For years, I wasn’t very interested in outdoor power tools, at least not personally. That all changed when we moved into a home with grass, bushes, brush, weeds, trees, and everything in between.
Don’t get me wrong, outdoor power tools don’t top my list of most interesting tools to talk about, but I’m still trying to learn more about the nuances and details that separate the good outdoor power tools from the better ones.
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Earlier this week, Milwaukee Tool representatives were in the area to show off their latest and greatest M18 Fuel outdoor power equipment – a blower, a string trimmer, and a hedge trimmer. I made the trip out, and previewed the tools in a hotel conference room.
It was an interesting presentation to say the least. I had my infant daughter with me, and she really put my multitasking abilities to the test.
Thoughts raced through my head as I absorbed details about the string trimmer and fired off some questions. Why is it better than competing models? The string has a high energy impact, so what’s the durability like? Why is the motor housing shaped like that?
We also had a great discussion about the blower, and discussion of the hedge trimmer was detailed but a little hurried since I needed to race to another appointment. I didn’t have a chance to test the tools on wood dowels and broom bristles, but there will be plenty of time for tool testing once they’re released.
General Thoughts About Milwaukee M18 Fuel Outdoor Tools
It seems sincere to me, that Milwaukee is seeking to deliver the best outdoor power tools that they can. It also seems clear to me that they’re targeting gas-powered tools and high powered cordless solutions, including higher voltage systems.
The new M18 Fuel tools – and I’m sorry I ran out of time and was unable to take photos – were each paired with a 9.0Ah High Demand battery pack, capable of delivering high power and long runtime.
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Don’t worry, your non-HD M18 battery pack will be more than capable of powering these tools, although you’ll likely see better runtime with one of the newer and higher capacity XC battery packs.
I believe it’s the string trimmer that will benefit from a small bump up in power when paired with a 9.0Ah High Demand battery pack.
Overall, the tools looked the part they were designed to play – they look to be high performance outdoor tools for professional use. Demanding consumers should also take notice.
More details are forthcoming – this post is meant to be a quick run through initial observations and details that stuck with me.
I’ll try to get some images too. But right now, my immediate priority was getting these details on figurative paper while they were all still fresh in my mind.
Milwaukee M18 Fuel String Trimmer
There were some standout features, such as a solid drive shaft between motor and cutter head. The cutting head had an offset guard, to help avoid debris build-up, the handle was covered
in a thicker and squishier than usual grip material, for vibration dampening and comfort. Even the motor housing was specially designed to mimic the ergonomics and stance experienced and heavy users take when using gas trimmers.
There were talks of high tip speed and high impact energy, and of the specially coated twisted trimmer line.
Milwaukee M18 Fuel Blower
I have been using Dewalt’s 20V Max blower a LOT these past few weeks, mainly to clear the garage, and to clear the drive of dust and debris. With leaf-falling season upon us, I’ll definitely keep it at the ready.
Milwaukee’s new blower is larger, at least it looks substantially larger. Maybe a bit heavier too. I lifted the blower, and while it’s got so heft, it doesn’t feel like an iron weight waiting to exercise my arms. But ask me again after I’ve had to clear an entire driveway or walkway.
The blower has a removable air duct, and a rather large air intake. You should be able to get a feel for the blower’s size from Benjamen’s photo, shown above.
See Also: Tools From Milwaukee’s 2016 New Tool Symposium
I put some baby ear muffs on my daughter, and the product manager fired up the M18 Fuel blower to show how it zips to full power nearly instantaneously. That was a bullet point shared along all 3 new outdoor tools – full power ready to go whenever you press the trigger.
I also noticed the blower to be a bit louder than the Dewalt I’ve been using. But it’s also larger and presumably much more powerful.
While the hedge trimmer and string trimmer will be limited to their specialized purposes, the blower looks to have additional appeal. I’m guessing jobsite cleanup is an intended use, and the product manager specified that they expect the blower to be used by some for for clearing concrete forms and things like that.
The most interesting part, at least in my opinion, is the inclusion of a small baffle towards the bottommost arc of the fan guard. The guard helps to reduce speed and airflow losses. While I don’t have much of a background in airflow, I know that the fan creates a sort of dead spot at the center where the motor is. Beyond that, airflow should be symmetrical, so why a slow down towards the bottom of the guard?
There’s no filter, but don’t worry, the fan can handle small pieces of debris, such as grass clippings that might find their way into the intake. Rocks and other larger debris should be deflected by the fan guard.
Milwaukee M18 Fuel Hedge Trimmer
The new hedge trimmer has a 24″ blade and tip guard, in case you swing the trimmer and hit some grass. It can handle branches up to 3/4″ thick.
There was talk of lower vibration and less noise compared to gas-powered tools, which makes sense.
