Leaf blower

[SARG]

I have four of the Hitachi RB24EAP blowers. One in each area I keep machinery. Usually use at least one per day. Good units at a good price.

 

[Davefr]

Unfortunately the nearest home Depot in about an hour away so that's why I'm invented in the kobalt 24v max line but even after long hard thinking on battery operated just doesn't make sense for me and for $60 bucks for the work corded I'm gonna give it a shot. Worst case scenario I'll return it. Maybe I'll even do a review on here for it. Convinced myself since I'm not doing any pro landscaping commercially only my own the backpacks are out of the question. Battery I didn't wanna have to deal with swapping batteries or keeping them charged. Corded just plug in n get to work. Can get a 100' 14 guage extension cord at Lowe's for $40 so that's more than enough cord for my property (200' x 210') and half of that is a corral.

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I think you made the right choice. I have the Worx electric unit at the cabin and it's perfect for the garage, driveway and walkways. I didn't want to hassle over fuel issues or having to replace expensive batteries that go bad after a few years. For the locations I need to blow off, I have easy access to 120 VAC.

The reviews are 99% positive. You'll be impressed once you turn it to full speed. Don't wear loose clothing or it'll want to **** them into the intake.

This unit is also nice for drying a car after you wash it.

I also have an Echo gas blower for my main home for blowing wet leaves over a much larger area where a cord would be a PIA.

Each tool is best suited for what they do.

 

[v1ru5879]

I think you made the right choice. I have the Worx electric unit at the cabin and it's perfect for the garage, driveway and walkways. I didn't want to hassle over fuel issues or having to replace expensive batteries that go bad after a few years. For the locations I need to blow off, I have easy access to 120 VAC.

The reviews are 99% positive. You'll be impressed once you turn it to full speed. Don't wear loose clothing or it'll want to **** them into the intake.

This unit is also nice for drying a car after you wash it.

I also have an Echo gas blower for my main home for blowing wet leaves over a much larger area where a cord would be a PIA.

Each tool is best suited for what they do.

That's funny you mentioned drying a car. I had that in mind for this blower also. I am looking forward to trying it out next week. I was especially happy with the cost! I agree all the reviews I have read through are all postive, aside from ppl who must look for things to complain about "too heavy, trigger takes a little too much force, I have to walk to an outlet". I think I made the right choice!

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[rlitman]

That's funny you mentioned drying a car. I had that in mind for this blower also...

Heck yeah. I use my backpack to dry the patio furniture and playground slide as well. Even blow puddles off the patio sometimes if it rains just before I'm hosting a BBQ.

Just one word of caution. NEVER use a blower/vac unit to dry a car. Once it has been used to vacuum, it gets dirt inside that can get blown out. You only want to be drying a car with clean air. Otherwise, you're sandblasting.

 

[B T C]

I have the Stihl Kombi blower attachment paired with the 130R. It works well for my needs. The DSRP/MSRP for the blower attachment appears to be $119.95, at least here in the states. I think they have a $20 coupon promotion that is good through the end of June on purchases of $100 or more.

 

[MikeF2316]

Even though the OP has made a choice, I'll throw in my 2¢. I have a Toro corded and a Milwaukee M18 cordless. The Toro is definitely stronger, but I use the Milwaukee 20 times for every time I dig out a cord and use the Toro. I generally use them only on hardscape, the leaves (and other ****) on the lawn I get with a bagging walk behind lawnmower.

 

[Milton Shaw]

Ryobi at Home Depot has a hybrid blower. Runs on the 18 volt battery, or plugs in. Best of both worlds, portable for quick stuff and corded for bigger jobs. I use it to blow out the shop and blow off mower etc. I have both a gas backpack and gas handheld for the acre yard leaf cleanup that takes several weeks as I have a lot of trees and they drop the leafs at different times. The gas handheld is what I use on the roof and gutters even with gutter guards I still have a ton of leafs gather in the valleys of my roof. Back pack makes me too unsteady on the roof at age 70 now.

 

[earthmover1980]

I run a Still bg55 handheld blower for miscellaneous, and tight spots. $150 new at dealer. I get after the big volume of oak and maple leaves with my Billy Goat 11hp Walk Behind blower. These things move big amounts of leaves fast, and far!!! To me this combination is unbeatable, second only to the trac vac collection system. The little wonder blowers rock too! Give these a try

 

[v1ru5879]

I have to say I am not disappointed by this blower at all. Works perfect for my needs, plenty of power, not too loud and pretty light weight. Full blast has some power to it and I couldn't imagine needing anymore than that for anything. I am gonna try drying my wife's Jeep this week after a wash to see how it does, I imagine it will work well.

 

[AA/FC]

That's not a "professional" backpack then.

Per your specs above, with the KM-130R power head, the Kombi blower puts out 603 CFM @ 157 MPH.

