April 2021: CAT power tools launched this year in South Africa, exclusively through Vermont Sales. There was a subsequent announcement discussing that the DX12 hammer drill be also be available at Makro stores.
July 2020: The original announcement follows, with minimal updates to reflect the updated information.
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CAT, which you’ll know from their heavy construction equipment and occasional licensed tool-related products, revealed a new line of cordless power tools in July 2020, when this post was first published.
They newly announced CAT cordless power tools were said to feature brushless motors, with claims of 10X longer motor life, 25% more power, and 50% more runtime.
There was an empty landing page at Lowe’s, and an international website with images and specs of the new tools. (This might be a stretch, but do you think that Lowe’s was shopping for a new cordless system and the FLEX 24V Max system won out over CAT?)
The CAT 18V cordless power tools lineup was shown to be launching with a 2Ah Li-ion battery, 4Ah Li-ion battery, or 5ah GRAPHENE battery.
CAT says this about their new graphene battery:
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Graphene* polymer lithium battery
- On-board battery capacity indicator
- Instant charging to full in 18min
- High max discharge current service tool better
- keep cool pack for continuous working
- Guaranteed 5 times longer cycle life
- Tough work in extreme low temperature
An 18 minute full charge time? That’s not “instant” as they say, but it’s still incredibly impressive. (Note, in other places CAT Power Tools says the full charging time is 20 minutes.)
But what’s this graphene stuff all about?
Scientifically, graphene is a single layer of carbon arranged in a hexagonal lattice, and it has some unique properties. There is a lot of research going on right now, with things like graphene nanotubes.
But, you can also create graphene by sticking a piece of Scotch tape to a block of graphite (basically pencil lead material) and peeling it off gently.
Graphene is a special and exotic material, but it can also be rather basic. Think about diamonds, and how you can have 1 carat jewelry that costs thousands of dollars, or some cheap industrial diamond particle abrasives.
In this graphic, there’s an asterisk with fine print:
Graphene polymer is integrated into the cathode of battery cells to get enhanced performance of battery.
There’s also a bullet point that says:
- Graphene’s low resistance keeps cells cooler under heavy load.
It seems there’s some graphene used in the cathode (-) end of the battery cells – at the least. Looking at some scientific paper abstracts that go back to at least 2013, graphene improves electron conductivity of lithium ion battery cathode materials.
Generally, higher conductivity means lower resistance, which means less heat.
But, is this same technology available to other brands? What’s the likelihood that CAT with their nascent cordless power tool line, has access to special tech or Li-ion battery cell tech that other brands are locked out of?
Well, CAT does say that theirs are the “World’s First Graphene battery on power tools.” But this could just mean the battery cell contact is graphene-coated.
In other words, I’m not impressed – I see this as flashy marketing, and it’ll take more information to convince me otherwise. The fast charging rate seems like a big deal, but the CAT cordless power tool lineup is starting to take on an “as seen on TV” feel.
CAT’s new 18V cordless power tool system is launching with quite the selection of tools, including:
- Drills
- Angle grinders
- Rotary hammer
- Circular saws
- Planer
- Impact driver
- Radio
- Sanders
- Lights
- Combo kits
- Batteries
- Chargers
This is all part of CAT’s new “1 for All” platform.
Here, you can see that there will be a very broad selection of cordless power tools included in the 18V system. In addition to “core” tools, namely drills, an impact driver, circular and reciprocating saws, there will also be other staples such as an oscillating multi-tool, grinder, jig saw, planer, sander, and more.
But, there are also some corded power tools, such as a heat gun and a polisher.
And also new 12V (Max?) cordless power tools.
So, 1 For All, as long as you stay within the 18V system? Or is that meant to be one cordless power tool system for all types of users?
The new CAT brushless power tools have a mostly matte black color scheme, with dark red and of course CAT-yellow accents.
Spec-wise, the new CAT brushless power tools look to be competitive.
If I had to guess, I’d say they are going to be marketed towards DIYers at mid-level pricing. The new CAT 18V cordless circular saw, for example, looks to be positioned between Ryobi and Kobalt or Ridgid in design.
What’s interesting is that CAT revealed so many different cordless power tools all at once as part of an initial launch wave.
And then there are even more – a corded woodworking router, tile cutter, and cut off saw.
Some have theorized that CAT partnered with Positec for these new cordless power tools.
Read this if you’re not familiar with the name.
Positec is the company behind Rockwell and Worx power tools, and they have also partnered with (Sears) Craftsman in the past, making quite a few of their power tools as well.
Update: It is confirmed that Positec is the manufacturer behind these tools.
The new CAT cordless oscillating multi-tool, at the least, bears a family resemblance to Positec’s Rockwell-specific blade change mechanism.
There are only so many companies that are capable of developing this many tools, or at least only so many companies that could do so competently, and Positec is one of them.
When the CAT tools were first revealed to the world, it was unclear as to when or even where these CAT cordless power tools will be sold. It’s possible they might someday be released in the USA, but it’s still unknown at this time.
It is also possible that we will see some of these innovations come to Positec’s Rockwell or Worx brands.
Here are some model numbers for the new CAT power tools:
CAT Cordless Drills
- DX11 drill/driver
- DX12 hammer drill
- DX13 higher powered hammer drill
- DX12K hammer drill and impact driver combo kit
- DX14 12V drill
- DX15 12V impact drill (hammer drill)
- DX17 corded hammer drill
- DX16 higher powered corded hammer drill
The CAT 12V drills don’t seem to feature brushless motors.
