Though smaller and more focused than previous NPS (new product symposium) media events, Milwaukee Tool introduced plenty of new and improved products at their recent Pipeline 2022 event.
We’re still in the process of unpacking — both physically, from the trip to Milwaukee, and mentally, from all the different things we saw and learned about — but in the meantime, here are some updates on three products and product lines that were not in the spotlight at Milwaukee’s event.
Here are some clear hints about what we can expect to see next from Milwaukee Tool.
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More Cordless Outdoor Power Equipment
This was mentioned a few times in the comments and on social media, but no – Milwaukee isn’t standing pat on its cordless outdoor power tool offerings.
The company did not show off any new cordless OPE products at PIPELINE 2022, but said we can expect them to make separate OPE announcements in August. And, we have a pretty good idea of what might be coming up.
A Cordless Snowblower!!!
During the end-of-day Q&A session, I asked Milwaukee Tool President Steven Richman if there were any products that Milwaukee has developed that he never would have imagined being in the company’s portfolio.
“Hell yes,” he exclaimed before jumping into an anecdote about a time when he learned that one of his R&D teams had been working on a battery-powered snowblower.
“I found out they were working on this pet project and I went ballistic,” Richman said. “And that was a snowblower. And we will be – you know, in the not too distant future, the OPE team will be introducing a snowblower.”
That’s right, Milwaukee Tool officially teased that they’re working on a cordless snowblower.
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Shane Moll, Milwaukee’s President of Power Tools, encouragingly pressed Richman – “what year was that, Steve? What year is it launching?” to which Richman replied:
Next year, 2023.
Does this mean winter 2023? We’ll have to wait to find out more, but this is definitely exciting news.
In the meantime, be sure to check out ToolGuyd’s review of the new M18 Fuel Mower.
Milwaukee Packout Expansion
Additions to the Packout line were absent, too (though it’s worth noting that attendees got a nice Packout tool bag and one of the new Packout insulated mugs as part of their welcome gift… something I mention here specifically to troll my good friend, Will, who will no doubt want one of his own.
The line has quickly become one of Milwaukee’s most popular and, one of its most profitable.
“Packout is well on its way to be the next billion-dollar category within Milwaukee Tool,” Tim Albrecht, Vice President of Hand Tools and Storage said. “And it’s because we have hundreds of tools that are in the pipeline right now.”
“There is a lot of opportunity in places we probably never would have thought. The Packout tumbler, for example; we sold more Packout tumblers in the past month – I would have lost any bet. …You’re going to see creativity across the board, focused on shop, transportation, and jobsite realms.”
More to come, this year.
There have been quite a few new products introduced already in 2022 and the company says its working on expanding the line even further, including ways to better incorporate the products into vehicles and workshops.
“Packout started as a jobsite transportation [solution], a way of getting something from Point A to Point B, and the whole vision we had for Packout was – how do you move something from the jobsite to your vehicle, to your garage, home shop, or tool crib,” Albrecht said.
“What you’re going to see from Packout is a huge evolution that is going to tie all of those components together. If you think about the drawers we just launched, how would you be able to attach those better to a van or pickup truck?”
New MX Fuel Products
An attendee also brought up the absence of any new products from Milwaukee’s MX Fuel cordless equipment line, which debuted in 2019.
The MX Fuel line currently consists of 8 tools: a 14-inch concrete cutoff saw; a handheld core drill, breaker hammer, the 3600W/1800W Carry-On power supply; tower light and charger; sewer drum machine; backpack concrete breaker; and vibratory screed.
Richman said there will be a number of new products:
We will have more MX in the back half of this year.
“There will be an extensive amount of commitment to MX across all verticals of our business in the future,” he said. “Shane keeps on hiring more and more people dedicated to it, and so we better deliver those products.”
Ongoing Milwaukee Pipeline 2022 Tool News
See More Milwaukee Pipeline 2022 Tool Coverage
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Luke
Any guesses what the new MX products could be?
MM
I am not on the MX platform so I haven’t been keeping up with news or rumors, but when it comes to “high power” cordless platforms I think it would be cool to see:
powered dollies, carts, and wheelbarrows
large chainsaw
a more capable air compressor compared to 18V models
portable winch/hoist/puller
pipe threading machine
hydraulic power pack for use with “porta-power” type tools
Geo
We just had a meeting with Hilti reps last week regarding their new line of cordless tools, and I had almost an identical wish list for them! To clarify why I’m commenting on a Milwaukee forum, the company I work for is invested in Hilti tools, but most of my extensive personal tool collection is Milwaukee
Dave
fyi, milwaukee already makes a cordless hydraulic power pack
MM
Perhaps I am wrong about this, but as far as I know their existing unit can only run a canned cycle for crimping. I’d like one that has direct manual control for use not just with generic porta-power tools like jacks, rams and spreaders but also other things like pullers or pipe benders.
