Not too long ago Ridgid announced another cool tool for their Gen5 platform, the Job site blower. This blower is powered by their 18V batteries and the model number is R860430B. A lot of companies are coming out with job site blowers, so there are many to choose from.
The Ridgid is a little different as they claim it’s a compact blower, which now after seeing, it does appear to be one of the smallest 18V blowers on the market. As you can see by the picture, it does have a different or rather unique handle design, which turns out to be pretty nice. The handle has a Hex Grip micro texture (their wording), it does provide a nice grip and makes the tool more comfortable. I like how the handle sits right above the motor and battery. I am not sure how to explain this, but it just seems easier to use with this type of design. I guess because the battery and motor, which is a bulk of the weight, is right under your hand. The trigger is a variable speed trigger and does have a good amount of resistance. Not that it’s hard, but it’s just easy to use the variable speed trigger and keep a constant speed. I do wish it had cruise control or a feature to lock the trigger into place.
The blower produces 280 CFM (0-100 MPH, 0-11,000 RPM), so you can easily blow away heavy or wet items. With a run time of 20 minutes, you pretty much can clean up most areas with a single charge. The blower’s intake is on the back of the tool, so you don’t have to worry about your clothing covering it up and trying to get sucked in. I do like the inline air system much better than the side intakes.
The nozzle is about 11″ while the whole tool is only about 23″. When we have done other blowers with shorter nozzles, some people have complained. After using this, I am still torn between a short or long nozzle. I do like the small nozzle because it is easy to maneuver, however sometimes it would be nice to have the longer nozzle for more direction of air flow. Hey you know what I just thought of? Wouldn’t it be great if they had the small nozzle, but also included a longer nozzle. This way you can switch to whatever nozzle you wanted.
All in all this is a great little blower. It’s powerful and easy to carry around. The run time is great and I really like the whole set up. Bottom line, it’s nice to see Ridgid add to their Gen5 line of tools as they have all been better than expected.
That unique handle has existed on the ryobi 40v blower for quite some time.
Nice looking blower. Is it on sale yet? I looked at my HD and they didn’t have it. Nice looking though and would be on my list to replace my corded blower.
Love the balance of this newer style blower. I am using mine to make a hovercraft. Also rigid has the BEST warranty.
This thing had double the run time of the worx one you did, not as powerful though. So many blowers to choose from. The thing is with every manufacturer selling blowers, are you going to start a new battery platform for a blower? Probably not, these are nice if you already have that battery pack. Ryobi was one of the first to have lawn equipment on their power tool battery platform. Slowly everyone is adopting that now.
I got 2 of these and they’re really nice. Very similar to the Ryobi 40v model, but the Ryobi model has way more power.
Ridgid battery life is excellent.