DeWalt DCM571 vs Makita DUR368LZ

Both of these are professional-grade cordless brush cutters sold as bare tools, but they’re built to solve different problems. The DeWalt DCM571 is a 54V FlexVolt machine designed around taking a metal blade, aimed at scrub, brambles and light woody growth. The Makita DUR368LZ is a 36V LXT machine built around the opposite priority: keeping weight as low as possible for long sessions of grass and light growth. Neither is trying to be an all-rounder, and that’s the point — they’re aimed at different ground and, just as importantly, different battery platforms already sitting in your shed.

At a glance

	DeWalt DCM571	Makita DUR368LZ
Power system	54V XR FlexVolt, brushless	36V (2× 18V LXT), brushless
Weight	Mid-to-heavy for the class, more once battery fitted	~3.9 kg (lighter)
Cutting attachment	Line or metal blade	Line only, 23–35 cm
Handle	Bike handle	Loop handle
Best suited to	Scrub, brambles, light woody growth	Grass and light growth, long sessions
Supplied	Bare tool — battery/charger extra	Bare tool — battery/charger extra
Battery platform	DeWalt XR/FlexVolt	Makita LXT
Approx. price (tool only)	Higher (≈ €665)	Lower (≈ €325)

Metal blade vs string-only: the capability gap

This is the real dividing line between the two. The DeWalt DCM571 was built specifically to take a metal blade alongside line, and its bike handle exists because two-handed control matters once you’re swinging a blade through brambles or light saplings rather than just spinning line through grass. The Makita DUR368LZ, by contrast, runs a 23–35 cm string head and nothing else — it isn’t configured to accept a blade at all. For tidy lawns, verges and rough grass, that’s no disadvantage; the DUR368LZ handles that work comfortably. But if your ground includes brambles, scrub or anything woody enough to shred a line head, only the DCM571 is actually built for it. Makita owners who need blade capability on the LXT platform have to look elsewhere in the range, not at this particular model.

Weight and handling over a long session

Flip the comparison around and the Makita takes the lead. At around 3.9 kg, the DUR368LZ is one of the lightest professional-grade cordless brush cutters available, and that difference is felt directly in the arms and shoulders across an hour or more of trimming. The DCM571 is a noticeably bigger, heavier tool by design — the bike handle and blade capability come with more mass, and it gets heavier again once a large FlexVolt battery is clipped in. Neither weight is unreasonable for what each machine is built to do, but if your priority is all-day comfort on mostly grass, the Makita’s spec sheet is more forgiving than the DeWalt’s.

Battery platform: FlexVolt vs LXT

Both machines are sold bare, so the tool price alone tells only half the story. The DCM571 draws on DeWalt’s 54V XR FlexVolt platform, which also powers a wide range of DeWalt’s higher-output trade tools. The DUR368LZ runs on Makita’s 18V LXT system, arguably the largest cordless battery ecosystem in the trade market, spanning drills, saws, blowers and more. If you already own batteries on one of these platforms, that ownership effectively decides your choice for you — buying into the other means funding a second battery collection from scratch, which changes the real cost equation far more than the sticker price on either tool.

Choose the DeWalt DCM571 if…

• Your ground includes brambles, scrub or light woody growth that needs a metal blade
• You already own DeWalt XR/FlexVolt batteries, or are building toward that platform
• You want bike-handle control for two-handed work rather than a lighter loop handle
• Carrying extra weight is an acceptable trade for genuine blade-capable cutting

Choose the Makita DUR368LZ if…

• You mainly cut grass and light growth, with nothing woody enough to need a blade
• You already own (or plan to buy into) Makita’s 18V LXT battery system
• Low weight and all-day comfort matter more than raw cutting capability
• You want a lighter, quicker-to-swing tool for frequent, shorter sessions

Which should you buy?

If your land has brambles, scrub or light saplings mixed in with the grass, the DeWalt DCM571 is the more capable tool — its metal blade option and bike handle are built for exactly that kind of mixed, woody growth, and the DeWalt FlexVolt platform is worth the investment if you’re already using or planning to use DeWalt’s wider trade range. If your ground is mostly grass and light growth and you’d rather carry as little weight as possible through a long session, the Makita DUR368LZ is the easier tool to live with, and it slots straight into an existing Makita LXT battery collection.

Either way, check what battery platform you already own, or plan to own, before comparing tool prices in isolation — on both of these machines, the battery and charger you’ll need to add cost more, in practice, than the headline difference between them.