I know what you are thinking, didn’t we take a look at the Makita XBU02? Good catch and that is a sign of a true TIA fan. So why are we looking at it again? Since we first took a look at this blower, we have seen a ton of blowers from different manufacturers come and go. We wanted to put it back on your radar for anyone looking for a true outdoor power tool line. So take a look at our Makita 36V Blower Review.
Makita 36V Blower Review – Overview
When it comes to Outdoor Power Equipment (OPE), it seems like every manufacturer has a tool to offer. Now when I say this, I am saying it with all respect. When it comes to OPE, I feel like most of them just offer the product to complement their line of tools and hopefully, people will buy their OPE tool and then start buying their power tools. It’s almost like when you used to buy power tool kits. They would have a kit of 4 tools and then toss in some cheap light to call it a 5 tool kit.
For me, Makita is different. I feel like their OPE tools are high-quality tools. They appear to invest time and money into the line and look at this as an extension, something they believe should be high quality. So as you guessed when people ask me who makes the best OPE tools for power tool companies, I immediately point them to Makita.
You may be wondering why you see two batteries that say 18V, but the article says it’s a 36V. Makita does something different that I wish all companies did. Instead of designing different volt batteries and requiring users to invest into different platforms, Makita thought differently. Why not have users invest in one battery platform? If it only requires one battery, that is how we will design the tool. However, for the high demand applications, they add another one to increase the watts or output. An awesome idea and another reason that Makita puts its users first.
Makita 36V Blower Review – Features
Makita started with a brushless motor and designed a two battery system around the motor. If you use two 5Ah batteries, you will get about 30 minutes of run time. Not bad at all for a high demand OPE tool.
The blower puts out 120 MPH of air flow with a volume of 473 CFM. So how does this stack up? Really depends upon the blower you are comparing it to and the battery platform. For this value from the Makita, it’s more than enough to blow leaves, even wet leaves, pine cones, sawdust and more.
I know some people like the narrow chute because it feels stronger, but on this Makita model, they use a wider nozzle, which I prefer. Less pushback and more coverage with the wider nozzle. I also love how you can adjust the length of the nozzle.
Makita 36V Blower Review – Performance
Is this blower going to blow down a brick house? No, but it might blow down a straw or stick house. The run time is awesome for such a high demand tool.
I didn’t feel much kick back and I am not trying to fight the tool everytime I pull the trigger. This is a nice welcome because I hate being tired after blowing off the lawn. I usually have a tired arm when I am half way done.
The intake is on the back of the blower, so you don’t feel it sucking your pants in or you don’t feel like the blower is trying to turn to the left or the right.
The speed dial and variable speed trigger work flawlessly and are easy to control. The one thing I can brag about this blower is the quality. Every time I use this blower, it just screams quality. The trigger is tight and the speed dial doesn’t have any play in it. It’s just one of the tools you pick up and feel like it will be something you will pass down to your kids.
While you can hear the blower, it’s not nearly as loud as other blowers we have tested (60.2 dB).
Makita 36V Blower Review – Value
There are blowers on the market that are cheaper and more expensive. I think Makita gives you a great value for this blower. You can pick this up at your local Home Depot. Now if you are just looking for a blower and nothing else, you can pick up a different manufacturer. But when it comes to a complete system, Makita dominates. Their string trimmer and chainsaw are also high quality. Couple that with a huge line of tools and how much you can expand, this blower offers a great value for performance and freedom of movement into other tools.
Makita 36V Blower Review – Final Thoughts
Overall I love this blower. I love the Makita platform and how I can just invest in one battery platform. The blower is powerful and has a great run time. The intake is on the back, so it’s not trying to stick to my pants. If you are looking into buying your first power tool line and OPE will be a factor, I don’t think there is a better choice than Makita. Makita has a huge line of power tools and their quiet OPE line is powerful and pleasing.
The Makita XBU02Z 36V blower is certainly the most used tool in my garage, but I use it as a sweeper. This article is a good opportunity for me to link a comparison I did a while back between this and the EGO 56v 530cfm.
http://forum.toolsinaction.com/index.php?/topic/7663-makita-36v-blower-xbu02z/&do=findComment&comment=144809
Thanks for putting this link in. I remember reading the comparison a while back and you did a great job. Thanks for sharing.
I have this unit and love it. I use it year round, including clearing light snow off my walks, or blowing snow off my truck, in the winter. One of my neighbors commented that I look like the tasmanian devil when doing that. Doesn’t work well for heavy wet snow, but for everything else it sure beats using a shovel or broom.
Works well and yes very nice instead of grabbing a shovel