Makita has come out with a new 18V cordless tool – a handheld grass shear, XMU02Z. The new grass shear features dual cutting blades and measures in at a compact 13-7/8 inches.
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The shear cuts with a speed of 1250 strokes per minute and runs for up to 2 hours when powered by a 3.0Ah Li-ion battery pack.
Price: $93
Battery and charger sold separately.
Buy Now(via Amazon)
First Thoughts
The new Makita cordless grass shear looks like a competitive design, and looks like it would be useful for trimming grass in areas a mower cannot reach, but I wonder who Makita is aiming the product at. Makita routinely asserts that it is a professional tool brand that makes tools strictly for professional users, but the action photo suggests homeowner use. I suppose Makita is marketing the gardening shear to the same types of users that would buy their 1/2-pint vacuum cleaner to.
While there are no obvious faults to the cordless shear, there are plenty of other well-regarded cordless grass shears available for less money.
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Cody
I can’t believe that this tool Actually made it to the US I saw this a little over a year ago on the UK market. I always like to search and see what kind of tools that they have over there before us some of the the UK tools never even make it over here.
Paul
Craftsman even has one for their Bolt-On Drills Craftsman Bolt-On Hedge Trimmer/Shear Attachment
fred
I’d say its a tool for gardeners who routinely get down on their hands and knees. This is likely to be homeowner garden enthusiasts and folks who volunteer at local botanical gardens. My wife does both of these things – and loves her cordless grass shears and short cordless hedge trimmer. She had one made by American Gardener that died and then switched over to the Gardena brand. Both are rechargeable – but both have fixed batteries. If this had been available – particularly as a bare tool – I would have bought it for her since I already have Makita 18V batteries and chargers.
Kurt
A big assumption with some of these tools is that it’s not for Pro’s. These things are used by landscape pro’s everyday. In the article you say the canister vacuum is a similar non-pro device. I bought one for cleanup and you’d be hard pressed to beat it by the Dyson, a quality machine. Yet the dewalt and milwaukee cordless job-site vacs are considered for pro’s, why is that? Seems like the dewalt and milwaukee job site vacs are just old designs that are outdated.
Stuart
With the vac, show me any other jobsite or tradesman vac with half a pint canister capacity. It just seems a bit small. Plus, the photos I’ve seen thus far depict the vac – and shear – in homeowner type usage scenarios.
Both products look like great designs, but they don’t seem to be aimed at Makita’s typical tradesman target audience.
Kurt
I went to a hotel the other day for some punch out. The whole lawn crew, that worked for the hotel, was using cordless lawn tools to do the lawn. Not everyone is in a trade that is “construction”. Cleaning, lawn care, resorts, etc, are trades maybe not your typical tradesman.
Stuart
True. But it’s Makita USA who insists they make tools for pros and tradesmen. Maybe that includes landscapers, but the marketing photos that accompany the sell sheets don’t show pro landscapers or cleaning professionals, they show consumers.
Javier
The picture shows a 14.4 volt battery. Is there a 14 volt version as well or is it multiple voltage?
Stuart
I assumed this is going to be a dual-voltage product. Certain tools and chargers work with both battery sizes, so it’s not beyond reason that the shear will be 14.4V and 18V compatible, at least in markets where Makita still sells 14.4V tools.
M
There is concern among environmentally concerned folks about “microplastic” and I am interested in this grass trimmer because I am increasingly concerned about using my string trimmer which produces very small pieces of plastic by its use that may make their way into the streams and oceans. This tool would do the job without the plastic pollution. However I will try my sickle first.