Stuart
What would you like them to be?
I’m hoping for a powered cart/dolly. Maybe dual interface with M18 X2 and M18 ports?
fred
A cordless plate compactor would be nice.
Debbie
I think It’s coming 2023
Andrew Wagner
I’m starting to think the engineers might have been humoring me when they said they’d get right on developing an MX Fuel eBike for me.
Sigh….
Phil
Snow blower should be mx
Andrew Wagner
Hey, Phil. My guess – and I want to stress that this is simply a guess – is that the snowblower will be an M18x2 type of tool. Milwaukee is staunchly committed to keeping their batteries compatible as long as possible so I think they’d be fine developing a high-power/high-demand tool that requires multiple batteries.
Herpty-derpty
Make it M18x4 for all I care. I’d rather buy more batteries that I can use in all my tools than start with either another ecosystem. If I can’t use the M18 and have to buy batteries in a new ecosystem, why would I want the Milwaukee tool? I could buy any other electric blower under that circumstance.
Mat
Glad to hear Red is doing a snowblower. Maybe Yellow will get off their rear ends and finally do one too. (I have hand tools in both, but got persuaded (suckered?) into Flexvolt for OPE and have been waiting for years for them to do snowblower.
Lance
I don’t regret buying into a separate high voltage OPE platform. I got Ego and never looked back.
An 18v OPE platform will require you to buy huge batteries that are not suitable for handheld tools, so other than the battery chargers you’re essentially buying another battery platform anyway.
Large format batteries are better at fast charging and dissipating heat, so they are better suited to constant high power OPE type tools.
Julian Tracy
Was that after you got suckered into the now dead Dewalt 40v platform like many did?
Andrew Wagner
From what Richman said, the blower has been years in the making, too. I’m still absolutely shocked that I was able to get him to reveal it since my question was ostensibly about things like clothing and coffee mugs and the like. So this was quite a shock, but a good one from a journalism standpoint.
Phil
God. I love 60v .. ope ,grinders, saws. Etc. Milwaukee HO is put to shame when you need big tools doing hard hot work.
Nathan
DO they have a backpack battery yet?
Stuart
Not that we’ve seen or explicitly heard about.
Tojen1981
I think the way into more MX platform adoption would be a 54″ zero turn mower and SxS/utv options.
I mean snow blowers sell well in the northern part of the country, but I can’t see those really make a large blip on the radar, given the cost of entry into the MX playground.
NPS used to be reserved for the best; the latest and greatest from Milwaukee. This year just felt meh overall. A few cool things and that’s it.
Stuart
Milwaukee NPS used to showcase many months of new developments. Pipeline showcases a couple of months worth of the latest and greatest, and there will be additional announcements throughout the year.
fred
Do you get the sense that COVID and China’s Zero-COVID policies may have slowed the pipeline down a bit?
The other factor may be the worldwide economic forecasts. I’ve heard from my ex-compatriots/partners that they are very cautious just about now – and putting off major purchases or thoughts of any expansion as they are starting to see the market slowing.
Andrew Wagner
During an end-of-day Q&A session with four of Milwaukee’s top execs (which I will post as soon as I finally finish the arduous task of transcribing it all), Richman was asked point-blank if the Zero-COVID situation in China as well as the overall supply chain issues would have a major impact and for the most part, there hasn’t been too much problem for Milwaukee. Of course, statements in such a setting and reality can often differ greatly but from what I’ve seen on store shelves, it sure looks like things are going as well as can be expected.
Colin
Well the snowblower ought not to be melting batteries. Right?
TomD
Good point – they should externally mount the batteries to get maximum cooling heh.
James
I have heard credible rumours from retailers that we can expect an MX Fuel Welder and a whole new battery platform coming from Milwaukee this year
MM
An MX fuel welder should be possible. There are portable welders that run on 1 or 2 car batteries, and if you compare the rated reserve capacity of a typical car battery to the watt-hours of the large MX fuel pack they are in the same ballpark.
Doug N
New battery platform? What voltage would it be? Seems unlikely but possible.
If they make a backpack battery for MX, they could make it compatible with m18 by requiring 4 packs.
Interesting that the new carry on power supply has basically the same guts as the MX version; both convert 72v DC to 120v AC. Maybe future large OPE could be compatible with both battery systems.
James
The new battery platform could be a FlexVolt type platform, which is why we see so few dual-battery M18 tools.
Or it could be a 40-60V platform like Makita and others to handle OPE and other products where MX Fuel is overkill/too expensive for the desired application, however I feel like Milwaukee would have a better solution than simply adding a higher voltage platform like Makita have done.
I got this information from a major Milwaukee distributor, who has seen the products and is preparing for their launch.
Collin
I think Milwaukee has a gaping hole in their battery line and another battery platform is pretty much a must for Milwaukee at this point.
