Anybody else who uses ALDI Ferrex tools?

I bought the little hand held 7v bush trimmer (as in garden bushes)and so far after doing two large bushes it's paid for itself. I find it a bit heavy but there again my arms are weak.
 
SexyGreyFox said:
They have got the cordless Ferrex circular saws at our ALDI but the last few wood cutting jobs have been done with my angle grinder with wood cutting disc so I haven't bothered.
I also have a wired Bosch Professional just in case.

I can see me just getting one now :)
They also have a cordless polisher but I can't think of one job for that.
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angle grinder with wood cutting disc
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:eek:
Dangerous m8:eek:
 
I have bought the wireless Ferrex multitool for £20.00. The equivalent Dremel is £50, it struck me as solid and £20 so worth a punt. Its great for light jobs, the only thing I have not sourced spare cutting and polishing disks.

Not Ferrex, but the Aldi cordless vacuum, I would be surprised if a Dyson/Shark is better at five times the cost. Ended up with two, one for the car and the other for the home. Will keep an eye out for other Ferrix tools, for the price - cannot complain.
 
dLockers said:
"Kevin Iomas - Head of Product at Walter"
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Just been on the site, I can't believe that ALDI sell them for half the price than Walter sell them for.

eg I took my Ferrex drill into work today which cost £20 from ALDI, if I bought nothing else in the Ferrex range the charger would be £15 and the 20v battery would be £15 so a total of £50.
Walter are selling the same one for £86 https://www.walteronline.com/en/too...w-drivers/20-v-cordless-impact-drill-p7150134
 
dunno how often but have seen items direct from the manufacturer being more expensive than buying through a big chain shop etc...manufacturer would rather sell 100s/1000s of units to a shop and not have to deal with individual returns etc than sell direct to customers
that's my understanding anyway
 
builder22 said:
dunno how often but have seen items direct from the manufacturer being more expensive than buying through a big chain shop etc...manufacturer would rather sell 100s/1000s of units to a shop and not have to deal with individual returns etc than sell direct to customers
that's my understanding anyway
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That's probably it.

IIRC some retailers will take all responsibility for the warranty, arrange shipping and buy in large enough numbers that the manufacturer can't really compete on price when selling individual items.
Given the discount you can get buying in bulk direct you can probably cut the price nearly in half just doing that.
For consumables and fixings/fittings of some kinds as an end user you can get similar discounts as for small items it's often the handling that costs the money so a pack of 100 of something might only cost 2-3 times as much as a pack of 10*.

I've got a bit of a soft spot for Aldi tools, they're usually not brilliant but they're a good cut above similar priced items you might get from say Homebase, and almost always come with a 3 year warranty which means for general DIY use they're ok, especially if you pair them up with decent quality consumables (a £150 drill might struggle with a hole if you use a cheap bit, whilst a £50 one might manage it with ease using a more expensive bit).
Now they're using standardised battery packs they're even better as previously it seemed every time they got a battery tool in it used either a different shape, size or voltage of battery so you ended up with half a dozen different completely incompatable sets of tools/batteries/chargers.

These days I tend to buy decent quality drill and screwdriver bits because I've found they can make at least as much of a difference in the average job as the power tool, something I initially noticed when I started buying half decent screwdriver bit and realising they didn't cam out as much, then when I went to put a door in the garage and spent ages and burning through several cheap metal bit before going down to screwfix and picking up a dewalt (I think) metal bit for a fiver that just went through the metal like butter (I think it took me nearly an hour to do the first 2 holes, and the next 4 took about 15 minutes with the good bit).


*Back in the days of Maplins I used to end up ordering things like 50 or 100 LED's when I might only have wanted 15 at the time because it worked out that something like 14 LED's individually picked cost as much as a bag of 50 or 100. It taught me an important lesson, look for bulk discounts ;) It does mean our garage is full of spare bulbs, plumbing fittings etc though.
 
Werewolf said:
Now they're using standardised battery packs they're even better as previously it seemed every time they got a battery tool in it used either a different shape, size or voltage of battery so you ended up with half a dozen different completely incompatable sets of tools/batteries/chargers.
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because of the amount of Ferrex tools we now have (8) we have bought 2x chargers, 2x 40v & 2x 20v batteries.