CAT Fastening Tools
- DX71 18V 3-speed impact driver
CAT Rotary Hammers
- DX21 18V rotary hammer
- DX26 corded rotary hammer
- DX27 higher powered rotary hammer
- DX28 demolition hammer
CAT Grinders
- DX31B 18V angle grinder
- DX37 750W 115mm/125mm angle grinder
- DX371 750W 115mm/125mm angle grinder
- DX372 750W 100mm angle grinder
- DX36 1200W 125mm angle grinder
- DX35 2350W 230mm angle grinder
- DX351 2350W 230mm angle grinder
- DX352 2350W 180mm angle grinder
CAT Saws and Cutting Tools
- DX53B 18V circular saw
- DX59 1400W circular saw
- DX56 1800W circular saw
- DX51B 18V cordless jig saw
- DX57 750W 26mm jig saw
- DX54 750W 20mm jig saw
- DX52B 18V cordless reciprocating saw
- DX58 1200W reciprocating saw
- DX89 2100W router
- DX55 110mm tile cutter
- DX519 355mm cut off saw
CAT Material Removal Tools
- DX81B 18V cordless planer
- DX86 900W planer
- DX87 2000W heat gun
- DX38 180mm polisher
CAT Cordless Worklights and Radios
- DX62B 18V jobsite light
- DX61B 18V Bluetooth radio
CAT Sanders
- DX42B 18V orbital rotary sander
- DX46 125mm rotary sander
- DX461 125mm rotary sander
- DX47 1/4 sheet palm sander
- DX471 1/4 sheet palm sander
- DX45 1/3 sheet sander
- DX44 1/2 sheet sander
- DX48 belt sander
CAT Oscillating Multi-Tools
- DX41B 18V brushless multi-tool
- DX49 350W multi-tool
CAT Cordless Power Tool Batteries and Chargers
- DXB2 2.0Ah battery
- DXB4 4.0Ah battery
- DXB5 5.0Ah Graphene battery
- DXC4 18V 4A charger
- DXC15 15A charger
The DXC15 is a 15A battery charger (whoa!), and CAT Power Tools says it can charge the 5Ah Graphene battery to 80% in 15 minutes and full charge in 20.
When paired with the other batteries, the DXC15 will recharge the 2.0Ah or 4.0Ah batteries in 30 minutes. It charges the 2.0Ah battery at a 4A rate, the 4.0Ah battery at an 8A rate, and the 5.0Ah Graphene battery at a 15A rate.
The DXC4 charger can fully charge the 2.0Ah battery in 35 minutes, or the 4.0Ah battery in 68 minutes.
Oh, There’s More – CAT Slide Lock Tool Boxes
As if an entire new line of corded and cordless power tools wasn’t enough, there are also new Slide Lock tool boxes and power tool accessory cases.
Discussion
There was a lot of first-glance marketing information and details for the tools, but no press release, media information, or other such resources to put the new CAT power tools into context. I still haven’t learned much, other than the lineup launched in South Africa in 2021.
The chargers are labeled “DX: PRO,” and while some of the tools certainly have pro-level cordless power tool specs, I’m not convinced they’re aiming to compete with current market leaders such as Dewalt, Milwaukee, Bosch, or Makita.
There’s no mention of warranty, pricing, or availability.
“Let’s Do the Work,” “1 For All,” and “Graphene” don’t quite provide much context either.
The new CAT cordless power tools don’t look to be entry-level, as they sport more premium features and specs. The brushless reciprocating saw, for example, has an oscillating mode, rafter hook, and pivot foot plate adjustment. The CAT cordless circular saw has a magnesium shoe and aluminum blade guard.
I’m now getting the feeling that the new CAT power tools might be aimed at valued-minded pros, and perhaps DIYers with greater demands and higher budgets, but some of these tools do look to be very serious offerings.
At first glance, there was definitely an oh, more licensed CAT products feel to this, with the CAT and Caterpillar brand seemingly slapped onto a limited selection of tools. But with a deeper look, that isn’t the case at all.
This isn’t like their metal tool box.
Or work boots.
Or even the CAT Android phone.
This looks to be a major push. Where else will these tools end up – North America, Europe, Asia – or will they only be available in South Africa? All of the above?
Where is there room for CAT-branded corded and cordless power tools, tool boxes, and power tool accessories?
If they do launch in the USA, will the CAT tool brand follow “as seen on TV” marketing that seems to have made Worx and Rockwell flagship products so successful? Will they be embraced by a brick & mortar big box retailer, and if so which one?
Everyone knows the CAT and Caterpillar brand from their heavy construction equipment. But can this sell their tools?
Despite some wrinkling of the nose at the marketing language and claims, such as “Graphene batteries!!”, CAT’s introductory selection is nothing to sneeze at. This must have taken a lot of work to get off the ground, and on paper, they made the right calls to get the attention of more discerning users.
If CAT does launch these tools here, expect for there to be a lot of marketing hype – especially if the line is made and promoted by Positec. But, like other Positec tools, quite a bit of that hype will be deserved.
At first glance, I couldn’t help but question if and why the world needed a line of CAT-branded cordless power tools. But, a deeper look has me convinced that they at least have the potential to make waves, and to shoehorn themselves into relevance in a typically crowded industry.
Let’s watch and see.
Dear Positec and CAT Power Tools: I’m glad you liked something I said in this post enough to quote it on your website, but please – it’s ToolGuyd, not “Toolguy.”
Tim
It’s probably suited to he Lowes 754th concurrent cordless tool brand.
Probably occupying the endstand Task Force cordless moved out of, right next to Blue Hawk.
