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Well made, with power to spare!

I’d made due with my 3/8″ drill in the past and borrowed whenever I needed larger, but I knew that wouldn’t cut it for this summer’s project. The time had come to bite the bullet and invest in a substantial heavy-duty drill. I’m happy to report that the project is nearly complete and the DA4031 has delivered in spades. I chose the Makita over the DeWalt Timberwolf and Milwaukee HoleHawg because of the added power (10 amps) and features. The Makita’s spade handle adjusts 90 degrees to any position with an Allen wrench that is stored cleverly in the handle. The auxiliary rubber-grip pipe handle screws into either side. Best of all, the switch handle rotates a full 90 degrees in either direction at the press of a button. These combined features make the drill comfortable to hold in any position. That’s good, because at 12 pounds, this is a serious piece of equipment…Now back to the project. In building my deck, I affixed the ledger board to the house with twelve ½” x 10″ galvanized lag screws (3.5″ of ledger board, 2.5″ of wallboard, 10″ of sill beam). I pre-drilled each hole to depth with the DA4031, then (using a ½” drive socket adapter) turned each lag screw in flush (final tighten by hand). These were done one after another, on a hot day, with no sign at all of fade from the drill. The final tighten required a ½” x 18″ breaker bar, so I know turning the lags in was no cakewalk! I then used a ½” x 12″ self-feed auger bit to drill sixteen holes through 9″ of lumber for the lag bolts on the cantilever support. The DA4031 has also drilled all the holes for my railing support posts. Final verdict? Nothing on this project came close to stressing this drill. I couldn’t be more pleased with the quality of construction, ergonomics, or power. I will probably never come close to using this drill to its full potential, but I like having a quality tool with more than enough power to get any job done. The DA4031 has both these bases well covered.

Update (2/6/2012): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen.

The featured review for this product, Makita DA4031 10 Amp 1/2-Inch Angle Drill Tools & Hardware, was written by Erik A. Adams.

The average rating for this item is 5 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.