There have been some discussions going on about the new M18 tools and why Milwaukee is coming out with a second 18 volt lithium ion line and what will happen to the current V18 line. There have also been some frustration that the batteries are not compatible between the two lines of tools. First let’s take a look at the current market for hammer drills including the new tools soon to be on the shelves in October.
Milwaukee M18 2611-24 – 1700 RPM – 650 in/lbs – 5.3 lbs – $329
Bosch 18V 17618-01 – 2050 RPM – 650 in/lbs – 5.? lbs – $342
Makita 18V BHP451 – 1700 RPM – 560 in/lbs – 5.1 lbs – $299
Dewalt 18V DEW 927 – 1800 RPM – 500 in/lbs – 5.5 lbs – $349
Milwaukee V18 0824-24 – 1700 RPM – 550 in/lbs – 6.2 lbs – $344
*M18 2611-24 comes with a free impact for all pre-orders from Ohio Power Tool
This is a very very rough overview because there are many other factors to consider such as tool size, battery life, etc which have all greatly improved as well with the new M18 tools. Milwaukee has built a reputation for building the best tools on the market and their target customers are professionals. The second generation of lithium ion was necessary for them to stay on top; obviously they need to beat Dewalt in everyway possible.
Why do the batteries not work with the current V18? I did get some technical answers part of which was that the new M series batteries have 5 connection points vs. 3 connections, with the V18, which allows for more power transfer etc needed for higher performance. In reality they probably could have made it work but do they build to work with previous tools or do they try to build the best tools possible? Obviously there is no money in making batteries that would essentially work with decade old NiCd tools. Maybe their problem is they make tools that last to long. They set expectations pretty high when they made the V18 batteries work with the NiCd tools, unfortunately this probably won’t be the norm. If you currently have V18 tools they will probably last you much longer, which is good unless you are like me and need to have the latest and greatest. Either way you will still be able to pick up new V18 tools from Ohio Power Tool for at least another year and batteries for probably the next 10 years.
¼” Hex Impact & Recip Saw comparisons with M18, V18, Makita & Dewalt:
Impacts
Milwaukee M18 2650-21 – 3200 IPM – 1400 in/lbs – 3.3 lbs – $229
Makita 18V BTD140 – 3200 IPM – 1280 in/lbs – 3.3 lbs – $313
Dewalt 18V DC827KL – 2700 IPM – 1330 in/lbs – 3.7 lbs – $359
Milwaukee V18 0881-22 – 3200 IPM – 1400 in/lbs – 5.2 lbs – $325
Reciprocating Saws
Milwaukee Sawzall M18 2620-22 – 3200 strokes/min – 7.9 lbs – $349
Makita 18V BJR181 – 2900 strokes/min – 8.1 lbs – $363
Dewalt 18V DC385K – 3000 strokes/min – 8.2 lbs – $199
Milwaukee Sawzall V18 0819-21 – 2700 strokes/min – 8.6 lbs – $300
*Pricing for Makita and Dewalt are best prices from national Big Box websites.
