Which Backpack Blower?

[ArlyA]

Get a 2 smoke snowmobile out on the lake hold her wide open throttle for few miles see what happens

We'd like to switch this conversation to swamped sleds????

 

[Panik]

Yes, I run the recommended oil in them, and I use them for long hours at a time, but not like I imagine a yard service would.

A couple tangentially related thoughts....

I tend to be a husqvarna guy at home - saw, weed eater, backpack blower. I happen to have a good dealer and service facility near my house, but otherwise I'm not really brand loyal.

That being said I also do prescribed fire on the side with various fed, state and non-governmental orgs. At least in my area, almost all of those organizations are running Stihl equipment; including blowers. Backpack blowers are pretty important in the prescribed fire world for both putting in low impact containment lines (clearing debris to mineral soil) and for quickly putting in secondary containment when fire slops outside of a burn unit. All of the backpack blowers I have seen and used on burns fall into the "commercial" end of the product spectrum.

They tend to hold up to long duration usage and, arguably more importantly, move a lot more air than residential units. The key aspect of that last part is that it means a LOT LESS effort on the part of the user to clear containment lines in highly variable terrain. I'm burn in the foothills of Appalachia and while it's not the Rockies the clearing power of a commercial blower is a huge bonus hiking up and down steep lines. I would imagine that would translate well for your intended usage.

Where I'm going with this is that given your description of usage (long hours) you may want to go ahead and look at a commercial blower in your preference of brand.

 

[daman1]

We'd like to switch this conversation to swamped sleds????

You said all Two Strokes I believe

 

[ArlyA]

A couple tangentially related thoughts....

I tend to be a husqvarna guy at home - saw, weed eater, backpack blower. I happen to have a good dealer and service facility near my house, but otherwise I'm not really brand loyal.

That being said I also do prescribed fire on the side with various fed, state and non-governmental orgs. At least in my area, almost all of those organizations are running Stihl equipment; including blowers. Backpack blowers are pretty important in the prescribed fire world for both putting in low impact containment lines (clearing debris to mineral soil) and for quickly putting in secondary containment when fire slops outside of a burn unit. All of the backpack blowers I have seen and used on burns fall into the "commercial" end of the product spectrum.

They tend to hold up to long duration usage and, arguably more importantly, move a lot more air than residential units. The key aspect of that last part is that it means a LOT LESS effort on the part of the user to clear containment lines in highly variable terrain. I'm burn in the foothills of Appalachia and while it's not the Rockies the clearing power of a commercial blower is a huge bonus hiking up and down steep lines. I would imagine that would translate well for your intended usage.

Where I'm going with this is that given your description of usage (long hours) you may want to go ahead and look at a commercial blower in your preference of brand.

The bike trail guys here use Sthil BP blowers and they blow rocks, leaves, mud n sticks, in fact, you can't be in front of them there is some much crap being thrown. I personally don't own them and have no experience with them.

 

[tibadoe]

The Husqvarna backpack blower has worked well for the past 5 years. Starts on first pull and has blown away everything in it's path.

 

[TMGT]

I think you might just have a lemon, I've been using Echo products for many a year and have never had a problem with them, I've had a 770 for over 7years and bought an 8010 a couple years ago. So far the only issue I've had with the 8010 is i found it needs the fuel filter replaced annually, if I don't replace it it's start bogging down and will not reach full RPM.
It does get a lot of use and really goes through the fuel so guessing it just needs the additional maintenance compared to my other blowers.
I do run ethanol free gas and use the Echo Red Armor oil at 50:1

 

[Liquidsilver]

A couple tangentially related thoughts....

I tend to be a husqvarna guy at home - saw, weed eater, backpack blower. I happen to have a good dealer and service facility near my house, but otherwise I'm not really brand loyal.

