My choice, Stihl 800x backpack blower.

[Cujet]

I went down to the VP Racing gas station and purchased 6 gal of C9 (now 97 octane, love the stuff as it simply runs great) and VP's two stroke oil. Prob mix it with C9 at 32 to 1 just like everything else. It will be interesting to see how it compares to Motomix that's in it now. I've used up most of the tank of Motomix and the blower has broken in nicely, even more RPM than when brand new. Awesome!

As far as semi self supercharged, the 4 mix engine uses crankcase pressure to push air/fuel into the intake.

 

[Slick]

I went down to the VP Racing gas station and purchased 6 gal of C9 (now 97 octane, love the stuff as it simply runs great) and VP's two stroke oil. Prob mix it with C9 at 32 to 1 just like everything else. It will be interesting to see how it compares to Motomix that's in it now. I've used up most of the tank of Motomix and the blower has broken in nicely, even more RPM than when brand new. Awesome!

As far as semi self supercharged, the 4 mix engine uses crankcase pressure to push air/fuel into the intake.

Cujet

If you don't mind sharing what are you paying for the C9 Racing Gas in 6 gallon quantity? do you bring your gas can or is it pre-packaged in different volume steel can container. I might have to give it a try.

I am currently buying 89 REC Fuel for about a $1.00 to $1.50 over the 87 (R+M) 10 percent ethanol unleaded. So depending which state I am in when I buy it is is between $4.60 to $5.50 per gallon lately.

Since I have been use REC 89 with VP Racing 2 stroke oil (ratios of 45:1 or 40:1) I have never seen any exhaust port or spark arrestor screen carboned up. I had to replace a head gasket on my 20 plus year old redmax handheld blower a few years ago and piston/rings and internals looked very clean (used Redmax oil before VP Racing)

Thanks

 

[Cujet]

Cujet

If you don't mind sharing what are you paying for the C9 Racing Gas in 6 gallon quantity? do you bring your gas can or is it pre-packaged in different volume steel can container. I might have to give it a try.

I am currently buying 89 REC Fuel for about a $1.00 to $1.50 over the 87 (R+M) 10 percent ethanol unleaded. So depending which state I am in when I buy it is is between $4.60 to $5.50 per gallon lately.

Since I have been use REC 89 with VP Racing 2 stroke oil (ratios of 45:1 or 40:1) I have never seen any exhaust port or spark arrestor screen carboned up. I had to replace a head gasket on my 20 plus year old redmax handheld blower a few years ago and piston/rings and internals looked very clean (used Redmax oil before VP Racing)

Thanks

The VP Fuels station has C9 right at the pump, even has a CC reader. $12.50/gal. Bad, but not $26/gal bad if purchased in a 5gal pail. Sadly, it was $8/gal not long ago. I love the stuff. Runs clean, consistent and very low carbon buildup. In a direct comparison with 90 octane zero ethanol fuel, Mobil 1 MX2t both mixed at 32 to 1, the C9 runs about 3-500 RPM higher in my Stihl BG86 blower. It's kind of hard to get my Hazard Fraught Tools optical tach to read the impeller. But there is no question the Rec fuel falls short, regardless of how I adjust the carb.

VP makes some non ethanol, buy oxygenated fuels that flat out rip in chainsaws and blowers. I've had great results with T4+ (yes it's designed for 4 strokes) in my two strokes. As it atomizes well in the crankcase and reduces blubbering and 4 stroking to an absolute minimum. Just crisp, clean sharp operation and a bit more power than C9.

 

[Not Sure]

Personally I went with the Echo PB9010T over the Stihl BR800. Both are great blowers and the Stihl 800 side starter is an awesome feature. Being able to start it without taking it off your back is an awesome feature.

That being said I don’t like the 4 mix engines at all. Had the BR800 been a 2 stroke I would have gotten it over the 9010. Personally I absolutely hate the sound of the 800s 4 stroke engine it drives me nuts. Also there have been issues with the plastic cams in the Stihl 4 mix engines (not a big deal to replace one) but it’s another strike against it in my book. Also the small end of the con rod on the 800 doesn’t have a needle bearing but rather a bushing. I have see a few of those bushing wear out prematurely mostly on commercially used blowers (landscaping companies) that probably had a ton of hours im them.

Anyway they are both good blowers and you will probably be happy with either of them.

 

[Cujet]

Personally I went with the Echo PB9010T over the Stihl BR800.

