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Backpack blower very heavy

6PTsocket

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After reading the reviews I decided I liked the Red Max EZB8500rh. There is a good rebate in effect right now and the dealer is a half a mile away. I tried that sucker on yesterday snd it is HEAVY. I am not young or big and had second thoughts about how long I could lug that thing around. Is there a gas or electric hand held that can produce any decent percentage of the power of a good back pack? I am up to my *** in leaves.. I have a Cyclone Rake but vacuuming is a PIA around bushes. And it and rakes work poorly under shrubbery.

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American Locomotive

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It's 25 pounds, If you found that to be too heavy, I don't think a powerful hand-held blower is going to be much better for you honestly. I've found hand held blowers to be far more fatiguing then backpack blowers.

The Echo PB-265LN is a 13 pound backpack blower, but at 25cc it isn't likely to offer performance that much better than a powerful hand held one. The Echo 50cc class blowers are a little lighter than the Red Max at 22 pounds.

The Husqvarna 130BT gives you a bit more power with a 30cc engine, and only 15 pounds. The Stihl 25cc class unit is around 13 pounds, and their 50cc class machines are around 22 pounds.
 
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WhiffySpark

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Husqvarna owns redmax. 580bts is the equivalent I believe. People say husky is more comfortable.

Stihl br600 is 4 pounds lighter. Still 20 pounds though.
 

Miss the Pontiacs

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Here is what I use the handheld Stihl BG50. Sometimes I would like a little more hp for packed down snow but should move leaves easily. No fuel comes in at under 8 pounds. I also buy their premixed fuel, never had any issues. They do have other models.

Selection Handheld blowers
BG 50
Affordable and convenient blower for homeowners
GeneralTechnical data
BG 50
Technical data
Displacement (cc) 27.2
Weight (kg / lbs) 1) 3.6 / 7.9
Power output kw/bhp 0.7 / 1.0
Sound pressure level (dB(A)) 92
Air volume cfm 2) 412
1) without fuel, complete
2) with tube at nozzle end
 

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NotOrganized

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I got the biggest stihl back pack and love it. it’s so comfortable compared to some others i have had

I have one of those. I don't us it for a living, but when needed, i can wear it for extended time. Those things really blast the air. When I bought it, the sale guy put a 12v car battery on the floor and scooted it along with the blower. My son's were with me and we were all impressed.

It's one badass blower.
 

engineer2

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Many of the good cordless battery blowers are 450-500+ cfm.
My objection to gas powered blowers is the noise, but if you are 1 acre+ you might want gas.
I think there are some cordless blower/leaf vac combos.
 

Parrothead

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EGO 168 MPH 580 CFM Variable-Speed 56-Volt Lithium-ion Cordless Blower with 5.0Ah and 56V Charger Kit

Weight - Under 10 lbs.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/EGO-168...th-5-0Ah-and-56V-Charger-Kit-LB5804/303703986

Husqvarna, Echo, Stihl, Milwaukee, DeWalt, Makita and many others make cordless leaf blowers...and that's the direction we're headed. Quieter, no fuel, no carbs, no pull, no winterizing, etc. Need more run time? Buy an extra battery.
 
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6PTsocket

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Husqvarna owns redmax. 580bts is the equivalent I believe. People say husky is more comfortable.

Stihl br600 is 4 pounds lighter. Still 20 pounds though.
I knew that. Red Max used to be owned by Komatsu, the people that make the heavy road construction equipment I always see on the side of the highway. My dealer says that Husqvarna bought them just to get the blower technology. He says the Husq. is identical to the Red Max. He is also famous in these parts for being an argumentative blowhard so I am leery of anything he says. In a widely read shootout, the Red Max and Husq were very similar. Tank size slightly different. Probably like many stable mates like DeWalt and Porter Cable.

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6PTsocket

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The 8500 backpak is 206 mph, 908 cfm. On paper none of the hand helds really get close. The reviews have the Stihl 700 backpak only minimally lighter and LESS comfortable and lacking the air flow down your back to keep you cooler in the summer. When I tried the 8500 on I was wearing a fleece hoodie and the blower was hanging kind if low. Maybe it will be better if properly adjusted. I was just a little set back with the thought that it would be a lot to lug around and not as easy to set down as a hand held. I think I need to do a little more "testing". I'll get back with what I buy. Thanks to all for the advice.

