Thumbs down and zero stars to Oregon electric tools.

[RTM]

Give these guys a call or send them an e-mail. I have had them rebuild a couple of weird packs and they were great:

Professional Battery Assembly, Rebuilding, and Repair - MTO Battery

Get high-quality service on battery rebuilds, battery repairs, and battery reconditioning on Segway, Power Tools, and specialty batteries. We specialize in batteries from Fluke, 3M, Fitel, Fujikura, Snap-On, EGO, DeWalt, Milwaukee, Akron, Trilithic, JDSU, Trimble, Sokkia, Leica, Cleco, Profoto...

www.mtobattery.com

Was just on their site for another battery, and Oregon is on the list of those they won't work on.

Power Tool Batteries That We Do Not Rebuild

Power Tool Batteries That We Do Not Rebuild. Below is a list of batteries that we do not offer rebuild services for.

www.mtobattery.com

 

[den67]

I've bought an Oregon Electric Pole Saw, a Leaf Blower and a Hedge Trimmer in the Oregon 40V Max line. I have almost $800 into the three tools and I really liked them. I recently had a battery die. I looked for a replacement and discovered the company has discontinued the product line INCLUDING THE BATTERIES.

I called the company and got a nice lady who said, "The product line has been discontinued." I asked what am I supposed to do the the three premium price tools I own that require those batteries? "I'm sorry, but there are no substitutes." I'll definitely be babying the one I have left.

You'd expect this from off brands on Amazon or HF, but Oregon? I'll definitely be looking for alternatives for my chainsaw chains.

Ditto - I own several premium Oregon 40V battery tools: Chain Saw + Leaf Blower + Hedge Trimmer; and I just purchased a new old stock LM400 lawnmower on eBay. I did not want to kill my 3 existing Oregon POWERNOW B662 6.0 Ah batteries with the new lawnmower, so I called Oregon customer support and got the same story - they claim they closed their 40V battery tool line in 2017. But I told them that I had purchased my tools way more recent from reputable retailers like Northern Tool. They said that the retailers simple had existing inventory they were moving. I got my tools about 3 years ago in 2022 and I highly doubt the big box relators had Oregon 40V tools sitting in their warehouse for 5 years! If so, it should have been disclosed to me that I was buying a discontinued tool. Oregon went on to say there are no 3rd parties that make aftermarket batteries for their legacy 40V tools and have no intention of letting any partners do so at this time. All they did is apologize and ended the call. As a result I returned the LM400 lawnmower to the eBay seller and will most likely get a Ryobi 40V lawnmower from Home Depot with the hope that Home Depot will keep making their batteries for a long long time. I too will now baby my 3x existing Oregon POWERNOW B662 6.0 Ah batteries - and when they die, I will try to refurnish them with new Li cells. There are plenty of video on YouTube of guys putting new batteries in these Oregon battery packs from 18650 battery store. Totally disappointed in Oregon for selling its loyal 40V battery tool customers down the river! Makes no sense as I thought the Oregon 40V tools were actually pretty nice! Really like the self sharpening feature on my chain saw!

 

[Steve_P]

Not sure why anyone would buy cordless tools from Oregon, or any of the companies that have a few percent of the market. Same with a brand like Flex for typical cordless tools. You are just asking to be F'd, because that company has <2% of the market and at some point, the realization sinks in that it's not worth the effort for the brand or the few stores that sells it.

For OPE, stick with Ego, Ryobi, DeWalt, Stihl, Echo.... For typical cordless tools, DeWalt, Milwaukee, Ryobi.... Refusing to go with one of the main brands just means getting burned when that niche brand exits the market, which is inevitable because there's limited shelf space in stores.

I have a friend that went with Flex cordless tools because he insists on being different; even though I told him DeWalt, Milwaukee or Ryobi. He said that it appears that it's being discontinued from Lowes since it's all on clearance right now.

 

[danski0224]

When the M18 lithium line came out, it WAS reverse-compatible with the previous 18V NiCad tools--one of the reasons I initially got invested in the red.

