Two years ago, a reader asked if Craftsman was already phasing out their V60 line of cordless outdoor power tools.
At the time, I didn’t think they were, it seemed that supplies were dwindling due to seasonal cycling. After all, it’s not unexpected that cordless lawn and garden tools might not be replenished in the late summer once they’re sold out. Right?
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In the same way, popular models of snowblowers usually won’t be freshly restocked in late-February or early March.
I checked with Craftsman, just to be sure, and they said:
We have no plans to phase out the CRAFTSMAN V60 line. It’s a popular system of tools that we will continue to develop over time.
That was two years ago.
In a recent post, Jared wrote:
I thought the disappearance of the v60 line was awfully weird. Craftsman is still a pretty new member of SBD and was benefitting from lots of money at the time. A whole line of tools came out and then disappeared rather quickly.
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Did Craftsman’s V60 line disappear?
I took a closer look, and once again, Lowe’s doesn’t have any Craftsman V60 cordless power tools in stock. They have only 2 product listings when you search for relevant keywords, and neither are available for shipping or in-store purchasing in my region.
I can’t find any Craftsman V60 tools on Ace Hardware’s website.
Looking at Amazon, Craftsman’s other major retailer aside from Lowe’s, they do have Craftsman V60 tools and batteries in stock, sold and shipped by Amazon. But could this be old stock? One user review for a V60 battery mentions that it has a 2018 build date.
Here are some other observations:
- No New Craftsman V60 Tools
- No Craftsman V60 promotion on social media
- No Craftsman V60 newsletter marketing
Okay, so there aren’t any new Craftsman V60 cordless outdoor power tools, Craftsman’s major retail partner isn’t selling any V60 tools, and they’re not promoting the tools in social media or email newsletters.
Conducting a search for “V60” in Craftsman’s Facebook page turns up an April 2019 for their then-new mower.
Two years ago, I thought the absence of Craftsman V60 tools was a seasonal thing. But now?
The brand doesn’t seem to be actively developing the V60 lineup. So, there aren’t any new tools, and their major retail partner doesn’t seem to be selling existing models. This doesn’t seem to be a regional effect, otherwise Craftsman would still be advertising and promoting the tools.
When Dewalt discontinued their 40V Max lineup, it was obvious. Here? I don’t know what Craftsman is doing. They have still been promoting their V20/20V Max cordless outdoor power tools, and while the V60 lineup doesn’t seem to have been officially discontinued, they’re not doing anything with it anymore.
All the evidence points to the Craftsman V60 lineup as effectively being discontinued. If anyone from Stanley Black & Decker objects with this conclusion, I welcome you to prove otherwise. I’m sorry that I believed what you said two years ago. Where are the “continued developments over time?”
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Mike (the other one)
I’m assuming the MTD deal has something to do with this?
Stuart
Not necessarily.
Jacob
Dood I’m so pissed, I got duped by a cute “craftsman rep” 3 years ago at Lowe’s and bought the mower, blower, weed eater, and hedge trimmer. I grew up on Craftsman wrenching on cars with my dad. I felt really good about buying the whole v60 line for my yard…im so bitter and I want to destroy any credibility Craftsman has left…seriously that was the dirtiest most back alley thing a company could do that people depended on for years. If Sears was still around I would’ve thrown all my craftsman shit through the glass doors immediately…anyways just venting but also down if anyone knows how to even up with Craftsman
Stuart
I’d be angry too.
Calm down, contact Craftsman, and see what remedy they can offer you. Maybe ask if they can swap your tools for V20 models. If you’re not happy with the reply, try them on social media. If you’re still not happy, remember this and let it factor into all of your future purchasing decisions.
The rep 3 years ago wasn’t involved in the decision-making process and likely had no idea what would eventually happen.
There’s no way to guarantee future compatibility in any industry, and that absolutely sucks for affected consumers.
