Looking for new handheld gas leaf blower - What to buy???

   / Looking for new handheld gas leaf blower - What to buy??? #11  
I'd vote for a backpack blower also. I sneered at them for years. I had a 1/4 acre lot with about 100' of sidewalk. Life was good. I mowed my leaves to mulch.

Now I've got a different situation.
leaf-blow.JPG
The red is pavement, driveway and parking I have to clear. Plus the pool area and around the house. I tried once getting most of it with the top of the line Toro wired.

NO WAY. Both arms wore out.

I bought my Stihl BR400 on auction. I've had to blow the area 3 times so far. Crank 3 times at full choke, 2 times w/ choke off, shoulder and go. It weighs 20lbs and will peel ingrown moss off bricks.

I kick myself for not buying one years ago.
 
   / Looking for new handheld gas leaf blower - What to buy???
  • Thread Starter
#12  
Wow, thanks for all the feedback.
I borrowed a friend's backpack blowers, heavy Stihl and lighter Echo, a couple years back and they both worked fine but killed my low back and caused my sciatica to kick in within about 30 mins of use, not to mention having to twist so hard to get them on - sometimes that's all it'd take to put me down for a while. Luckily the sciatica only lasted a day or 2, sometimes it stays for weeks at a time - but I digress.
I have strong arms/shoulders and the handhelds I've had, around 12-15 lbs, have been more comfortable and easier for me. The main reason I liked the Hitachi/Tanaka is it only weighs about 9 lbs. I'm still not yet decided - I've gotten lots of Stihl and Echo good feedback as well. I'm gonna wait maybe a week and see what kind of black Fri/cyber Mon deals I can find. If anyone has any specific models they can suggest I's appreciate it. KW
 
   / Looking for new handheld gas leaf blower - What to buy??? #13  
Back pack for me also a Stihl BR500 a real nice machine with lots of wind!
 
   / Looking for new handheld gas leaf blower - What to buy??? #15  
I have an Echo PB500T that works great. 22 pounds. I do appreciate that it could be a problem for someone with back issues. I will get mine running and set it on the picnic table or the pickup tailgate and get it on my back from there when possible. Of course that does not help at all if the backpack weight still causes you back pain. Their PB-250N is 10 pounds and hand held. I have a bunch of Stihl products but I am happy with my Echo blower.
 
   / Looking for new handheld gas leaf blower - What to buy??? #16  
I had a Homelite hand held that I used for over 15 years and it started everytime on the second or third pull. I never had to do anything to it other than replace the fuel lines that would rot from the ethanol, not even a new spark plug. Got tired of replacing the fuel lines about every 3-4 year and just tossed it a couple year ago and bought the Poulan at Wally world. I use it weekly to blow off the grass from sidewalks and blow leaves/dirt out of the garage. It takes 3-4 pulls to start but it works good. I really prefer the gas models to the electric so I can vary the blowing force. Sometimes you just don't want 200 mph wind coming out.
 
   / Looking for new handheld gas leaf blower - What to buy???
  • Thread Starter
#17  
Well I ordered the Hitachi RB24EAP blower from Big Sky Tool today. With the Black Friday discount got it for $8o + $8 shipping. This is remanufactured class A. Couldn't beat the price for all the features I was looking for. Even has a full 1 year manufacturer's warranty. They're supposed to ship it FedEx on or before Dec 5 so I should get it the 7th or 8th. Maybe still in time to get to those %#@& leaves up before any appreciable snow falls.
Thanks Kennygee for the info! Thanks to all for your recs/suggs. HAPPY :drumstick: day! Happy :menorah: too!
 
   / Looking for new handheld gas leaf blower - What to buy??? #18  
I'm a backpack blower fan myself, but my brother has that exact Hitachi blower. He has hardly any trees on his own property but has an overgrown/abandoned lot on one side and his neighbors behind have wooded lots. There is also a 60-acre park that is 75% wooded across the street, so he gets buried with leaves. The machine has served him well, and hooked up to some PVC pipe, it even clears his gutters.

Use a good synthetic 2-stroke oil with non-ethanol gas (if available), and you should have great reliability. Best of luck.
 
   / Looking for new handheld gas leaf blower - What to buy???
  • Thread Starter
#19  
My Hitachi RB24EAP blower from Big Sky Tools came yesterday, much earlier than expected. The Class A recon looked brand new out of the box. I mixed up a gal of 50:1 synth oil with a bit of ethanol saver(no ethanol free gas anywhere around here), filled it up and pulled it once on full choke - fired right up - then went to 1/2 choke for a min, then to full open(run)for a min or 2. This thing has plenty of power and is so light, just testing it for a few mins I got my whole front yard blown to the side. Glad I decided on this one, at least so far. Thanks for all the suggestions, KW
 
   / Looking for new handheld gas leaf blower - What to buy??? #20  
I have 3 stihl bg85's that have been great, but since going to pb755 (I think) echo backpacks, we havent looked back. They have saved us so much time they paid themselves off in a couple months.
 
 
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