Frank Campbell
just anther soso brand
Xavier Zero
Yes. There is no more flashing point. Just soso. More inetesting item compared with CAT cordless osciilating tool as the follow: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001163534750.html
Steve
This screamed licensing agreement from the word go. It makes too much sense. CAT wouldn’t likely launch such a line themselves as this isn’t the kind of thing they are set up to manufacture. Positec is and needed a strong brand name to bring such a line to market to have instant credibility with consumers. Works great for both, Positec can finally get in the mainstream tool game with a respected, will known brand (Worx and Rockwell are barely noticed in the market) and CAT gets royalties and more brand recognition. I see these coming soon too a Menard’s near you.
fred
I think you’ve got it right – just a licensing deal. Probably we won’t see these tools at any CAT dealer – but maybe on Amazon to sell alongside other “CAT” branded items:
https://www.amazon.com/Cat-Piece-Multi-Tool-Pocket-Knife/dp/B07W7MDC12/
As you note the Rockwell trademark name (once hyphenated with Porter-Cable) was probably there for Positec’s grabbing – long after the Rockwell Aerospace giant conglomerate went bust. But the name had no cache in the market.
charles
Rockwell as an aerospace giant didn’t go bust. The ex- North American pieces got bought by Boeing (XB-70 Valkyrie, Space Shuttle, etc) and Collins Radio is still going strong – in fact United Technologies bought up a bunch of aerospace giants , combined some (Raytheon, Pratt and Whitney) and spun them off as Collins Aerospace. Collins is where my father retired from after 26 years.
HushHouse254
Raytheon and UTC merged and became Raytheon Technologies Corporation. Collins was merged with United Technologies Aerospace Systems (formerly Hamilton Sundstrand prior Hamilton Standard). Pratt and Whitney and Collins are part of RTC. Otis Elevator and Carrier (air conditioners) are their own companies.
Grandmap Hop
These are rebranded from the WORX/Rockwell Asian market.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001036307786.html
This is not a bad thing as if you already own a Worx/Rockwell product batteries should be interchangeable.
Promit
I really cannot begin to fathom what kind of misguided, unrealistically optimistic market analysis happens behind the scenes for yet another company to jump into the midrange power tools market. This won’t work, it will never work, there are no circumstances under which it could possibly work. The only way a new tool line could fly would be to hit an underserved market segment (what would that even be?) or to partner with a major retailer pushing hard into the tools space (Target?). Maaaaaybe if they were able to leverage the CAT dealerships etc? I don’t see it.
John
Yeah it’s baffling that there are so many of these types of tools. And in my mind it’s the least profitable segment of the tool market, since as far as I can tell the main people who buy them are people who impulse buy them at the store (usually a walmart or target type store) because they need a drill or a circular saw. No one “gets into” one of these battery systems, and if they need another tool in the future they’re just as likely to buy a different brand.
Frank D
Looks like a big set of tools out the gate … but … who would even switch, or start to trial, as an individual, small business or major company?
Under what circumstances … at what cost???
I think for most people, it is just another tool brand that is late to the game.
Alex
I can see this being an exclusive line up at a national retailer like Tractor Supply, Farm and Fleet or McCoys lumber. Menards already has Masterforce and the auto parts retailers already carry the big three in their catalogue. Interesting to see where it ends up.
JoeM
Hypothesis: This is a response to Milwaukee MXFuel tools reaching into the Industrial Tools sector.
CAT, being a fully-functioning Industrial Tool brand with both Name recognition AND Multi-Generation Reputation, for their products… Perhaps saw the launch of Milwaukee’s Industrial Tools as a sign that they, too, had to evolve and expand to keep up their multi-generation reputation.
I am not POSITIVE this is the case, but the timing seems terribly convenient to think otherwise. I think the only thing I would… Comment/Correct them on? Might be NOT approaching the DeWALT family. Many of these are practically clones of DeWALT, and the 12 Volt line appears to be clones of Milwaukee… To be clear, that’s not a bad thing to have done. It just seems like… The bridge between CAT and the Corded/Cordless Tool market would be served better if they had licensed off some of the higher-end industrial tools that DeWALT makes, the Pipe Threader comes to mind, to at least demonstrate that they’ve taken a baby step down the mountain, not a blind leap of faith across the chasm.
When Milwaukee announced MX Fuel, I suspected SOME industrial name would reach down from their high pillars, and try to draw some attention back to themselves, not so much to distract from MX Fuel, but rather to show that the Industry-Levels can be blurred without losing credibility, or conflict. And, if we were to go back to the MX Fuel announcement thread, I think I may have even mentioned CAT as being a really good candidate for this.
I’m unimpressed by the Graphine Cathode. That’s a bit like putting a particle accellerator in a car to power the headlights via photon collisions… Probably the single least useful version of the technology. Graphine based piezo-electric dynamo rechargers built into the batteries? That would have been one hell of an achievement. Both as you’re using the tool, and as it’s sitting still, there’s one battery cell that is just a tube, full of carbon nanotube gears, and graphine conductors, all suspended in an electrolyte solution. As the electrolytes feed the nanotube gears, they rotate, moving the electrolyte solution through the graphine, which gently, but efficiently, sends electron flow through the rest of the battery, maintaining its charge while idle. Leave it long enough, and it would actually top up the battery without a charger. Now THAT use of Graphine would have been impressive. I would also have loved if they stomped a bit on Makita’s toes and had yet-another cell in the pack that was a magnetic induction ready cell. So you could also place it on a wireless charging stand, and it would charge the battery, along with speeding up the charging of the electrolyte fluid forward, and backward, through the Graphine charger cell… since Electromagnetic Fields have THEIR OWN effects on Carbon Nanostructures. Again… If THIS level of technology was what they had come out with… I’d be impressed. Otherwise… This is like telling the kid in class who eats glue to be in charge of designing the ad for the product. LITERALLY the dumbest version.
I still applaud CAT for making this effort, and releasing the line… Kinda? That it’s happening at all just looks like an industrial crossover, as Milwaukee is doing. If you don’t like what CAT is doing here, I think it might be Milwaukee’s fault they’re doing it. Milwaukee reached up, CAT reached down. For every action, equal and opposite reaction. All that Jazz.
