Makita BTP140 reviews
A lot less to lug
helpful for 6 of 9 people
I love the four function aspect of this tool. It has an LED light too. Small, light and you can drill, screw, hammer drill, and drive lag bolts with it. Its new 18v LXT battery gives it more lifetime and power than the 14.4v but weighs about the same. The hammer drill isn't impressive, but a good tool for putting a few anchors in a wall or through tile. I gave it four instead of five because Makita still hasn't figured out that thier cases need to be mroe rugged. I bet the latches are going to be broken in less than a year.
12/15/2006
Best ever
This is it. The perfect tool. Four tools in one. Light weight.Has hook to hang from your belt or high up on ladder. I retired all my other drills, hammerdrills, screwdrivers, impact drivers. Super.
6/12/2008
Good but not great
Things I like about this tool: it is compact and light-weight; the built-in light is very useful; and the batteries charge quickly and retain their charge quite long. My major complaint -- and the reason I give it only 3 stars -- is that the torque is inadequate. I was unable to drive 2-inch screws into softwood, even with the impact driver. My ancient DeWalt 14 volt cordless, on its last legs, has much, much more torque than the Makita. A minor annoyances is that there is no place to store driver bits on the drill itself. In summary, the price does not match the performance. (Note that I have not yet used it as a hammer-drill.)
8/3/2007
Makita BTP140 LXT Lithium-Ion Hybrid (4 function Impact, Hammer, Driver-Drill Kit)
Best Makita tool I have ever purchased. I don't have to change to a drill or any function, this tool have everything, I use it almost every day. It paid for it's self already even my wife says so. Purchasing another tool will not be necessary.
7/16/2008
One size never fits all but this is nice
I bought this when it came out, love it!
When I had difficulty driving screws it was because I had it in hammer drill mode, NOT impact drive mode.
It will drive deck screws below the surface.
Fasteners with washers or a head can rotate brackets, you just have to learn the feel of it.
Any driver can snap off a head, thats a weak fastener.
If your fastener stops proud of the surface you probably found a steel plate.
Four out of five stars for slight difficulty in sliding mode selector from day one, even so, its still the driver I use everyday for my living.
10/11/2007
Almost The Perfect Tool
Very happy with this expensive drill. Use it for work installing drape rods, window blinds etc... so the usage isn't that heavy. Have used it drilling into cement and tile a few times with the hammer drill and works well. The drill light is a big benefit since the lighting situations indoors, can be dim. On the driver setting, I would like to see the torque settings changed so that the highest setting would result in more torque. Without this I have to use it on the drill setting to get screws tight sometimes and this can cause a snapped hex heads from the unadjustable high torque.
11/25/2007
High Priced Gadget
I build custom furniture therefore, I use a screw gun every working day. I need a screw gun that can use every concieveable drill bit plus all the screw bits. Buying as an asserory a ball-dent chuck to increase the versitility of a tool that cost twice as much as a drill that has a keyless chuck as a standard is like an insult to someone who uses tools profestionally. I think Makita is looking for the rich hobbyest who will buy any gadget. Also, the bag is really cheep.
Ed Hand
A Creation By Hand, Inc.
2/26/2008
versitility, speed, portability and power/weight ratio
FIRST OF ALL SHOW ME ANOTHER DRILL THAT HAS THE 4 FUNCTION FEATURE. . . . yea I didn't think you could, so bravo for Makita on that important point. If you don't care about doing an efficient project don't worry about getting this tool. I love efficient and streamlined work so naturally I enjoy this product from Makita. I have used this drill on a daily basis for about 2 years give or take in commercial enviornments and I am satisfied with what I have purchased, the ability to both hammer drill and impact drive in one light, slightly inconveninet package (and I only say that because the difficult gear changing). With this drill you sacrifice some power and tork but the benifits depend on your specific use each day. On most days I did not need to bring any other drill, once in a while I would have to bring my 454 Makita to do heavy penetrations (like one inch holes through concrete) but on an all around regular use day I only needed this tool.
Hey you have to get the right bits for this tool, duaa! Lowes carries 1/4" drive masonry bits and they are not that expensive and if you have some brains in your scull you can figure out that the bosch concrete ancor drive kit has a toob with a 1/4" drive socket in one end and a socket on the other end that will drive tap-cons (concrete screws I think they are usually 5/16") any way once you get all this together you can move fast on many projects only having to carry one drill.
This drill will not do well if you try to use it on structual concrete (high density) and you can not use a chuck adaptor to hammer drill, the drive function is not enough to hammer the assembly. Step bits in the adaptor are ok but again you have less tork (though there are two drilling speeds so really it's like a 5 function drill) so I have an old step bit that I used on impact setting and that gets through most stuff. The gear shifting is something that Makita really needs to work on. It is hard to shift nice and clean to get the function you want but after you get good at fighting and trouble shooting this obstical it is a minor glitch in an otherwise fast and smooth day of drill/driving.
On a high rise building where you are climbing multiple flights of stairs with all your tools daily this drill is a must have because you only have to worry about one drill not an impact driver and a drill, less to lose and less weight to carry. If this drill will fit your specific task and you use it daily it is well worth the money and I can't wait for a smoother shifting slighly more powerful model from Makita, an awsome drill non the less.
Timothy Courage
8/23/2009
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