Jeff
I was going to sell a Crapsman leaf blower on Craigslist that needed a battery only to find out the battery isn’t made any more. V60. Last Crapsman anything that I will buy. Lowes should drop the brand.
Jared
Here’s a brief chat I had with Craftsman customer service just a couple weeks ago:
(10:08:03 PM) *** Jared joined the chat ***
(10:08:03 PM) Jared: Does the V60 line exist anymore?
(10:08:37 PM) Maikol Herrera: Hi Jared!
We have discontinued our V60 line of tools and batteries
(10:09:06 PM) Jared: Ok. Thanks for the information and quick reply.
(10:09:23 PM) Maikol Herrera: Okay Jared!
A customer service rep comment in an online chat is hardly official news, but perhaps one more piece of evidence.
I find it very surprising! I thought Craftsman OPE was going to be a thing – and electric OPE was the future. In that context, I figured the v60 line must be here to stay.
No more Craftsman electric mowers? Didn’t see that coming!
Jared
P.s. The funny thing is, I saved that chat transcript specifically because I thought: “That’s surprising. I wonder if this will be ToolGuyd news”.
Stuart
It kind of did, as it led to your comment in the other post, and that directly prompted this post.
As odd as it sounds, I haven’t been very aware as to how absent the V60 tools have continued to be over the past two years.
Stuart
Thanks!
I really didn’t expect this from them, but I suppose the lower priced V20 lineup simply sold a lot better.
teicher
Costco is selling them right now:
https://www.costco.com/craftsman-60v-21%22-push-mower-with-5ah-battery-and-charger.product.100722461.html
Stuart
They also look to have the hedge trimmer too, but that’s all.
And unless it’s available at stores, there’s no telling how much inventory they have, or when it could be from.
Levi
Costco was selling some V60 last fall as well. Not sure if its been consistently since then or just recently again.
Matty D
I was a Craftsman fan however things started to change when they axed the 19.2 XCP line with the Sears buyout. Im tempted to sell all of my several 19.2 tools and just go with Ryobi. My homeowner needs are pretty simple.
potato
Seems like it was a big mistake not to make some sort of flexvolt equivalent for craftsman, give people who own v20 stuff a good intro to v60 and so forth.
Mopar4wd
Kind of stinks for current users system was so brief I don’t even see ebay knockoff batteries.
Found some posts saying that the cub cadet 60V batteries (MTD) work, and it in fact appears that for some reason the craftsman v60 was an MTD rebadge which seems odd given SBD, has a core competency in battery tools. But at least there may be some hop of buying batteries in the future
MM
Failed battery packs are repairable by replacing the cells inside. It’s possible to DIY it with sufficient soldering skills, or places like Batteries Plus offer the service.
Frank D
They do / did for NiMH … not for anything with Lithium., afaik. I have asked them to repair or replace some Li-Ion packs. Instant no we can’t work on those.
MM
Maybe it’s a store by store thing. I know my local batteries plus does it. I went in asking if they could repair a couple of Dewalt 20V Max packs. Before I could explain the problem was that the housings were cracked while the cells were ok, they cut me off:
“no problem, we just take out the bad cells and install new ones”.
Then I had to reiterate that I had the opposite problem: good cells but a bad housing.
Tom
I noticed that some of the V60 tools have shown up at Costco recently. The mower is there fore $399 and the Hedge Trimmer for $164.
https://www.costco.com/CatalogSearch?dept=All&keyword=craftsman
Don Julio
That’s a shame. I picked up some of the Craftsman V60 when they went on clearance (mower, blower, string trimmer) and have been happy with them.
Hopefully the Cub Cadet compatibility rumors will prove true, I’ve got a ton of V60 batteries.
Brandi Taul
Hello. I’m wondering if you still have batteries and if so are you selling them? I pray and hope so or can let me know if there is one I can use in my mower
Stuart
If in your shoes, I would contact Craftsman and see what they could do. Maybe they can send you a replacement battery under warranty or similar.