Mike
The Milwaukee MX line is gonna fold like pup tent in a hurricane , it’s way too expensive for the diy guy who makes up the largest buyer of professional line tools and general contractors aren’t going to buy a tool that they use once in a while when they can rent that tool and big companies aren’t gonna waste their time with inferior battery operated tools that gas are far better
JoeM
I think you may be missing the scale at which this is happening. Fuel based engines of all types may well be extinct in the next 5-20 years. The world itself is pushing us all toward Electric systems.
So, yeah… MX Fuel is not something I’M going to buy… but large crews that regularly work for Cities doing demolition? They’re going to switch to Electric. MX Fuel is the first in the line to provide an option for that, when the Oil runs dry, or becomes illegal.
Similarly, this step into Power Tools blurrs the lines between CAT’s vehicle-based Industrial Equipment, and their willingness to toss that out for an entirely Electric system. It’s ideally a toe in the water to see if their Reputation and Brand Recognition alone are enough to grab a new user market. But I severely doubt they would have done this at all, had Milwaukee not started to get closer to CAT’s territory with MX Fuel.
I genuinely don’t think CAT is quite prepared to go full Electric on their next few generations of major industrial equipment. I believe, for that… They’re a little afraid in the world that has started to embrace Electric Cars again. Tesla Motors is probably giving everyone a kick in the shins over their lack of movement to Electric Motors. Given the options, when Milwaukee reached UP in scale for the MX Fuel, it was a lot like Tesla lighting a fire under all the Automotive companies, reminding them of a market they haven’t made real use of. CAT saw Milwaukee’s move as a threat to the dominance of CAT in North America, and around the World that CAT is in use. They had to come up with a response, and here we have their new Tools… Which… Frankly? As much as I admire the gesture… I think was probably the wrong move for the future of CAT. Close, but, still not the right step.
MX Fuel is just a fire underneath other tool manufacturers. Win or Lose that line, it has shaken the tree a bit, and we’re obviously seeing what is falling out.
Robert
I wonder if they wanted to do an MX line as well, but couldn’t find engineers with enough experience and decided to start small? Maybe next year we’ll see competition from them in cordless light industrial tools. It’s be nice if Milwaukee wasn’t the only game in that part of town.
JoeM
That’s where I think CAT might have made a misstep with these power tools. This is a giant leap from what they usually work with, instead of a toe in the water to provide MX Fuel level CAT tools that are closer to their large equipment.
This really is the only uncertainty I have with this CAT line of tools. I’m positive they’re well made, whoever made them, but I really don’t think CAT quite understands that it shouldn’t make such giant leaps. It didn’t learn from the article’s already-mentioned Phone, Shoes, and Toolbox.
CAT is a good company, well trusted for their large machinery, for good reasons. But they really are resting on their laurels quite happily. From that position there’s very few ways to go from where they are. I might not like the giant leaps they’ve been doing in random directions, rather than what Milwaukee did with their slightly-smaller step upward… but somehow I think it is all down to the fact that Milwaukee is reaching out of their pre-existing zone, and making these other companies try new things. A lot of these, in the first few years, are going to be terrible ideas. But, you can’t find where you made a mistake unless you do, indeed, make those mistakes.
Paul
This is the correct take. I hadn’t thought about it this way, but it makes a lot of sense.
tojen1981
If oil runs out, them power tools as we know them today won’t exist either. Plastic is made from oil.
JoeM
Plastic is also made from Plant Resins, Recycled Plastics, and artificial Proteins. There’s a giant rotating gyre of plastic, slowly dissolving, in the pacific. It’s the size of Texas, and growing. It wouldn’t take much for someone to build a “Plastic Fishing” barge to recover that plastic for use in polymers.
Polymers exist in thousands of forms. We will likely still need OIL, but the production of GAS from it may well end up illegal, for its urgency as a source for Polymer base. We might only have about 20 years of Oil left in Oil-Producing countries that produce FUELS from it, but if we were to use the same amount of Crude Oil to break down into Synthetic Polymers, it would be enough to cut production in half, and still have another 100 years of Polymer production available. Supplement that with Recycling efforts, and mass recovery from Landfills, plus the genetic engineering of Bacteria that produce polymers as waste from recycleable plastics and bio-waste… You’re talking a nearly infinite supply.
Afghanistan found a vein of Lithium in their Mountain ranges, untouched, and worth several Trillion Dollars in American funds. The alternatives are better than what we’re using, especially if we go the route of Electrolyte solutions and Nano-Carbon structures.
So… Yeah… Power Tools as we know them NOW will cease to exist. Power Tools made of RESPONSIBLE Resource Management Materials will make them look like children’s toys in comparisson. Same as the Tesla electric vehicle system made a good chunk of common gas-fuelled vehicles look like toys in comparisson. The greener technologies can actually out-perform the old ones. It’s a matter of our survival, and for oil companies to actually spend on converting their production facilities into Polymer production, instead of Fuel production. Come the next 5 years or so, Polymers will be more lucrative than Fuel.
Adam
I have a 120k dollar cat excavator. They don’t give a damn about Milwaukee mx tools or any other hand tools, this is just marketing and licenseing plain and simple. Don’t be foolish, they make equipment not hand tools.
Mark
So you’re saying they don’t want $1.48 profit from the drill I buy???
JoeM
Funny enough, I agree with you. These power tools, no matter how good they might be, were a bad step for CAT. CAT makes some amazing equipment already. Why they didn’t take a BABY STEP into something Electric, like an Electric version of the Bobcat mini forklift/excavator/single person multi-system thingy we all know and love out there, really floors me.
