A reader tipped us off that Makita USA is about to launch something new.
James askes:
You know anything about this Makita announcement coming 10/3?
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Hmm. Makita USA’s social media messages say:
A New Adventure Awaits
Coming Soon; 10.3.22
Makita’s social media followers have made some guesses:
“Makita Packout?”
“80V!!!”
“Cordless Table Saw?”
“18V/36V Table Saw Finally??”
Is Makita bringing the new 64V cordless platform to the USA?
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New batteries for the 18V LXT system – finally?
Cordless ATV?
A new Makita battery-powered bicycle?
I’m thinking that if this were some new cordless power tool expansion, Makita’s marketing language would have a more appropriate reference, such as “another step towards a cordless jobsite” or similar.
“A new adventure awaits” suggests a lifestyle type of product, such as maybe the new 18V and XGT cordless lanterns that launched earlier this year.
Or is Makita following Lowe’s and getting into the “metaverse” with an “NFT” type of venture?
What do you think this big reveal is going to be? I guess we’ll all find out on 10/3/2022.
Carlos
21700 cell based 18v batteries!
Probably not…..
Stuart
While always possible, it seems unlikely.
The latest Makita cordless sander – https://toolguyd.com/makita-cordless-finish-sander/ , doesn’t look like it could accommodate a larger battery, and the same is true about some of their other 18V and 18V X2 tools.
Tim
My guess is they decided they didn’t have enough concurrent battery platforms so decided to add a 95v max (93v nominal) system.
It’ll power another lawnmower. Another weedeater. Randomly power a cordless table saw that doesn’t work with any other batteries but not a miter saw, a 2-39/64 blade cut off saw, a 16″ track saw and 87 different model numbers of the same drill, impact driver and flashlight.
Jared
Ha. Another voltage platform was my guess too – but let’s hope not!
John
95V max!? Finally what we never asked for! Lol. Just don’t give them any ideas…
aaron+s
Don’t forget the pin nailer!
G G
I think the big reveal – will be disappointing. Seriously, what could they possibly reveal that would be an “adventure?” This is just marketing hyperbole. Probably added an LED to their handheld, cordless vac.
OldDominionDIYer
A new cordless coffee maker!!!! oh no a espresso/cappuccino machine! LOL!!
Grayson
They are releasing the cooler, lantern with radio, and some other lifestyle tools already in the catalog in a dark green color.
Jim Felt
Battery pack grooming aids?
James+C
Glamping supplies. They already have the coffee maker. Next:
– juicer
– margarita mixer
– foot massager
– automatic hammock rocker
Bonnie
Honestly yeah with that kind of teaser I expect some kind of (car) camping device.
Tony
It sucks that makita tools are not japan made now well some are still …but feels like alot of there tools have lost that quality touch
Franck B.
I think they keep them for their home market, you can get more Japan-made tools there. If you’re a company that’s going to ship tools to the USA, you may as well ship them more cheaply from a country where the government subsidizes shipping so that exporting becomes more lucrative.
Japanese consumers/tradies seem to care more about quality tools than most other markets, so the products available there more often reflect that. If you want US or UK made New Balance shoes, you can find wider range a lot easier in the corporate stores in Japan than in the US or UK.
SamR
I think the Japanese government and lawmakers are the ones who are concerned about the quality and where things are made, which reflects on the market and customers’ behavior.
Munklepunk
I don’t think anyone other than an extremely small minority online cares whatsoever about where their tools are made. Otherwise Milwaukee wouldn’t be killing it right now. But the vast majority of people don’t care about most things concerning battery tools. People aren’t seeking out giant batteries, they use what came in the box.
People just don’t have the time or desire to be concerned about these things.
Rob
Other than assembling the impact drivers (which is for the sake of mixing lean manufacturing with multiple color variants) everything made in their Japanese plant is an anticipated low sales volume product. I’ve owned plenty of recently manufactured Makita tools that say “made in Japan” and were sold the world over.
They have two massive plants in China that churn out the big sellers and damn straight those are the same products that the Japanese market gets too. In fact, Japan gets all of their crappy budget tools they don’t sell to the rest of the world.
