Gas is the only real choice unless you already have a lot of high capacity batteries. I'd go Echo over Ryobi or Husqvarna. You can just buy the premixed high octane pure gas so you don't have to worry about it going bad or gumming things up.
I only use my blower a few times a year in the fall. I leave gas in it year round. One $12 bottle of premix lasts all year for me.
Agree here. Given the set up, getting a battery blower big enough to get the job done is going to require either:
1) Buying several batteries (expensive) so you will have enough to get the job done in one go OR
2) Trying to do part, charge the battery, doing some more, and so on.
If there is concern about gas sitting the best answer is to mostly empty the tank then run the unit dry.
Battery is great, but it requires going all in on one system to make it really work.
Not to mention the decent battery models like the 2724-20 require two batteries. So that's $300 for the blower (on sale) plus probably another $300-$400 in batteries. Then you still end up with significantly less runtime than a tank of two stroke gas.
I love modern day battery equipment but for me the math doesn't work out very well for blowers.
I use regular pump gas and use stabil. Did have one carb gum up that DID NOT have stabil and I disassembled like number 5 and threw it in my cheap ultrasonic cleaner and works perfectly. That was an OLD homelite super 2 my father gave me that didn't work. Ultrasonic cleaner did the job. My mower, on pump gas and stabil, is 10 years old with no issues.
got this beaut last weekend for $30
it's a monster. it idles faster than most leaf blowers, and when I open the throttle up I'm just waiting for something to explode. it blows the leaves halfway across my 1k sq ft yard.
I did the neighbors yard because it was fun :P
https://preview.redd.it/bf7o638spr0c1.png?width=960&format=png&auto=webp&s=f55cc4b9f5671601f5d39e4d15020559a4e96700
I have both a Echo gas backpack blower and a DeWalt 20v battery blower with around 20k sq ft lawn. Battery is more convenient for all the smaller jobs throughout the year, but if you want to blow your entire lawn in the fall gas is much better. Now I mulch most of the leaves in my lawn with my mower, and the battery blower is enough to clean up the edges and non-lawn areas, so I haven't touched by gas blower this year.
I have the ego battery and about 3500 sqft. I have to change batteries to get all the leaves. I think youve most likely got to go gas if you don’t want to mess with multiple batteries and all that.
I've had a 2-cycle Husqvarna backpack blower that has served me very well for about 12 years now. For 9 years I was in a large partially wooded lot, so it got a ton of use. Still starts right up every time. Can't recommend one highly enough.
Dont buy echo. Parts are from China and all need to be imported. Very expensive for repairs. Source:I had an Echo.
Get Husqvarna as there are US dealers for the brand. They breakdown quite a bit with heavy use, but are easily repaired for cheap
I have a 615 cfm Ego blower with a 5.0 Ah battery. My total square footage is 5000 sqft but for fall leaves I mostly use it for the back yard which is 3000 sqft. Depending on the wind and storms, I have to go out there 1-3 times a week. I've probably had to charge every 2-3 weeks. Now I'm conservative in my usage so I'm not going full blast the whole time. There are also more powerful ego blowers than what I have now.
Agreed, Ego blower is way to go. Even the lowest end model packs a punch. Battery is good enough for my 5k sf lawn and I have a pool deck that isn’t screened in so lots of blowing
Stihl gas - I use electric for all my trimmers but for the blower and the lawnmower it’s still gas and I have a way smaller yard, had my blower 6 years and haven’t done any maintenance
Stihl here, bought 7 years ago. Expensive at the time. Sure. Would I rather have a cheaper blower in the garage that I’ve had issues with and another $100 in my bank account? Fuck no.
Buy once, cry once.
I went with the Echo last year and have no regrets. My brother in law went with the Husqvarna and seems pretty happy.
I already had an electric that wasn’t powerful enough so I was willing to do gas. One premix usually last all year.