Nope.

There was a "V18" lithium ion battery that was released, and it was compatible with the existing "18V" NiCd tools. The V18 batteries had their own charger that also worked with the 18V NiCd batteries.

Those V18 batteries were complete ****.

The M18 lithium ion battery was never compatible with the 18V NiCd tools.

 

[Steel_Rain]

I have a friend that went with Flex cordless tools because he insists on being different; even though I told him DeWalt, Milwaukee or Ryobi. He said that it appears that it's being discontinued from Lowes since it's all on clearance right now

This appears to be happening. My local Lowe’s store Manager claims Lowe’s is dropping FLEX by end of year and moving them online only. That will be the death of the brand unless they can pivot to Home Depot or even Ace.

 

[MiteyF]

Ditto - I own several premium Oregon 40V battery tools: Chain Saw + Leaf Blower + Hedge Trimmer; and I just purchased a new old stock LM400 lawnmower on eBay. I did not want to kill my 3 existing Oregon POWERNOW B662 6.0 Ah batteries with the new lawnmower, so I called Oregon customer support and got the same story - they claim they closed their 40V battery tool line in 2017.

This is one of my biggest points when people ask "battery vs gas" yard tools.

My gas powered equipment will be serviceable basically forever. I bought my weedwacker well over a decade ago, used, for $20. It still works just fine (albeit sometimes cantankerous). I've had to put a few new diaphragms in the carb over the years, and a new pull starter once. I bet I've burned less gas in it in 10 years than a single Milwaukee battery costs.

 

[neophyte]

Ditto - I own several premium Oregon 40V battery tools: Chain Saw + Leaf Blower + Hedge Trimmer; and I just purchased a new old stock LM400 lawnmower on eBay. I did not want to kill my 3 existing Oregon POWERNOW B662 6.0 Ah batteries with the new lawnmower, so I called Oregon customer support and got the same story - they claim they closed their 40V battery tool line in 2017. But I told them that I had purchased my tools way more recent from reputable retailers like Northern Tool. They said that the retailers simple had existing inventory they were moving. I got my tools about 3 years ago in 2022 and I highly doubt the big box relators had Oregon 40V tools sitting in their warehouse for 5 years! If so, it should have been disclosed to me that I was buying a discontinued tool. Oregon went on to say there are no 3rd parties that make aftermarket batteries for their legacy 40V tools and have no intention of letting any partners do so at this time. All they did is apologize and ended the call. As a result I returned the LM400 lawnmower to the eBay seller and will most likely get a Ryobi 40V lawnmower from Home Depot with the hope that Home Depot will keep making their batteries for a long long time. I too will now baby my 3x existing Oregon POWERNOW B662 6.0 Ah batteries - and when they die, I will try to refurnish them with new Li cells. There are plenty of video on YouTube of guys putting new batteries in these Oregon battery packs from 18650 battery store. Totally disappointed in Oregon for selling its loyal 40V battery tool customers down the river! Makes no sense as I thought the Oregon 40V tools were actually pretty nice! Really like the self sharpening feature on my chain saw!

New old stock tools can easily sit around for 5 years or more in a tool distributors warehouse.
I occasionally run across new old stock cordless tools from the 1990s on eBay, sometimes from sellers with a number of new old stock tools, indicating the tools are likely not just from some guy randomly hoarding tools in his garage that he never hot around to using.
I run across way older new old stock corded tools as well.
Yes, the retailer should tell you the tools have been discontinued, but most retailers want to get the older stuff out of the warehouse, and every once in a while, a customer actually prefers the older tools for one reason or another. (Maybe they have functioning batteries snd want to fill out the line of tools they already have).

 

[neophyte]

Not sure why anyone would buy cordless tools from Oregon, or any of the companies that have a few percent of the market. Same with a brand like Flex for typical cordless tools. You are just asking to be F'd, because that company has <2% of the market and at some point, the realization sinks in that it's not worth the effort for the brand or the few stores that sells it.