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jhelrey

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I prefer a backpack to a handheld. Your hand goes numb otherwise and you swap it from left to right often.
 

WhiffySpark

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The 8500 backpak is 206 mph, 908 cfm. On paper none of the hand helds really get close. The reviews have the Stihl 700 backpak only minimally lighter and LESS comfortable and lacking the air flow down your back to keep you cooler in the summer. When I tried the 8500 on I was wearing a fleece hoodie and the blower was hanging kind if low. Maybe it will be better if properly adjusted. I was just a little set back with the thought that it would be a lot to lug around and not as easy to set down as a hand held. I think I need to do a little more "testing". I'll get back with what I buy. Thanks to all for the advice.

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They say the husky harness is far more comfortable than redmax. I personally run Stihl slowly switching over to echo. But the echo 770 has been around forever, been rumors of updates for a long time but no dice.

The new big guy on the block is maruyama. Apparently redmax doesn’t hold a candle to it
 

kctyphoon

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Dewalt makes an electric backpack blower.. Ego too, which might be the better option for you. It's lighter I think, and reviews say it has more power, and looks like it would be more comfortable too. The dewalt takes 2 40v packs and is suppose to be a formidable electric blower.. Ego is 56v volt, 600cfm. I think ego also has the strongest handheld also, and the dewalt flexvolt is up there - and the makita 36v looks very impressive, and most quiet it seems.

Dewalt backpack -

Ego backpack -
 
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engineer2

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the makita 36v looks very impressive, and most quiet it seems.
I use my Makita 36 V all the time. Very convenient design. 6 speeds. Sometimes the highest speed works against you for herding leaves, so you need variable speed.
 
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Cf mtn

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6PT, if you're trying to move big volumes of leaves, nothing is going to work as good as a BIG backpack. the 1 you mention is a big machine and is going to be heavy. i have an older stihl bg86 that works pretty good, won't roll piles of leave like a BP but i'm not on the clock when i use it. i aslo have a redmax hb2300 that works well and is pretty good on fuel.
 
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6PTsocket

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Dewalt makes an electric backpack blower.. Ego too, which might be the better option for you. It's lighter I think, and reviews say it has more power, and looks like it would be more comfortable too. The dewalt takes 2 40v packs and is suppose to be a formidable electric blower.. Ego is 56v volt, 600cfm. I think ego also has the strongest handheld also, and the dewalt flexvolt is up there - and the makita 36v looks very impressive, and most quiet it seems.

Dewalt backpack -

Ego backpack -
Thanks for the videos. Neither comes close to a high end gas in performance for cfm/mph. The DeWalt is as heavy with one battery and heavier with two installed. That thing is 27lbs with two batteries. The run time is 20 or 40 min. Ego is 15 min in turbo mode. That's not much. They are quieter and low maintenance if you ignore the need to keep batteries charged. I take from this that electrics are not there yet for big jobs.

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mike93lx

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Have you thought about a walk behind blower? Way more powerful than any backpack. Then grab a cordless or gas handheld for the flowers
 

Finky198

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I have a redmax 5100 going on 12 years now in great condition. After doing 9hrs of leaf clean up yesterday And seeing how much easier it make the job. It is truly one the best purchase I’ve ever made.

You won’t regret it it’ll just take some getting use to... I have a bad neck and I make do. Get it adjusted properly and It will be better. Sometime a sweatshirt is nice for extra padding...

^^^ to the point above we have 2 backpacks, a 8hp push blower, and 4 handhelds.
By a long shot the walk behind is the least used do to is weight and bulk...
 
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6PTsocket

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Have you thought about a walk behind blower? Way more powerful than any backpack. Then grab a cordless or gas handheld for the flowers
Yes. The property is not an open expanse and there are steep grades and shrubbery and trees to get arround. Pushing that thing might be more work and expensive if I need a second blower. Several here like the Husky. I am going back to the Husky dealer I got my chain saw from and look at the 850. A GOOD dealer will set you up with what works for you, to keep you coming back. I have to do a little more hands on. Thanks.