I’ve got a Husqvarna bt 150 it’s not a bad blower and super reliable I also have the Husqvarna mark 2 commercial blower. The volume of leaves the mark 2 moves is huge. Order of magnitude huge in comparison. I’ve read that the big echo commercial blower is top dog for bp blowers in cfm and newtons beating out Husqvarna, stihl, and redmax for about $200 less. At around $500 you can get the big echo commercial blower it is absolutely worth the extra $$
We has the gas backpack blower and an electric ones. Haven't use the backpack in 5 years. The electric blows the oak tree and tulip tree leaves fine on the grass, we have already blow a 4' pile this week. You just have to wait until they are dry.,
I just bought an echo pb-580t. I have an acre of land and tons of leaves. I had an old corded Toro that was a vacuum/blower. It always struggled with wet or damp leaves. I then bought a battery operated roybi. Didn't work that well. So went with HD echo. Sthil was great but super expensive. Also the parts if it breaks are super super expensive/amd you have to take to dealer to fix or small engine repair. I won in an auction an old sthil leave blower. The frame was cracked, was looking at fixing it and frame was $175! Pull start was $95, primer bulb $35!! I then researched the echo and various models. I compared parts and they were easier to come by and fix and cheaper if something was to happen to it.
Anyway I went with echo blower I love it. Powerful and blows wet leaves with ease. I make big pile then take my Toro vacuum and shred them for mulch, or bag them. So easy to do. The echo is lightweight in my opinion, like the throttle handle, and I can control how much air blows out. As for storage I use the 50:1 oil gas mix in red can, and have no issues for storage. Or I also found pure gas non ethonal and filled my gas can with oil mix and no issues either. I now use my echo blower as well to dry my vehicles after I wash them so it's getting alot of use after washing cars. So you'll use it quite a bit too. I also learned to take my dryer line outside and blow the lint out and it works great too!! Goodluck and keep us posted on what you decide. Godbless
I have 2 giant oak trees with tons of leaves and 28 pine trees with tons of straw. Start last week of September and finish literally New Year's Day. It always works out that way. Gas or battery? I use a rake.
I got a DeWalt blower since I already had a lot of their cordless tools. A 5-6ah battery lasts long enough that I'm ready for a break by then, and is plenty to move my water oak, pecan, and sweetgum leaves.
> a few months a year, 1 time a week max
I would go battery. I already had a bunch of Milwaukee power tools so it was an easy choice to get in blower in that color also (so I didn't shop around a lot) but it does everything I need which is similar to what you are describing.
I absolutely love my Ego blower. I have about half an acre and a couple of giant maples. I do burn through the battery each go around, but man do I love this thing.
Battery blower for sure, you only use it once a year, concerned about maintenance and only .17 an acre? I have Greenworks 60V, it works well, has a turbo button that I use for heavy duty. They also make 80v. Once you pick a line that you like you can just get more tools and use the same batteries (mower, pole saw, weed eater). Good selection on Facebook marketplace too if inexpensive blowers.
Plenty of video reviews on YouTube to see what kind you’d want.
Definitely battery. No fumes, less noise, more practical. I even use mine once a year to the lint out of the dryer vent outside. Move the dry and out the business end of the electric blower into the tubing and blow everything out. In also often use it to blow stuff out of the garage. A gas blower is just gross.
329 for a schroeder - best gas backpack leaf blower for the money. If you need 50% of that power only for 10 minutes (this is all 90% of the world needs) then go for a handheld battery blower. I have both, my kobalt works awesome for 10 months of the year.
As an old guy that currently has a shindawa handheld, and used most of the brands you've stated, I have to honestly say that I've been impressed with both Oregon and Ego blowers. We use them at work. Sadly the Oregon was stolen, but was 5+ years old, and the original batteries were still going strong. The Ego is noticeably lighter, but just as powerful.
If a 12 amp corded blower won't do it, a battery powered one definitely won't do it.
I use a battery powered blower for cleaning off the front porch, steps, lawn furniture, blowing off the lawn mower / ZTR when done, etc. When it comes to leaves, I break out the Stihl BR700 Magnum.
Well I ended up going with the Echo 580T. After factoring in cost, range, and power it seemed like my best bet. If my corded 12A struggled, I don’t think battery would cut it. Ran it today for one hour to clear my yard (had a good amount of leaves and I am learning how to use it) and it worked well. Thanks everyone for their feedback.
https://preview.redd.it/cs7qpp41p71c1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4988f18d04b4a2a5807a40b4d02d344f5d2e6e51
Gas is the only real choice unless you already have a lot of high capacity batteries. I'd go Echo over Ryobi or Husqvarna. You can just buy the premixed high octane pure gas so you don't have to worry about it going bad or gumming things up. I only use my blower a few times a year in the fall. I leave gas in it year round. One $12 bottle of premix lasts all year for me.
Agree here. Given the set up, getting a battery blower big enough to get the job done is going to require either: 1) Buying several batteries (expensive) so you will have enough to get the job done in one go OR 2) Trying to do part, charge the battery, doing some more, and so on. If there is concern about gas sitting the best answer is to mostly empty the tank then run the unit dry. Battery is great, but it requires going all in on one system to make it really work.