More to Come
We talked about the product category in general, and how an M18 Fuel chainsaw is a possibility, and that a mower really isn’t on the roadmap right now. As for a hand tools segment of lawn and garden tools? It would be interesting if you ask me. There’s definitely potential for disruption in this market.
I tried to squeeze out as many details as I could, especially since outdoor power tools isn’t exactly my forte, and because I couldn’t make it to the June media event.
Between my tight schedule, my daughter’s feeding need and dirty diaper, and my caffeine spike and subsequently drop, I think I managed to hold onto the important bits.
fred
it is funny how your life often changes.
My wife is the gardener in my house – but confines most of her work to the more detailed work of planting, transplanting, pruning etc.
When we first acquired our home and then another larger-more rural property – we thought we’d do everything. Soon Bobcat gasoline lawnmowers , Kubota tractors, Echo backpack leaf blowers, Mantis tillers, Little Wonder hedge trimmers, Stihl chainsaws and string trimmers, and Ariens snowblowers to name a few powered garden tools were cluttering up the garages. A few years back – we reached an age where we decided to travel more during the year, go south for the winter and hire folks to do the heavy yard a garden work.
So 10 years ago – I might still have been keenly interested in these cordless tools – but now my wife uses mostly hand tools and cordless tools (grass trimmer and hedge trimmer) of a more diminutive nature from Gardena. My gripe with the Gardena tools is that the LiIon battery is not removable and change-out is a costly affair if you buy their spare part battery. So if Milwaukee came out with an M12 set of small garden tools – I might still be interested.
Stuart
I took out the part where I gave my daughter a bottle during the first part of the string trimmer intro, held her during the middle part, and held in laughter as she pooped and pooped and pooped during the last parts.
Life changes, indeed!
Craftsman used to make some 12V Nextec lawn & garden tools. The trimmer was okay, but readers and visitors complained of slim availability of replacement flails. I found the branch pruner to be quite capable, but it didn’t seem to be on the market for very long.
Steven
Make a cordless lawnmower…
Im not alone in the small lawn club, 10minutes and Im done. I understand gas for larger lawns, but majority of residential lots dont require the power and brute strength for short burst work.
Many of my neighbors prefer electric(cordless) however, as a mil collector Id prefer to have my work batteries at disposal and not have stagnant batteries decaying between seasons.
Stuart
I think that runtime is going to be the biggest issue with something like a lawnmower. They would likely have to step up to a 2-battery system, and I don’t think they’re ready for that.
Wayne
I’m in the same boat as you and I went and bought a Fiskars reel mower. Old school cordless. It’s great as long as you don’t have a lot of obstacles since you have to be moving for it to work.
mizzourob
What I really want to see on the roadmap is a Milwaukee M18 garage door opener (like the ryobi and with attachments). If they ever come out with that then I’ll be a convert to the M18 line.
Adam
That seems like a one-off type tool, that Milwaukee nor Ridgid will be trying to duplicate.
I doubt you will ever see Milwaukee with that. It is not their intended audience. Ryobi is for homeowners, and fits them much more. I suppose if your garage is in the middle of nowhere and you are always swapping batteries with other tools, then yes wait forever for the M18, otherwise just buy the Ryobi. They are much better than years past.
mizzourob
The other OPE tool I would like to see is a trimmer power head able to work with the trimmer plus attachments. I have to wonder though if that might be only possible with DeWalt’s flexvolt battery. If Milwaukee can do that, I’m sold and I’d buy an extra for my dad too.
Nathan
huh so dewalt was crazy to pursue this a few years ago (2 right?) but now it’s OK that milwaukee is following suit.
I’m glad to see the competition. I know people that own the dewalt stuff and they loved them – but I don’t like the idea that I have to buy so many different pieces.
I like the specifically the hedge clipper, string trimmer, edger. I have the troy built/ryobi/whatever else – brande expandit like of gas motor string trimmer. comes apart in the middle and then doubles as my edger.
Husquavarna/Echo make a version too and they also have a hedge trimmer and some other bits – much better quality tool and I might buy one. Kicker – echo now markets a 56 V battery system trimmer, with the same break shaft and will power the other tools.
and a chainsaw – etc. And a 2 battery 21 inch mower.
ANother option is the Ego line but they require you to buy each individual tool with more motors etc. (eventually costs more) But I hear good things about them
again glad to see more competition – look forward to some dewalt flexvolt 60 stuff – like a blower vac maybe.
JoeDirt
Maybe A Spoiler Alert: Milwaukee M18 Fuel Chainsaw 2727-20 Tool Only.
Harrolldean
Hope you’re right
Steve
When will the blower be available?
Stuart
ETA for all 3 is Jan 2017.
KL
I’m still in the chainsaw club. Used my 40V Ryobi last night for over 1.5 hours, running thru a little over 3 batteries.