That being said I don’t like the 4 mix engines at all.

The reason was nozzle velocity followed by comfort and weight. The 9010 clearly has more power, but was too much weight and bulk for me. Stihl claims they went with a bushing as a needle bearing would not hold up. Yeah, I know that seems weird, but the piston pin and bushing are huge. At 32 to 1, it should hold up just fine for what ever time I have left. As far as sound, this thing sounds great at full RPM, cant complain there, it rips. And at 4.4HP, it's not down on real world power or RPM.

Like you, I much prefer 2 strokes. It's my thing. Maybe that's why I started this thread. It's way better than expected. Really blasts under the wet leaf mats and rips em loose.

 

[Not Sure]

The reason was nozzle velocity followed by comfort and weight. The 9010 clearly has more power, but was too much weight and bulk for me. Stihl claims they went with a bushing as a needle bearing would not hold up. Yeah, I know that seems weird, but the piston pin and bushing are huge. At 32 to 1, it should hold up just fine for what ever time I have left. As far as sound, this thing sounds great at full RPM, cant complain there, it rips. And at 4.4HP, it's not down on real world power or RPM.

Like you, I much prefer 2 strokes. It's my thing. Maybe that's why I started this thread. It's way better than expected. Really blasts under the wet leaf mats and rips em loose.

Interesting information about the small end bushing.

The Stihl is not only lighter, but it has better straps as well. Being 6’2” and 275 lbs the weight of the Echo is not a concern for me and neither are the straps. I run it for hours at a time during leaf season and I don’t even notice it on my back. That being said for a smaller person the straps on the Echo tend to slip off the shoulders.

Also the Stihl is more fuel efficient then the echo which burns about a gallon to a gallon and a half an hour. Thats my only complaint with it because you have to stop and refill the roughly 1 gallon tank every 45 minutes or so. There was plenty of room to fit a bigger tank probably 2 gallons or more on it but they made the decision not to put a bigger tank probably due to weight concerns. For me an extra 6 lbs of gas would not be noticeable and with a bigger tank you could simply not fill it all the way if you were worried about the weight. I believe they were thinking about commercial operation and they were thinking that if we put a larger gas tank on it the boss will make the workers fill it up all the way. Many landscapers are smaller people in my experience and an extra 6 lbs would probably be very noticeable to many of them.

 

[97prizm]

For my TN property, I needed a great backpack blower with epic velocity to get wet maple leaves out of the rocks that form my home's perimeter. My Stihl BG86 hand held blower would not even move the leaves. I searched carefully and know the Echo products are among the most powerful in newtons. But in the end I picked the Stihl 800x Magnum 4 mix blower for it's real world velocity. About 20MPH more than the Echo, both in specs and in real world testing. Plus, the Stihl is 5 pounds lighter and way more comfortable/smoother. I was able to try the Redmax, Echo and Stihl. It's funny how the one I had no interest in ended up being best suited for the job.

The engine is a 4 stroke, 80cc, 4.4HP semi-self supercharged unit that really runs strong. You know what I mean, the engine does not struggle at all, it runs to full RPM (about 8800) and engine performance flat out rocks. The engine does use a con rod bushing at the piston pin instead of a roller bearing, and the crankcase is lubricated by the 50 to 1 fuel/oil mix, which might be not ideal for a bushing. First tank is the Stihl motomix fuel 50 to 1. Also of note, the 600 and 700 versions are known for piston troubles. The 800 is more reliable and with good oil will do 600 hours per year for up to 7 years in commercial use.

Since it uses 2 stroke oil, I'm thinking about using a EG-D/FD oil mixed with some form of race fuel (I typically use VP Racing C9) at 32 to 1 like all my other two stroke stuff. But maybe I'll step up to a VP racing fuel that is oxygenated with MTBE (adds about 5% more HP) and yes the carb is adjustable. As my TN property is at 2100 feet, so there is a 6% power loss up there. Should be interesting.

At nearly 240mph, this is the highest velocity blower around. This is due to the small nozzle. People put an adjustable nozzle on it which results in higher CFM/lower velocity which closely matches the other big boys.

Nice. If I remember the VP Racing oxygenated fuel is close to $17 a gallon isn't it? If you have an airport close by look and see if they offer Mogas,which I think is 98 octane and no ethanol.

 

[97prizm]

I've ran 100LL in my stihl fs-38 trimmer and the higher octane is noticeable. It definitely idles smoother and has better throttle response.