Milwaukee M18 FUEL Self-Propelled Lawn Mower

Possibly the Most Requested Milwaukee Tool in the Past 5 Years

Two tools remain the most requested products by Milwaukee Tool fanatics since I started writing about them in 2008: the M18 FUEL track saw and the Milwaukee M18 FUEL lawn mower. One of those tools has finally come to fruition—and woodworkers: you’re going to have to keep on waiting. The Milwaukee M18 FUEL Self-Propelled Lawn Mower sports everything you might expect from the folks whose parent company put out a product that made our best lawn mower article.

Milwaukee M18 FUEL Lawn Mower Runtime

While we wait on our review sample to arrive, we can talk about some primary concerns we’ll have about this new Milwaukee M18 FUEL lawn mower. The first thing has to do with runtime. Per Milwaukee Tool, we do know this lawnmower runs off existing M18 FUEL battery technology. Will the Milwaukee M18 FUEL lawn mower have enough battery life using 18V M18 FUEL packs?

We can also see from the supplied photo that the mower seems to have room for (at least) two batteries under the hood. That means Milwaukee can utilize two packs to deliver more runtime or power with this M18 FUEL lawn mower. That’s great news.

While they didn’t yet specify the batteries that will ship with the new lawnmower, we could imagine some surprises. With the DeWalt 15Ah battery pack hitting the market, and Milwaukee already having their 12Ah battery, we know that 18V packs are generating more watt-hours than ever before. Who knows, perhaps Milwaukee will announce a new battery alongside this mower. One can only hope.

In any case, we saw 47 minutes of runtime when cutting with four Makita 18V 6Ah battery packs. We expect we’ll see at least that much from Milwaukee if you pair this mower with a pair of 12Ah batteries.

Milwaukee Self-Propelled Lawnmower Physical Features

On the features side, this lawn mower features a 21-inch steel deck. The color reminds me of a Honda HRN216 lawn mower but that’s a compliment. The plastic accents across the front provide some protection from bumps. The mower also uses a rear-wheel-drive with single-point spring-assisted height adjustment.

That’s going to work well when letting off the self-propelled mechanism while turning the mower. Rear-wheel drives excel at maneuverability in our opinion.

Milwaukee makes the self-propelled system look very much like its cordless power tools. The controls feature black buttons on red glass-reinforced nylon. The power/startup button lies on the right with the headlight (and possibly the self-propelled speed controls) on the left. The bail bar looks comfortable to hold against the angled grips.

You have several height-adjustment options for the handle as well so it should work well for people of varying heights.

Bagging and Discharge Options

The Milwaukee M18 FUEL battery-powered lawn mower features a 3-in-1 design for handling grass. You can either mulch using what we anticipate is a dual-blade system, bag grass, or use the left-side discharge chute. The bag looks like a standard soft-sided model and we expect to see some excellent grass collection from this mower. We measure that by volume, and the best mowers have surprised us with just how much grass they can collect compared to others.

Storage and Other Features

The handle on this mower folds so that you can stand the mower upright. We love that design and favor it over fixed handles. The latter work great if you go from shop to trailer, but make it less convenient for those of us storing mowers in a shed up against the wall.

The last thing worth noting is the pair of LED lights at the front of the mower.

Milwaukee Tool opted to elevate these in what looks like a throwback to a 1955 Ford Thunderbird…at least that’s our take. In any case, LED lights on a lawn mower point to low noise output. Otherwise, you simply couldn’t mow early enough in the morning (or late enough at night) to use them.

Milwaukee Lawn Mower Pricing and Final Thoughts

I wish we knew how Milwaukee might price their M18 FUEL lawn mower, but we don’t have that information at present. We also can’t make an educated guess without having more info—except to say this should come as a premium product over anything offered by Ryobi. I expect to see this in The Home Depot in 2022 positioned as their top-of-the-line battery-powered lawn mowing solution.

So what do YOU think about this new lawn mower from Milwaukee Tool? Share your thoughts in the comments below—we’d love to hear from you!