What is a good leaf blower & are they worth buying?


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Old 04-18-05, 11:00 PM
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What is a good leaf blower & are they worth buying?

hi all. I have been kicking around the idea of buying a leaf blower to clean up my yard (still a lot of leaves). What models should I consider? Are Echos any good? What speed should I get? I saw one that said 200MPH wind speed. I am told to get a back pack one because they are better. I See models ranging from $60.00 to $400.00. When I see a handheld model for $70.00 with a wind speed of 170mph and a $200.00 model with the same windspeed what is the difference? I know the enigine is bigger but if they produce the same wind speed then why would it matter besides the fact that the bigger engine might last longer because it would have to work less hard to produce the MPH. I used one a long time ago, hand held, with a speed @ 150mph and found that I could rack it better due to the fact that it did not seem to be able to blow free a good amount of the leaves imbedded between the grass and shrubs. Please any information would be greatly appreciated. I have an acre of lawn to clean up!

Thanks,

Dharma
 
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Old 04-18-05, 11:04 PM
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Hello Dharma!

In a nutshell: you get what you pay for. Longevity, ease of use, reliability, etc... pretty much follow the price. The backpack is nice if you have back or shoulder/arm problems, or not much stamina in the back and arms. Holding a blower gets tiring after a while. Also, have you ever tried using a mulching kit on your mower? If the leaves aren't too thick, a mulcher makes quick work of them.
 
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Old 04-20-05, 04:50 AM
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thanks for the advice. I have a brand new lawn mower have not hadd time to read all the instructions but I noticed that it said also that it can mulch. I will go and read the manual then and check it out. Thanks.

Dharma
 
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Old 04-23-05, 01:50 AM
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I own both a riding lawn mower and a leaf blower that can be converted to a vacuum/shredder for leaves. Well, I've tried both for clearing the yard of leaves and the tractor won out.

Clearing a 60" width while sitting was a big strength. I would just mow the leaves over and over pushing them into the woods. In areas too far to get to the woods, I would mow the leaves into a big pile and put them in a trailer.

My leaf blower is a $100 green thing bought at a big discount store. It's one of the cheaper, lower quality units but has been running for five years and shows no signs of dying. The leaf blower worked OK for leaves. It did well when the leaves were dry, but took much time when they were wet. The blower would move a small section of leaves a short distance, and the more leaves you move tends to build a pile that gets harder and harder to move. The vacuum mulcher function was fun and worked quite well. The big problem was that the collection bag filled very rapidly but it did mulch the leaves nicely. Also, acorns and sweet gum balls tended to jam the blower. It is probably an option if you have a small city sized lot, but it's too small a tool for my yard. I no longer use the leaf blower for blowing leaves, but I would never get rid of it. It has tons of other great uses.

THING LEAF BLOWERS ARE GOOD FOR:
Sweep your garage floor and porches. Open the door and start at the back of the garage and blow all the dirt outside.

Clean the driveway. I often spill bits of dirt and mulch on the paved driveway. The leaf blower is great for clearing it off.

Drying your car. After washing your car, hit it with the leaf blower. It blows 95% of the water off and there are almost no water spots.

We have lots of pollen in NC in the spring. I have a "toy" car that I like to keep cherry. I would never think of wiping off the pollen, but the leaf blower cleans the pollen dust off the car with no scratches.
 
 

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