Silverdale

It'll nor vac pine cones. The vanes in the fan are approx 1 cm apart (1/2 inch), and that three prong blade is more about clearing blockages than chopping hard things like cones. Sounds like you need an old golf ball pick up machine from a driving range! Or an old mower that you don't mind denting the blade on pine cones?

I have this. It’s a brilliant tool. There are very few manufacturers making vac/blowers so I delighted that one of them was Makita so I could use my existing batteries. I use it a bit for tidying the garden after the mower, mainly the grass clippings that always escape onto the patio. Its biggest benefit is to vac the guinea pigs hutch, it happily chomps up the clumps of damp wood shavings and hay in seconds. The full power vac mode runs the batteries down quickly (5Ah in10-15 min) but it also has a half power mode that lasts a lot longer. Perhaps 20-30 min. The trigger is progressive with a lock so you can adjust the power to what you need. I’m guessing the timing because I can get two weekends on one charge. It does seem an expensive toy for 10 mins each weekend but it saves the hassle of reaching into the hutch with a dustpan brush, and it pulls grass clippings from the gaps between paving stones which saves having to weed them out when they take root.

A brand new tool that fails after a week? Send it back, full refund or a brand new replacement.

It's all about context. Most UK users in modern housing have 50 to 100m2 lawns. They would consider a 46cm mower way too big, a petrol mower to be way too heavy, and petrol mowers are way more expensive than electric. That's why most UK retail mowers are electric in the range 34-40cm, many of them will be hover mowers which are much easier on small lawns than wheeled models. If you have already have the batteries, then a bare Makita cordless costs roughly the same as corded and saves messing around with extension cables. In my particular case, I have two lawns to cut. One is up steep steps, the other is at the back of a terrace so I have to carry the mower through the house. Neither are suitable for a petrol mowers due to access and size of lawn, plus cordless means one less thing to carry from the vehicle to the back of the house.

I see this mower is now on sale in Europe and on the Makita UK website, although it is called the DLM460. I can't find a retailer in the UK but it is listed on Amazon de and fr. The 461/460 is a bit big and heavy for me, but having seen the difference with brushless motors on other tools I'm reluctant to buy the existing smaller mowers with what now seems like a dinosaur brushed motor. Presumably Makita have to get hit their production goals for the old mowers (return on tooling investment etc) before launching brushless replacements? Plus I guess they're aiming at the domestic homeowner market rather than the more demanding professionals who'd pay for a brushless kit? If so it could be another couple of years

The other feature of Class M vacs is an auto clean filter, and dust bags rather than an open bin. I'm not sure if that is mandatory but it is certainly essential. I'll have to dig into the Makita details later.

The biggest issue for me in doing old house refurbs is that the dust spontaneously accumulates as soon as you remove the old carpets and start lifting boards, replacing windows, insulating roof spaces, knocking out plaster for new back boxes, routing new cables and plumbing. It's a constant battle and if you're spending a day doing back boxes it's easy to carry the cordless tools from one box to the next but the vac is a palava that is often ignored - stick on a face mask and live with the dust. So while the Makita cordless isn't Class M, it is more likely to be used.... or maybe I should value my health to be worth more than £1000 for the Hilti.

Yes, I'd seen the Hilti which is why I got excited seeing the Makita US site extol their capabilities for s dealing with silica, which sounded like M in this country. On a related note, Makita do have some great on-tool dust accessories featured prominently on their US site. I'll have to investigate those too. Has anyone got hands on experience of them? I was thinking of starting with the DX02 for my SDS 243

Thanks for the information, I suspected that might the case. So while OSHA has the same filtration it doesn't have the design features or safeguards of Class M. I'll stick with lugging the corded and extension around. My next project is a narrow 4 storey refurb, one room on each floor so I was hoping to simplify the clambering up and down the stairs! I think I'd consider another brand for cordless as the convenience would outweigh the hassle of a different charger.

How did I miss that???? I've been using Makita for years! I'll get my coat....

I'm looking at the Makita cordless dust extractors and I'm confused by the ratings. In the US the XCV04 & 07 range are listed as OSHA compliant for slica dust which is 99.97% of particulates .3 microns and larger In the UK the DVC861, 863, 864 seem to be the same machine but are only listed as Class L - Removes 99.0% of dust with limit value The UK requires Class M for silica dust which is 99.9% of dust. That seems to be similar to the US OSHA Can anyone explain why the cordless vacs are not Class M?

Personally I'd like a compact LXT battery. Other manufacturers have slimline 2Ah which save a lot of weight, but Makita only have full size blocks. Oh, and Bluetooth DAB radio. Why do they make FM Bluetooth, but decide the DAB version won't have Bluetooth? I wonder if they'll get a nosebleed if someone suggests a radio with DAB, FM & Bluetooth in one box?