battery leaf blowers

[RayIN]

I was looking to pick up a battery-powered leaf blower to keep by my basement door in winter for blowing snow and firewood debris off the patio where we keep our firewood in winter, and then by the pool for blowing leaves and pollen off the pool cover and deck in summer. I don't need much runtime, although something with good velocity and volume would be good for blowing seed pods off the pool cover, where even my Stihl BG-56 can struggle.

I see countless cheap options on Amazon for $60, with supposedly great volume and velocity, with two batteries and charger. Then I see most of the highly-rated name brands (Greenworks, EGO, Makita, DeWalt) are $300 - $600.

Given this is just a spare / quick tool, the cheap versions sound attractive. But it's just not worth the chance of burning my house down with cheap Li-Ion batteries from some no-name brand. On that alone, I'm leaning toward staying with a name brand.

Either way, the BG-56 and the Little Wonder (both gas) are going to remain my go-to for real yard work, this is just a spare convenience to keep in the house when the others are in my barn.

Any recommendations?

I bought one of the "best overall" brands recommended. I used it 3x and returned it; it was not nearly as powerful as my gas leaf blower, which resulted in taking 3x as long to do the same area.
Now I own and use a Ryobi 40V string trimmer, and the battery wears out about the same time as me. Then we both go back to the house to recharge.

 

[WinterDeere]

I bought one of the "best overall" brands recommended. I used it 3x and returned it; it was not nearly as powerful as my gas leaf blower, which resulted in taking 3x as long to do the same area.

It'd be interesting to see how they compared on paper, to see if real world aligns with expectations.

In my case, I'm not looking at battery as a replacement for gas, but rather as a better solution for a narrowly-defined problem. I don't want to store a 2-stroke blower indoors, or fire it up when I want to blow some snow or dirt off my little patio, while wearing office attire or house clothes. So battery will be used for that, and the 2-stroke will be saved for weekend yard clean-up.

Now I own and use a Ryobi 40V string trimmer, and the battery wears out about the same time as me. Then we both go back to the house to recharge.

 

[92blacksunshine]

I have an 80v Atlas brand blower from Harbor Freight, I'm so impressed by this line that I purchased the weedeater, pole saw and hedge trimmer. I have had it for about 5 years now, and it has been impressive.