Milwaukee Tool has announced a major expansion of their MX Fuel line of cordless equipment, with new tools, batteries, a charger, and accessories set to launch in late 2023.
The new solutions are centered around the needs of concrete contractors, and provide instant starts with no gas headaches, no regular maintenance, and zero emissions.
All of the new tools are compatible with existing MX Fuel RedLithium batteries.
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Following are brief intros to the new tools, with more details expected to become available closer to their launch.
At the time of this posting, all of the new Milwaukee MX Fuel tools and equipment are expected to launch in Fall 2023.
- 20″ Plate Compactor
- 36″ Walk-Behind Trowel
- 24″ Walk-Behind Edging Trowel
- 6″ Green Concrete Saw
- Green Concrete Diamond Blades
- Core Rig w/ Stand
- Diamond Wet Core Bits
- RedLithium Batteries
- Super Charger
Milwaukee MX Fuel 20″ Plate Compactor
The new MX Fuel compactor is designed to “deliver the power to hit hard and travel faster for maximum productivity without sacrificing compaction performance.”
It offers multi-direction capability and fast/slow speed control.
When paired with the new HD 12Ah battery, it delivers 30 minutes of continuous runtime, or can work 4,500 square feet per charge.
Price: $5,499 (kit)
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Milwaukee MX Fuel 36″ Walk-Behind Trowel
The new MX Fuel walk-behind trowel delivers 5HP performance. With an HD 12Ah battery, it delivers 25 minutes of runtime per charge.
Price: $7,499 (kit)
Milwaukee MX Fuel 24″ Walk-Behind Edging Trowel
The edging trowel is also described as delivering 5HP performance, for a “smooth, balanced finishing experience.”
When powered with an HD 12Ah battery, it delivers 35 minutes of runtime.
Price: $5,999 (kit)
Milwaukee MX Fuel 6″ Green Concrete Saw
The 6″ green concrete saw is said to provide “easier, more accurate cutting of control joints.”
It can cut up to 1-1/2″ depths with a 6″ blade.
When paired with an MX Fuel XC 8Ah battery, it delivers up to 160 ft of cut per charge.
Price: $5,499 (kit)
Green Concrete Diamond Blades
There will be new 6″ x 0.100″ green concrete diamond blades with 5 different bond types for soft to hard aggregate cutting:
- Softest
- Soft
- Medium-Soft
- Medium
- Hard-Medium
The blades feature a u-notch design that provides up to 30% faster cutting speeds and are engineered to cut up to 70 more feet per charge of green concrete.
Milwaukee says the new laser welds allow for increased durability in hard aggregates such as gravel, crushed stone, slag, and recycled concrete.
The blades will be compatible with all 6″ triangular arbor green concrete saws.
Milwaukee MX Fuel Core Rig with Stand
The new core rig can core up to 14″ holes in reinforced concrete. Milwaukee says it “provides the easiest coring anywhere, with the elimination of cords, an intuitive bit removal device, and 3-piece modular design.”
When powered by an HD 12Ah battery, the core rig can drill (4) 10″ holes in reinforced concrete per charge.
Price: $5,999
Diamond Wet Core Bits
Milwaukee will also be extending their lines of Diamond Ultra and Diamond Premium wet core bits.
Milwaukee Diamond Ultra wet core bits are “engineered to deliver the fastest drilling and maximum runtime in concrete coring applications.” This line will expand with 10″, 12″, and 14″ diameter core bits, increasing the range from 5/8″ to 14″.
Milwaukee Diamond Premium wet core bits are “designed with the highest standards using only quality diamonds,” and “offer exceptional drilling life and speed in cured concrete with hard aggregate and medium steel reinforcement.” This line will expand with 7″ and 9″ diameter bits, and offers a range of sizes from 3/4″ to 14″.
Milwaukee MX Fuel RedLithium Batteries and Super Charger
Milwaukee will be launching (2) new MX Fuel RedLithium battery sizes, XC8.0 and HD12.0, delivering higher capacity and longer runtime.
The MX Fuel line will now have 4 battery sizes:
- CP203 (3Ah)
- XC406 (6Ah)
- XC8.0 (8Ah) – NEW
- HD12.0 (12Ah) – NEW
The batteries will launch alongside a new MX Fuel Super Charger, which can charge the XC8.0 battery in under 45 minutes, and the HD12.0 battery in under 65 minutes.
All MX Fuel RedLithium batteries are compatible with all MX Fuel equipment, and the new Super Charger is compatible with all RedLithium batteries.