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wretched73

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I have the same Redmax 8500. Just wore it for 6+ hours straight last weekend. It felt fine to me and I am by no means in shape right now.

Have you looked into something you can roll like the little wonder?
 

bmwpowere36m3

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Gotta be easier to have 20lbs on your back vs. 10 lbs in your hand...

I bought a BR600 a few years ago... its a beast and can comfortably blow for hours.
 

tube_guy

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I have an older EBZ7100, which I would guess is roughly equivalent to the EBZ7500 Redmax makes now. Every Autumn I clean a grassy area that is completely surrounded by woods, full of oak and pine trees. The pine needles are just awful on a blower and are very difficult to untangle from the grass and move across the yard. When I used to do it by hand with a rake, we would get about 40 to 50 large wheelbarrows heaped full of just pine needles, depending on the year. The leaves were over and above that. It would take two people two full weekends to do the clean up by hand. With the EBZ7100 I do it alone in just one weekend. Two days, sun-up to sun-down, and it does a better job than raking it all by hand. There are sometimes where I think I should have gotten the 8100, but like you mentioned it's quite a bit heavier so it’s a tradeoff. The 7100, does really well and it’s a bit lighter. I watched those electric blowers on the YouTube videos posted earlier. That is nothing in comparison to the performance of my blower. We also have an older Echo hand-held blower, and an older Stihl that was made before government regs. were enacted that neutered the handheld blowers. And even those are much more fatiguing to use and have nothing like the power of the backpack blower. The Redmax is much nicer to use and is much more powerful. I have to agree, one of the best purchases I've made.
 

bwringer

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Speaking from a fair bit of backpacking experience, if the straps weren't properly fitted and the blower was hanging too low, it'll feel unstable and about 100 pounds heavier. Get it high up, stable, and close to your center of gravity, and any reasonably healthy human should be able to tote 25 pounds all day long.

Whether you actually need a blower that big is another matter -- several lighter alternatives have been mentioned.
 
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mowkep

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I've got a commercial grade Echo backpack blower. I've had it close to 10 years now. Hilly yard with rock gardens around the trees. Even take it on my roof to clean the gutters. Best $500 I ever spent. Hate the hand held ones. I end up with tendinitis at the end of every fall though. I also bought a Cub Cadet walk behind to use in conjunction with the backpack. I used to use my bils little wonder which had much more oomph.
 
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6PTsocket

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I finally made my choice. I got the Husqvarna 580 with the control on the hose grip. That was the only decision I was not positive about. There was a good deal with a store sale and a rebate. It ended up a little cheaper than the Red Max. I would like to thank the one who posted about the harness. That is one thing totally different between the Husq. and the Max. The Husq is definitely more comfortable. I got it where I got my Husq. chain saw. He has drawers and drawers full of Husq. and Max replacement parts. If you are in Central Jersey, Pantano in Freehold is a good for yard stuff. They were friendly knowledgeable and have good prices. That is what gets me to buy. AND I got a free hat. LOL!!

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decableguy2000

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I have an older version Husqvarna BT170, and my Dad has Redmax 8500. Side by side only difference is CC's, color, and the straps. I recently bought the fan tip for and can really move some leaves. Only piece of OPE I bought new, and will last me a life time. They my be heavy but, the amount of material they can move is awesome, being buit for commercial duty they will hold up for home owner use for ever. Just use good e-free gass and oil and go.
 
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6PTsocket

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I have an older version Husqvarna BT170, and my Dad has Redmax 8500. Side by side only difference is CC's, color, and the straps. I recently bought the fan tip for and can really move some leaves. Only piece of OPE I bought new, and will last me a life time. They my be heavy but, the amount of material they can move is awesome, being buit for commercial duty they will hold up for home owner use for ever. Just use good e-free gass and oil and go.
They and and Red Max both offer an extension on the 2yr warranty. Buy a 6pack of that brand of 2cycle oil and it goes to 3 years or buy 3 qt. cans of premimix and it goes to 4 years. I went with the premix gas/oil . It contains no ethanol and contains stabilizer. Even with a set of Clark ear protectors, that noise goes right through you. I may start using that premix on my other 2 cycle stuff. That sucker sure moves a lot of leaves. What is the deal with the flat nozzle?

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