I hope Milwaukee got the head RPM sufficient on the shaft drive of the string trimmer. The direct drive Ryobi is too slow and just slaps weeds.
BigJonH
That Milwaukee blower is pretty much a ripoff of Makitas 18×2 BL model. Makita has great outdoor cordless offerings, The 18×2 cordless chainsaw is great and the 18×2 weed eater. Milwaukee is playing catch up. Makita also have a 18×2 mower which I hope will make it over one of these days.
BigDan
Would not be surprised if Makita sold them the specs for someone else to manufacture for them. Makita doesnt really promote their stuff stateside especially not in the big box stores for their outdoor tools. It wouldn’t really bite into their market.
I have the makita 18v x2 and like it, but the dewalt 40v line is great.
norm
Do any of these line trimmers use aftermarket heads or accessories? I was told that Dewalt and Ryobi, at least have you married to their line and would not use an Oregon cartridge.
Stuart
Good question.
They take standard line widths, and I know Milwaukee will be selling replacing cartridges.
Once more info starts coming in (soon I hope), this is one of the first questions I’ll ask.
BonPacific
Glad to see the motor is in the back on the String Trimmer. The weight distribution is the only problem with the Dewalt Brushless Trimmer.
Travis
I’ll be following this line closely.
Lance
I resisted the urge to buy into Makita’s 18V/36V OPE three years ago and I’m glad I did. Instead I bought into the Ego line of 56V tools and I’ve been extremely impressed with their power and run time.
After using Ego’s tools for over two years now, I am 100% convinced that the 18V tool platforms are just too small to handle the power requirements of OPE, and yes I include the DeWalt FlexVolt in that statement.
The biggest baddest packs from Milwaukee (9.0HD) and DeWalt (6.0/2.0FV and soon 9.0/3.0) have only 15 cells from which to draw power, no matter how you connect them. Ego’s smallest packs (2.0Ah and 2.5Ah) have 14 cells, and even those can be seen limiting the power output of high demand tools; the chainsaw, lawn mowers and new snow blower are all tools that produce more output with the larger 28 cell (4Ah and 5Ah) and 42 cell (7.5Ah) battery packs. The 2000W snow blower uses two batteries in parallel. The blowers can go through smaller packs extremely quick.
The one exception might end up being the upcoming 9.0/3.0FV pack as it will use 15 x 20700 cells instead of 18650’s, slightly increasing the power output potential. These will still fall far short of a 2P battery that uses two 18650’s in parallel in place of one 20700, and that’s as good as things are going to get for the big power tool brands for the foreseeable future. Using two packs at once is an option, but even that is handily beaten by the dedicated larger single battery OPE systems.
I absolutely LOVE my Milwaukee M12 tools, and my Makita 18V LXT tools have all the power I could hope for in a small handheld format. Both have their place. For the foreseeable future, larger more capable batteries are required when it comes to replacing gas powered OPE, in my opinion.
Dacan
If the string trimmer has a solid drive shaft motor to head then its gonna require a large box to package it in, ship in, and then possibly get damaged…. As long as its free ship thats fine lol.
Jan 2017 is earlier than I expected, but they would be in trouble if they were not shipping before spring, hopefully it wont be delayed like many of their new releases this year.
Mike
I don’t trust a company that has to paint it’s competition gray, I don’t see dewalt or Makita doing it, they show and tell you the name of the competition. Milwaukee is like the Democrat party they lie and cheat to win, I no use for that in my world
BonPacific
Leave the politics at home, this is a tool site.
Stuart
They do it to be discrete. I’ve never seen a greyed-out tool that couldn’t be easily identified.
As BonPacific said, please keep your political views to yourself. Take them to Twitter or your Facebook, or elsewhere, just not here, please.
Harrolldean
I’m in the landscape industry and am very excited about the new OPE coming to the market. I’m honestly very skeptical how these will compare to gas powered professional equipment used by our crews today, but I’m confident Milwaukee will be the ones to match or beat it. I think there are lots of opportunities to bring new tools to the market here and improve on existing (like blower, string trimmer, and hedge trimmer). We have crews that do trimming work all day and wear out hand clippers and loppers weekly. An M12 tool that could cut branches up to 1″ in diameter would be awesome!
#MilwaukeeTool #NBHD #OPE
Phi Nguyen
Why not use an M12 or M18 Hackzall?
fred
Maybe they want something more like a bypass lopper – perhaps something a bit like the M12 shears for plastic pipe (2470-20)
But a Hackzall that could use a Silky curved blade would also be something to ponder.
Harrolldean
The M12 and M18 hackzall are both great for slightly larger limbs, but for smaller stuff, it’s too bulky and doesn’t provide a clean cut.
Adam
Other companies in the Ag industry have battery operated pruners. You typically wear the battery for these, and have a lead that connects to the pruner.