Dust
Zero chance that plate compactor doesn’t ruin the battery.
Stuart
With respect to vibration? That’s why Milwaukee created MX Fuel with an interface far larger and more robust than possible with handheld cordless power tool batteries.
Dust
Well yes, vibration from any of the other tools don’t even touch the beating a plate compactor dishes up. Especially ramping up or down.
But what is up with the last photo, is there a handle on that battery?
Stuart
When MX Fuel launched, I talked with a Milwaukee Tool VP quite a bit about what necessitated a brand new battery system, especially compared to say dual M18 batteries. The housing and interface were the focus of that conversation.
I saw the same in the last photo – it looks like a strap-type handle. I yelled “ENHANCE” at my computer a couple of times and added the resultant image at the end of the post for a better look.
Big Richard
So is that the HD12.0 in his hand? It seems a little taller than the other battery in the Supercharger, but it could just be the picture angle. I have to assume the XC8.0 is the same size as the XC406, just 4000mAh cells vs 3000mAh, but the HD12.0 has to have another row of cells in it.
Stuart
I believe so, but there are no labels to confirm it.
I also assume the XC8.0 is the same physical size as the XC406 and with higher capacity cells, but have not seen confirmation of this either.
Big Richard
So the XC8.0 and HD12.0 are FORGE batteries, now it makes sense.
JR Ramos
Did you ever in a million years think we’d see such tools on cordless battery platforms?! It’s clear that these will have some drawbacks and high operating costs but wow, look where cordless has come. Amazing. I think I thought the same thing when the snowblower was announced, though.
The batteries better be up to snuff. It’ll be a significant cost outlay for enough to run a crew for a day plus spares and dead-replacement-spares, so hopefully these tools won’t absolutely eat cells for hot breakfast. That said, in places that are banning small gas engines, there won’t be a lot of alternative choices right now. I’m sure Hilti will get in on this fully at some point. Wonder if Bosch might.
I had no idea those green saw blades used triangular arbors! I’ve seen them in action but I’ve never seen the blades and have no hands-on with the machines. When I saw the pic it was a headscratching moment. Who’s bright idea was that. I guess laser cutting is so much the norm these days but a round arbor with pin drive bolstering seems so much simpler.
Kent+Hanson
With the triangular arbor there will be zero blade spin (not sure thats what its called) where the blade isn’t being held tight enough so it gets stuck in the concrete and the engine is spinning but the blade isn’t. I’ve had that happen a couple of times with beat up rentals.
JR Ramos
Yeah, concept understood. I was thinking something akin to a hole saw arbor with the locking pins that accomplish the same thing. Laser cutting is probably simple and cheap enough although machining the arbor into a triangle…must be worth it. I thought it was neat to see – not too often anymore that I see something I haven’t already but it’s always fun to learn new things, new approaches.
CB
I bought the screed and vibrator just hoping they would be worth it…..After a full season, totally worth it.
I think you have to kind of pick and choose based on your needs. Run times on the saws and trowels don’t look great, so they will be for niche jobs where you can’t have fumes.
The screed has been amazing though, to the point that I’m selling my gas screeds and getting another MX, so much nicer to use.
Ivan
Just curious what makes it nicer after actually using it? And what’s the weight like?
livernette philippe
Hi JR Ramos,
That triangular arbor is a design from SoffCut owned by Husqvarna construction product, it’s a product line invented in USA a couple of decades ago. The shape allows to transfer more torque to the cut, and since it’s an upcut used in combination with vacuum, the cut is clean when leaving the site 🙂
There’s quite a range of those SoffCut active in USA.
Cheers
Phil
JR Ramos
Phil, thanks for that info. I’ll browse around to learn more later today.
Tim
They must have paired up with Soff Cut/Husqvarna. That is a marketing ploy to ensure that you have to purchase their blades, which incidentally are much higher priced than other dealers who use a round arbor. I’ve had Soff cut brand saws that use this arbor which they had a patent on for years forcing concrete contractors to have to use thier overpriced blades. Soff-Cut has a nice saw but I use other blade manufacturers that have adaptors to this system and pay 1/4 of the price for that soff -cut wants for their diamond blade. And the kicker is I get more lf usage out of the aftermarket brand compared to the major brand in side by side comparison.
Mike Faulkner
Milwaukee has been in Lithium for almost 20 years now. Hilti is just getting involved in the last 4-5 years. Milwaukee is 2 years ahead of everyone else in this market.
Leo B.
