Makita MLM160D Review: Japan's Tiny 18V Vertical Vacuum Mower

Introduction

Some tools arrive and immediately make sense. Others, like the Makita MLM160D, make you do a double take. This is a compact, cordless, vertical vacuum-style lawn mower that behaves more like an upright vacuum cleaner than a traditional mower. It is genuinely unlike anything else in most people’s garden shed, and it is currently only sold in Japan, where it carries the MLM160D name (most of the world would know it as the DLM160).

What the Makita MLM160D Is

The idea is simple: instead of a wheeled deck with a grass box at the back, this mower works like a Hoover. Grass is cut and then vacuumed up an internal chute, roughly 500 to 600 mm, before dropping into a translucent collection canister at the top of the body. It is designed for small spaces, and it is small enough that it ships in a box far smaller than any mower you have probably ever bought.

The extendable handle locks out to around 400 mm of added reach, and the collection canister holds roughly 10 litres, with vent holes on the sides so air can escape while grass keeps being pulled in. Emptying it is a matter of pulling a lever, popping the top open, lifting the canister off, and tipping it out. There is also a sprung flap for clearing jams and a stored hex tool for blade changes.

Design, Blades and Cutting Height

Cutting height runs from 10 mm to 40 mm via a dial on the front, which extends a convex plastic guard under the body. One caveat: that guard is held on a thin shaft and several owners report it coming loose or missing from the box. A drop of thread locker is a sensible precaution.

Underneath, the setup is unusual. There is a fixed blade that does not spin, a rotating three-tooth cutting blade, and a nylon vacuum-style fan responsible for firing grass up the chute into the canister. It is a clever arrangement, but the fan section slides on that same thin shaft, and the whole assembly is cut with very little torque. This is not a high-powered machine.

It runs on Makita’s LXT 18V battery platform. With the battery cover on, larger packs will not fit, but the cover pops off easily, and the mower accepts the 9Ah and 12Ah batteries with it removed. The handle carries a small indicator light for battery or jam warnings.

Real-World Performance

First, the pleasant surprise: the suction is far better than expected. Air blasts out of the rear with enough force to blow paper and brochures around, and even in thick, wet, long grass the catcher kept filling convincingly. The vacuum system genuinely works, and it is the most impressive thing about the tool.

That said, expectations matter. This mower is happiest on short, dry, fine grass. In an overgrown lawn with grass 300 mm long, it pushed grass forward, clogged, and jammed. The guidance printed on the catcher confirms the approach: for grass longer than 100 mm, remove the front guide, cut first at the 40 mm setting, and work your way down. On bumpy, uneven ground it is clunky to push, since there are only two rear wheels and a plastic dome at the front, and it does not like being dragged back over freshly cut grass.

Where it shines is tight spaces and edges. It gets much closer to borders than a full-size mower, and because it weighs very little (roughly 6 to 7 kg) you can pick it up one-handed to clear jams rather than tipping a mower over at ground level. Loose strands of kikuyu-style coarse grass will wrap around the shaft and jam it, though, and the cramped internals make those clearouts fiddly.

Noise is another genuine plus. You will not need hearing protection, and the whole thing is quiet enough for suburban use at any hour. With a 160 mm cutting width, just over five inches, progress is slow, and you will want to mow in one direction, stop, turn, and come back the other way rather than pushing back over your own cut.

Should You Buy It?

Pros and cons are easy to summarise. On the plus side, it is small, extremely light, quiet, takes large LXT batteries, stores almost anywhere (a shelf, a corner, hanging on a wall), and is excellent for edges and tight spots where a mower cannot reach. It can also replace two tools on a small, level lawn, handling both the mowing and the borders.

On the downside, it feels a little delicate and flimsy, it jams easily in long, wet, or coarse grass, the front guard can work loose, the battery cover is a loose pop-on affair, and there is very little torque, so you must push slowly. It really demands a well-manicured lawn with fine grass like fescue or ryegrass on flat, even ground. If your lawn is a bumpy, overgrown jungle, look elsewhere.

The price is the persuader. It is one of the cheapest Makita tools of its kind, costing around two and a half times less than a comparable Makita drill, though shipping from Japan adds a notable cost, and delivery from Tokyo took less than 48 hours. If you have a small, neat, level patch of lawn and want one quiet tool that does the mowing and the edges, this odd little vacuum mower is a genuinely fun and capable answer.

Conclusion

The Makita MLM160D is part mower, part vacuum, and entirely niche. It will not tame an overgrown backyard, but for a small, tidy lawn with fine grass it cuts well, collects grass impressively, and handles edges better than most full-size mowers. Buy it for what it is: a cheap, light, quiet specialist for small spaces, not a replacement for a real mower.