Leaf Blower 101

[Charles Pisano]

What is the best value in leaf blowers. Or should I say , who makes the best ones (either/both?). I prefer electric so as to avoid inhaling any more fumes than I already do in this world.

TIA CP

[Nancy Young]

"Charles Pisano" wrote

Leaf Blower 101, buy a rake and a broom. Heh. I swear, last fall it's lucky there wasn't a leaf blower rage killing in my neighborhood, me being the murderer.

nancy

[Joe]

I've used a Toro blower/chopper for going on 4 years now. Cost less than $80 IIRC, still going strong. The compact leaf mulch dumps into a large trash bag perfectly from the catchbag and eliminates raking completely. Yes, it's electrric. Seems like a good price/value relation to me...parts can be had from many dealers, too. HTH

Joe

[SJF]

My personal view --

If you're just taking care of your own moderately sized yard, buy one for price and convenient size. The only function worth having is the blower. I never used the vacuum attachment on a previous blower after giving it a try. The small ones will blow leaves from under shrubbery and clear the walks of grass clippings. And they are cheap enough that concern over durability and life span are hardly worth the concern.

My last one, purchased three years ago, is a small electric Weedeater which cost about $25. It does everything I need it to do.

SJF

[Meat Plow]

Toro.

[Steve Barker]

You cannot use "best" and "electric" in the same sentence. Get a stihl. The hand held BG65 is enough for most people. You'll never smell the exhaust unless you use it in the house.

[mm]

Buy a mulching mower or put a cover over the output chute of your current mower. You can make your own cover. Sometimes I just use a tan business-size envelope. It will chew everything up and it will fall thorugh the grass to fertilize the lawn.

[JimR]

I like electric tools for infrequent homeowner use. The question was for "best value." For an average homeowner that may only use the blower once or twice a year, a gasoline-powered blower is not the answer. Even with proper care, oil-changing, adding Stabil, etc., it's problematic whether it will restart after sitting in the garage unused for a year. Better to have an electric such as the Toro, which is dependable and doesn't require a lot of preventive maintenance between infrequent uses.

I use an electric Toro blower instead of my John Deere gas-powered. -- I've also got three pressure cleaners, and the light-weight $80 electric is far more convenient and gets more use than either of the larger gas-powered units. When I have to pressure clean the long dock behind the house I'll fire up the gas-powered washer, but if I'm just cleaning off the car or boat the light-weight Husky electric is the pressure washer of choice. If / when it ever breaks down I'll just replace it with a new one for $80 and change.

[Dan Espen]

I like electric too, but it really depends on what you need to use it for.

I had an electric blower, it was useless for the amount of leaves I had to deal with. I have a about a dozen full size Tulip Poplars.

I gave the electric away and now use a gas backpack blower,

[DanKMTB]

I'm in this same camp. If it's a small enough job that an electric can handle it, it could have been done in half the time with a rake or broom. I've not seen an electric that can move leaves that are in grass at all. If you're just blowing a few leaves off of your patio or driveway an electric may cut the mustard, but if you're trying to get the fall leaves off the lawn I don't think an electric will be sufficient, even if used every other day or so. Years ago my father purchased an electric thinking it would do his yard in MA. It got used for the porch, that's all. It was a decent one, certainly not inexpensive, but didn't do the job. It still hangs in his shed years later collecting dust, something it does far better than it moves leaves. His current blower is a quality wheeled gas unit that you push around like a mower. Easy as pie to use, very very effective. Myself, I've got a small lawn. I rake it or toss a neighborhood kid a little scratch to rake it.

[Max]

On Wed, 30 May 2007 10:11:09 -0400, Dan Espen graced this newsgroup with:

The only purpose I've found for an electric blower has been to blow the water off my Harley after I've washed it.

Otherwise, I use my Redmax backpack blower.

For me, it's significantly more effective and can accomplish the same task as a smaller blower in less than half the time.

[Phisherman]

Electric types are not nearly as powerful as the gas-operated. And, a low-powered leaf blower might take all day and a gas-operated one just an hour. If your area is small, you might be better off with a rake or broom (no noise, no fumes), plus you get a little exercise. Consumer Reports has a comparison study worth reading.

[Steve Barker]

Yes, I was going to say..... If you choose electric, you might just as well stick a drinking straw in your mouth and blow leaves with that. And if you only need one twice a year, use a rake.

[Charles Pisano]

Thanks for all of the input. I have a home in Fla (lawn service does) and one in Pa. So I'd rather have elec as it will sit all winter in Pa. Plus I'm overly sensitive to pollution.

I really only need it to blow off the deck and driveway. Long driveway and this time of year we get those fuzzy seed pods. You can sweep them away but the fuzz from them stays. And a week later you've got to sweep it again. And in the fall I'd like it to blow the leaves off the drive and deck. Other than that, I'm not adverse to raking the property.

I wont say I've got a 'lawn' (to rake), if you saw my Pa home you wouldnt' either. It's set up not to be grass friendly, the way a vaction home should be..

So I guess I'll get a low powered electric toro..

CP

[dss]

CP,

Take a look at the Black and Decker Leaf Hog blower/vac. With a 100' heavy duty extension cord (yellow) I can get to most places in my yard. It is a powerful blower (230 mph) and does a decent job sucking up even wet leaves, although I usually wait until they are dry to avoid clogs. With the garbage can connector I can create a lot of mulch from blown piles of leaves. The small bag is good for window wells and the like. My yard has about 30 oaks, elms, ashes, etc and the Leaf Hog has held up well for 3 years. Up on the roof (low pitched rambler) it does a good job clearing debris, even from the gutters (if dry).

My neighbor has one and it makes much less noise than the gas powered ones and it starts every time. Raking is better for the lawn, but I hate to rake. It does take more time to set it up than it does to blow off the patio. I should have gotten one years ago.

dss

[Charles Pisano]

thanks will do.. I DO need a gutter solution..