Bosch GSB 21-2 RCT Professional

Dont buy it – The switch cuts in and out cant even drill one hole , i wont be buying bosch ever again the quality of tool has gone out the window . Back to good old Makira never ket me down

When you have a really big job to do – I’ve had some tree stumps I needed to deal with and this was an awesome solution. I drilled them out using a 32mm Irwin Speed Bore Max auger bit and 300mm extension with the drill. The wood was tough but with the handle fitted to the drill it made light work of stump obliteration. By overlapping the holes it was possible to completely remove them by boring a few hundred holes. The GSB21-2 RCT did not even get hot doing this even though it was running fast at high torque for several hours. I was confident the electronic motor protection would cut in if needed but the thing has so much power and torque it was not working hard. I’d tried the task before with the biggest Bosch and Makita 18v brushless drills but they cut out after 5 or so holes and were obviously at their limit.

I had read the previous reviews about gearbox issues and checked with Bosch if they had problems but apparently it was a lack of heat treatment that only affected one batch long since recalled and since then they have been near indestructible with all the electronic protection systems in the unit. I like how it has a proper safety clutch to stop any massive dramas on a roof or up a ladder and the seperate torque and speed controls are good enough to put in self tappers and not break off heads or strip threads. The chuck works well and it’s not too heavy to use over my head, it comes in a plastic case with space to carry my auger bits. I would recommend this drill for anyone with access to mains electricity that needs a lot more power and endurance than a cordless drill can provide.

Striped drive wheel after 5 days – Lasted 5 days. Drilled 100 holes 5mm into 6mm mild steel no problems. Mixed 15lt of readymix and it gave up the ghost. Motor is great. Very powerful. Perhaps too much motor for the gearbox. Still very dissapointed. Had a cheepo green bosch 500w drill that llasted 7 years of punishment. Drilling and mixing under much higher stress loads. This blue bosch cost me 5 timea as much and lasted 5 days. Major design flaw in the gearbox.

Terrible durability – I purchased two of these drills being assured they are trades quality strong and reliable drills. They are definitely not. One stripped the gearbox on the very first hole...8mm hole through 10mm thick mild steel. Replaced under warranty after 10 days. Stripped the gearbox again on about the 20th hole.....8mm through 6mm mild steel. Replaced under warranty after about 2 weeks.

Stripped the gearbox on the 2nd replacement on its first 12mm hole through 6mm mild steel. Bosch refunded moneys towards another brand of my choice.

2nd drill had similar stripped the gearbox 3 times before refunded from Bosch to another machine of my choice. I have used bosch tools extensively for 30 years, buying up to 10 machines per year and now I will never buy Bosch again.

Total rubbish quality gearboxes. Bosch will give money back after 3 warranty claims. Sold as top quality industrial machines.

Excellent – Got this as a present from some mates and I love it. It has incredible power (1,300 watts!). It drove 75mm wood screws through hardwood beams almost as fast as it drills. Variable speed and torque for screw driving is handy and it has a clutch in case of binding - just as well considering the torque this drill puts out. It has handled everything I've thrown at it with ease and only needing one hand to lock/release the keyless chuck is very convenient.

This thing is a monster of a drill. Power! Features, auto locking of keyless chuck, carry case, top of the line, well built (in Switzerland).