Hart, a Walmart-exclusive brand of cordless power tools designed for DIYers, has a 20V battery-powered RC truck kit for $99 (HPRC01B).
The Hart RC truck can drive at speeds of up to 20 MPH, and its 2.4 GHz 2-speed remote has a 250 foot control distance.
It also has a built-in camera mount that looks to work with GoPro cameras (or similar), if you have one.
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The kit gives you the RC truck, remote, Hart 20V 1.5Ah battery, and a charger. If you already have a battery and charger, you can get the truck by itself for a little less.
Price: $99
I bought the similar Ryobi 18V RC truck a few years ago. A wheel popped off and a part broke, and the company was able to send me the necessary parts under warranty to fix it. It was good fun for the money.
As the same company is behind Ryobi and Hart products, I would bet the RC trucks and user experience would be similar.
Nathan
Do you happen to know who actually makes the truck device – I’m betting it’s a traxxas item (hobby brand).
Nifty idea.
Jared
I don’t think so. While these power tool RCs are fun, they’re not quite “hobby grade” in my experience. For the price – they’re still pretty good value and are lots of fun, but they don’t have the swappable components of Traxxas, Arrma, Axial, etc.
Having parts available at all is pretty good for this price range though. Something always breaks eventually.
Nathan
which one makes the models that the bodies are very realistic but the performance is sub par? That’s who I am thinking of – tamia maybe.
the 2 speed remote sort of stuck that thought in. Traxxas made the E-maxx which was a beast of a device when it came out.
Yes I’m old and yes I used to really enjoy playing with them. still have my street weapon and my XXT.
Jared
Tamiya is an odd duck. I think your description fits for a lot of their stuff. It seems like they’ve decided to make “retro” kits their focus, with many of the models sold 30-40 years ago re-available today. Some of it is realistic, some is just goofy.
I had a Super Hornet growing up, so I still have warm feelings for the brand, but I haven’t actually bought anything since.
My kid got an Arrma 1/10 Typhon from his grandma a couple years ago which re-sparked my interest (yes, I play with it too). I then bought “him” a 1/24 scale mini crawler from Axial that I actually prefer more.
An aunt later bought the kid one of those 1/8 scale 20v trucks similar to this Hart – but I don’t recall the brand now. I think they carried it at Costco briefly. It’s compatible with a variety of 20v packs – I use it with my Dewalt and Porter Cable batteries.
It’s plenty fast to have some fun, but it doesn’t compare to the Arrma Typhon if you drive them back-to-back. The throttle and brake have a little delay, it’s RWD vs. 4wd, the tires aren’t as sticky, it’s not as fast, the suspension is just springs, the steering servo is pretty weak…
I still say they’re worth $100. Just not the right purchase for someone who is interested in RC cars as a hobby.
MM
That was probably Tamiya. They have an interesting product line, some of their line are highly realistic copies of real-world vehicles, they’re famous for their Semi trucks and tanks, others are copies of famous one-off vehicles like the Midnight Pumpkin monster truck, Others are purely goofy or have no resemblance to real-life vehicles. But yeah, their performance was not at the level of, say, Associated, Losi, etc, and if you put a hot modified motor in an old-school Tamiya model you were guaranteed to either break parts left and right or have serious traction problems. Or both.
Plain+grainy
Might be good security item, when paired with a WiFi security camera. Perhaps add a Bosch remote controls light. Better than trekking out in the dark to investigate a noise. Might also scare off some marauding small animals invading your yard. Does it have an optional car wash? In case you encounter a skunk!
Plain+grainy
The 10000 lumen Bosch light is 8.6 #. So that’s probably not an option. But WiFi security cameras have remote controlled lights built in. Weight is comparable to a Go-Pro. Not 10000 lumens though. Perhaps the Bosch light could be trailered.
MM
The idea of being able to run R/C toys or models off tool batteries is pretty cool. R/C toys were always battery hogs and this is a way to run them with batteries already around the house, that can make R/C more accessible without having to buy into model-specific batteries and chargers. I’d imagine the toys perform pretty well with modern tool batts as well, these are probably a lot more fun compared to the low-end R/C toys of years ago. It seems like a great idea for someone who already has Hart tools and they’ve got kids interested in R/C but aren’t quite ready to go for the real thing yet.
I will take the opportunity to rant a bit though: I was into R/C as a teenager back in the 90’s. At the time there were some low-end models which came pre-assembled, which you would find at places like Radio Shack or department stores. Those made sense for children. But the nicer R/C models–the ones you’d get from a model or hobby shop specifically, and that people raced competitively, etc– nearly always came as kits which you built yourself, like the famous Associated RC-10. There were a handful of “real” R/C models which came pre-assembled but these were the exception rather than the rule and they were marketed towards beginners. Anything “serious” was always a kit, and a lot of the fun came from putting it together and picking the tires you liked, the suspension settings that worked for you, whatever custom ideas you dream up, etc. I was poking around the R/C hobby a few years ago and I was shocked to learn that these days it is very hard to find a kit you put together yourself, nearly all of them come pre-assembled, even the high-end models which are clearly priced for adults. It made me wonder if the cars drive themselves too?