CAT SHOULD have made something Equipment based, in competition with the likes of John Deere Tractors, or some other Farm Equipment company, but make the step into Electric or Drone technology. The fact remains, they chose these tools, and there’s a LOT OF TOOLS here… It’s hard to explain the timing beyond it being a response to Milwaukee MX Fuel. MX Fuel is dangerously close to some of the territory CAT could reach into, but they would do so with a gas-powered device. But, you know what they have never done before? Power Tools and Hand Tools LIKE MILWAUKEE’S. I see it less as a Marketing Stunt, and more like a direct glove-to-the-face to Milwaukee for daring to scale up with Electric tools.
I genuinely do not believe CAT will do well with these tools. But, they make so much money with their tried-and-true large scale equipment, that this loss would mean nothing to them. I agree with your sentiment, just not the same definition. Marketing? Not so much. Mistake? Probably. Challenge to Milwaukee to coincide with MX Fuel? Definitely.
jake
The only market is that one that is going to be heavily subsidize by state and city municipalities. They want to tout they are green and lowered their emissions, so these tools are MX Fuel is perfect for these optics. Eventually these same entities will place regulations that push these tools on anyone partaking in the bid process for big jobs. electric cars were sold before Telsa. Oil is not going anywhere there are to many petroleum based products out there. They should of release a hybrid generator. low on battery, switch to gas, to charge the battery and keep working. Hybrid on bigger tools is future. Even then that just adds an extra layer of failure and expense that it might not be worth it to construction.
Stuart
What makes you think any of the MX Fuel cordless tools/equipment are even remotely aimed at even advanced “DIY guys”?
Those are all specialized tools aimed at current users of gas engine or maybe corded versions.
https://toolguyd.com/milwaukee-mx-fuel-cordless-tool-construction-equipment/
Why would you think that gas engine tools are “far better?”
fred
As an example – we had Husqvarna and Makita gas engine cutoff saws – but also had a Bosch electric corded cutoff saw. The Bosch was used indoors – places like commercial buildings – where you could not use a gasoline engine. If we had an MX equivalent – the corded Bosch might have never been used.
Perry
I dont think the MXFuel line will fail. What you’ll see is Milwaukee making them available to tool rental companies first, then more marketing to push sales. That way pros will see them as durable, and no engine maintenance.
JoeM
I think along a similar line. City Works crews will buy MX Fuel, Rental Companies, and Government Contractors will get them. As fred pointed out, because their GAS equivalents can’t be used regularly indoors, or around highly populated areas. Air Quality standards may increase to a point where in-urban projects in cities like Toronto or New York, may well go MX Fuel, and the likely plethora of competitive electrical powered competitors that pop up, sheerly for the noise disturbance and air quality factors alone. That they would do the job with significantly fewer obstacles such as hydraulic or air lines running all over the site, just makes the site easier to maintain.
Then again… I don’t think MX Fuel is meant for Milwaukee’s USUAL customers. We’re still in the confusion state with MX Fuel, as we keep seeing the name Milwaukee, and thinking they’re going to be right next to the Red Lithium, or the Pneumatic Impact Drivers… They genuinely won’t. In fact, it would be surprising to me if you didn’t have to go directly through Milwaukee themselves to buy them, and have a business license to use them.
I have severe doubts the drain snake on a dolly will be in every Plumber’s truck, but a Military Base? They may grab one just to handle the showers and latrines for the facility. With enough backup power supplies, an Electric system makes sense for larger facilities to do maintenance.
Doresoom
Hmm. This seems like an odd move from CAT. I guess if it falls flat, they can always offer tool sets as a promotional item when selling their equipment.
fred
I don’t recall ever seeing much (if any) miscellaneous “Cat-branded” stuff like clothing or boots at the 2 local Cat Machinery dealers that we frequented. Nor do I recall that they sold much in the way of small tools – other than lubrication and other tools meant for machinery O&M.
The products may have totally different distribution chains – like some Black&Decker and Stanley branded garden tools made by Bond Manufacturing not SBD. These Positec-made “CAT” tools may show up at CAT dealers – but just as likely they may be targeted for a completely different distribution chain.
Sam
Oh great, lol this isn’t good.
Corey Moore
Are the CAT facilities going to be using this line? I see the inevitable ‘no’ as a huge oversight in bad PR coming their way. This is the absolute largest “us too!” move I’ve ever seen.
Chris
Most likely no. Cat branded hand tools are rebranded snap on tools, believe it or not. Any company using snap on tools won’t be going to a rebranded Worx tool.
Eric
At one time they may have been but I’m not sure if they are still snap on tools cause at a time John Deere hand tools were rebranded snap on as well but not and more now there made in Taiwan or at least the sets I have are anyway
skfarmer
false. john deere tools were bonney, there have been a few specialty tools made by snap-on but not a whole line.
case-ih and new holland tools are pretty much blue- point clones but i don’t know if snap-on even makes them.
John
Of course they aren’t going to use the tools, no manufacturing facility is going to use cheap homeowner tools. I doubt they’re concerned with bad PR, anyone who is in the know enough to hear about something like that already knows that cat’s rebranded stuff is junk.
Kenneth Stephens
The battery on the 12v drill looks kinda like the ac delco/ earthquake 12v batteries
Julian Tracy
Ironically, they will, at their launch, have a more well-rounded assortment of cordless tools than Bosch had as of last year LOL. I’d probably trust these more than Ridgid or Kobalt.
JoeM
I trust EVERYTHING more than Kobalt. I trust Fisher Price toys for children more than Kobalt. But I’m Biased, and Canadian, and I don’t like what Lowes did to Rona up here in the North. Hence why I don’t trust Kobalt.
Travis
Kobalt 24v tools are quite good. Very well made and a 5 year warrantly. They are made by Chervon who makes EGO, SKILSAW, and SKIL powertools.
JoeM
Sold exclusively at Lowes here in Canada. Lowes bought out a 100 year old Family franchise of hardware stores called Rona up here. They then proceeded to drive them into bankruptcy, so they could rebrand the physical locations Lowes, and leave the Rona family and old board of directors unable to fight them in court.
