Nice move echo.......

[Fordiesel69]

Was up at the home depot getting some electrical junk and walked thru the echo isle. Noticed that the handheld blowers now have a non removable gas tank, plastic welded to the entire main chassis housing. Simply put the seam will leak some day and you will be required to strip the entire unit down to replace the gas tank. Not to mention a $20 tank is now going to be a $50+ housing assembly.

Nice job....take a good design and make it into disposable crap.

 

[JC1]

That type of engineering should be banned IMO.

 

[jeepman3071]

Yep, then you have companies like Stihl, where you can replace the tank but it's a dealer only item for $120.

 

[jhellwig]

So don’t buy it if it bothers you that much. How often are you having to buy a leaf blower that this is a concern?

 

[Imp4]

So don’t buy it if it bothers you that much. How often are you having to buy a leaf blower that this is a concern?

Absolutely agree.
It's best to vote with your wallet on this one.

 

[Astro14]

I went electric rechargeable on leaf blowers two years ago and will never look back.

 

[Rand]

Yep, then you have companies like Stihl, where you can replace the tank but it's a dealer only item for $120.

Thats exactly what I was thinking. I am a fan of echo but not a fanboy.
However, they can pry my X-series pb-8010t off my dead body its amazing.

The biggest redmax is really nice too nicer in some ways but not nice enough to trade my echo for.

 

[Lubener]

Looks like planned obsolescence to me.

 

[Snagglefoot]

1. Run blower until tank leaks.
2. Carefully place blower on curb
3. Leave over night.
4. Drive down to Home Depot and purchase another one.

 

[KGMtech]

I don't welcome it, but won't be long before gasoline powered lawn equipment is banned from sale, I bet the makers have assigned their best engineers to the electric / battery / fuel cell design projects.

 

[Astro14]

I actually embrace the change to rechargeable. My Makita 36v* is as effective as my old blower. I can do 100% of the yard/household work, twice, on a single charge.

No maintenance, no fuel to buy or keep on hand, no starting required.

Pick up blower, pull trigger, aim at leaves, debris, etc. And that's it. It's actually a great unit. I love it.


* two 18v li-ion, and I already own the batteries and charge for my other cordless shop tools.

 

[Cujet]

I disagree with the OP's premise. Not only does my 20 year old Echo tank not leak, but neither do my various integral chainsaw tanks. Lighter is better and integral tanks can be excellent.

My EGO 56V blower is pretty good. It competes with hand held gas blowers. But only 15 mins on a charge. That's not good enough when the job takes 45 minutes. The switch to electric is never going to match the capability of fuels.

 

[Astro14]

Not all of us need that kind of run time. My Makita runs for about 30 minutes. My yard takes 15. More than enough capacity/run time for me.

The battery vs. fuels argument is brought up frequently when Tesla is discussed. Depending on range requirements, battery technology may already be there.

The best part about going from fuels to battery is no maintenance. No spark plugs, no mixing gas, no oil, no buying or storing fuel.

The next best is no starting. Pick it up and pull the trigger.

 

[gathermewool]

I disagree with the OP's premise. Not only does my 20 year old Echo tank not leak, but neither do my various integral chainsaw tanks. Lighter is better and integral tanks can be excellent.

My EGO 56V blower is pretty good. It competes with hand held gas blowers. But only 15 mins on a charge. That's not good enough when the job takes 45 minutes. The switch to electric is never going to match the capability of fuels.

Never say never. Look how far battery-powered gear has come in the last decade alone.

 

[RazorsEdge]

I went electric rechargeable on leaf blowers two years ago and will never look back.

Not all of us need that kind of run time. My Makita runs for about 30 minutes. My yard takes 15. More than enough capacity/run time for me.

The battery vs. fuels argument is brought up frequently when Tesla is discussed. Depending on range requirements, battery technology may already be there.

The best part about going from fuels to battery is no maintenance. No spark plugs, no mixing gas, no oil, no buying or storing fuel.

The next best is no starting. Pick it up and pull the trigger.

My lawn equipment for years now has been battery powered.

Lawn mower
Weed eater

This winter I'll be using the battery powered snowblower

 

[Astro14]

Let me add that after a month with the Li-Ion blower, I went and bought a Makita 18v string trimmer. Love that one, too. Battery lasts through at least two trimmings, it weighs about half of what my gas-powered Stihl did, and yep: no maintenance, no fuel, and no starting.

Just pick it up and pull the trigger.

Wonderful.

 

[Cujet]

I do agree the battery stuff is good. Cordless drills have been superb for years now. I don’t believe we will see any significant battery capacity improvements or lifespan though. the replacement batter for the ego is $250 And I need one.

 

[AutoMechanic]

Unfortunately I think everything is getting more advanced and harder to fix. I’ve never cared for anything electric when it comes to stuff like that. My dad bought a corded power washer and I can’t stand it because I can’t work on it and I think it’s not the smartest thing to have electrical that close to water, also it is surprisingly louder than a gas one in my opinion anyway. For him though it is easier as he has a shoulder injury limiting use of his left arm so he can’t pull the starters on anything. I did convince him to buy another gas powered weed eater though I told him I wouldn’t use it if it wasn’t gas so I got my wish there lol.

 

[pbm]

Let me add that after a month with the Li-Ion blower, I went and bought a Makita 18v string trimmer. Love that one, too. Battery lasts through at least two trimmings, it weighs about half of what my gas-powered Stihl did, and yep: no maintenance, no fuel, and no starting.

Just pick it up and pull the trigger.

Wonderful.

I bought a 40V WORX weed whacker/string trimmer last year and will never go back to gas for the reasons you state. OTOH, it will be a while before I'm ready to buy an EV.

 

[Delta]

I purchased what likely is the same model number blower the OP posted about (PB2520). Honestly it's only $150, how much more can you really expect? I've ran the snot out of the little thing in the past couple months and I've been really happy with it, much better than the Troy-Built it replaced. I doubt the tank would fail that early, but if it does I'd still likely buy another one. I also went Echo for my trimmer as my new Stihl has aggravated me from the beginning, but that's another subject...