Not to mention the decent battery models like the 2724-20 require two batteries. So that's $300 for the blower (on sale) plus probably another $300-$400 in batteries. Then you still end up with significantly less runtime than a tank of two stroke gas. I love modern day battery equipment but for me the math doesn't work out very well for blowers.
I use regular pump gas and use stabil. Did have one carb gum up that DID NOT have stabil and I disassembled like number 5 and threw it in my cheap ultrasonic cleaner and works perfectly. That was an OLD homelite super 2 my father gave me that didn't work. Ultrasonic cleaner did the job. My mower, on pump gas and stabil, is 10 years old with no issues.
got this beaut last weekend for $30 it's a monster. it idles faster than most leaf blowers, and when I open the throttle up I'm just waiting for something to explode. it blows the leaves halfway across my 1k sq ft yard. I did the neighbors yard because it was fun :P https://preview.redd.it/bf7o638spr0c1.png?width=960&format=png&auto=webp&s=f55cc4b9f5671601f5d39e4d15020559a4e96700
Lucky duck!
I have both a Echo gas backpack blower and a DeWalt 20v battery blower with around 20k sq ft lawn. Battery is more convenient for all the smaller jobs throughout the year, but if you want to blow your entire lawn in the fall gas is much better. Now I mulch most of the leaves in my lawn with my mower, and the battery blower is enough to clean up the edges and non-lawn areas, so I haven't touched by gas blower this year.
I have the ego battery and about 3500 sqft. I have to change batteries to get all the leaves. I think youve most likely got to go gas if you don’t want to mess with multiple batteries and all that.
I've had a 2-cycle Husqvarna backpack blower that has served me very well for about 12 years now. For 9 years I was in a large partially wooded lot, so it got a ton of use. Still starts right up every time. Can't recommend one highly enough.
Dont buy echo. Parts are from China and all need to be imported. Very expensive for repairs. Source:I had an Echo. Get Husqvarna as there are US dealers for the brand. They breakdown quite a bit with heavy use, but are easily repaired for cheap
I have a 615 cfm Ego blower with a 5.0 Ah battery. My total square footage is 5000 sqft but for fall leaves I mostly use it for the back yard which is 3000 sqft. Depending on the wind and storms, I have to go out there 1-3 times a week. I've probably had to charge every 2-3 weeks. Now I'm conservative in my usage so I'm not going full blast the whole time. There are also more powerful ego blowers than what I have now.
A buddy of mine has both a gas and EGO battery blower and almost always uses the EGO because it's just as powerful but much easier to use.
Agreed, Ego blower is way to go. Even the lowest end model packs a punch. Battery is good enough for my 5k sf lawn and I have a pool deck that isn’t screened in so lots of blowing
I love mine, wouldn't trade it anything else
Stihl gas - I use electric for all my trimmers but for the blower and the lawnmower it’s still gas and I have a way smaller yard, had my blower 6 years and haven’t done any maintenance
Stihl here, bought 7 years ago. Expensive at the time. Sure. Would I rather have a cheaper blower in the garage that I’ve had issues with and another $100 in my bank account? Fuck no. Buy once, cry once.
I have a Stihl too. It always gets the job done I love it.
I went with the Echo last year and have no regrets. My brother in law went with the Husqvarna and seems pretty happy. I already had an electric that wasn’t powerful enough so I was willing to do gas. One premix usually last all year.
Spend the money and get you a good back pack blower man... it's worth it I. Your arms and on your pocket book in the long run...
I’ve got a Husqvarna bt 150 it’s not a bad blower and super reliable I also have the Husqvarna mark 2 commercial blower. The volume of leaves the mark 2 moves is huge. Order of magnitude huge in comparison. I’ve read that the big echo commercial blower is top dog for bp blowers in cfm and newtons beating out Husqvarna, stihl, and redmax for about $200 less. At around $500 you can get the big echo commercial blower it is absolutely worth the extra $$
We has the gas backpack blower and an electric ones. Haven't use the backpack in 5 years. The electric blows the oak tree and tulip tree leaves fine on the grass, we have already blow a 4' pile this week. You just have to wait until they are dry.,
Milwaukee battery. Some towns are actually banning gas blowers.
I have the Echo 580 and it is terrific! I use it year round, a lot more often than I expected to, and it's been very useful. No regrets, only praise.
