Professional Tool Reviews for Pros

Not many battery-powered brushcutters exist on the market. The Makita XRU16 Cordless 36V Brush Cutter claims the power equivalent of a 30cc gas engine. Given that Makita also makes gas brush cutters—this claim should hols some weight. Like most battery-powered OPE tools, however, it works with less noise, zero emissions, reduced maintenance, and instant startup. If true, Makita has just made brush cutting a whole lot less of a hassle without sacrificing power.

The Makita cordless Brush Cutter uses a 36V brushless motor that generates up to 7,000 RPM to shred through the worst of your grass, weeds, and heavy brush. For comparison, that’s a bit less than the 9,500 RPM you get from the Makita EM2650UH MM4 25.4cc brush cutter. Still, the brushless motor should be able to hold the power to the cutting head.

Unlike most gas-powered brush cutters and trimmers. The Makita XRU16 has three different speed settings. Low speed gets you up to 4,600 RPM and extends your runtime for basic trimming. Medium speed goes up to 5,500 RPM, balancing power and runtime. High speed throws caution to the wind and turns the 9″ metal brush cutter blade at its maximum 7,000 RPM.

If you don’t want to think about managing your own power and runtime, you can set the Makita Brush Cutter to its Automatic Torque Drive setting. This automatically shifts the XRU16’s speed settings to maximize your runtime, adding extra power only when you need it.

Of course, you can always make speed adjustments on the fly by riding the variable speed trigger also. In case you get tangled up, the Makita cordless Brush Cutter has a reverse rotation function as well. Engaging this feature spins the blade in reverse for a few seconds, unwinding any tangles from the cutting head.

Lastly, and our favorite, a bike-handle design gives you full control over the 9″ steel brush cutter blade. Makita also claims the steel drive shaft reduces vibrations and adds additional durability to the tool.

Because Makita intends the Cordless Brush Cutter primarily for Pro use in a variety of weather conditions, they’ve included Extreme Protection Technology (XPT). XPT consists of a series of integrated seals that channel both water and dust away from important internal components. This sort of protection increases the durability of the tool as well.

You can pick up the Makita XRU16 36V Cordless Brush Cutter kitted with two 18V 5.0Ah batteries and charger for $599. It comes with a 3 year warranty on the tool, battery, and charger.

When he doesn't have his hands on tools himself, Chris is often the man behind the camera lens making the rest of the team look good. In his free time, you might find Chris with his nose jammed in a book, or tearing out his remaining hair while watching Liverpool FC. He enjoys his faith, family, friends, and the Oxford comma.

Ryobi Raises The Bar For Electric Pressure Washers With Its 3000 PSI Unit While there are many, many electric pressure washers available, not many of them can boast the cleaning power the Ryobi 3000 PSI electric pressure washer has. Ryobi 3000 PSI Electric Pressure Washer: The Big Deal Topping out at 3000 PSI, this is […]

Worx Nitro 80V Backpack Blower Rockets Into Contention Battery-powered blowers have challenges on two fronts: producing relevant power and maintaining excellent runtime. The Worx Nitro 80V backpack leaf blower turns to its swappable Base Camp to pursue those goals. Worx Nitro 80V Backpack Leaf Blower: The Big Deal This backpack blower uses four 20V batteries […]

Greenworks 60V Battery-Powered Hedge Trimmer Offers Simple Functionality and Excellent Performance Greenworks 60V lineup is its high-performance bread and butter for residential lawn care. It’s been around long enough for most of the tools to have gone through at least the first major upgrades, and several are three generations in. We got our hands on […]

Can Mean Green Capture the Performance Homeowner Electric Zero-Turn Market? We first heard of the Mean Green Nemesis ZT back in 2016. At that time, the Mean Green Nemesis residential electric zero-turn mower carried the NXR moniker. The final ZT mower looks less like their commercial ZTRs and more like what we’ve come to expect […]

As an Amazon Associate, we may earn income when you click on an Amazon link. Thanks for helping us do what we love.

See our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Pro Tool Reviews is a successful online publication that has been providing tool reviews and industry news since 2008. In today’s world of Internet news and online content, we found that more and more professionals researched a large majority of their major power tool purchases online. That piqued our interest.

There’s one key thing to note about Pro Tool Reviews: We’re all about the professional tool user and tradesman!

Copyright ©2008-2022 Pro Tool Reviews, LLC. All rights reserved.

Professional Tool Reviews for Pros