Leaf blower suggestions?

OK, so I do have plenty of trees at my house which means my lawn has gone from green with brown spots to yellow, red and more brown of a new shade. A quick on-line reading tells me that an electric leaf blower will tend to be at least as good as a gas powered model for a homeowner grade, but which ones have you guys used and been happy with the results? Until now I have always used a simple rake but it seems that a leaf blower would save me a lot of time. If I can get leaves to the curb in piles the village will take care of the rest. They come around about once a week with a large vacuum truck.

 

I have a smaller 1 handed gas powered Weed Eater that is okay for small jobs like keeping walkways clear of leafs and grass clippings but when it comes to cleaning up a few acres around the cottage and hunt camps, we went with the bigger is better motto and picked up the Stihl BR 600 backpack blowers. We now have 2 at the cottage (they work great with 2 guys walking side by side) and now 3 at my one hunt camp (we leaf blow several miles of trails around the property). Depending on the area and/or amount of leaves, the bigger unit can do in minutes what the smaller unit will do in an hour.

 

Echo PB-250LN leaf blower | Firewood Hoarders Club

 

How large of an area are you looking to remove leaves from? Are there a lot of leaves? A pic may be helpful.

An electric blower is not too powerful. They are okay for a quick cleanup or a small lawn. I mostly use an electric blower for drying vehicles after I wash them.

I had a homeowner gas handheld and it way more power than my electric. Once I got a little pile of leaves I wanted a bigger blower. I wore that blower out and got a Stihl BR600. It blows leaves better at an idle than my old handheld! I recently got a BR550 and I am amazed at how much more power the BR600 has.

 

And now they have the BR700... you won't be disappointed with a large stihl blower, either the 600 or 700.

 

If a backpack is too big, look at the stihl bg86 (or its new model equivalent as they may have changed it).

It's the biggest hand held gas offered, is lightweight, and will have your yard clean before you can untangle the extension cord

 

I have an Echo PB 643 (60+cc) that I love, quite heavy but a workhorse notheless. I have also used the Stihl BR series and don't think there is anything that compares in power to weight ratio.

I would avoid an electric or battery op .... Just sayin'

 

I bought a Stihl BR-200 for my wife to use , it's much lighter than the larger Stihls and almost as powerful, I highly recommend it.
After 2 or 3 tanks of gas with a BR-600 my legs are aching, so then I switch to the lighter one.

 

+1 on the Echo 250 ... comes with a consumer 5 year warranty, too

 

What I am looking at cleaning up is my front yard in town. It is an area about 85 feet wide but only about 35 feet deep. I do have a mature Norway maple and a mature sugar maple the feed that area so there are lots of leaves but not a huge area to clear.

 

I think you were on the right right track with an electric blower especially since it sounds like you keep up with the leaves weekly. When you look for a blower CFM is more important than MPH. Something with 400CFM should do pretty good. Another option would be a battery powered blower. Some even use the same battery as power tools. I would not worry getting one with a mulcher. The mulchers are painfully slow and frustrating to use. Also if you get a blower from Lowes or Home Depot and it does not meet your expectations they will take it back.

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I have a lot of leaves, most of my yard cleaning I use the backpack blower.
I found for the simple quick jobs blowing off the driveway or the deck it was a hassle getting the big blower so I bought one of these Worx 120 MPH 80 CFM 32-Volt Lithium-Ion Cordless Sweeper/Leaf Blower with Air Accessories-WG575.1 - The Home Depot I didn't pay that much because I got it in a kit with a weed Wacker, anyway it works good for easy stuff but leaves in the grass it's useless.
I think something like this would get the job done for what you need with no gas and no chords, but you would definitely need to buy an extra battery Worx 125 MPH 465 CFM 56-Volt Max Lithium-Ion Cordless Turbine Leaf Blower-WG591 - The Home Depot

 

I bought a Stihl backpack blower 16 years ago. It works great for cleaning up leaves, but owning it, I have found many other uses-blowing snow from walks and vehicles, cleaning up grass after mowing, and feathering out grass clippings on the lawn, and some I can't think of right now. If it ever breaks, I'll buy another immediately.

 

They work okay for blowing gravel out of the grass after plowing snow.

 

If yer thinking at all about buying, with hard-earned cash money, a 2-stroke blower, do look at Leaf Blowers & Vacuums : VMInnovations.com before perusing price tags at yer stihl local. Save yerself some beer-money. (VMI prices includes shipping.)
Got a BT150 5 yrs back from them for $225, use it a lot, still like new. Savings went elsewhere. Would go for smaller for your yard.

 

Ever thought about using your mower to mulch them leaves back into the yard? Just a thought.

 

If I was willing to spend the money, I would get a walk behind push model. That one won't leave you deaf or exhaust you.

 

In this case a small blower will work, it just may take you a few extra minutes. I would still recommend a gas over electric, however if you do go electric, there are some handy blower/vac/mulcher models out there. If you are bagging and putting to the curb, these vac mulchers reduce the leaf litter by 15x. Simply blow the leaves into a pile, then vacuum and mulch them up. I picked up a unit from Canadian Tire on sale for my wife but she found it a little heavy so I returned it. A bagger on a mulching lawnmower would do a similar job.

 

Very happy with my Husky 350BT. Pretty light, powerful, easy to start

 

I use my Husqvarna 125vbx for fast cleanups after mowing, etc.
I use my Husqvarna 570BFS a lot in Fall and Spring. Cleans leaves, gravel and light snow very well. Like them both. Very dependable and never fail to start.