Nothing sold at Lowes is worth buying for any patriot here in Canada. A great many of us are particularly not fond of the encroaching US box stores that come up here, promising funds for expansion of Canadian stores that are doing very well, then taking them out back and shooting them for their market share.
So… No… Kobalt is part of the Lowes package… I trust Fisher Price toys more than Kobalt. Same way I don’t trust Lowes at all. Dishonourable business practices north of the border. You can keep them if you like them. But seeing an institution of Canadian pride shredded for profit by Lowes puts a major stink of “Ripoff” on everything they do in Canada.
So yeah… I’m from Canada… and I can honestly say “Come get Lowes and take it back over the border with you. It defiled a Canadian monument and isn’t welcome here anymore.”
Bob
So the Cadillac of earth moving/construction/mining/generating equipment is partnering with the KIA of battery hand tools?
Looks like the bean counters/suits have completley taken over at CAT.
Im all for CAT swag to a degree. Polo shirts, hoodies, beer coolers etc. BUT the boots were garbage, the gloves were not much better and yeah I am gonna trade my i-phone for a CAT phone lol.
I guess when you move your head quarters from Peoria to the suburbs of Chicago to attract fresh new tallent you end up with that new, young, edgy guy from brand development that comes up with a turd like this idea. Maybe they should have found someone who learned about core competency when they worked for their MBA.
At least the price will be decent as the tools are mainly black in color. CAT mixes in real gold to make their parts yellow or one would assume thats why they cost so much hahaha.
Ps All this criticism is comming from a guy that has owned and still owns CAT equipment. Its hands down great equipment.
At the end of the day if CAT can make a few bucks lending their name to some product with little downside on their end they will. Hard to argue with money for nothing.
The edgy new guy in brand development just laughed at me. Lol
Robert
Anyone else think that some of these look like photoshopped DeWalt and Makita? The skilsaw pic shows a whited out area on the shoe and the edge disappears into nothingness. Looks like DeWalt. Hope more manufacturers get into cordless power tools so we can get more money sunk into R&D.
JoeM
I noticed that as well. The batteries look painfully like FlexVOLT and large sized DeWALT XR batteries, and the 12 volt line looks like the Milwaukee 12 Volt line, to my eyes. They do look like clones of tools that already exist in… well… nearly every other brand’s lineup… from Ryobi to Rigid, Stanley to DeWALT, Milwaukee, Bosch, Makita, even a hint of Dremel for bad taste… Sometimes it’s just a grip, or a pattern, or some other tiny detail, it’s like it is all the least-noticed details from all the other tool lines, put into one subliminally-influenced tool line for CAT.
Dr. Westside
A little late to the party for a pay for the name tool . there are so many good cordless options out there right now that unless these things are dirt cheap and perform better than the best DeWalt /Milwaukee / Makita tools there’s no way anybody’s really going to buy them aside from name recognition . especially with names like Porter Cable Kobalt and Rigid being priced much lower and performing just as well as the above name tools ( and in some cases better ) . Again , even with that name recognition that price point better be low . if they aren’t the best tools on the market for one of the best price points on the market they’re going to be in the junk heap next to hart worx and most of the harbor freight offerings .
Eric
Here’s the part that get me more than anything else is like alright so CAT is a equipment brand and so I understand the hand tool aspect of it such as wrenches sockets screwdrivers and pliers You know mechanics tools (John Deere,Case and New Holland all have tools as well) which from what I can tell are all pretty good and then you have tool chest and lighting products which again makes since and they all make have good then you get to the power tool market which which I understand a drill, reciprocating saw, angle grinder, impacts and other mechanic related tools but I do not understand the circular saw planet and other wood working tools it just does not match the brand in my eyes so me personally if I was interested I’d buy the mechanic related power tools from cat but the woodworking ones from someone else
Jaycob P.
Case and New Holland at least appear to just be rebranded Snap On stuff. Searching for them even just takes you to a Snap On website. I think John Deere is rebranded SBD stuff from Taiwan (and is way overpriced). At least around here I don’t know of any farmer that just doesn’t buy the cheapest tools from the farm store so I doubt most of them sell super well.
Kent
Fantastic, two more new battery styles! – said nobody, ever.
The only people who will buy this are people who have a strong emotional tie to CAT, but don’t use tools on a regular basis.
I simply can’t think of a scenario where this makes back the initial investment.
Mike (the other one)
CAT boot are made by Wolverine. They are descent boots with a tacky logo.
This is just another licensing deal. I see no reason to get these over DeWalt, Milwaukee, Makita, Bosch or any other quality brand.
Ben
Just another new tool brand hitting the shelves for the DIY market. They will be gone in couple years from now, and spare parts or batteries will be nowhere to be found in the long run. Don’t invest in those crappy tool lines, just stick to the known brand so you have better chances to keep them running in the long run. Just as a quick reminder, Dewalt old 18V NiCad batteries can still be purchased today even if their tools are over 20 years old.
RCWARD
Let’s see, Cat came up with a battery that nobody else thought of or could come up with, and is better than anything else made by anyone else. Yeah, I believe that.
Mike K
new CAT cordless power tools are said to feature brushless motors, with claims of 10X longer motor life, 25% more power, and 50% more runtime.
Longer life, more power and more runtime than what? A screw driver and hand saw? They Are new with nothing to compare to.
I’ll stick with my Milwaukee .
DC
Pass on CAT power tools.
Plaingrain
I ‘ve never purchased a Cat product. But I did notice that their tool bags seem super expensive.
Plaingrain
But I guess Klein & Packout tool bags can be high also.
Kent
Klien & Packout are expensive, but have a long history of quality. CAT power tools have zero history, and are a complete gamble.
Are they Makita quality? Festool? Harbor Freight? Nobody knows.