My BR 500 (this is their reduced noise and power backpack) only puts out 544 CFM, but it is at 207 MPH with 22 newtons of blowing force, and from personal experience, my very tame backpack easily moves more than the Kombi attachment can.

However, Stihl's actual pro backpack for a long time was the BR 600.
That puts out 677 CFM @ 238 MPH, and blows the Kombi attachment on any motor out of the water with 31 newtons of blowing force.

Their current top of the line BR 700 is doing 912 CFM @ 197 MPH (35 newtons of blowing force).

I have the Stihl BR 600. It is awesome. Any corded or battery powered blower would be a step backwards for me. I use ethonol free 100% gasoline with Stihl 2-stroke oil and I NEVER have engine or starting problems. My Stihl blower and string trimmer start on the first or second pull every time. I see no reason to buy a corded or battery operated blower until they can make them AT LEAST as good as my BR 600.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

Stihl BR600

 

[Osbourne]

I have four of the Hitachi RB24EAP blowers. One in each area I keep machinery. Usually use at least one per day. Good units at a good price.

This one looks similar to my old KIMO vacuum.

I think you made the right choice. I have the Worx electric unit at the cabin and it's perfect for the garage, driveway and walkways. I didn't want to hassle over fuel issues or having to replace expensive batteries that go bad after a few years. For the locations I need to blow off, I have easy access to 120 VAC.

The reviews are 99% positive. You'll be impressed once you turn it to full speed. Don't wear loose clothing or it'll want to **** them into the intake.

This unit is also nice for drying a car after you wash it.

I also have an Echo gas blower for my main home for blowing wet leaves over a much larger area where a cord would be a PIA.

Each tool is best suited for what they do.

Sorry for bumping this, but Worx is still a total overkill, especially if that's WG520 as mentioned in this review. I've been using both Worx and Echo, all I can say that both are great but Echo is a better option for occasional backyard cleaning, while Worx is more professional choice (been using this to clean a parking lot).

 

[yrly]

I have this

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Weed-Eater-170Mph-25cc-2-Cycle-Engine-Gas-Lawn-Blower/13339652

This

https://www.sears.com/craftsman-4-cycle-25cc-handheld-blower-w-speed/p-07179461000P

And this

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hyper-Tough-180-MPH-400-CFM-2-Cycle-25cc-Gas-Blower/54778301

We get annihilated with leaves because I have lots of big maple trees so the project is basically my wife, son and I, tractor bagger and leaf vac to deal with it.

The Weedeater has tons of terrible reviews, I have had it for 9 years though and run a 40:1 mix regardless of what it calls for using synthetic 2 cycle oil. It runs fine. Most of the issues people complained about were the recoil starter going bad but you don’t have to crank anywhere near as much with the synthetic 2 cycle oil which is probably why I never had an issue.

The Craftsman I got on clearance a few years ago. It is quieter and easier to start than the 2 cycle ones. I hear about these having issues but it uses very little oil, like 2oz. I just change the oil every few uses, more than they recommend and put a little MMO in the gas. I’ve had this one like 4 years without issue.

The Hyper Tough is just an MTD Troy Bilt rebadged for Wal-Mart with a short chute. I paid $12 for it on clearance 3 years ago. I also use a 40:1 mix of synthetic in this. It’s much louder than the other two and moves less air. Since MTD makes the Craftsman as well the bottom extra chute that came with the Craftsman fits it. Otherwise it would be pretty useless unless you were short.

Battery powered isn’t a viable option for me though these might have to run multiple hours each in a given leaf cleanup day. Unless I snagged 3 blowers with multiple extra batteries on a clearance deal or something.

The pictured leaf vac here is my leaf vac.

https://www.mtdproducts.com/equipme...ard-man/chipper-shredders-and-vacs-1341967--1

They don’t make it anymore as a yardman. They make versions of this thing as Troy Bilt and Craftsman which have a hose. My dad has two of them but the hose falls off. This one had some chinese engine which is far easier to start than the Briggs engines the others use (Troy Bilt branded ones sometimes have this engine). Considering how dusty shredding leaves is this has held up really well. I always ran synthetic oil in it.

I have one of those Troy Bilt flex units. I paid so little for it I might invest in the chipper shredder attachment.

 

[lolaetype]

We've got a Ryobi and Husqvarna backpacks the we use to move the leaves down to the curb in the fall. The front yard is an acre with about 70 trees. For light blowing I have a handheld gas Poulan. And to blow out the garage I have a Really cheap corded electric I bought at HD for a song

 

[setfocus]

I've got an Echo handheld gas. I'll go through a tank and a half of gas every year getting leaves from the back yard to the front street. I've also been breaking a rake handle the last few years.

I'd kill the battery before I'm done on cordless electric, and I'm not dealing with a cord. Everything I read says the the electric blowers aren't as strong either. I run the ethanol free pre mixed 2 cycle gas, so no starting issues

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