RedMax Backpack Blower

[hunterridgefarm]

Curt1,
What did the EBZ8000 cost?

Where we are building I will have a ton of leaves, all hardwood around us. I did not make it by my local outdoor equipment dealer this weekend, hope to get by this week. It kinda depends on what he carries.

 

[curt1]

I paid $485 before tax for the EBZ8000. I found it a month or so later for $450 on sale at another local store. I bought the EBZ8000 left side throttle control. I wish I had bought the EBZ8000RH, which has right hand throttle control placed within the handle. The left side throttle control gets in the way when in tight quarters. The Air Velocity for the 8000 is 203 MPH.. The air volume (without tube) is 943cfm and with the tube is 688 cfm.. It has 72cc and 4.6 HP.. Dry weight is 24.9 lbs.. It will take care of business when blowing leaves. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
One difference between Stihl and RedMax is RedMax has a lifetime warranty on the ignition coil and Stihl does not. Stihl used to have lifetime warranty on ignition coils up until the past few years. The difference between the Stihl BR400 I had and the EBZ8000 is like night and day. Of course, you really can't compare an older machine with the new one's.


Curt

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Ok, My local in town guy carries Stihl and Huskie.

Stihl BR550 $399.95
Stihl BR600 $469.95

If between these two I would like the BR600 but in town guy says there is basically no difference...?

Tractor Dealer is 45 min. away and carries the Stihl, Echo, and RedMax. Pricing is basically the same.

If I buy in town service is easy. If I buy out of town service is easy but aggravating. But I have only had the hand held that I currently have serviced once in 15 years and I've done all the other service to it.

Is there anything special about backpack blowers that requires special service?

I like the feedback on the RedMax and Echo and I know the decision is basically mine to make but given this scenario what would you do?

 

[curt1]

On the Stihl web site, the specs for the BR550 and BR600 are close.
BR550---- BR600
64.8cc, 64.8cc
4 HP, 4 HP
Air Velocity 199mph, 201mph
Air volume
with tubes 530cfm, 712cfm
Air Volume
w/o tubes 877cfm, 1012cfm
Weight 21.4 lbs., 20.9 lbs.

In my opinion, volume(with tubes on) matters more than velocity so I would probably go with the BR600 if I was buying Stihl. Plus the more powerful blower weighs about a half pound less.
At the current time, the Stihl web site has a recall on some model BR500 and BR550 blower's. If you buy a BR550, make sure it isn't one of the recall serial number's. Stihl probably has taken the defective model's off the shelf.
There is no special service required for backpack blowers except making sure all screws and bolts are secure as they have a lot of vibration in the engine area and that holds true for all 2 stroke power equipment.
I never compared the new Stihl blower's with RedMax. I can, however, say that the Stihl BR400 I had was a great machine...troublefree. When comparing the Specs for the BR600 and EBZ8000, it appears that Stihl edges out the RedMax. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif And the BR600 weighs about 4 lbs. less which would be a nice advantage.
I would probably drive to the tractor dealer and demo all three brands (if you have the time) to see how they compare in real life. If you decide to buy Stihl, you could buy from the dealer close to you. Or you could buy it from the tractor dealer and take it to the dealer close to home for service...if it ever needs other than routine service.
Don't let anyone tell you different, Stihl makes excellent equipment. The reason I bought RedMax was because I wanted to try something different after many years of running Stihl. RedMax seems to have a large following with lawn/landscape companies in this area.
And yes, the 45 minute drive would come into consideration. That's extra expense(time and fuel, etc.) to consider.
I have a Stihl HT101 telescoping pruner with the new Stihl 4-mix engine, like the engine's in the BR550 and BR600 blower's. It starts very easy with little pulling power required on the starter handle and runs very quiet. Also seems to have less vibration. It would be a nice addition to a backpack blower. Maybe I should have tried the new Stihl blower's before I purchased RedMax. ???


Curt

 

[CT_Tree_Guy]

Hunterridge -

There's really not a whole lot that goes wrong with backpack blowers, so I wouldn't sweat the extra distance to the tractor dealer. I have a feeling that the difference between the BR550 and BR600 might be the 4-mix engine, but I'm not sure. The Stihl 600 is a little more compact than the Echo 751, but I still love the Echo. As Curt said, just try them all out, and one of them should "jump out" at you as "the one" for you. if and when you do check out the Echo 751, have them show you the air filtration system, and explain how they pass some of the airflow over the engine for extra cooling for long, long engine life. This was one of the major design changes from the Echo 650 to the 750/751.

That said, I don't think you can go far wrong with the Stihl, the Echo, the RedMax or the Shindaiwa. You'll probably know the one you want when you see it.

Good luck, John

 

[JLS_SNAPPER]

I have an old shindiawa EB45 (backpack) that my cousin game me because he got a new EB500. The power upgrade from my Weed-eater hand-held to that old backpack was unbelievable. Shindiawa makes good stuff.

EB500 - $380ish? This is the next-to-best blower that Shindiawa makes. I'm not 100% on this price.

EB630 - $480-$500 This is the best one Shindiawa makes. I haven't used it, but based on how my old EB45 works.....you might wanna gain about 10 pounds before using the EB630./forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Just an update.

I purchased the Stihl BR550 from my local outdoor equipment dealer. Compared to the hand-held I had this thing is powerful.

Thought seriously about the bigger RedMax, Stihl, and Echo but for the money and what I needed the BR550 was perfect.

One funny thing, I stopped by at lunch to pick it up and instead of putting in the building at home I had a few extra minutes at lunch and decided to blow up some leaves at the deck /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif. Did not know the wife had a big flower pot full potting soil that was covered with leaves /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif. Had the throttle wide open when I passed over this area and it look like an explosion, I was covered head to toe in potting soil. In my hair, ears, and fortunately I had my glasses on I use for driving. Had to shower and change.

So of course I had to call in to work and tell them I bought a hamburger for lunch and had mustard and ketchup on my shirt and would be a little late /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[JLS_SNAPPER]

I just bought a RedMax EB7001. Best blower I have ever owned.

http://www.redmax.com