Corey Moore
Checking out the tool boxes did just remind me that Tough system 2.0 seems to have dropped at acme.
Corey Moore
Pre-order at least, upon follow-up. September 1 shipping ETA.
CT
Next thing you know we’ll be getting tools with branding like Coleman Lanterns or AC Delco….
Nichevo
I recently bought an ACDelco impact driver, the ARI20101, I think it is the P20, not the older A20 (which is which, I had the old, switched for the new). As far as I can tell it is an excellent tool. Made by Durofix in Taiwan. So, at least it;’s not chinesium.
James Baylis
The look like the Rockwell tools or Worx brand.
Plaingrain
I wonder if the batteries are interchanable, between Cat, Worx, Rockwell?
Michael
Positec has nothing high end in the market, and can’t afford the huge budget it takes to create a top tier brand.
CAT needs to diversify their income.
This is the result, and on the surface, it is excellent for both companies.
Now it is up to them to create the tools worthy of being top tier, and price and market them accordingly. This is the critical mission.
This will fail if they don’t go upmarket, as midmarket is so crowded (even with their own brands) and the CAT name is far too valuable to waste on low end product.
Joe S
I think this works only if the plan is to be exclusive with a national (or at least large scale regional) retailer. Target (like someone previously mentioned) would be a logical choice. It lets Target compete with Walmart’s new Hart offerings, while capitalizing on the Cat name. Pros/serious DIYers wouldn’t be the target audience, but rather average (or even new) homeowners looking to start with small projects and work their way up. Maybe someone goes into the store for something completely different, sees the large display with the reputation of Cat and decides to give a DIY project a go.
In my area we also have Rural King, which I see as less likely (as they already sell DeWalt, Milwaukee and a house brand) but another possibility. It could end up replacing their house brand while they still offer top tier brands above it. Again, capitalizing on the name, with the average home owner who may be interested in getting started or in the store for something else being the indented audience.
Otherwise I agree with the majority here. If it ends up at Lowe’s, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, or Menards this idea falls flat.
fred
Maybe Target would fit for their online shopper. The local Target store near me does not sell any power tools – or much else in the way of tools for that matter. Online, they seem to sell a house brand “Blue Ridge” and list a few “Westward” (Grainger Brand), Skilsaw (Chervon), Porter Cable, Jet and Bosch items – overall very slim pickings.
Steve
It will most definitely not be Target. Target just got out of Stanley and Black & Decker for the most soft styled tool brand ever, Blue Ridge, ironically, by Positec. Look at Target’s key customer demo, mid 20s to mid 50s women with chic up market from Wal-Mart. Take a look around at the shoppers next time you’re in Target, you’ll see what I mean. Their core customer is not the core customer you would aim a CAT tool line at. This is just the marketing lay of the land with Target. My local store just finished a remodel, I was in there yesterday, the “Home Improvement” section is two short aisles with one being entirely light bulbs. The “Tool” section is 5 to 6 feet of shelf space with all of it being Blue Ridge (it says Positec right on the box). They’re not going to be interested in CAT.
People forget CAT is a huge international brand as well. Might be partly, or more, international.
For domestic I’m thinking, Amazon of course, and Menards being more likely than Lowes. Lowes and Menards both sell Worx and Rockwell, but Menards has more and they just dumped Craftsman power tools. I don’t see Lowes giving Positec, who they barely have anything from, significant space in their newly designed power tool world dominated by SBD and Kobalt.
It’s fun to speculate though. These are just my thoughts.
Joe S
Good points about target. No target in my area so it’s rare I’m in one. My thought was it would give them something to compete with Hart’s new Walmart offerings. I would imagine though a recently remodeled target would have more room for power tools if they were going that direction, like you pointed out.
I still think Rural King would be a good fit, but the more I think about it I doubt they’d be an exclusive brand there.
Good points on Menards too. I’m there pretty frequently, but I don’t think I’ve ever bought a cordless tool there. Amazon is probably a lock to sell from this line.
Definitely fun to speculate on where yet another tool brand will fall! Even if there is a near 0% chance I’ll buy any of them in the near future.
Jared
I’m not sure what to think of this. Like many, I’ve seen a lot of random CAT-licensed stuff pop up and at first assumed this was just another example. On the other hand, that’s a surprisingly comprehensive lineup to launch with.
E.g. If this was going to be aisle-ender at Lowes or season kit buy at Costco, would they really launch the line with 8 different drills and 11 saws?
I think this lineup is intended to have a degree of permanency. Just can’t fathom where yet
Plaingrain
With so many participants in these markets, should help the consumer price wise.
Nathan
For CAT it’s a marketing deal and angle – for Positec it would be a upper tier marketing opportunity to get some exposure.
That might backfire or it might be good.
Meanwhile – do you remember when JOhn Deere had power tools? While they didn’t put there names on them all the dealers used to carry Hitachi Power Tools. Pissed my Uncle off since you would expect John Deere to not carry a Japanese brand. OH he was also in WWII, hence the main part of the Ire.
Anyway I could see the CAT ag dealers and maybe some of the industrial dealers carrying some of this. The AG group most of all. Especially those tool boxes.
I sort of want to see more about those. The tools I’m not so sure on.
Jeffrey
With more purchasing being made online now does it matter which brick and mortar places stock these? If the reviews are solid for this category, this line may intrigue the buyer who doesn’t give a sh*t about other brand recognition, imho.
bobad
If you can’t work on a D10 with it, it’s not really Cat.
Watcher
I’m thinking this will go to Lowes because Lowes stocks Cat small (consumer level) generators. It wouldn’t make sense for Lowes to push Cat generators, but not Cat powertools. Maybe the powertools will be sold at other outlets too.
