Leaf Blowers

Big Nasty

Howdy folks.

Looking at buying a leaf blower and need a fairly strong one. I look after my parents 1/2 acre garden and the constant raking and sweeping is doing my head (and back) in.

I don't think a hand held unit (cq. 25cc) will be any good to me. Reckon I'd need a 50cc + back pack. Any recommendations on what to look at? Would I pick one up second hand?

Thanks

Oldtree

I have a Sthil hand held blower. 14 years old at this stage and still going. Once you learn to use it it would be all you need. A back pack one may be ott for half acre. Does your mower not collect leaves for you too?

http://www.stihl.com/STIHL-power-tools-A-great-range/Cleaning-systems-/Blowers-and-Vacuum-shredders/01537/Hand-held-blowers.aspx

Big Nasty

It's a seriously high maintenance garden. Plus I like to keep the drive and paths clutter free. I really don't think the 25cc ones would be up to the job.

Also when doing a bigger trim of bushes and hedges a nice powerful blower is great.

I'll have a look at the Stihl ones. I was hoping to get away with less than 200 but that doesn't seem possible with the bigger units unless I can pick up a used one.

Cheers.

Oldtree

I use it in a professional capacity and have used the backpack versions in the past too. There is no way round raking really. Can you rent them and see which suits you?

Big Nasty

I've borrowed a backpack before and found it great. 75cc I think. Can't see a 25cc fitting my needs but worth a try renting to see as you suggested.

Norfolk Enchants_

Big Nasty wrote: »

Howdy folks.

Looking at buying a leaf blower and need a fairly strong one. I look after my parents 1/2 acre garden and the constant raking and sweeping is doing my head (and back) in.

I don't think a hand held unit (cq. 25cc) will be any good to me. Reckon I'd need a 50cc + back pack. Any recommendations on what to look at? Would I pick one up second hand?

Thanks

Bought the Stihl BR420 (it's now the BR430) about 10 years ago, I use it professionally and it has never given an ounce of trouble, it's got plenty of power and I think I paid around €500 for it, best money ever spent, powerfull, reliable and robust.

Also have a stihl hand held blower/shredder vac. SH 83

http://www.stihlusa.com/products/blowers-and-shredder-vacs/shredder-vacs/sh86ce/

Enough for me to blow leafs off my drive and paths into a corner to be gathered up. I also blow light hedge clippings back under the hedge. Have it 3 years no problems. Around €420 I think.

CJhaughey

I have a Tanaka TBL4600 Backpack.
Simple and very powerful, I could buy a bigger one but this one does me fine blowing wet leaves off gravel.
It'll blow dirt out of planters if aim it badly and for cleaning gutters its fantastic!
Handhelds give me arm pain after about 1/2 hr so I don't bother with them anymore.

Big Nasty

Found this on ebay. Price looks great for what it is. Anyone got exp with these?

http://m.ebay.ie/itm/301299067320?nav=SEARCH

kilk

Does anybody know what the specifications on a blower mean?

CJhaughey

kilk wrote: »

Does anybody know what the specifications on a blower mean?

Usually they quote the volume of air moved.

aidanki

Is the vacuum worth having on these, this is what I have in mind for a leaf blower

Aiding in gathering up leaves from gravel after I have the big stuff picked up with a sheet of plastic at hedge trimming time. (leaves would be semi chopped and we do hedgecutting on a dry day)

Another use would be to aid in tidying up after power hosing walls and removing loose paint from the gravel.

Id also use it for blowing off cobwebs from machinery, and rafters.

Its the smaller leaf blowers only have vacuum, the bigger ones dont.

The Continental Op

Some of the big ones used to have a vac as an addon. tbh had one and rarely used the vac.

I wouldn't rate a blower or a vac for picking up hedge cuttings. They are just as easy to rake up. What you need on gravel is a Bulldog rubber finger rake to finish the job off https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bulldog-9149N-Premier-Rubber-Wizard/dp/B004NT7430 great tool for raking leaves out of gravel.

Blower is always handy for cleaning off machinery including the mower.

My main use was for blowing leaves off the lawn in under shrubs in beds and wind rowing moss after machine scarifying the lawn.

Also used for blowing leaves and floating debris of ponds, water features and swimming pools. Messy but can be used to clean out gutters.

I also made an attachment using Bernoulli's principle to suck and blow away water out of puddles (handy when patching tarmac on a wet day). Basically a small length of 3/4 inch plastic pipe stuck into the side of another pipe that fitted on the end of the blower pipe.

aidanki

The Continental Op wrote: »

Some of the big ones used to have a vac as an addon. tbh had one and rarely used the vac.

I wouldn't rate a blower or a vac for picking up hedge cuttings. They are just as easy to rake up. What you need on gravel is a Bulldog rubber finger rake to finish the job off https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bulldog-9149N-Premier-Rubber-Wizard/dp/B004NT7430 great tool for raking leaves out of gravel.

Blower is always handy for cleaning off machinery including the mower.

My main use was for blowing leaves off the lawn in under shrubs in beds and wind rowing moss after machine scarifying the lawn.

Also used for blowing leaves and floating debris of ponds, water features and swimming pools. Messy but can be used to clean out gutters.

I also made an attachment using Bernoulli's principle to suck and blow away water out of puddles (handy when patching tarmac on a wet day). Basically a small length of 3/4 inch plastic pipe stuck into the side of another pipe that fitted on the end of the blower pipe.

thank you for the reply I like the suction idea, was it successful

The Continental Op

The suction attachment worked really well. It wasn't for shifting large quantities of water but would suck that annoying bit of water left in the bottom of a puddle when you needed to dry an area up.