Any details on what the modular components are in the core drill? Thanks for the coverage! These look like some very intriguing tools.
Stuart
Not at this time.
Limited details are available, given the advance timing, and I lack the experience with these types of tools to be able to guess confidently.
I was told more information will be available closer to launch, at which time there’s a greater chance I can get specific questions answered.
Leo B.
Ok, thanks!
neandrewthal
I’m sure there is a very specialized niche where these tools make sense. Definitely indoor work. And even though the cost is high, expensive tools don’t make up much of the operating costs of a lot of construction. A crew of 3 costs $5,000-10,000 a week and may be billed out at twice that.
Doresoom
Well, I got the power trowel and plate compactor predictions right!
fred
While we owned a plate compactor and both gas and electric concrete saws. When it came to a walk-behind saw or power trowel – on the odd occasion that we needed one – we’d rent or sub the work out. Usually that was because we had to deal with old well-cured embedded slabs or pavement where our subcontractor would haul out a hydraulic saw or even bigger Vermeer machine.
I suspect that it will take some time before these cordless tools show up in the rental yards. Meanwhile, I can see them selling OK to fill in niche applications. Swapping out the engine for a battery powered motor should make them environmentally friendlier and more amenable to use indoors. I’d hear complaints about the foibles and failures of using an engine-driven cutoff saw indoors – then complaints about how swapping out a Bosch corded one would constantly trip out its GFCI protection.
So what’s next for the MX lineup? Maybe a wall saw?
Ryan
As a former professional concrete cutter the core drill looks nice but only for holes, in unknown depth of reimbursement, as someone who probably would drill 75-100 holes a day that drill would be an 1000( between drill and ten batteries) emergency only investment. The concrete saw would definitely have it’s uses though.
Dave
Still have never seen an MX out on the wild. My plate compactor was half the price of that, and I’ve had it for 13 years without issue. The “gas headaches” don’t really exist on these tools as most of them have high quality commercial Honda motors. Also 30 minutes is nothing on a plate compactor. If mine is onsite it’s usually running for hours at a time. I do see some uses for a small battery compactor, but not at that price. I just don’t really know who these are aimed at. They are too costly for me as a private small business, and larger companies usually have contracts with companies like Hilti that offer in field service and engineering consultantaions.
Kent+Hanson
Some jurisdictions are banning small gas engines though so that’s why the battery push.
Dave
Exactly
Out in cali you won’t be able to use small engines
Leo B.
I haven’t seen many, but I have seen at least one concrete contractor using a MX Fuel saw, in conjunction with a Stihl gasser, to cut a driveway for running electrical. They’re not common, but they’re out there.
Philip
You can see the form factor differences from the manufacturers in this segment. The form on mx allows Milwaukee to make all kinds of equipment. Other forms are a strict suit case form … this form might be better to have multiple batteries used together for more power and runtime. Takes up less space for multiple batteries!
Jason
These are very cool and love to see the boundaries getting pushed but WOW the runtime. $7,500 for the trowel and the new 12.0 runs it for 25 minutes. Pop in one of your older 6.0 and you’re getting just over 10 minutes. Don’t even think about the 3.0.
There’s a long runway here and I really want to see the industry keep moving this way. For me you can either charge me double the price for cordless at the same performance, or the same price for half the performance, but not both.
fred
It is a struggle for heavy-duty but still portable tools. There is way-way more energy stored in a gallon of gasoline than in even the largest battery (72V – 20Ah) in the MX lineup. Even taking into account the better efficiency of a DC motor compared to a gasoline engine, it is still not even close. Tools like the MX line have to make sense on some other niche level. Maybe you’re pouring a small slab inside an existing office building – then a cordless trowel might fit. I guess that Milwaukee will see how well they sell – perhaps first in California and other places that want to phase out gasoline.
Stuart
True, but a gallon of gasoline is consumable.
Li-ion batteries are also consumable in a sense, as they can be recharged and reused a finite number of times.
Cordless power tool brands like to show cost-of-ownership charts where Li-ion battery-powered tools have a high investment but lower costs over time compared to the cost of gasoline and regular gas engine maintenance.
Franco
It should also be mentioned, like Dave stated above, you can’t use small engines in Cali.
For sure, if there is not an electric or battery alternative, legislators can’t ban gas engine. But with both electric and some battery models showing up, they can make these laws. And forget Cali, many smaller cities and municipalities are starting to ban gas line trimmers.
This is the writing on the wall; in the next 5-10 years many areas in USA, Canada, Europe for sure and around the world in general will make small ICE outlawed.
