I need a new leaf blower, which to get?

[GH85Carrera]

I did a search and the last leaf blower thread was from 2006 and that is the stone age for cell phones or leaf blowers. The last post was from Fastpat.

So, I will start again. My leaf bower was a two stroke blower that worked fine for the last 10 years. The last few times I used it I had a challenge starting it, and it never ran like it should. Fresh fuel, clean air filters, all the normal stuff checked. It has an electronic module that I suspect has died as I get no spark at all. I will put it on the curb next time we have large trash day and let someone else have it. I am done with it.

My yard is not huge, and mostly I use it to blow the grass clipping off of the sidewalk and back onto the grass. We usually round up the leaves in the corner of the yard, and my wife composts them into he compost pile. So yea, not that many leaves.

Electric battery operated blowers seem to the way to go. I hate the idea of yet another battery charger and battery pack to have on my workbench. My drill driver is a 18 volt DeWalt and the batteries are fine. I have my old 12 volt drill and a electric ratchet as well. I am resigned to the fact I will "get" to have yet another battery charger and battery pack to mess with.

So what say you?

I don't have a giant tree lined yard, and most leaf blower time is the grass off the sidewalks after mowing. We do have a concrete sidewalk along the front of the house, and a sidewalk up to the front door from the street as well as one from the driveway, and all along the back yard, and I can walk on concrete all the way around my house. Tons of concrete to edge or trim. Over 1/4 mile of edging for me.

I would prefer one made in USA but that is likely a pipe dream. I want one with Lithium batteries, no more NiCad.

[masraum]

I have an 18V Ryobi leaf blower. It works well. I think I got it for ~99. They had another that was $169 that was also 18V but had much higher CFM which might have been nice.

You would probably be good to get a Dewalt if you want to stick with the same battery/charger.

< edit >

If you've got some Dewalt 18V stuff, then you're screwed. All of the Dewalt blowers that I see on the HD website are either "20V Max" or 60V. So your existing batteries probably won't work. If that's the case, then the best that you can hope for is that your stuff will be the same color. That actually might be a pain if they are a similar shape.

[flipper35]

We have a 40v Greenworks and it seems to work OK. 450cfm and only 125mph with the large nozzle.

[IROC]

Originally Posted by flipper35

We have a 40v Greenworks and it seems to work OK. 450cfm and only 125mph with the large nozzle.

This is what I have also. Works perfectly for cleaning off grass clippings, blowing leaves off the driveway, etc. I use it a lot also just to blow the garage floor off. Works great!

[911 Rod]

Personally I will try to stay away from battery operated lawn tools.

My only real experience is with battery operated drills and I hate it when after 5 or 6 years the battery is pooched and I toss the whole package.

The gas operated lawn tools have lasted 2 or 3 times longer. Have to run good gas and oil as well as fuel stabilizer.

I only by Stihl though.

Did you check your spark arrestor?

[masraum]

I did some research when I bought mine. You have some that have high CFM, and lower velocity. Then you have some with lower CFM and higher velocity. I tended towards the higher CFM. I believe CFM is like torque where speed is like HP. If you want to shove stuff around, you want torque (CFM). So when you're deciding, find the higher CFM and go with that. (at least, that was one of my decision factors)

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

Personally I will try to stay away from battery operated lawn tools.

My only real experience is with battery operated drills and I hate it when after 5 or 6 years the battery is pooched and I toss the whole package.

The gas operated lawn tools have lasted 2 or 3 times longer. Have to run good gas and oil as well as fuel stabilizer.

I only by Stihl though.

Did you check your spark arrestor?

We have a gas trimmer for most of the yard and then use a battery one for the trees and fruit vines. The last battery unit lasted 12 years before the brushes went bad in the motor.

We bought the leaf blower for the garden to move the loose stuff so 15-20 minutes use at a time is all we need. Though with the variable speed and speed lock I could pipe air into the fire ring and make a forge!

[wdfifteen]

My Stihl needs to have the spark arrester burned out every few hours. When it begins starting hard and losing power I know it’s time to clean the spark arrester.

We have a 5 year old dinosaur Ryobi 18 volt too. Not very powerful and the battery doesn’t last long.

[JavaBrewer]

We have been very happy with our EGo electric blower. Plenty of power for the stuff you want to do. Battery charges quick and lasts a long time. Ours is about 6 years old and no joke is used almost every day. Zero issues or complaints.

[cabmandone]

We bought a HART battery powered leaf blower from WalMart that is extremely impressive. My only complaint is that it has no trigger lock. It will move about as much stuff as my Husqvarna 150BT backpack blower.

This is the one we have. We got it for less but I don't recall how.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/HART-40-Volt-Cordless-Brushless-Turbo-Fan-Blower-Kit-1-4-0Ah-Lithium-Ion-Battery/657717344?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&&adid=22222222227329215835&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=412223716234&wl4=aud-430887228898la-860440690689&wl5=9015981&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=657717344&veh=sem&gclid=CjwKCAjwo4mIBhBsEiwAKgzXONpjKGM_KbVvwS_ZOCNU 8qoBaTHex_Le2iRHutsfNTrh_SrcSdJTshoCExQQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Seahawk]

The different perspectives here are always valued: Different horses for different courses so to speak.

I have kept all my gas powered stuff. Everything but the gas powered Sthil chain saw and trimmer are in long term storage. I will sell my Sthil powered blower at the Fall Amish Farm Auction. Yours if you want it, Glen.