That being said I also do prescribed fire on the side with various fed, state and non-governmental orgs. At least in my area, almost all of those organizations are running Stihl equipment; including blowers. Backpack blowers are pretty important in the prescribed fire world for both putting in low impact containment lines (clearing debris to mineral soil) and for quickly putting in secondary containment when fire slops outside of a burn unit. All of the backpack blowers I have seen and used on burns fall into the "commercial" end of the product spectrum.

They tend to hold up to long duration usage and, arguably more importantly, move a lot more air than residential units. The key aspect of that last part is that it means a LOT LESS effort on the part of the user to clear containment lines in highly variable terrain. I'm burn in the foothills of Appalachia and while it's not the Rockies the clearing power of a commercial blower is a huge bonus hiking up and down steep lines. I would imagine that would translate well for your intended usage.

Where I'm going with this is that given your description of usage (long hours) you may want to go ahead and look at a commercial blower in your preference of brand.

I AM willing to buck up for a 'commercial model,' I just don't know where to get one, or which to look for. The equipment dealer I buy from sells to landscape guys all the time and I assumed this Echo 8010 WAS used by commercial operators. I see a lot of the lawn services using RedMax, which is why I thought 'that' was a more *commercial* product.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[murphy1244]

What is a commercial blower and who makes such machine??

 

[newbury]

The blower you have is a "commercial" blower. But when the fan

"got loose from the shaft."

it died.
Your dealing with good equipment. I've 2 small Stihl's 60CC for blowers. One I bought from Public Surplus auction for about $50, the other I bought used for about $150. The PS one ran well but had been abused, the other runs well and will lift gravel well. But my BIL has a bigger Stihl that will just about peel paint.
But I think the main reason with the professionals using Stihl is that they can hardly go wrong.
Perhaps your problem is with the dealer

The only problem, I was without a blower for about 4 months.

4 months to find out the fan was loose is pretty long.

 

[Liquidsilver]

4 months to find out the fan was loose is pretty long.

Yes indeed it was. I didn't know whether to blame that on the covid or not. We'll see how they do this time. I was thinking that the engine had seized, so I didn't know what to think.

 

[ArlyA]

Yes indeed it was. I didn't know whether to blame that on the covid or not. We'll see how they do this time. I was thinking that the engine had seized, so I didn't know what to think.

We had a piston scorn in a Echo power head still under warranty, and it took 2 months for Echo USA is authorize its replacement. Our echo shop just gave us a rental unit to use, as we waited.

 

[Ghost River Retrievers]

I run a Husqvarna backpack blower and have had zero issues with it over the 8 +/- years we have used it ... with 5 of those years being on the farm to clean the porches, deck, dock, garage, sheds, kennels, and sidewalk, blowing leaves out of the front ditch so we can mulch them, as well as helping maintain control over my brush pile burns. I've had good experiences with all the Husqvarna 2-stroke powered tools .

 

[tstorzuk]

I bought a used Stihl BR-600 a couple of seasons ago to help clear snow. I now also use it to blow the berries from a Mountain Ash on my front lawn and it gets all of the little berries that have burrowed down into the lawn. When I'm clearing snow with it, I typically do the entire block (all my neighbours' front walks). I doubt I use it as much as you do, but it does get a pretty decent work out.

I've had to adjust the valves a couple of times when it starts hard (the pull cord is too hard to pull because they're hitting the top of the piston). It then runs great again. You do need a special shaped feeler gauge to adjust them properly, but it's cheap from the authorized reseller.

When running for a long time, you might want to break it up. Just to allow air into the gasoline tank. Let it cool a bit and slightly crack the gasoline cap to let air into the tank. Backpack blowers don't have a "vent" built into the cap, and this is the only way to get air in there. You can cause a vacuum in the gas tank, and the blower will have a harder time running.

 

[TMGT]

I bought a used Stihl BR-600 a couple of seasons ago to help clear snow. I now also use it to blow the berries from a Mountain Ash on my front lawn and it gets all of the little berries that have burrowed down into the lawn. When I'm clearing snow with it, I typically do the entire block (all my neighbours' front walks). I doubt I use it as much as you do, but it does get a pretty decent work out.

