For several years now people have been asking us, when are we going to get a FUEL brushless version of the M18 Hackzall one-handed reciprocating saw. Finally we can say it has arrived, well at least the kit version 2719-21 ($249), hopefully the bare tool version 2719-20 ($149) to follow by the time you read this post. The new saw has more power, more runtime, smaller footprint and less vibration making it pretty much everything we’ve been looking for in a compact recip saw!
When the original M12 FUEL Hackzall hit the market several years ago (May 2014) we were blown away by the performance of such a compact saw. The Hackzall design makes for a very capable cutting tool but right away we thought “can’t wait until they do an 18V version with more power”. Well a short 3 and half years later we got it! We are very happy to see the focus on this unit was not just on power but vibration reduction. Seems like a small thing but it can make a big difference when using this tool continuously. We got some good product info at the NPS17 event in video above (sorry for poor audio quality) also our friends from WorkshopAddict do a nice video below with some more hands on testing cutting pipe, lumber, tree pruning, etc.
This unit has a fixed shoe, similar to previous Hackzalls however the shoe for 2719 now pivots which provides better contact to the work surface round or flat. The stroke length is 7/8” less aggressive than a demo Sawzall (1-1/8”) but we found it extremely effective for this compact saw. Variable speed trigger 0-3000 no load RPM. Milwaukee claims a “50% faster than competition” we are not sure who exactly they are comparing that to as there are a number of competitors. In “one handed” recip category you’ve got the 18V Bosch GSA18V-083B ($119, bare) with is a clone of the M18 Brushed Hackzall or the Makita 18V XRJ01Z which again is brushed. The two competitors we would say this FUEL brushless really goes again are the new Makita 18V Sub-Compact XRJ07ZB ($159, bare) and Dewalt 18V Compact DCS367B ($129, bare) which are both brushless but are a little larger and require 2 handed operation.
The move towards compact cordless with a powerful brushless motor makes a ton of sense in our minds. Doing heavy demo work, removing a deck, taking out walls during remodeling or something of that nature, having a corded 15A Sawzall certainly still has its place. If you’ve got that big corded saw (or an M18 FUEL 2720-22HD with 9.0Ah) for heavy applications then it makes sense to have the 2nd option as a smaller cordless saw that is still very capable which can be used on all the smaller jobs and one-off cuts. Probably find this will do 70-80+% of most jobs!
