteries. Hilti has contributed to being more lean more efficient and on our jobs. It’s like when you get your 1st festi. Cry about how is how much is that….. blah blah blah blah. Then you use it. The rest is history. I don’t look at tool cost. I look at how it can perform, feel, make us more efficient and productive. Then I consider cost. The Tool is essentially s 1xcost. The benefits are residual.
Yanni
City Decks Inc.
Joe framer
Hilti is no where near the power of flexvolt 575 or 577…sorry , don’t know what dewalt batteries you use but guarantee it’s not 12ah….cold does not affect dewalt flexvolt batteries down to low temps except Antarctica…
Nate
I think the flex volt has awesome power but short lived, also bought a dewalt sds drill and I returned it. I have a new 36v sds which was much more expensive but will drill 5 3/4 x6” to Boschs 3 holes. If you drill a lot it’s worth it. And if it breaks I bring it back and get a new drill or one to use will they repair mine. Buy once cry once.
Steven
Would have gone hilti road if it werent the lack of rounded tools. Other brands, though inferior by fractions offer more to my trade and actual “complete” battery line ups. Everyone knows hilti means quality and longevity, perhaps my trade isnt a profitable avenue to enter and saturated by coverage from other competitors?
Joe
Great commercial grade tools. Not for framing. Hilti is beat easily by Milwaukee and DeWalt.not even close.
Todd
Judging by the list of materials Benjamen named, which I’m assuming Hilti provided, it sounds like the saw is targeted more towards form work. Would the Dewalt, Milwaukee or Makita cut through material faster? I guess it’s possible, although rated RPM, which is always no load, and under load RPM are two different things so who knows. Would a framer buy a $1,000+ circ saw that would get tossed around a job site and left unattended at times? I highly doubt it, I know I wouldn’t.
As for the rotary hammer, Hilti’s are top of the food chain. They know how to build them, and they know how to make them last. I’ve used brand new rotary hammers from Milwaukee, Dewalt and Makita that don’t perform as well as a 5 year old hard use Hilti, and I’d be willing to wager the Hilti will keep going long after the others have given up the ghost. Even if the Hilti craps out, Hilti will fix it. The price of admission is high, but long term it is probably cheaper for a company to equip a crew with Hilti rotary hammers if they do a lot of drilling or coring in concrete.
Joe
Hilti was top of the food chain in residential construction, now they still rule commercial jobs but not concrete , framing, forms, stone work etc…..the flexvolt line is unmatched…not sure what you used but I guarantee it wasn’t new flexvolt tools
Ray
Hilt is no doubt a good product but they have their issues. I was in the trades in the Chicago market where they have a strong presence. I had more problems with a Hilti demolition hammer over the Bosch. I think for a lot of contractors Milwaukee Makita and so on are making quality products that hold up pretty good.
ChrisP
The WACC must be way less than 21.3%. Seems they would have a very healthy RI!
Ty Carp
Hate to leave that lying around at break time.
Yanni
No doubt dewalt has More power then Hilti . It runs like a caged up animal. But balance on Hilti is hands down best over all. And that to me is huge. Also have no desire to use 12 amps batteries with more weight. My rooftops are 100+ cooking almost never shade unless we have room for Pop up. I find dewalt is way too fussy in excessive heat or cold. Hilti has zero issues in either. Also dewalt worm drive recently burned out and at dewalt service center. I just made the warranty. Now the service and warranty of Hilti. 24/36 hrs and if in pinch I can grab off the shelf and get back to work with minimal down time. Dewalt is like a black hole. 2weeks. 3/ months… you never know. Since Hilti came out with there worm drive I’m primary Hilti. Dewalt to fill in the blanks (osscilating, barrel grip jig saw and router) it’s primarily used on interior fit outs with cordless miter saw.