Plants all over their other major regions cover local tastes. Plenty of stuff out of the UK plant never came to Japan. Hell, we got better XGT saws in America. I would know, I owned the Japanese market ones too.
I’ve owned Makita stuff made all over the world and Makita stuff exclusive to Japan and Europe. I’ve broken down identical “Made in Japan” and “Made in China” impact drivers. Everyone is getting the same Makita. Save Japan that a.) gets to miss out on a lot of stuff and b.) as a consolation prize gets the real cheap budget stuff. Oh and C.) Gets to be the tunes pig before the revised models hit the international market.
Rob
Dear autocorrect, they’re called guinea pigs where I come from.
Nathan
yeah I wondered where their 40V massager was.
in the meantime – my guess. battery powered, stacking took box set where the bottom carrier is a 40V powered dolly. and cooler.
fred
When you click on “Lifestyle Products” on the Makita USA website – they display grease guns, lights, jackets and fans. What they might add to this mix – could be an ATV (perhaps with Polaris as a partner) – or perhaps a e-Bike.
Stuart
Ooh! I forgot about that – they do already have an e-bike, maybe it’s finally coming here.
https://toolguyd.com/makita-18v-lxt-cordless-folding-bicycle/
bj
I’m one of the crazies who would totally buy that ebike.
TonyT
Not LXT, range is too short. Maybe if it was 64V and the price was reasonable.
Julian Tracy
Makita has one of the worst websites. Absolutely impossible to find matching accessories for some of their tools, like trying to match up what dust ports are available as parts for their circular saws.
Munklepunk
DeWalt would like to remind you about their website.
Rob
You haven’t been to Dewalt, Milwaukee, Metabo, “Metabo HPT”, Bosch nor Festool’s websites it appears. 😂
Search for the product page, download the manual. The part numbers should be there. You should also be able to navigate down to “related products” and their is a scroll bar.
That said, Makita is the worst for dust collection. A different hose size for every tool. And none of them fit a standard dust extractor hose fitting. I was laughing so hard when I realized the 125mm, 165mm and 7-1/4” saws all required a different adaptor….. :/
Von
Download their catalog. Dust collection detail is covered from pages 61-65
Alex
Here’s the link:
https://www.makitatools.com/shared/DownloadFile?fileUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.makitatools.com%2F%2Fapps%2Fwms%2FCatalogs%2Fdownloads%2FMain_Products_Catalog.pdf
MFC
Metaverse.
LK
Wouldn’t whatever this is be known already to markets outside of the USA?
It’s super doubtful the we’d get a launch of anything new before JP/UK/AUS-NZ did.
eddie sky
Why not a flip out solar-array on the lid of the cooler? It needs to stay closed, and the sun could power the cooling or have plug to go to charging their powercell.
Paul
October 3rd is the date when they will announce a future date to announce future release dates.
Keiko
Microwave
Keiko
Wishful thinking. Not ready yet.
Adventure line of olive green products.
James
This or the TV are my guess, but I could dream of a table saw, belt sander(s), revised right angle impact, hummmm….
Keiko
Makita introduced a cordless TV years ago in the Japanese market.
JMG
Maybe it’s something to massage their hemorrhoids from sitting on their tails for so long thinking about this new fantasy adventure…
Yeah, I am not a fan of marketing campaigns.
Ray
Well done Makita and Toolgyd. Now don’t disappoint or I’m back to skeptic.
Derek
18v framing nailer. Please 🤞
Jason
Heated sleeping bag
Aaron
A new US plant making Made in USA tool batteries, jig saws, circular saws, sanders, heat guns, along with Made in USA adjustable wrenches, light bulbs and sewing machines 🙂
Big Richard
Somewhat related, DeWalt is touting their big announcement of a commercial electric line at the upcoming Equip Expo (formerly GIE+ Expo).
https://www.dewalt.com/ascent
MM
Hmm, now this is interesting. A ZTR. Hard to see how big a deck it has from the pic but it doesn’t look all that big. Now the big question will be, what else will those batteries operate? I hope there’s some kind of powered wheelbarrow or landscaping cart in the works.
