Makita 36v leaf blower

[IndyGarage]

I recently picked up a Makita XBU02 36V cordless leaf blower. This came with and runs on two 5.O 18V LXT batteries.

I've been using it for the past few days to clean up leaves. I'm comparing it to my Stihl BG86 gas blower - which is Stihl's high end gas handheld model.

I don't think I'll ever much use the Stihl again. The Makita blows as good as the Stihl (I couldn't believe that, but I tested them side by side), is quieter, much lighter, and obviously doesn't need starting or messing with gas. The Stihl BG86 has good vibration control, but I think the electric still vibrates less.

The electric feels totally different because of the low noise and vibration. It doesn't feel like it's blowing as much air, but it moves the leaves just as well.

There are only a couple things better on the gas blower - first, obviously is run time. The Makita gave me about 20-30 mins of run time on newly charged batteries, which is plenty for most situations, but is not as much as a tank of gas on the gas blower. The other thing is the Makita is not as well balanced front to back as the gas blower - it's lighter weight overall - which doesn't give it as much weight in the back - it takes a little more effort to point. They could probably move the handle a bit further forward.

I also bought the Makita 36 volt chainsaw, which runs on the same batteries and is reviewed on another thread - it works great too.

If you have Makita tools, or you are thinking about them, I think the Makita LXT's - expecially the 18x2 36V tools give Milwaukee a run for the money.

 

[Voi]

If you have Makita tools, or you are thinking about them, I think the Makita LXT's - expecially the 18x2 36V tools give Milwaukee a run for the money.

I have the same blower and the 14" brushless chainsaw, not the top-handle saw. Fantastic tools. I got both bundled with the free brushless grinder and those are also great.

Being able to shuffle the same batteries between tools, fans, lights and yard tools has been a great decision for us. Heck, I even use a Makita battery and USB adapter to charge my phone while the GPS is running while hiking or kayaking.

 

[Git]

I hate to admit it - but we own two of those blowers

I got tired of the wife borrowing mine and not bringing it back so when I saw a deal on one that included the 5 ah batteries and charger I bought a second one

They are just that good and is one of the reasons why I don't really care that much about 'dust collection' on my woodworking tools anymore. I clean up most of the mess and just blow the garage out with my blower. I literally use mine every day. We also have the smaller Makita blowers that also come in handy

 

[buckwheat_la]

I have been using mine on blowing snow with a fair bit of success. Not as good as a stihl backpack blower but that is ok.

 

[Eric29]

I have the same blower. It does a great job.

 

[WittHay]

IndyGarage thanks for the review. I am fortunate to have tool stores that carry the 3 major brands in one place. You can compare a DeWalt blower to a Makita or a Milwaukee chainsaw to a Makita,

What the store guys say is the Makita is hard on batteries and you will be disappointed in the Milwaukee if you are used to a gas blower

The Makiti 36V blower looks powerful on paper. My Stihl BG55 puts out 417cfm and does 140mph. The Makita is similar specs at 473cfm and 120mph.

What i dont like about the Stihl is the spark arrester gets plugged and in general is a little hard starting. Use it for blowing dust and chaff off machines and not sure if that use is very good for a gas engines life. Thought a cordless might be better

 

[IndyGarage]

IndyGarage thanks for the review. I am fortunate to have tool stores that carry the 3 major brands in one place. You can compare a DeWalt blower to a Makita or a Milwaukee chainsaw to a Makita,

What the store guys say is the Makita is hard on batteries and you will be disappointed in the Milwaukee if you are used to a gas blower

The Makiti 36V blower looks powerful on paper. My Stihl BG55 puts out 417cfm and does 140mph. The Makita is similar specs at 473cfm and 120mph.

What i dont like about the Stihl is the spark arrester gets plugged and in general is a little hard starting. Use it for blowing dust and chaff off machines and not sure if that use is very good for a gas engines life. Thought a cordless might be better

Not sure what they mean by hard on batteries, other than it is a powerful blower and it uses a pretty good amount of power. I'm using it with 5ah batteries, and they work pretty good. I have not tried it with any of my other batteries.

I hadn't seen the numbers but they don't surprise me at all. My BG86 is supposed to be a step up from the BG55, but I think they have the same engine. As I said the Makita cordless is about the same moving leaves as the Stihl gas. My Stihl has always been a bit finicky about starting - it eventually gets going but it takes starting it and having it die about 5 times before you can keep it running. Of course on the cordless, just pop the batteries in and pull the trigger. It does have a trigger lock on it, so you can run it full speed for as long as you want.

I used it for about 20 minutes today. One of the things about the cordless is that you only turn it on when you need to blow something. With a gas blower you leave it running while you are walking between areas. With the cordless you shut turn it off. I also like that it is variable speed. I blew off my front porch and was able to nudge the leaves off without driving them to the other end of the porch.

 

[Unruh]

I have the sub-compact Mikita drill and driver and love them. I’m also in the market for a blower. I was considering the Dewalt 20v that sometimes comes with a weed trimmer combo set or the ryobi 40v blower ( I have the 40v hedge trimmer). I also have a Stihl blower, but I don’t for long periods just to blow out the sawdust in my garage. I’ll have to look into the Mikita.

 

[Eric29]

The makita has a small wheel on it that adjusts from 1-10. When I use mine at the 3 setting, I can move wet leaves across my lawn. So using the lower setting helps with battery time. I also just use 3.0 Ah batteries and that gets my front lawn done with a charge still left.

If I had a huge area to do, I’d probably get a gas powered blower, but this works well even though there’s an oak tree right on the lawn. The lawn is 30x30.

Hope this helps.

IndyGarage thanks for the review. I am fortunate to have tool stores that carry the 3 major brands in one place. You can compare a DeWalt blower to a Makita or a Milwaukee chainsaw to a Makita,

What the store guys say is the Makita is hard on batteries and you will be disappointed in the Milwaukee if you are used to a gas blower

The Makiti 36V blower looks powerful on paper. My Stihl BG55 puts out 417cfm and does 140mph. The Makita is similar specs at 473cfm and 120mph.

What i dont like about the Stihl is the spark arrester gets plugged and in general is a little hard starting. Use it for blowing dust and chaff off machines and not sure if that use is very good for a gas engines life. Thought a cordless might be better

 

[engineer2]

I've had the Makita XBU02 blower for a few years and love it. The key to longer battery life is to use the lower speeds, which is all you need to move leaves. I only used the highest speed to blow leaves out from under the cars.
Works great for blowing snow off the cars too.

I suggest getting the 197889-6 flat nozzle

 

[theoldwizard1]

I'll never give up my BG86 !

I am trying to finish my yard clean up so I have been blowing a lot of leaves. I have gone through almost a gallon of pre-mix 2 stroke in the past couple of days. Still have at least another day. I would be waiting forever to recharge batteries !