For OPE, stick with Ego, Ryobi, DeWalt, Stihl, Echo.... For typical cordless tools, DeWalt, Milwaukee, Ryobi.... Refusing to go with one of the main brands just means getting burned when that niche brand exits the market, which is inevitable because there's limited shelf space in stores.

I have a friend that went with Flex cordless tools because he insists on being different; even though I told him DeWalt, Milwaukee or Ryobi. He said that it appears that it's being discontinued from Lowes since it's all on clearance right now.

While it’s not a guarantee, the FLEX brand is owned by Chervon, a major OEM manufacturer of corded and cordless tools.
Chervon also owns GO, EGO, Skil, and the Devon brands.
The FLEX brand also produces specialty industrial tools, so even if you can’t acquire the tools or batteries thru Lowes, they may remain somewhat available elsewhere.

 

[Beerhippie]

Nope.

There was a "V18" lithium ion battery that was released, and it was compatible with the existing "18V" NiCd tools. The V18 batteries had their own charger that also worked with the 18V NiCd batteries.

Those V18 batteries were complete ****.

The M18 lithium ion battery was never compatible with the 18V NiCd tools.

All I recalled was being able to buy lithium batts. when the old ones went dead. I don't recall the V18 being a POS, but anything was better than old, run-down NiCads.

We were able to wring the last bit of life out of our old red tools, anyway.

 

[danski0224]

All I recalled was being able to buy lithium batts. when the old ones went dead. I don't recall the V18 being a POS, but anything was better than old, run-down NiCads.

I remember only because the V18 battery performance was so bad, and I had a couple of them **** the bed with no recourse or reason. They weren't cheap, either.

I swore off Milwaukee lithium for a long time after that, and bought at least 2 more sets of aftermarket NiCd batteries before giving in to the M18 and M12 systems.

I recently re-discovered an unused 18V Sawzall that I bought when those were being discontinued.

 

[Steve_P]

While it’s not a guarantee, the FLEX brand is owned by Chervon, a major OEM manufacturer of corded and cordless tools.
Chervon also owns GO, EGO, Skil, and the Devon brands.
The FLEX brand also produces specialty industrial tools, so even if you can’t acquire the tools or batteries thru Lowes, they may remain somewhat available elsewhere.

Yes, I know. But DeWalt and Milwaukee have discontinued previous battery lines.

My friend with Flex tools had a huge set of Porter Cable cordless tools and they discontinued the batteries for them. Some people just refuse to join the herd.

 

[Steel_Rain]

From what I'm hearing, Lowes is going to discontinue FLEX in stores @ year end and move to online only. As I posted in another thread already, one of my local Lowes already dumped the FLEX aisle and replaced it with DeWalt, leaving only a dusty end cap with yellow clearance tags.

It ***** because I'm in this tool ecosystem with 11 products (4 lights, the rest impacts/drills and saws), mostly bought on clearance and when they had the fire sale last month. I have Makita LXT/XGT, Milwaukee and FLEX, but it really does appear the FLEX ship is sinking.

 

[neophyte]

Yes, I know. But DeWalt and Milwaukee have discontinued previous battery lines.

My friend with Flex tools had a huge set of Porter Cable cordless tools and they discontinued the batteries for them. Some people just refuse to join the herd.

Every manufacturer of cordless tools has discontinued battery lines, although Makita probably kept their oldest battery lines around with replacement batteries for the longest amount of time.
Milwaukee on the other hand probably has at least 6 different discontinued battery lines I can think of, since the late 1990s or early 1990s, leaving customers stranded.
The Milwaukee batteries in a number of cases were also used in high end expensive industrial specialty tools, which in some cases could cost $2,000-$3,000 per tool, which may be one of the reasons for the Bosch and Metabo battery systems meant as “universal” battery systems, for multiple tool brands.

 

[tarbellb]

Ditto - I own several premium Oregon 40V battery tools: Chain Saw + Leaf Blower + Hedge Trimmer;

"premium"

maybe precious?