Makita BHR202 18volt cordless SDS+ drill

[Job and Knock]

I'm a dedicated Makita user. Or rather I bought into the battery system and range of available tools and I've continued buying.......... So why an 18 volt SDS+? In may case (shopfitting) there's often no mains power to work with so for a limited number of holes I have to drill a cordless tool makes a lot of sense. I've had the old 24 volt Bosch NiCd in the past. It weighed a ton, cost a fortune, the batteries died, and they weren't compatible with any other tools I had/have. It also baulked at anything heavier than breeze block (sorry, composite blockwork). This had to be better.

Well yes and no. It packs slightly more punch (2.1J) than the small Bosch GBH2-20D (1.7J) that the sparkies seem to have taken a shine to, but not as much as the corded Makita HR2470 (2.9J) which is a common site machine. It weighs about 3.1kg with the battery (500gm more than an HR2470) and is about as big but with the addition of a battery pack stuck on the underside of the handle. Unlike smaller cordless SDS drills (like the smaller Panasonic SDS+) this one has 3 functions; drill, hammer + drill and rotation stop + drill. Very useful being able to do a one-off chasing out job, that. In use it performs well with a couple of caveats; the batteries don't last too long (well, it is rather a small battery for the task) and it won't really handle the very hard concrete they make factory floors out of. For most interior/shop fit tasks and handyman jobs, though, it is an excellent tool - providing you have three batteries!

So, for the power it's relatively heavy, though not too unmanageable and it is a similar size to a 2kg class SDS+drill. It comes with the same facilities (3-functions) as a modern 2kg class SDS+drill. It is battery intensive so to drill and screw (with a drill) you'll need at least three batteries. Not really useable if your job means drilling hundreds of holes in concrete tunnel walls each day but if you already have Makita 18 volt cordlesses it's a worthwhile addition to the kit

The BHR202 has two removeable black rubber caps, one on either side, to allow the brushes to be changed without dismantling the tool. It drills at 0 to 1100rpm and delivers 0 to 4000bpm in hammer modes. The drill is a reversing drill and has an interesting feature not mentioned in the literature; the battery holder is slightly articulated - this flexible mounting reduces the amount of vibration transmitted to the battery pack (and vibration really kills batteries)

[Job and Knock]

OK, I need to add a couple of extra points to my "review" above, but this forum doesn't allow me to edit it......
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points added for you by big all[mod ]

[ultimatehandyman]

Sounds like it is well built and designed.

Bosch made a huge mistake when they designed machines of the same voltage that did not have interchangeable batteries ( I think they have addressed this issue now), that is one reason why Dewalt cornered the market and have sold something like 20 million 18v batteries.


I don't have any Makita at all as it is rarely on special offer, but if I ever see any at a reasonable price I will be sure to take another look

[dave.m]

OK, I need to add a couple of extra points to my "review" above, but this forum doesn't allow me to edit it......

The forum software allows you about 30 minutes to edit a post, and if someone has replied after you posted it cannot be edited to prevent someone replying to a question that is then altered and makes the reply appear senseless.

dave