I think Milwaukee should look into devices that could utilize their battery backs when connected to the power source units, just like the heated jacket. That would make a lot of sense if they made a pruner. You could use either the 12v or 18v with the pruner end.
I thought Dewalt was going to kill their 40v (I returned mine after hearing Red was on it way), but they just announced a sweet telescoping hedge trimmer (new tool category?). There is a video for #TIACrew showing this off. I can’t see most homeowners needing this, but for a landscaping company it would be great.
Peter
Pellenc makes a very expensive hand held battery clipper for vineyard work.
http://www.pellenc.com/agri/produits/vinion-vine-pruning-shears/?lang=en
Chip
I’m waiting patiently for the chainsaw, I need this @work badly.
PhilnTX
I hope Milwaukee uses a proper thin kerf, 1/4″ chain on this saw as those 3/8″ chains really take some power to pull down that bar…it’d also make the saw very handy for high precision-type cuts like carving or tree surgery/pruning. And, no more than a 12-14″ bar for maneuverability; if you need more bar than that, just use gas.
Cory
Anyone heard an update on these or an expected release date? I’ve been holding off upgrading my string trimmer until these are out, I’m hoping it is soon!
Harrolldean
They are out (string trimmer, blower, and hedge trimmer). Can buy all as bare tool or as kit with 9.0ah battery w/ rapid charger. I purchased the string trimmer and blower and are very happy with both. The blower is NOT a replacement for a backpack blower, but is a great smaller handheld. I think the string trimmer is a very decent replacement for a gas trimmer. I recommend http://www.acmetools.com for purchase.
Adam
While I agree with almost all of that, I don’t think you can fairly compare any hand-held blower to a back-pack blower of any type. That’s like comparing Honeycrisp & cider apples, two different markets. Great blower for a handheld though (especially for not needing to get into another battery platform)
The only other quible, is that the trimmer is MORE than a better replacement for a gas trimmer in my opinion. There was a warm spell for a few days this winter, so I took it out for a spin on your ornamental grass bushes. Much thicker blade than traditional grass. The M18 blew through it no problem, and never bound up, unlike our Echo gas trimmer. The binding is due to the head design (so other gas trimmers might be better), but the Milwaukee was almost debri free.
The line included also seem better than previous lines I have tried, not that I may have ever found the best. The black Milwaukee line hardly needed to be bumped out on my test run, as it held up so well. I did buy an extra spool (to qualify for a coupon, Acme tools as well), but don’t think I’ll be dipping into that anytime soon
The bumping action did seem to stick a little, but figure that needs a little breaking in.
Cory
Heh silly me I didn’t think they were out yet since I haven’t seen them in store at any of my local Home Depots. I can’t wait to order one and throw my corded trimmer in the trash!
Bas
HD just put them on sale in different configurations at $299:
Trimmer, blower and battery/charger
Trimmer, hedger and battery/charger
Trimmer, 2 batteries and charger
Dan
I am a 100% Milwaukee tool user in the m18 line platform. I use them everyday as part of my job in construction and couldn’t be more satisfied with their products, especially their fuel line which has made things even better. I’ve tried their competitors and had nothing but problems. When these people put out a product, they strive to put out the best. I can’t wait until they do the research and put out a mower. I currently never buy cordless battery powered lawn equipment. Tried it once and battery pack never made it through the second season. Worst thing you can do to a battery is let it sit for six to eight months with no use or charge. It would be great to take batteries I already use everyday in drills impacts and saws, and start using them in my lawn equipment as well.
Lance
The small power tool battery platforms are not up to the demands of OPE.
I own Makita power tools, a friend of mine is diehard Milwaukee Fuel like you. Both of us have Ego battery powered OPE.
When you consider that Milwaukee charges way more for their Fuel OPE and it offers nowhere near the performance, you’ll come to the same conclusion.
Milwaukee’s HD 9Ah battery has a little bit more energy than Ego’s smallest battery. Their 5 and 7.5Ah batteries offer energy storage that no power tool battery will touch for another decade.
If you’re in doubt, check out the prices and reviews on Home Depot’s website. Ego’s mowers, for example, take something like 8/10 spots for the highest rated mowers of any type, gas or electric.
I’m not saying Ego is the only game in town, but their stuff is consistently rated the best and it’s much cheaper than the M18 Fuel stuff.
Ethan Marvick
I would really like to see a M18 chain saw so I can hike it in camping, and I would love a M18 Tire Air pump I hate needing to pump up my portable compressor and hulk it around when something is low on air. I got the line trimmer and I love it. I dont even lose 1 bar of battery doing my whole yard.
marty
ive been using my M18 string trimmer and blower a lot. the 9.0 battery is all you need, plenty of power and run time to do large jobs
Colin
Great trimmer – crappy guard. It’s much too small and the legs cop a caning from the debris it kicks up. They need to produce a much larger guard for it to be fully safe.