I am not a Milwaukee fanboy but do have to give them credit for getting into this market. It still needs tons of R&D to get more bang for less buck, but at least they are getting it going.
Others will be forced to follow as the times change
Ct451
The run-times dictate the size of market. There are a lot of jobs that can be done in 30 minutes or less but batteries on the tool will only go so far. An off the tool power supply be it the grid, a generator or a battery bank is a solution that fits a bigger market.
It seems Milwaukee picked a very niche market with few players to compete against. Maybe there are enough crews of utility companies who come to hook you up to justify this endeavor.
Harrison
I think it remains to be seen how open these larger scale industries are to the proprietary consumer “battery system” marketing model.
At this level of cost and barrier to entry, with tens of thousands of dollars of billing on the line, you buy or rent the equipment that works best for your crew and the job at hand. You don’t get hung up on colours or brand names matching.
A carpenter for instance, may decide that a ‘less than stellar’ jigsaw is still worth the $179 because it matches their other 18v batteries, and gets the job done. They will use it occasionally, and the 5-10% loss in efficiency vs a better performing competitor won’t make a difference.
This is not the case on an industrial scale. Margins are made on a few percent, and when tools must run continuously- These are all continuous duty tools- disparities in performance translate directly to daily production. Who wants to tell the tower crane operator to slow down- Gotta swap a battery every 30min?
I don’t doubt these tools will find their niche, but if I were a betting man, I’d say electric equipment from established industrial players will continue to dominate the market. Some of these tools are large enough that the golf cart or forklift battery model may come into play- Multiple battery banks made up of commodity LiFePO4 cells that give you hundreds of Ah, enough to work continuously for 3-4 hours, allowing you to make it through the day with top-ups at lunch and break times.
Mateo
I get that this is an early foray into making a lot of these tools battery powered, and as others have pointed out gas may be prohibited in some jurisdictions but man the runtimes on those motor trowels are short. I’m also curious on how much they weigh since that can determine how well you burn off a drier slab.
Nathan
not in the concrete world – what does green concrete mean in this case. recent cure?
Otherwise interesting but not surprising.
wonder how much that battery weighs and if it has some internal cooling – like a gel jacket like is used in some auto and aircraft LIPO batteries. (think cell pack sits in a gel for heat disapation).
Doug N
Before the concrete cures. You can cut the control joints the same day you pour, as soon as you can walk on it.
Robert
Every concrete site I’ve seen is messy. How well will the tools and batteries do with concrete FOD getting on their electrical interfaces as the batteries are swapped out every 30 to 10 minutes by guys with dirty hands?
Harrison
Yeah keeping that big slide interface clean is going to take constant attention. Slide packs and concrete are a miserable combo.
This is another reason I think it makes more sense to stick to non-proprietary, standard group lithium 12-48v vehicle batteries, and leave them hooked up in the machine. Give the tool enough capacity to make it through a morning or afternoon, and plug in to a charger at lunch time with a replaceable quick-connect cable.
All of the components for that ^ are already available at commodity prices- A handy person could bolt an affordable BLDC motor onto their existing power trowel, strap a controller and battery box on top and have at it. It’s not rocket science, these tools are already modular to accept a range of standardized motors, gas and electric. The existing players in this space will have no trouble selling cordless versions of their current products when the legislation makes it a necessity.
OhioHead
Stuart – I think World of Concrete is coming up in Vegas, I bet more information comes out of WoC 2023.
I was at my local WhiteCap in late November picking up an epoxy foundation repair kit, they had MX on display, I asked the desk person how MX is selling, they indicated “thus far it has been niche/very specific uses of the tools that have sold.” I do not remember what was on display.
Stuart
Yes, and no. The info provided here was gleaned from Milwaukee’s WOC 2023 press/media distribution.
OhioHead
Gotcha – thank you!
Ruslan C.
This tool line most likely aimed at California job sites, as there will be a ban on all gasoline used tools very soon.
Gnarbar
Wacker Neuson has had battery rammers and plate compactors out for a while. Not sure how well received they are. If anyone can solve vibration vs batteries they would be a good candidate.
Husqvarna recently released a small core drill and trowel on one of their battery platforms.
Franco Calcagni
Since the original article in January, does anyone have any feedback from either using any of these tools? Or anyone who has attended any of the shows like WOC and so on?
For now it is a niche market, but you have to figure with all the green legislation coming in over the next few years, probably even more in Europe than NA, this is the future.