Poll on Leaf Blower Brands

[jymie]

There has been discussion about leaf blowers. So here is a poll on brands. Which brand is the best one for your business? Which model number best suites your business needs? Stihl Husqvarna Echo Homelite Ryobi

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[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

For those of you who have used multiple brands, what do you like about your current brand and what didnt you like about your previous brand?

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[picframer]

Originally Posted by Steve

For those of you who have used multiple brands, what do you like about your current brand and what didnt you like about your previous brand?

Good Question, for me everything has to start super simple, in the summer one of up to 15 staff could be starting something so I like a first pull start. This spring every one of the Stihl trimmers, brush saws and back pack blowers started on the first or second pull.

Down time - with the Stihl's we have finished our second season and not one issue, these blowers receive a major workout as they are used for clean up of wood chipping, lawns etc.

Noise - I find this 4 MIX engine super quiet and amazing power, we run the BR600 Magnum's

Service - Should something go wrong, Deere is my dealer for Stihl, I haven't had to take any of the Stihl stuff in but people in the lawn care business that does business with them, gets top priority and they carry a lot of parts. The other thing is they give you a demo while your piece of equipment is being fixed. In our business we can not afford down time.

Power - The Velocity of these things is 201 m/h.

Attachments - whatever attachment we need they seem to have it and they are all quick connect.

Comfort - I will admit I do not personally use a blower often but I did last fall when we were big into leaf collection, I could wear a blower for 7++ hours, very comfortable.

Before this business I had other brands as I didn't think I needed anything expensive, OMG I wish I would have bought on of these 20 years ago.

[MAKLawnCutter]

I am with Picfamer on this one, my choice is STIHL all the way. I have a piece of equipment that is 6 years old and took it in due to blowing the gear box on the edger. They replaced it for free due to some manufacturing problem? Six years later? Yeah, six years later. All of my blowers, edgers and weed-eaters are STIHL. I run ONE Shindiawa Multi Kit due to the fact i CANT blow it up it seems. I even ran raw fuel through it once, on accident... still runs like a beast.

STIHL ALL THE WAY!

Matt

[mark123]

I'll hang myself before I ever buy a Stihl again. The only thing it was good for was working out my trapezius muscles from pulling the starter line 300 times to get it running. I have a 10 year old Echo and I'll buy another. I don't really care about other people's experience with them, I wouldn't take one for free.

[Martywdx]

Blowers are my number one headache. I used box store blowers for years, $89. I got about 2 years out of one before it quit. Usually carburetor problems. Repairing/servicing them would cost more then a new one. So I just junked and bought new. Then 2 years ago I bought a Stihl $249 BG65.I don't know if its a commercial model or not. Worked great.Lots of power started first or second pull. Then leaf time rolls around this year, and you guest it carb started acting up. same as the cheepo one. So I take it for repair. $69 for a plug,air and fuel filter(which I replaced this spring) and a carb diaphragm. It worked for about 2 weeks, then one day it lost power died and wouldn't start. So I just bought a new carb ($35)for it and changed it myself. It worked great threw the end of the season. My thinking is when it goes down again I'll just buy a cheepo one......

[Mattcrump]

Im not sure what model numbers I have but we have the biggest Stihl and the biggest Echo back packs that are on the market and they are amazing. Never have any problems and they are especially good for cleaning out gutters around this time of year.

[jymie]

I notice that backpacks blower seem to pack a higher punch in MPH as opposed to handheld blowers. Is there a handheld blower on the market that will reach above 200 mph?

[picframer]

Originally Posted by jymie

I notice that backpacks blower seem to pack a higher punch in MPH as opposed to handheld blowers. Is there a handheld blower on the market that will reach above 200 mph?

While we do not use the hand helds as the properties we look after are simply too large, I looked at them once for a specific task, I recall in was in the 150 range in Stihl, Redmax had one in the 170 range however there is no service or dealer in the city I live in.