Brandi Taul
Ok thanks
Ruben
My Battery failed and they replaced with 3 new ones. the only bad is that my old was a 7.5ah and each of the 3 are 2.5ah totaling 7.5ah
they still have great customer service
Jason
Had the mower for a short time 2 springs ago I think. Got a heck of a clearance price on the display at Lowe’s. It seemed really loud for cordless IMO so I eventually sold it and made a slight profit even used. I didn’t see it being discontinued this fast so I hope the guy that bought it likes it
scott taylor
I can confirm the cub cadet 60v and craftsman’s v60 are interchangeable, at least as far as the housing go. My guess is craftsman was a cub cadet rebadge. Picked up the mower and chain saw for a steal (<$200 for both three years ago). Chain saw is really great with the 5ah mower battery. Cut up a 16 inch red oak tree that was almost 60+ft on one charge. Bought them orginally so my 12 and 14 yo boys could mow the lawn with out having to do the gas oil thing. Worked great. Lawn mower is a little under powered if the grass is wet, to too long, but with free labor, they can mow the grass twice a week 🙂
A-A-Ron
At this point, I’d have to seriously question why anybody would buy into any SBD platform unless it’s DeWalt (and even that is faint praise since they dropped 40v). Craftsman has been a flop all-around with their cordless selection and you always know it’ll be under DeWalt’s glass ceiling, just like Porter-Cable before it.
Evidently a Craftsman 12v platform was being conceived as it’s listed on the V20 charger, but maybe it’s a blessing in disguise it’s just one less battery platform for SBD to abandon after a couple years.
Kirk
They’re still making new v20 tools. I was surprised to see a craftsman v20 cordless 21° framing gun on lowes.com $299 bare https://toolsinaction.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/monthly_2021_08/Screenshot_20210826-231343_Chrome.jpg.d0a79e531c7afffbc08f0a44a271d9f2.jpg
Matt
I periodically email Craftsman customer service because I’m bought into this system. After reading this post, I emailed again and this is the response I received:
“Through this email, I want to confirm that the 60V craftsman power tools are not being discontinued. However, we’re having a high demand of product at this time and not working at our 100% capacity. Hence, we haven’t released new products in a while, or some units are hard to find.”
Stuart
That’s an expected type of response.
The V60 line might not be officially discontinued, but they’re not actively developing it, they’re not actively marketing or advertising it, and you can’t buy any SKUs at Craftsman’s biggest retail partner.
Maybe there are demand-supply constraints, but the lull seems to go back two years, which is well before the pandemic started. Current market conditions cannot explain why we didn’t see any new tools ahead of the 2020 spring season.
Charles
I’m just utterly amazed anyone falls for the Craftsman gimmick anymore.
Used to be good 20 years ago. Now it’s just junk rebadged in red.
Dominic S
Craftsman has been garbage for a long time. Every day I get more surprised they’re still around, and that SBD even bothered with the brand.
Brian H
Hello, new to this comment thing. Short story 7.5ah 60v battery for mower wouldn’t charge, contacted craftsman thru email. Rep said those batteries have discontinued and I wanted to keep using the tool to buy 20v batteries, lol. Kept emailing with said rep for several days and they agreed to send me a refund check. Got it 2 weeks later. 5ah batteries can be found for 199$ at menards if they still have stock.
Stuart
Welcome, it’s good to hear from you! While an unfortunate situation, I’m glad it worked out for you in the end!
Kenny
My thoughts are they are going to come out with a flex volt similar platform. They seem to be following in the shoes of dewalt with their stuff. All my versastack interlocks with dewalts tstak, all the bit boxes interlock with eachother, and I just bought the new craftsman Brushless RP multi tool. Which seems oddly similar to the brushless xr from dewalt.they’re having crazy sales in the brushless tools at lowes, to make room for the brushless RP, wouldn’t surprise me if they’re clearing out the V60 tools for a new Flexvolt type
Dean
Me battery operated weed whacked the head will not lock string keeps coming out where can I get a new head for the weed wacker