Werewolf said:
These days I tend to buy decent quality drill and screwdriver bits because I've found they can make at least as much of a difference in the average job as the power tool,
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Spot on.
I took the Ferrex cordless hammer drill to work yesterday to do some jobs in the office that would take the Trust Estates 2 months to do.
Using quality SDS masonry bits the jobs were done in minutes.
I've even bought the special impact driver bits.
 
Just bringing this up, iv bought various bits and pieces now from the ferrex range at aldi - quite impressed tbf! The Impact driver is fantastic and made by walter in austria as are quite a few of the ferrex range tools.

So far i have..

Impact driver, rotary sander, SDS rotary hammer drill with quick chuck adapter, air compressor and pump set and the recip saw!

Id like to add a circular saw, multi tool and jigsaw BUT the issue im having is batteries - they are barely ever available, i managed to get one of the 20/40v batteries when they last came in stock probably a good 10/12 months ago now and i already had two of the smaller 20v batteries but iv not seen any in store for about the same 10/12 month period - mountains of chargers available all the time but without a battery source its annoying!

Heard on a few fb groups that aldi are also stopping supplying the batteries for these ferrex tools which would be a complete consumer disaster on their part - Lidl appear to support the parkside range much more in keeping everything ticking over battery wise and also making stuff available more often - what iv noticed with aldi is that they might have say a batch of ferrex stuff powered by the ferrex battery in one month and then three months down the line they will have another 18v or 20v tool that is back to using its own supplied battery and charger which is just infuriating!
 
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The ferrex range are good and well worth the money. However, I prefer the parkside range from Lidl, but there really is very little in it. A lot of the parkside range have been brutally abused by a HGV mechanic I know, and I have always heard good things.
 
You're locked in to a system that you struggle to get parts for, the battery format has changed three times in the last four years and the quality on the tools is a bit hit and miss. It's a false economy.

Take the DeWalt multi Tool Vs the Ferrex one. The Ferrex one is a quarter of the price but lasted me literally three months. My Dewalts been going for four years of daily abuse. I wanted to like the Ferrex stuff and bought it all to try. And I think it's pants. My Ferrex jigsaw didn't cut straight out the box.

You can get a better tool for not much more money and it will last a DIYer years. The DeWalt and Makita li-on battery range has had a stupidly long support life with no signs of stopping.

A Ferrex drill for £20/30 or a DeWalt 796 for £55. And that's before they go to a new manufacturer and get a new system. I wanted the nailgun and suddenly it's not activ compatible. Whatever.
 
lewism said:
You're locked in to a system that you struggle to get parts for, the battery format has changed three times in the last four years and the quality on the tools is a bit hit and miss. It's a false economy.

Take the DeWalt multi Tool Vs the Ferrex one. The Ferrex one is a quarter of the price but lasted me literally three months. My Dewalts been going for four years of daily abuse. I wanted to like the Ferrex stuff and bought it all to try. And I think it's pants. My Ferrex jigsaw didn't cut straight out the box.

You can get a better tool for not much more money and it will last a DIYer years. The DeWalt and Makita li-on battery range has had a stupidly long support life with no signs of stopping.

A Ferrex drill for £20/30 or a DeWalt 796 for £55. And that's before they go to a new manufacturer and get a new system. I wanted the nailgun and suddenly it's not activ compatible. Whatever.
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That is the issue i agree - but i think for the hobbyist or an every-now-and-again DIY'er the ferrex stuff is absolutely fine, same as the parkside lidl stuff... Ryobi is a good bet, its not the greatest stuff in the world but its well supported and has a vast range and sits somewhere between that £20/30 range and the upper end price points.
 
casper_uk said:
The ferrex range are good and well worth the money. However, I prefer the parkside range from Lidl, but there really is very little in it. A lot of the parkside range have been brutally abused by a HGV mechanic I know, and I have always heard good things.
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parkside do appear to be decent - they do a smaller 12v range too dont they? with the cylinder type battery thats supposed to be nice enough gear.
 
lewism said:
Take the DeWalt multi Tool Vs the Ferrex one. The Ferrex one is a quarter of the price but lasted me literally three months. My Dewalts been going for four years of daily abuse. I wanted to like the Ferrex stuff and bought it all to try. And I think it's pants. My Ferrex jigsaw didn't cut straight out the box.
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However the company that make Ferrex are way dearer with their own name on - https://www.walteronline.com/en/too...w-drivers/20-v-cordless-impact-drill-p7150134
 
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