Project Farm - Tests Leaf Blowers
- Thread starter Warstud
- Start date
I think a cordless is good for a quick leaf or grass blow off drive/walkway/deck. And for wife to use on her own.
But for heavy duty leaf blowing, nothing beats a two cycle backpack blower.
But for heavy duty leaf blowing, nothing beats a two cycle backpack blower.
I used to have the same outlook, but after having an EGO 650 for several yrs it's proven to be quite awesome. Granted the runtime is short lived compared to fuel powered, but for me not having to deal with smoke/fumes is a bit important due to being a FUBAR'D lunger. I use mine for coffee roasting as it's a great way to rapidly cool off a batch with fresh/clean air as well as property touch ups and drying my car off after washing. For some time I took care of the apt complex we lived at and the EGO was perfect for going up 3 levels to do the breezeways, steps, pool deck, etc. with no fumes or cords. I will say that for many yrs I used a mid-sized commercial grade Kawasaki backpack with great results and this EGO easily cranks out more air volume at the nozzle, as in nearly twice as much at full throttle. No clue about how other brands do as this is my 2nd EGO and I doubt I'd buy anything else to be honest.
Stand by.....formulating new pick-up line....."Hey baby, my Toro has mucho velocidad...."
It's a work in progress
It may have more velocity than some, but I really dislike dragging the cord around. My Makita has really good velocity, good power, and enough battery life to do the entire yard/house. Makita claims better performance than their own gas blower.
I am a convert. No gasoline. No tune ups. No pulling to start. No performance compromise. No cord.
https://www.makitatools.com/products/details/GBU01M1
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But it trades off lower CFM, the red one I saw that looks the same is only 350CFM. I need the velocity in the spring when my riding mower, drives over gooey green grass and is mashed into blobs on pavement, but the rest of the time I'm needing the CFM as much if not more than velocity.
I don't mind 2 cycle blowers though, but do admit I've found uses for a cordless that I wouldn't bother getting the 2 cycle out for, like (outdoor) decontaminating computers when someone brings me one to fix, or blowing water off vehicles after a wash, moving leaves down some steps instead of using a broom, evacuating mosquitoes from the area of my grill drip pan when it's time to empty it, moving sawdust in my workshop, etc... basically any time I wouldn't have used it more than a couple minutes.
Then there's the downside, that my cordless only runs about 10 minutes full blast on a charge, and a larger battery costs twice what the whole kit did, but part of that is the great price I got on it at the time. It's not that big of a deal though, I just work around it, using mower to blow more mowed grass off pavement, mulch mow leaves in the fall instead of vac-mulch leaves to make mulch for the garden. Mulching for the garden with a blower seemed great at first but really mucks up the inside of it as well as chewing up impellers here due to a high volume of acorns and some black walnuts.
I would go back to gas, and still may once my battery gets weak, leaving the cordless for those couple minute jobs but if I go back, it's going to be a contractor grade 2 cycle, not some ~$100 homeowner grade.
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Echo's 56V has a metal ring around the end of the nozzle which is essentially a scraper. It's not sharp or anything but I sure find it useful for nudging the occasional stubborn object free. Obviously plastic will wear down pretty quickly on concrete or asphalt.
I wish more manufacturers would catch on and do this.
That said, I rarely use the Echo. It's heavy and I prefer the light weight of my single-battery Milwaukee even though performance is just-ok
I wish more manufacturers would catch on and do this.
That said, I rarely use the Echo. It's heavy and I prefer the light weight of my single-battery Milwaukee even though performance is just-ok
Not enough run time for my use per battery. I could see battery powered being pretty handy for blowing water off my bikes after washing though.
I had to laugh at his skateboard test, because what we didn't see, was the skateboards continuing on out of the cam view, till they crashed into something or got stuck.
I have a Ryobi 40V with the turbo function. I rarely need to use it at full or turbo "throttle" because I'm blowing over mulch and DG - I use a Leaf Whip on the nozzle (https://leafwhip.com/); takes learning how to best to use it but it works as advertised.
I typically get around 40-45 minutes per charge.
What I don't like is the weight distribution. Because of where the battery is located, the blower is way butt-heavy. Get's tiring to use after a while.
I typically get around 40-45 minutes per charge.
What I don't like is the weight distribution. Because of where the battery is located, the blower is way butt-heavy. Get's tiring to use after a while.
I had the 40V Ryobi where you could see the impeller in the clear housing. It gave me a good electrical shock one day when I hit the turbo button. I exchanged that one.....
The same blower was used in Agents of SHIELD masquerading as a "ray gun" of sorts. Useless trivia.
I've used mine to blow the lint out of the clothes dryer vent. With the tube removed, it matches the vent tube well. Don't want to run a 2-stroke in the house.
I have a number of blowers for use in our various hangars and multiple homes, including the 650cfm EGO blower (56v 5AH) for our hangar up North and a Kobalt 80V for our Martha's Vineyard hangar. Both are almost as powerful as my non modified Stihl BG86 (although neither electric has the velocity to blow pebbles like the gas units do), and the best I can get is 12-13 minutes from them (EGO says 90 minutes, hahaha no).
I brought the EGO to my PA property to blow leaves. Although very pleasant to use, it was not up to the hour long task of a fall cleanup. I ended up using my 20 year old gas powered Echo 210, which is equally effective, lighter and will run 45 minutes on a tank.
The muffler modified Stihl BG86 is head and shoulders better than the EGO and is my go-to blower for real work.
These battery electric blowers do work fairly well, but if you need run-time to clear a larger yard, consider a second battery, or just purchase a good gas powered backpack blower. The Echo 9010 is still king for those who need the best, with more than double the power of the newest and best EGO and infinitely more run time.
I have
2ea Stihl BG86. One stock with catalytic muffler and one with conventional muffler that I modified.
2ea Echo 210, both stock
1ea EGO 56V 5Ah 650cfm electric
1ea Kobalt 80v 630 cfm electric
1ea ryobi vac/blower attachment
I brought the EGO to my PA property to blow leaves. Although very pleasant to use, it was not up to the hour long task of a fall cleanup. I ended up using my 20 year old gas powered Echo 210, which is equally effective, lighter and will run 45 minutes on a tank.
The muffler modified Stihl BG86 is head and shoulders better than the EGO and is my go-to blower for real work.
These battery electric blowers do work fairly well, but if you need run-time to clear a larger yard, consider a second battery, or just purchase a good gas powered backpack blower. The Echo 9010 is still king for those who need the best, with more than double the power of the newest and best EGO and infinitely more run time.
I have
2ea Stihl BG86. One stock with catalytic muffler and one with conventional muffler that I modified.
2ea Echo 210, both stock
1ea EGO 56V 5Ah 650cfm electric
1ea Kobalt 80v 630 cfm electric
1ea ryobi vac/blower attachment
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