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 Great little driver Nov 15, 2007
I purchased the Milwaukee 9081-22 1/4 inch hex driver specifically to speed the reassembly of my granddaughter's playhouse, which I was moving from one site to another. Reassembly included driving several dozen 4 inch lag bolts, several dozen 3 1/2" deck screws, and hundreds of other deck screws of shorter lengths. I was very impressed with the speed, torque, and ease of use of this hex driver. The hex driver quickly set every bolt and screw. After reassembling the exterior, I tried using the hex driver to install drywall on the interior walls. Using only a drywall driver tip, this hex driver proved that it could drive drywall screws better (faster, straighter, and more consistent depth) than my variable speed drill driver. I love this tool for driving bolts and screws!
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Powerhouse Mar 10, 2005
I purchased this impact driver about a month ago. So far, I am very pleased with its performance. I've used it to drive lag bolts, tighten anchor bolts, and screw down Trex decking. I am suprised at how much torque this small tool is able to produce. I originally bought it because I had read reviews on how great impact drivers are for decking. While waiting for mine to arrive, a boss I know from outside my company had a dispute with one of his employees about how effective impact drivers really were. The employee was using a 14.4 Makita impact driver to screw down Trex decking. The screws took longer to screw in and the batteries would die about every 4 boards. He eventually asked him to just use a regular drill/driver for the rest of the deck. This got me worried. So when mine arrived, I did a little test. I screwed down a 20 foot piece of Trex with both a Milwaukee 18v drill and then one with the new impact driver, twice. I found that if you used both hands to apply pressure on the drill (to keep it from stripping the head), the drill will drive the screw much faster than the impact driver. BUT, the advantage to the impact driver is that you only need 1 hand to finish off the screw (you don't need to apply as much pressure). Since you have 1 free hand, you can be reaching for your next screw, thereby becoming much more efficient. In fact, I was able to fasten the boards 23% faster with the impact driver than the drill. And, the screws are much less likely to be stripped. The 2 batteries, however, were not able to keep up with the work, and I found myself resorting to the drill some of the time while recharging. Overall, a great little tool, worth the investment if you have a use for it. I'd recommend it.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Rated #1 two years ago by Tools of the Trade Nov 22, 2004
I purchased the Milwaukee 9081-22 14.4 volt impact after reading the Tools of the Trade test comparing all the then available tools in the 12 and 14 volt class. Up to that time I had used nothing but a 9.6 volt Makita impact that is at least 12 years old. The Milwaukee has the endurance and power to R&R a 16' X 7' garage door with ease on a single battery and is tough enough to take the occasional drop from 10' or so. It recently broke down and the 5 year warranty sure doesn't hurt.
6 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 not worth the money Apr 15, 2004
Purchased (2) of these impact drivers for metal roofing and siding, metal studs and some drywall on projects in Alaska. Both impact guns needed replacement (gearing stripped in one, nosepiece cracked on other exposing gears) within first three weeks, one replacement lasted only one month (gears whined like original and then quit). I also had a 12V Makita that still runs great (didnt even have the new NiMH batteries) after(3) of the (4) Milwaukees broke down in IDENTICAL applications. Makita now makes a 14.4V (NiMH) impact driver which is the one I would suggest hands down.
14 of 14 found the following review helpful:
Concerning torque numbers (and later updates based on job site performance) Apr 02, 2004
I bought this impact driver because 1) it's compatible with my other Milwaukee cordless tools ; 2) having an impact driver as well as a cordless drill allows me to work faster because I don't need to change bits as often and 3) I was tired of mutilating screw heads with my cordless drill. So far it's been a great investment.
Although the 14.4V Milwaukee impact driver has much less torque than their 14.4V impact wrenches and the impact drivers made by some other brands, it seems to work just fine. For example, I can countersink 3 1/2 inch deck screws into red oak without predrilling and without marring the phillips screw head. It also has enough torque to lift a 17 foot long schedule 40 steel column by spinning a 4 inch deck screw into an LVL header above the column, without predrilling! I think the column must have weighed at least 150 lbs. That much force will probably cover 99% of my fastening needs on the job (I'm a remodeler). On a few occasions I've had screws break from being driven too hard, but I've never encountered a situation where the driver didn't have enough torque to drive a screw. Would additional torque be helpful? Probably not unless I was driving large lag bolts or doing heavy mechanical work, and that's why there are impact wrenches (as opposed to drivers) on the market. I'm a bit skeptical of using an adapter to run a 1/2 inch square-drive socket (especially the larger ones) on a 1/4 inch impact driver.
The impact driver's small size and ability to avoid damaging screw heads are major assets, especially when installing cabinets. Aesthetically, nobody wants to see a screw with a stripped head in the midst of a finished project, and practically, screws with unmarred heads are much easier to remove. The only downside to the impact driver is that it makes plenty of noise when the impact mechanism kicks in.
Follow-up comment: I've been using this driver for about a year now, and it has been one popular tool on the jobsite. When I have it out, my coworkers constantly borrow it because they prefer it to their cordless drills. From day 1 the driver emitted and odd smell and shortly thereafter occasionally made a high-pitched whine, but continued to function well. During a lull, I took it to the Milwaukee repair center and they replaced the motor. As a goodwill gesture, they didn't charge me (after I protested to the approx. $60 repair bill for "normal wear and tear" which is not covered in the warranty). Now it works even better than when I bought it.
If you get this driver and it exhibits any odd sounds or smells, I'd return it immediately so that there is no wear and tear question.
Now that Panasonic has come out with a dual torque impact driver, I'd probably buy that over the Milwaukee, but I'm still very happy with the Milwaukee.
Second Follow up: I would downgrade my rating of this driver to one or two stars because the odd sound and erratic performance are beginning to return. Milwaukee must have some serious quality control problems or a design flaw in this tool. I've also had the opportunity to use a Bosch 14.4 impact driver and like it much more than this one. It's powerful, yet smaller, has a light and some onboard bit storage. Plus, I've never had much trouble from my Bosch tools, and I've abused them at least as much as my Milwaukee ones. Panasonic has also come out with an interesting "digital" impact driver. When my Milwaukee driver finally bites the dust, I'll be buying a different brand.
Third follow up: I've been using this impact driver for 1.5 years of professional use now and am quite upset because the motor problem has worsened and the whining is accompanied with erratic changes in rotational speed when no load is applied to it.
I really don't want to deal with taking the tool back for another repair, so I think I'll wait for total failure before I do something. I certainly wouldn't buy another impact driver from Milwaukee, and I'd hesitate to buy another cordless tool from them as well (I own 4 already).
Impact drivers are one of my favorite tools, I just need to find a different brand. If you're a professional, I think you'd be served well to avoid this Milwaukee tool. Occasional home users probably could get by fine with this tool since it does take at least several months of daily serious use before it fails.
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