Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Outdoor Power Equipment). This thread is read-only.
i need a new leaf blower to blow leaves, pine cones, and pine needle. the lawn is very big. i have used a craftsman 3-1 push blower but it died last fall. what are some advantage and disadvantage of having a backpacked vs a push blower?
You probably will have better maneuverability and control with a back pack blower. With a push mower you would have the weight on your back so you won’t have as much fatigue. You probably would use a back pack blower more often on other chores like regular lawn work to cleaning out gutters
we do have 2 hills to deal with and we have leaf guard on the gutters.
Backpack blower without a doubt. Thats the most comfortable way of working like PROTOOLNUT has said. Husqvarna has the most powerfull backpack blowers of all brands.
Personally i’m a 4 stroke fan.
This is a backpack 4 stroke blower with a quality Robin Subaru 4-stroke Engine. 4-strokes do not have thesame peak power as a 2 stroke but with 526 CFM / 195 MPH this modle gives you plenty of power of what you will want to do with it. In fact, the city of Antwerp here in Belgium, One of our biggest cities with big harbour, has thrown out all of their Stihl equipment and started replacing them with Makita 4 stroke units ( for blowers/ brushcutters /etc… )
Why a 4 stroke?
Easiest starting ever. The laziest pull will start these engines ( many movies to be found on this in youtube ) .
No more mixing fuel/oil. 4 strokes like this run on normal automobile gasoline. Once in a year you buy a new bottle of 4 stroke motor oil and replace the oil in the unit.
Alot cheaper in use: You’re not burning/using oil and 4 Stroke engines use about 20% less gasoline then the modern Strato/X-torque / 2 mix / whatever 2 stroke engines.
More durable: Lower RPM’s to function, Dedicated oiling instead of mixed fuel/oil mix and 3 piston rings.
Better noise: 4 strokes produce a lower sound which is much nicer to hear. Not the high pitched whine of a 2 stroke engine.
Less exhaust: 4 stroke engines produce alot less exhaust and smell ( since they use less gasoline / have valves / dont burn oil. )
The negatives?
Once a year $10 for a new bottle of 4-stroke oil and 10 minutes of your time to replace the oil
Not the most powerfull blower available. That one still goes to husqvarna ( altho those husqvarna’s also Weigh alot more )
At around about 200 hours of use ( in practical terms when you start hearing alot more noise or you feel a loss in power ) the valves will need to be adjusted. Again: 20 minutes of your time and a youtube movie will let you do that yourself or a Makita/ dolmar dealer where you live can help you with that.
Cheers 🙂
this is what i had before http://www.sears.com/craftsman-190cc-4-n-1-plus-chipper-shredder-yard/p-07177013000P. i never used the vacuum. i am still deciding, but my biggest concern is that the backpack blower will be to much weight on my back and the amount of walking i would be doing. the good thing about my old blower was that i was done in about 20-30min. my feeling with the backpack is that it will take me longer.
i am going with a backpack blower
i have a local outdoors equipment store near me and they sell sthil product and other stuff.
Sthil makes great products and is used my most lawn care guys around.. I don’t think you will go wrong with any of their stuff..
Husqvarna also makes great products. I personally have the Husqvarna 350bt and it has worked great for me over the last 7 or 8 years. Not one problem with it
You will find one that works for you spec and price wise and just go for it.. anything over around $300 should be a solid machine
I just bought a new Echo PB580 for cleanup after mowing and as a backup if the big blower goes down in the fall. Great little blower with a ton of power and relatively well priced at about 300.
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I’d go for a backpack blower, but get a good one. *cough STIHL cough*
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The BR600 is a good blower. Just depends on what your needs are I guess, but you can’t go wrong with a Stihl that’s for sure.optimistspencer wrote:
I’d go for a backpack blower, but get a good one. *cough STIHL cough*
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i use a redmax Ebz 8050. I notcied it is what all the local landscapers use in my area. I went with the larger one to handle dry snow.
It is a beast and works great with leaf clean up and for clearing the driveway and walks when there is only a few inches of snow.
here my new blower i just got
this is a nice early birthday present. my b-day is in 2 weeks
That looks like a nice one! What did it set you back?
the place where we got said if we bought the special oil we would get a 4 year warranty for $530 vs a standard 2 year warranty for $499. i went with the 4 year warranty
I picked up the Ryobi (click) last year and so far have no complaints. 185mph, 510cfm, $199, 3 year warranty.
Better than the little Ryobi ONE plus blower that thing had zero power!!! It was convenient though!!
it is a stihl 600 model with synthetic oil. because we have never used synthetic oil we also bought a no spill gas can just for the blower. when we tried it out the the equipment store it was very loud and it was pulling the grass out of there lawn.
Nice blower man! Does it require synthetic, or was that your choice?
synthetic oil
i did not know that it will burn cleaner. thanks for some of the maintenance tips
Ask your stihl dealer to show you how to do the Valve adjustments. It’s an easy 5 minute job you can do yourself really 🙂
I think there may even be some videos on YouTube showing how to do it. Not a very hard job.kornomaniac wrote:
Ask your stihl dealer to show you how to do the Valve adjustments. It’s an easy 5 minute job you can do yourself really 🙂
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And when your neighbors and relatives figure out you can work on power equipment, they will drive you crazy!
That’s no shit!Conductor562 wrote:
And when your neighbors and relatives figure out you can work on power equipment, they will drive you crazy!
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I know the purchase has been made but I wanted to give my +1 for the Husqvarna. I love mine and it does a great job.
Highly recommend any Stihl blower. You can’t go wrong, great power. [emoji41]
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[quote name=”PROTOOLNUT” post=”72273″ timestamp=”1437858466″
Now, beings you bought a 4-stroke, are you aware about the valve adjustment after so many rated hours? I assume you will be taking the blower into your Stihl dealership for service right? Just make sure to change your oil after the first 5 hours of use, and every 50-hours of use after. And replace your sparkplug at least once every 2 years. The Br 600 has a 4 mix engine,you mix your oil and gas just like you would for a 2 stroke engine so no oil changes needed.It does have valves and I think its around 120 hrs of run time that stihl recommends adjustment and stihl highly recommends the synthetic oil for all there 4 mix engines.Great blower,I’ve had mine for a few years now with no problems