I have gone electric and ihave not looked back. Zero batteries issues so far but I keep with the same manufactures (in my case DeWalt) so there is a lot of compatibility.

The exception is the electric leaf blower. I have this:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/EGO-LEAF-BLWR-650-CFM-180-MPH-BARE-TOOL/5000151941?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-sol-_-bing-_-pla-_--_-5000151941-_-0&kpid&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&msclkid=dea4b56a98b91bf2657fd4684266ec5a&gclid=dea4b56a98b91bf2657fd4684266ec5a&gclsrc=3p.ds



I use the f out of the thing, blowing down mowers and tractors, my shop space, etc. I would never go back to a gas powered blower.

Again, YMMV. Apparently JavaBrewers doesn't! We were typing at the same time.

[1990C4S]

I do a lot of leaf and yard clean-up. I will only use a Stihl or a Shindaiwa back-pack. Everything else I use is inadequate for heavy leaves.

Light yard clean-up once a week? Anything electric will probably work.

[gregpark]

Since you have dewalt batteries and your blowing needs are minimal get the dewalt. I have one and it works fine for small jobs. My Stihl 2 stroke hand held blows twice as well and my back pack Stihl twice that (volume wise) but those two are bulkier and heavier. You'll be happy with the light weight battery dewalt and you won't piss off your neighbors

[GH85Carrera]

Keep the input coming please. Thanks for all the input so far.

I am sure that I am going with a electric, I just don't need the power of gasoline. the challenge is finding the 400+ CFM blowers and more than a 2.5 amp hour battery. Several of those are rated for "up to 10 minutes" and it usually takes me 10 to 15 minutes to blow it all off the sidewalks. So a 4 amp hour battery sounds like the sweet spot for me.

[Norm K]

Count me as a rider on the EGO train.

I have the blower and string trimmer, both of which outperform any of the gas ones I've tried over the years. My son is on his second season of the EGO mower and reports that it performs as flawlessly as the tools I own.

If my old Toro mower were to kick the bucket, I'd replace it with the EGO without hesitation.

_

[ErVikingo]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

The different perspectives here are always valued: Different horses for different courses so to speak.

I have kept all my gas powered stuff. Everything but the gas powered Sthil chain saw and trimmer are in long term storage. I will sell my Sthil powered blower at the Fall Amish Farm Auction. Yours if you want it, Glen.

I have gone electric and ihave not looked back. Zero batteries issues so far but I keep with the same manufactures (in my case DeWalt) so there is a lot of compatibility.

The exception is the electric leaf blower. I have this:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/EGO-LEAF-BLWR-650-CFM-180-MPH-BARE-TOOL/5000151941?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-sol-_-bing-_-pla-_--_-5000151941-_-0&kpid&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&msclkid=dea4b56a98b91bf2657fd4684266ec5a&gclid=dea4b56a98b91bf2657fd4684266ec5a&gclsrc=3p.ds



I use the f out of the thing, blowing down mowers and tractors, my shop space, etc. I would never go back to a gas powered blower.

Again, YMMV. Apparently JavaBrewers doesn't! We were typing at the same time.

I have 4 ryobi and then got an Ego like this. That is it, this thing is a beast. Not cheap but damn its powerful.

[Baz]

I have both a battery unit (Ryobi) and a 2 cycle unit (Echo).

The Echo works great because it's got plenty of power so it's my main go-to blower.

I like the battery unit for convenience and when I don't need all the power. I have a back patio for example and just need to blow it off periodically, so the Ryobi works great and is quick and easy.

FWIW Glen, got my Echo 2 cycle hand held blower from HD and it's been flawless now for a couple years. I've had other Echo blowers over the years too and they work great. Decent price point as well ($149), doesn't hurt!

170 MPH 453 CFM 25.4 cc Gas 2-Stroke Cycle Handheld Leaf Blower

Ryobi battery powered are $99 and they have a variety to pick from:

CLICK

[abisel]

For electric blowers (long extension cord required) Consumer Reports likes:
Toro 51624 Leaf Blower with a rating of 81/100.

For gasoline hand held blowers, Consumer Reports likes:
Stihl BG 86 C-E with a rating of 78/100. Although this is the only gas hand-held tested.

For electric battery blowers, CU likes:
Stihl BGA 57 with a rating of 84/100

AND, if you get the electric version with the extension cord, you can have some fun with toilet paper.

[URY914]

There are several blow hards here on PPOT that work for free.

[GH85Carrera]

My old blower is a Husqvarna 125BV blower and sucker-grinder. After the ice storms most of the large trees we had are now replaced with little replacement trees. No more Bradford pear trees! My master Gardner wife has found the trees she wanted.

I bought the blower on April 28th 2012 so 9 years of service. It has no spark arrester than I can find, even looking in the manual. It has 425 CFM delivery. I only used the sucker grinder once, and hated that dust storm. Now I just mow and mulch and the leaves.

I think I am going to order the: https://www.amazon.com/EGO-Power-Lithium-ion-Cordless-Electric/dp/B06Y52TZB2

I will drain the fuel and bundle up the leaf bag and the sucking nozzle and put it my curb for next large trash day. The scavengers will grab it long before the trash folks so it will get recycled to a new home.

I suspect the ignition system which is a Phelon/CD system is dead. I might be able to get one for about 40 bucks and maybe get it to work. I am not interested in trying.

That will leave me with just my string trimmer as a 2 stroke gas powered unit. I believe it is older than the blower.