This week, we’re gonna find out if it’s too late to buy tools. Plus Robillard will dig us out of the snow with a Toro, and this Rob will gripe about Makita 40V not being in the US. This is your power tool week in review.
Milwaukee MX | RR Buildings
The Milwaukee MX Carry On continues to work its way onto job sites, and so far the reviews have been mixed. Milwaukee has been trying to make it clear, that the Carry On is designed for specific users, and apparently one of those users is Kyle over at RR Buildings.
Kyle builds Post Frame buildings, and lots of them. That process requires a lot of power tools, but very few people. As a matter of fact, most often it’s no more than a crew of two. And as it turns out, that’s the perfect situation for the MX Carry On. Kyle goes into great detail on how exactly the inverter allows him to easily power even his biggest Sawsquatch, all while remaining quiet, clean, and portable. He’s been so happy with it, that it already has him looking to the future of Milwaukee’s cordless ambitions. “I just like the whole thought of using a quiet clean energy source on the jobsite. One day maybe Milwaukee will be powering my mega deck. Wouldn’t that be crazy?” Kyle has truly found a fantastic use case for the MX Fuel Carry On. So if you’re still undecided, head over to RR Buildings.
Makita 40V XGT line | Scott Brown Carpentry
Just a reminder. It’s February 19th, 2021, and here in the states we still don’t have Makita’s 40V tools, and I’m not bitter at all. So if you want any insight, you have to travel all the way to middle earth, where Scott Brown presumably fights dragons between remodels.
The land also known as New Zealand, has had the Makita 40V tools for some time now. And our buddy Scott Brown got a hold of a bunch of the newest offerings, and put them to work. And just like everyone else we’ve seen that uses them, he’s hooked. He loves the consistent power, and refers to longer run times due to those big 40V batteries. And of course, once he realizes how nice they are, he runs into the same question everyone else does.
That really seems to be the growing concern. As reviews like this come in, where professionals are telling you not to buy 18V anymore… It’s hard to understand exactly what Makita’s plans are. And so far, they refuse to tell us. The only response we’ve got from Makita is a reference to a 2 year old statement, claiming that “ XGT will stand side-by-side with the industry-leading 18V LXT® System, giving users more battery-powered solutions for a truly cordless job site.” So, it looks like if we ever DO get XGT, we can expect LXT to stick around. We just don’t know why. As always, watching Scott play with new tools on the jobsite is easily as entertaining as it is informative, so be sure to head over to Scott Brown Carpentry.
Toro 28″ Power Max Model | A Concord Carpenter / Tool Box Buzz
Is it snowing where you are? Technically, as we’re recording this, it appears that the entire planet is in a snow storm. We’ve been testing a small group of snow blowers here at Belts and Boxes, including a huge Toro 28” Power Max model. But of course we’ve been using it to sling 3-4” at a time. To really put it to the test, you need a place like Concord Massachusetts, where you’ll find the Concord Carpenter up to his neck in snow.
That’s Rob Robillard of course, and he too got a hold of the new 28” Toro, but he used it to dig his way out of 18” on snow. Something I hope we never get to try. Rob has been using the Power Max to recover from two storms so far, and he’s found it to be an effective solution to this very cold problem. Rob liked the power, clever joystick chute controls, and the electric starter made it a breeze to get going no matter how cold it got. And a new heavy duty auger negates the need for shear pins, and instead just stalls the motor, which he said he could easily restart. If you’re still under a bunch of snow, it might be time to setup up to the Toro, assuming you can find one at this point. For the full review head over to A Concord Carpenter.
Tool Talk | Belts and Boxes
Let’s move on. Last week we talked about Hacking your tools to do different things, and you guys left a ton of great suggestions in the comments.
Jose Garcia even share these photos of his hacked Packout rolling toolbox, in which he added a GFI weather proof outlet, complete with USB charging ports, so he can easily add a power outlet wherever he wants and added these kitchen draw handles to wrap up the extension cord on the back, leaving more space on the inside.
This week, we’re going to talk about a COVID Problem that’s starting to effect trades people, and power tool fans. We’re talking about tool supply. This week Stuart from ToolGuyd wrote an article about Festool struggling to get tools in stock due to the fact that Festool tools are manufactured and distributed in Germany, which has been hit particularly hard by COVID19.
This week, we’re going to talk about a COVID Problem that’s starting to effect trades people, and power tool fans. We’re talking about tool supply. This week Stuart from ToolGuyd wrote an article about Festool struggling to get tools in stock due to the fact that Festool tools are manufactured and distributed in Germany, which has been hit particularly hard by COVID19.
I reached out to a few of my friends in power tool retail, and they echo’d the concern. Jay from Ohio Power Tool, a Festool reseller, shared this spreadsheet detailing exactly how delayed Festool is. The best case scenarios are 6 weeks out, while many are as high as 26 weeks, with a couple listed as “unavailable until further notice”.
Another insider told me that this problem is not isolated to Festool, as just about every tool brand is struggling to meet demand, but he noted that Festool appears to be struggling the most so far. So for this week’s tool talk, we’re going to focus on the low stock problem, and how it may affect your job, or has already. Let me know how it has affected you in the comments below, and I’ll be ready to chat after the show.
Last week we took a look at tool hacks, which you can watch right here. Special thanks to SKIL and OPT
Thank you SKIL and Ohio Power Tool for sponsoring this episode. We couldn’t do this without you.