M18 is for tools consuming 0 to 1800 watts (intermittently). Continuous draw would be lower.
The 1800-2500 watt range is what every other battery platform is targeting right now. 1800-2500 watts of power in your hand. Makita XGT, DeWalt FlexVolt, Metabo HPT, Flex, Hilti etc. Most of these platforms are single battery platforms as well, with only a limited number of “x2” tools.
Milwaukee was forced to release a few “x2” battery tools to make up for this gap. Example: lawn mower and wet/dry vacs. The lawn mower probably doesn’t use more than 1500 watts (Ego’s lawn mower motors are only 1000-1200 watts) but 1500 watts continuous is way too much for a single 18-volt battery. Same with the wet/dry vacs. They probably aren’t exceeding 1200 watts but that’s a pretty high continuous draw figure.
Snow blowers…Ego is a 2000-watt motor. Physically impossible for any single M18 battery to provide 2000 watts for any appreciable amount of time without melting. The snow blower is going to have to be a M18x2 tool, or MX Fuel, or something else altogether.
MX Fuel is for tools consuming 2500-5000 watts. And the batteries are the size of shoeboxes, so mainly stationary tools, or giant tools.
Kevin
I’ve used a few MX tools and am pretty divided on them. In short, I would absolutely not but them at this point in the game. They still don’t really have it dialed in yet. The cutoff saw for example, is not even remotely competitive. The runtime isn’t very good and it’s not hard to send it into thermal shutoff. Now with the exception of the cutoff saw, the other stuff lives in a very industrial space and I see them keeping it that way for the foreseeable future. They’re only really a practical investment for relatively large operations with big contracts, so I believe the MX offerings will focus on tools with a special use case. It’s unlikely people will buy into to platform if there’s only a tool or two that they’d actually use, somewhat defeating the purpose of investing in a cordless platform. Most likely M18 will remain their bread and butter while the higher 72V MX will be geared towards industrial, special use case applications.
TomD
I feel the MX platform is aimed at places like California, that will jump at the chance to outlaw gas-powered equipment if there’s a reasonable substitute (or even at companies that would like to advertise how green they are).
Kevin
I mean I think there’s definitely a place for it. There’s some situations where a tool blowing out exhaust fumes makes it impossible to use, and the low maintenance aspect is nice. I just don’t know what they were thinking with some of these tools. Great I’m theory, poor implementation. I would be willing to wager Milwaukee is fully committed to M18 for most applications. They’ve crossed into 2 battery territory and it’s confirmed that they’ve been working on pouch cell equipped battery packs. They’re definitely focusing on the batteries as the limiting factor now. I think we’re going to start seeing them start to squeeze as much current as possible out of M18. Ostensibly the primary drive for MX was tools that would be practically impossible to make without the voltage being 4X greater.
Gary
Does anyone know if they will be doing any updates or improvements to the 2739 12 inch Miter Saw?
Stuart
Nothing that we’ve heard or seen.
Chris
What improvements are you looking for?
Stephen
Any word on a Gen 3 M18 leaf blower? I just picked up a Gen 2 and its…OK. In particular the trigger lock is terrible (unlocks with a glancing blow on the trigger) and I wish the tube came with a flat tip. Looking forward to what a Gen 3 version will improve on.
Collin
I’m curious what sort of rabbit Milwaukee can pull out the hat with an 18v platform leaf blower. 450cfm/120mph is the limit of an 18v platform leaf blower. Makita is similar, at 459/116, and DeWalt XR at 450/125. Ryobi is in the same ballpark too with their premium 18v offerings.
The only high CFM and high-velocity blowers are a) gas or b) high voltage battery powered.
I think Milwaukee will be pretty much forced to develop a backpack type blower for any serious OPE professionals who want to use Milwaukee, with the backpack holding at least 2 M18 batteries. I think with 2 M18 batteries, Milwaukee should be able to get in the ballpark of Ryobi’s most powerful 40v blower, the 730cfm/190mph one.
TomD
https://www.toolnut.com/milwaukee-2824-20-m18-fuel-18v-dual-battery-blower-tool-only.html
It’s here!
Big Richard
I was wondering why they didn’t talk about this at Pipeline, unless they did one of their famous media embargos. When I didn’t see any mention it, I was expecting it wouldn’t be announced until later this summer/fall. So this is a nice surprise.
Aaron
MX Zero turn…
fred
I believe that Ryobi is selling at least one zero turn
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-48V-Brushless-54-in-115-Ah-Battery-Electric-Riding-Zero-Turn-Mower-RY48140/314846874
Big Richard
Is ToolGuyd attending Pipeline 2023?
WisconsinRed
So what’s the latest info on the M18 snowblower? Can’t find anything since last year 2022???
Stuart
No official announcements or reveals yet.