Bauer 20v hammer drill

Couldn’t help myself and bought this today purely to see how it will hold up to my Bosch and Makita hammer drills.   The drill body itself was $64, 5ah battery was $65 and the charger was $35.    I watched a few video reviews that gave it high marks but I’ll see how it does getting dragged up and down a wall.   One review showed it able to drill 39  3/8x5” holes in cinder block from one charge.   If I can get half that in quartz monzonite I’ll be happy.   I already have 3 other perfectly fine hammer drills if this one is a flop, I just really wanted to see what a $64 drill was capable of and how much abuse it will take.
I’ll keep you posted as I use and abuse it.

I picked up one last summer and I've been surprisingly happy with it so far. Especially given the extended warranty for an extra $20. I'd be very surprised if you were able to drill 20 holes in quartzite with it though. I can usually get around 10 1/2"x6" holes in soft limestone with the 5ah battery. It seems to perform as well as my buddy's 1" Milwaukee M18 on the same rock, although his is admittedly older.

If they can come out with higher amp hour batteries that would be great

I've seen this floating around, never really seen a full review from an experienced bolter actually using it on the wall.  Definitely let us know how it performs in terms of drilling performance and battery life(I'm curious about weight comparisons too)!  It looks really appealing for a dirtbag budget.  

Josh Z wrote:

I've seen this floating around, never really seen a full review from an experienced bolter actually using it on the wall.  Definitely let us know how it performs in terms of drilling performance and battery life(I'm curious about weight comparisons too)!  It looks really appealing for a dirtbag budget.  

The weight of the Bauer with a 5Ah battery is 6.1lbs.   My Bosch with a 6.3Ah battery is 5.2lbs.   I use my Bosch quite a bit for bolting on lead, I don't plan on using the Bauer for lead bolting only using it for rap bolting.

Used the drill on a new route yesterday.  Loads of power, lots more than my Bosch.   We were drilling in fairly hard rock and it drilled a 3/8x5" hole in just over 10 seconds.   I was very impressed with it.   I won't be using it drilling on lead and probably won't be carrying it into more remote crags soles due to the weight but for projects close to the road its great.  Its really not much heavier than my Bosch but why carry the extra weight?  I'll check back in as I use it more and report how it holds up long term.

Kevin Mokracek wrote:

Used the drill on a new route yesterday.  Loads of power, lots more than my Bosch.   We were drilling in fairly hard rock and it drilled a 3/8x5" hole in just over 10 seconds.   I was very impressed with it.   I won't be using it drilling on lead and probably won't be carrying it into more remote crags soles due to the weight but for projects close to the road its great.  Its really not much heavier than my Bosch but why carry the extra weight?  I'll check back in as I use it more and report how it holds up long term.

Thanks for the review. 

Just curious, why not use it for lead bolting? Anything other than the increased weight? 

I haven't checked these out in person but have considered getting another drill that I can stash, so again, thanks for the review.

nbrown wrote:

Thanks for the review. 

Just curious, why not use it for lead bolting? Anything other than the increased weight? 

I haven't checked these out in person but have considered getting another drill that I can stash, so again, thanks for the review.

Read my mind Nate, good stash drill 

nbrown wrote:

Thanks for the review. 

Just curious, why not use it for lead bolting? Anything other than the increased weight? 

I haven't checked these out in person but have considered getting another drill that I can stash, so again, thanks for the review.

The only reason I wouldn’t use it on lead is my Bosch is nearly 1lb lighter and not as long.   I’ve definitely lead drilled with bigger drills before, I don’t think it would be horrible.  I’m finishing a new route with it tomorrow and will see how it does.  I’m really impressed with it so far.  Can’t beat the price. 

Kevin Mokracek wrote:

The only reason I wouldn’t use it on lead is my Bosch is nearly 1lb lighter and not as long.   I’ve definitely lead drilled with bigger drills before, I don’t think it would be horrible.  I’m finishing a new route with it tomorrow and will see how it does.  I’m really impressed with it so far.  Can’t beat the price. 

Thanks! 

Rumor has it that Harbor Freight is coming out with an 8ah battery for the Bauer tools.  Supposedly pretty soon.   

Kevin Mokracek wrote:

Rumor has it that Harbor Freight is coming out with an 8ah battery for the Bauer tools.  Supposedly pretty soon.   

nbrown wrote:

Great!!! I’m sure they will have sales on them.  I’ll pick one up.  

I just got home from putting up a new route today on very dense hard rock.   It drilled just as fast as any 36v drill I’ve used.   Drilled 12 holes and had two out of three bars still lit on the battery.   This is definitely going to become my frontline drill. 

Kevin Mokracek wrote:

Great!!! I’m sure they will have sales on them.  I’ll pick one up.  

I just got home from putting up a new route today on very dense hard rock.   It drilled just as fast as any 36v drill I’ve used.   Drilled 12 holes and had two out of three bars still lit on the battery.   This is definitely going to become my frontline drill. 

Good to hear. 

For what its worth, the 8 Amp battery is considerably larger (as expected) so I probably won't get one myself. I prefer the smaller size, plus I already have several 8 Amp batteries with my m18 anyway. If the price gets considerably cheaper then it might be a different story.

Thanks again for the reviews.

Something interesting I learned while placing a 5" bolt today (somewhat soft rock, but mainly I just get them cheaper) with this drill: The bit doesn't stick out as far from the end of the chuck as with other drills. So, even drilled to the hilt it was really close and resulted in a shallower bolt than l expected. I guess I should have double checked, but I didn't. Complacency...

nbrown wrote:

Something interesting I learned while placing a 5" bolt today (somewhat soft rock, but mainly I just get them cheaper) with this drill: The bit doesn't stick out as far from the end of the chuck as with other drills. So, even drilled to the hilt it was really close and resulted in a shallower bolt than l expected. I guess I should have double checked, but I didn't. Complacency...

That’s a good point, I noticed that yesterday when working a new route, it didn’t affect me as the bolts I was placing were only 2.5” but I did notice more of the bit was covered.   

Looks like Bauer has a 1 inch version too?  Heavier and bulkier than the 1/2 inch one.

Josh Z wrote:

Looks like Bauer has a 1 inch version too?  Heavier and bulkier than the 1/2 inch one.

I have a Makita like that, very powerful but too long, it’s pretty unwieldy.    

Just over a month of using the drill pretty regularly doing several rap bolted routes and two ground up routes I am super pleased with it.  I have primarily been drilling in rhyolite rock which is very dense and compact in the area I am climbing.  Ive abused it pretty good dragging it up and down walls and its doing great.  I can't think of any reason not to buy it so far.  When you can get one for under $70 when they have a sale or coupon you can't go wrong.

Y'all sold me on it, just went out and grabbed one. Just an FYI for folks - this weekend Harbor Freight is doing 25% off any single item, and also right now it's buy a rotary hammer, get a free 3ah battery. I just went in and got the rotary hammer, 3ah battery, 5ah battery, 8ah battery (25% went here, think it was like $78 post-coupon in case anyone is looking at grabbing one), and rapid plus charger and was out the door at like $266. Pretty screamin' deal. Will give an updated review once I've had the chance to abuse as well.

nbrown wrote:

Something interesting I learned while placing a 5" bolt today (somewhat soft rock, but mainly I just get them cheaper) with this drill: The bit doesn't stick out as far from the end of the chuck as with other drills. So, even drilled to the hilt it was really close and resulted in a shallower bolt than l expected. I guess I should have double checked, but I didn't. Complacency...

Was this with the end vinyl cap pulled off? It comes off pretty easily and seems like it would give you an extra cm or so of clearance.