For whether Cat powertools make sense or not, I know part of the push with Cat generators was brand trust and after-sales support, both of which are very important to first time buyers. Perhaps Cat is implementing a similar strategy here.
suspecterrain
I hope this venture dies a horrible death; same, too, to the multi-nationals who keep putting out similar garbage.
Robin
The 12 Volt drill looks like the second-gen Sears Craftsman drill. Which I believe the OEM for Sears was Chervon.
Paul
Stu:
You may have missed one of the intriguing properties of carbon and many carbon compounds. Metals have 1 or 2 free electrons that they pretty freely give up, with the sweet spot being copper/silver/gold. The free electrons more or less just float around in a cloud and easily move from atom to atom. This is as opposed to say noble or inert gases (neon, argon, etc.) which have NO free electrons and hold onto them tightly. They have the “perfect fit” of 8 electrons in their outer shell. Carbon and silicon are called semiconductors because they fit right in the middle with exactly 4 electrons in their outer shell and exhibit properties of both. It has about 1/10th of the conductivity of a metal. Silicon tends to be an insulator…fiberglass is mostly silicon dioxide (SiO2) for instance and thermally as an electrical component it is horrible. Some high end CPU’s actually have large copper traces on the chip that don’t do anything electrically. They are there simply as heat sinks to try to draw heat out of the chip. Carbon on the other hand, especially in some forms, is both a decent semiconductor and an excellent conductor of heat. Silicon carbide and TiN (picking one element from both sides) are all the rage in power semiconductors because they are very good semiconductors AND have really good thermal conductivity.
Carbon has a rich set of very strange structures that it forms. Graphene is one form. Carbon nanotubes are another. Yet another are buckyballs…spheres of pure carbon. It turns out that the way you make these is simply to make a lot of soot and then sort through it mechanically separating out the material that you want. These “new technology” materials have been with us a long time, just waiting to be noticed. Right now for the most part there is a lot of scientific research that goes something like this: hey, what if we sprinkle graphene on cereal and then taste it? I know this sounds ridiculous but this is what is going on in many cases.
So my suspicion is that what it is really good for isn’t so much the electrical conductivity which isn’t all that great but the thermal properties of getting the heat out of the battery from deep inside it.
It’s not just carbon either. Every element in the neighborhood around carbon has all kinds of crazy properties and strange chemical structures. Carbon isn’t alone at all. Various chain and ring molecules exist with silicon, germanium, and even neighbors like phosphorous and also their compounds. Gallium arsinide (GaAs) aside from it’s toxic nature has been all the rage for super high speed computer chips for years and recently TiN and SiC are now the rage for high power chips for things like motor controllers and energy conversion. Simply switching to SiC allows electrical conversion equipment (drives) to be 15% smaller and run at much higher temperatures without overheating.
So it’s probably not market hype but the gains may be modest.
Stuart
It’s possible, but it depends on how much carbon we’re talking about.
The brand’s marketing fine print specifically describes the use of graphene on the cathode material, pointing towards lower resistance for cooler-running under high power draw.
Lower resistance means reduced frictional electrical energy losses and also cooler performance.
Carbon can be a really good thermal conductor that can withstand brutal conditions depending on its mechanical and crystalline properties, but I don’t see it being used as any type of thermally conductive heat sink here.
Nathan
Reminds me of when John Deere stores carried Hitachi cordless power tools and people complained they weren’t John deere green and not made in america. but that was years ago.
Not terrible items – some interesting things.
Aside from the power tools I have to say I’m actually interested in the new CAT braded Android phone. I mean ruggedized mobile smart phone with a build in IR cam? I’ll give it a look.
But so far I’ve had great luck with my LG devices (which are now no longer made)
Mike
Flash in the pan in 3, 2, 1…….
Stuart
Why do you think that?
Just because some markets are too crowded for this tool brand, that’s not going to be true globally.
Matt
I don’t hate it. And it was very smart to reveal a depth of offerings as I think that’s a big selling point (not being a 1-and-done with a drill/driver and nothing else in the pipeline). I think the prediction of these finding a home with value-minded pros or DIY-ers with higher aspirations/budgets is pretty spot on. BUT, realistically, to compete with the likes of Team Red, Team Yellow, Ryobi, Craftsman, plus the Hart and Harbor Freight uber-value lines….ugh. Good luck to the CAT product/brand managers.
Reno
Just other licensing by Cat and other bad decision made an importer
that thinks by offering a brand it will sell. maybe in the ninety’s it could have worked
Like Adam says above to you really think that CAT would waist there time on hundreds items from a $2.00 flash light to power tools, tools boxes, etc.
Why would a retailer spend there time promoting and building some other brand and not there’s. They can’t say its better then there own brand !!
Luckey Dodge
OK, I understand where the plastics and oil is going!………..I only want a Cordless Carton Stapler! Anyone make it yet?
Bostitch “was” making such a stapler, but it became “unobtainium”!…….in other words, you can not buy it anywhere, anymore.
I just want to go Electric and not depend on Air Hose or electric cords. I hope to throw away my manual carton stapler someday, this system has it’s problems.
Help!
Luckey
Mac
I wonder if this a way to experiment with new battery technology and develop processes, supply chains and manufacturing that could scale up to ultimately power their larger equipment.
I do love their branded work pants and FR hoodie.
Stuart
No. This is simply a leveraging of the CAT name. To be honest, why not?
If Positec is breaking into a market, why not the CAT name over Rockwell?
Kent Skinner
I’d love to see CAT management require that the CAT factory workers use these to assemble CAT equipment. Video it, and have the best comedy channel on YouTube.
Dirk van der Merwe
I do not understand all these negative comments. I bought a CAT DX15 cordless drill as a test. (And because it looks nice. Why not?).
It is fantastic for the serious DIY person. Well built, sturdy, nice grip, strong and easy to handle. I expect it last for many years.