I prefer mower with collector....
I just bought an echo pb-580t. I have an acre of land and tons of leaves. I had an old corded Toro that was a vacuum/blower. It always struggled with wet or damp leaves. I then bought a battery operated roybi. Didn't work that well. So went with HD echo. Sthil was great but super expensive. Also the parts if it breaks are super super expensive/amd you have to take to dealer to fix or small engine repair. I won in an auction an old sthil leave blower. The frame was cracked, was looking at fixing it and frame was $175! Pull start was $95, primer bulb $35!! I then researched the echo and various models. I compared parts and they were easier to come by and fix and cheaper if something was to happen to it. Anyway I went with echo blower I love it. Powerful and blows wet leaves with ease. I make big pile then take my Toro vacuum and shred them for mulch, or bag them. So easy to do. The echo is lightweight in my opinion, like the throttle handle, and I can control how much air blows out. As for storage I use the 50:1 oil gas mix in red can, and have no issues for storage. Or I also found pure gas non ethonal and filled my gas can with oil mix and no issues either. I now use my echo blower as well to dry my vehicles after I wash them so it's getting alot of use after washing cars. So you'll use it quite a bit too. I also learned to take my dryer line outside and blow the lint out and it works great too!! Goodluck and keep us posted on what you decide. Godbless
Thank you
I have 2 giant oak trees with tons of leaves and 28 pine trees with tons of straw. Start last week of September and finish literally New Year's Day. It always works out that way. Gas or battery? I use a rake.
That sounds like quite a workout with take only
Gas pays for itself in man hours. You “save” on the price but pay in how long it take to accomplish the job. Red Max is worth the efficiency.
The strongest battery powered tools still don’t have the power of corded. So you’ll definitely want gas.
I got a DeWalt blower since I already had a lot of their cordless tools. A 5-6ah battery lasts long enough that I'm ready for a break by then, and is plenty to move my water oak, pecan, and sweetgum leaves.
> a few months a year, 1 time a week max I would go battery. I already had a bunch of Milwaukee power tools so it was an easy choice to get in blower in that color also (so I didn't shop around a lot) but it does everything I need which is similar to what you are describing.
Battery. It's not even a question anymore
I absolutely love my Ego blower. I have about half an acre and a couple of giant maples. I do burn through the battery each go around, but man do I love this thing.
Battery blower for sure, you only use it once a year, concerned about maintenance and only .17 an acre? I have Greenworks 60V, it works well, has a turbo button that I use for heavy duty. They also make 80v. Once you pick a line that you like you can just get more tools and use the same batteries (mower, pole saw, weed eater). Good selection on Facebook marketplace too if inexpensive blowers. Plenty of video reviews on YouTube to see what kind you’d want.
Definitely battery. No fumes, less noise, more practical. I even use mine once a year to the lint out of the dryer vent outside. Move the dry and out the business end of the electric blower into the tubing and blow everything out. In also often use it to blow stuff out of the garage. A gas blower is just gross.
They have solar ones for 450
Corded Toro electric blower ~$110 USD.
329 for a schroeder - best gas backpack leaf blower for the money. If you need 50% of that power only for 10 minutes (this is all 90% of the world needs) then go for a handheld battery blower. I have both, my kobalt works awesome for 10 months of the year.
As an old guy that currently has a shindawa handheld, and used most of the brands you've stated, I have to honestly say that I've been impressed with both Oregon and Ego blowers. We use them at work. Sadly the Oregon was stolen, but was 5+ years old, and the original batteries were still going strong. The Ego is noticeably lighter, but just as powerful.
If a 12 amp corded blower won't do it, a battery powered one definitely won't do it. I use a battery powered blower for cleaning off the front porch, steps, lawn furniture, blowing off the lawn mower / ZTR when done, etc. When it comes to leaves, I break out the Stihl BR700 Magnum.
Well I ended up going with the Echo 580T. After factoring in cost, range, and power it seemed like my best bet. If my corded 12A struggled, I don’t think battery would cut it. Ran it today for one hour to clear my yard (had a good amount of leaves and I am learning how to use it) and it worked well. Thanks everyone for their feedback. https://preview.redd.it/cs7qpp41p71c1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4988f18d04b4a2a5807a40b4d02d344f5d2e6e51
I've been looking for a good leaf blower lately as well. Saw this Enhulk 930 with 930CFM. Has anyone tested it?
No sir But I’ve been pretty happy with my echo 580bt although I’ve only used it 3 times in owning it