Big Richard
If you look at their current gas commercial ZTRs they have a 48″, 54″, and 60″. Doesn’t mean they will offer an electric version of all three, they may just start with the 48″.
As for shared battery compatibility, probably nothing. I’m thinking built in batteries. They’ll offer the same mower across other SBD brands, like a Cub Cadet and Hustler flavor as well. Hustler currently has a residential 42″ ZTR with built in AGM batteries, and Cub Cadet has a 42″ with built in li-ion battery. Both are more residential grade, while this is supposed to be commercial, so we will see.
MM
I’m not interested in the mower for my own use but I was hoping to get a glimpse of its size as it might imply things about the power available from the batteries. I also wanted to get a gauge for its construction for the same reason, there are ZTRs made with flimsy sheet metal stampings and there are others that are welded from 1/4″ thick steel plate and square tube. If this is a big heavy machine it says a lot more about the capability of the batteries compared to the kind of ZTRs I see outside HD and Lowes.
I haven’t been following any gossip on this so I know nothing about it, but I’m hopeful that this is more than just “look, new mowers!” The “Ascent” trademark makes more sense for a platform than it does the name of a mower, and text implies to me it will be a larger system. There are also the new symbols superimposed on the mower pic. The lightning bolt and the number 2 might not mean anything beyond “electric” and “two batteries” but I’m betting there is something new going on with the circular and the “G” logos. All of that plus the big countdown sounds a bit much for a new built-in-battery mower.
Big Richard
I was trying to decipher the cryptic runes as well. I’m thinking the “G” symbol is their new GroundCommand fleet management service. Similar to their ToolConnect, but geared towards lawn equipment rather than jobsite tools. Just a guess though.
The other symbol I’m not so sure on. New battery technology, new battery system, robo series of mowers, who knows.
Big Richard
So it is a new battery system, called PowerEquip. More of the suitcase style, 60v 3.2kWh. So equivalent to over 10 of the 15Ah/5Ah FlexvVolt DCB615s.
MM
Wow, that’s fantastic news. And also somewhat unexpected. I looked up the Ascent trademark registration the other day and it is filed specifically in the category of “lawnmowers”; when I read that my hopes of this being a battery system were let down, but it sounds like we might see things other than just new mowers here.
And speaking of the Ascent mowers, I saw a promo video for the new mower this morning and it is equipped with two blades on each spindle, aka “doubles”. That takes some serious horsepower, it really sounds like they are serious about the Ascent mowers being pro-oriented.
I’m curious if we’ll see a serious 240V fast charger for these large batts too?
Big Richard
Yup, that “2” that was teased on the website that we were trying to decipher above refered to their new H-E-2 cutting system (High Efficiency 2).
If you go to the website they have a few videos, and you can see that the mower uses 5ea of the new batteries, for 16kWh of pure juice. You can charge the batteries directly through the mower with a wall mounted charger (unsure of its voltage), or swap the batteries in the field.
This has potential for some fun new OPE. One of those batteries alone could power something like a snow blower, larger 30″ walk behind mower, small riding mower, etc.. Assuming that 3.2kWh is calculated off the 60v Max designation, that is a 53.3Ah battery. Backpack adapter for FlexVolt tools?
MM
Exactly, I’m not so interested in the mower but the battery platform has some fantastic applications. I would be very interested in a powered wheelbarrow or garden cart. Or better yet an electric “dingo” or mini skid steer. There’s a lot that can be done with that kind of power. The backpack adapter for Flexvolt is a great idea too.
Big Richard
At the end of one of the videos they show a simulated dump cart and a side-by-side style ATV. The mowers aren’t expected until next fall, 2023. So in the meantime hopefully they announce more of where they expect this line to go. So far I like what I see.
Doug N
Based on my email from Toolnut, Makita has simply changed the color of a bunch of existing 18v tools and called them Outdoor Adventure equipment. Looks like nothing new or interesting. Another letdown from Makita.
https://www.toolnut.com/makita-outdoor-adventure
Doresoom
LOL, looks like they just painted a bunch of existing LXT tools green! What a disappointment. 😂
https://www.makitatools.com/company/press-releases/2020/ma