At last week’s media event we saw so many tools and all of them were pretty impressive. Milwaukee has been on a mission as of late to make cordless tools as fast or faster than their corded counterparts. They’re trying to prove that cordless tools can be heavy duty tools. When I think of heavy duty tools, rotary hammers are the first that come to mind. They are always working with a hard material in dirty, dusty conditions. How can a cordless tool possibly keep up?!! The M18 Fuel Rotary Hammers have changed my perspective.

Last week Milwaukee introduced two new tools, both are M18 FUEL Rotary Hammers. They released a 1″ SDS+ hammer in the medium category and a 1-1/8″ hammer in the large category. That gives Milwaukee a full line of SDS+ hammers and one battery platform. A company doesn’t have to have multiple battery platforms to power their various hammers, they only need one. Milwaukee is the only company offering this right now.

Milwaukee conducted a lot of research with contractors to see what would make them switch over to cordless for their rotary hammers and it came down to three things; it has to be fast, has to be durable, and has to use the same battery platform as all their other tools. At the event they squared off two popular 1-1/8″ corded hammers against the new Fuel. Of course the Milwaukee won by a landslide (I wouldn’t expect anything less at a manufacturer event). It goes to prove though that the speed is there. It was faster than comparable corded tools. Here’s a clip where you can see how far ahead the Milwaukee is from the competition.

Like I mentioned above, rotary hammers are some of the hardest working tools on the jobsite and see some of the harshest conditions. It is impossible to prove a tools durability in a 30 minute demonstration but we all took turns on the hammers. They had a good feel to them. The vibration dampening worked well enough and the fit and finish was really nice. Time will bear out Milwaukee’s claims though. We’ll know soon enough how durable they are.

M18 FUEL™ 1-1/8″ SDS Plus Rotary Hammer Kit (2715-22)- NEW

M18 FUEL™ 1″ SDS Plus Rotary Hammer Kit (2715-22)- NEW

M18™ 7/8” SDS Plus Rotary Hammer (2605-22)

M18™ 5/8” SDS Plus Rotary Hammer (2612-22)

The new M18 FUEL Rotary Hammers will be available starting in October 2014 in the US and that includes the dust extractors. Look for them at Home Depot and independent dealers.

Contributing Editor Jeff Williams is a Project Manager for a masonry restoration company specializing in large historic buildings. Jeff comes from a long line of Contractors. His parents started a Commercial General Contracting firm many years ago and it has afforded him life-long, hands-on learning opportunities from rough and fine carpentry all the way to structural steel and concrete. Jeff has a Construction Management degree and loves the thrill of coordinating and successfully managing large jobs from start to finish. Inspired by the difficulties sometimes encountered to complete punch lists his motto is, "Work hard until the job is done."

@jeff_williamsJeff Williams

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