Jared
Don’t worry, when you buy a ready-to-run model these days you still get lots of assembly time repairing all the things that break. 😄
The current generation is a lot tougher than the cars of 30 years ago, but they’re faster too. You get intimate with the internals quickly or your fun is over.
There’s still “builders” kits available that aren’t much more than a chassis and body – but those are usually only for popular and advanced models.
MM
I did see that some models are available in kit form still. When I was a teenager I had always wanted a Kyosho Inferno, a high-end 1/8 scale 4wd buggy, though I could never afford one. Those are still around, though obviously updated compared to the models I was drooling over 30 years ago. I did see that among several different RTR versions you could get those in a kit form but that appeared to be the exception rather than the rule.
Nathan
Right now everything is nearly made RTR. I don’t see any kit cars today but they are all RTR out of the box and you can then spend another small fortune on a bunch of hop ups.
Kicker is though alot of the nice RTR stuff is so common now. Lipo Packs – ball bearings everywhere – brushless motors and controls on some. Guy I work with got something the other day I don’t know exactly what but I’d liken it to the new RC10 for want of a better idea. out of the box it was fast and it came with a quality radio. Amazing.
I keep telling my buddy that still does it that tool batteries are a really good option for this and he doesn’t agree. “you know hobby batteries are made better have more current thoughput . . . . . . .” Yep k I know but my dewalt battery for nearly the same weight has more voltage, decent current density and charges easier/faster. but you know whatever. He does have some crazy powerful pouch cells but you have to be careful with them – another thing I don’t like. I’ll give up 10% of the capacity for ease of use.
JMJR
When I got into R/Cs a little over a year ago, I was looking for an option to use Li-Ion batteries like 18650s or 21700s because they’re pretty powerful and relatively safe compared to LiPos.
Unfortunately, almost all hobby grade R/Cs use LiPo batteries and I learned that it’s because LiPos can discharge power much quicker than Li-Ion batteries can. A Li-Ion might have a discharge rating of 40-50c, while a LiPo can be over 100c.
The only option I could easily find that used Li-Ion was the Arrma Granite Voltage 2WD brushed R/C. While Li-Ion is an option, Arrma steers owners towards either NiMH or LiPo batteries instead.
Ball_bearing
You rang?
MM
You’re right that many of the modern RTR models are indeed very nice with things like billet oil-filled shocks, ball bearings, carbon fiber or titanium parts, etc, being standard out of the box whereas back in the day those were either expensive aftermarket parts or were only found on the highest end kits. Today’s radios are much better, etc. I wasn’t complaining about the quality of the models, that has only improved it seems. But for me buying a ready-to-run kit takes most of the fun out of the whole experience.
There’s no technological difference between hobby batteries and tool batteries. The difference is that the tool batteries are highly vetted and tested to survive rough handing and the current demands placed on them by the tool. In other words, they have a high factor of safety built in. With hobby batteries it’s the wild west, the vetting and testing and all that is absent. That’s not to say that hobby batteries are inherently dangerous, but it’s certainly true that there are sketchy brands on the market with poor QC and there are also many people are pushing those batteries much closer to their limits in an R/C application than would happen in a power tool. And when people play fast and loose with safety battery failures can happen, sometimes catastrophic ones.
Jared
Yeah – there’s a reason they sell fire and explosion-proof bags alongside the batteries and chargers at hobby stores. The risks are real.
I wonder, can a modern tool battery can keep up with the discharge rate of an RC battery?
Don’t get me wrong – clearly you can power a reasonably powerful vehicle with a 20v Dewalt pack, but my kid’s 7.4v Arrma is faster than his 20v power-tool car.
Batteries for RC come in a variety of voltages too: a 2 cell “2s” battery is 7.4v, a 3S is 11.1v, 4S is 14.8v and 6S is 22.2v. Vehicles running on 6s batteries are typically VERY high performance, so I’m not sure you could swap in a power tool pack.
Maybe the new “pouch cell” packs would have a better chance?
Nathan
It’s that physics thing I always point out. Voltage vs Amps. Power is VoltAMp if you want to think of it that way especially for DC output.
Issue is all the high quality brushless systems in the hobby world are made for 7.2-9.6 input volts and high current and being brushless how it drives the motor matters. Making that work right on a 18V nominal input means something different and doing it right also would mean making the windings in the can different.
Take the flexvolt any tool – it’s powerful as all get out – but it’s made to live with a higher line voltage at the windings- though the controller – which is why they run cooler and tend to not temp fault like you hear other brands do.
Same would happen here – oh and while at it look at the youtube of the guy that powers his trike with a dewalt drill. Hobby stuff I don’t think really goes much past 12V. (think the last e- chopper I played with was 11.4 or such) (or I shouhld say it didn’t circa 2010 last I was into any of it)
Dust
I bought the ryobi a year or two ago, hunted for it. Then returned it after a single use. It was terrible. Not much hope this will be better, especially for a niche brand.