I've had to adjust the valves a couple of times when it starts hard (the pull cord is too hard to pull because they're hitting the top of the piston). It then runs great again. You do need a special shaped feeler gauge to adjust them properly, but it's cheap from the authorized reseller.

When running for a long time, you might want to break it up. Just to allow air into the gasoline tank. Let it cool a bit and slightly crack the gasoline cap to let air into the tank. Backpack blowers don't have a "vent" built into the cap, and this is the only way to get air in there. You can cause a vacuum in the gas tank, and the blower will have a harder time running.

There's no need to give a blower a "break", the tank on the Echo is vented, the vent is on a separate hose that's on the tank grommet. In fact every tank has a vent of some sort, otherwise it wouldn't run after a very short time.

During leaf season my blowers only gets shut off to refuel, typically run a bit over an hour at full throttle on a tank of fuel. Works out well, I'm ready for a break about the same time I run out of fuel!

 

[Tbone07]

I use a Stihl BR800X for similar purposes as you do. I blow our trails off so getting to the deer stand is quieter. So far it's been great. I used it lightly in the yard a few times and ran at least a tank of gas through it before I started whooping on it and running it at 100% for minutes at a time.

The BR800X is miles ahead of the BR600 we used to have, for reference. But I've heard nothing but good things about Echo, RedMax, and Shindaiwa blowers. We used Shindaiwa blowers when I did golf course work and we absolutely beat the piss out of those things.

Any 2-stroke engine that runs at 100% throttle for longer periods of time could benefit from extra oil. Maybe try 40:1 or 32:1 and see if it helps. Make sure you adjust the carb to compensate. Adding oil to the pre-mix means less fuel, which could create a lean condition. There's a difference between oil rich and fuel rich.

 

[Tony H]

I have the biggest Echo backpack blower... 80ccs. It's great when it's working. I need it for the power to blow off my woods trails, even when the leaves are a little wet.

I have to have a carried/backpack model, because many of the trails are too steep to use any of the wheeled models, even if that would work.

The Echo is going back to the shop for the second time. It was covered under warranty, but it was gone for months last time.

I've also killed a Stihl 60cc model... it seemed to go the same way. I think the main bearing went south and seized.

Yes, I run the recommended oil in them, and I use them for long hours at a time, but not like I imagine a yard service would. I just don't know why I'm killing them.

Has anybody tried the RedMax? I haven't tried them yet.

Thanks.

Reenact IS the one to get. Get the 7500, you won't be sorry. Their larger 8500 is a 7500 that is run too hard. Reenact has good speed combined with high CFM. Love mine. It rolls up packed, wet leaves very nice

 

[Liquidsilver]

Reenact IS the one to get. Get the 7500, you won't be sorry. Their larger 8500 is a 7500 that is run too hard. Reenact has good speed combined with high CFM. Love mine. It rolls up packed, wet leaves very nice

Hey Tony, can you help me out with "Reenact." I'm not finding that anywhere on the interwebs. Can you tell me who makes it or where to find it?

I really do read and appreciate all the suggestions. $500 plus is a pretty significant expenditure for me.

 

[TMGT]

Pretty sure he he was referring to Redmax as they have a 7500 and use to have an 8500 (believe it was replaced by a 8550) maybe the autocorrect got him! Redmax makes a nice unit, but I don't think it would be an upgrade from your 8010.

I do a lot of research and comparisons when buying equipment as I typically keep things as long as possible, I really liked the Redmax but I ultimately felt the Echo was the better product for the money, but the redmax was a close runner up.

 

[bartjoebob]

I like this 4 stroke Makita EB7660TH. Easy to start, TONs of power, and comfortable. Best part is with it being 4 stroke, the wife can fire it up and use it

 

[ArlyA]

I like this 4 stroke Makita EB7660TH. Easy to start, TONs of power, and comfortable. Best part is with it being 4 stroke, the wife can fire it up and use it

This guys are talking back pack blowers and using them for many hours.