[Shop-talk] Leaf blower issues...need the elders' advice

[Peter Murray]

I had a Troy-Bilt 4-cycle "engine on a stick" that came with a blower and
weed whacker attachments. I liked the concept enough that I purchased the
rototiller and pole saw attachments.

Flash forward 4 years or so, and I had similar issues with the engine, and
eventually took it to a small engine shop that disassembled it, declared it
"partially seized" and gave it back to me as a pile of parts.

Needless to say, I was underwhelmed both by their attitude about it and by
the lack of longevity with the device, especially given the investment in
attachments.

I ended up buying a Stihl "engine on a stick", and was quite happy to
discover that it was perfectly compatible with the Troy-Bilt attachments.
It is a two-stroke, but it uses a very high fuel:oil ratio, so it isn't too
bad on the stink-factor.

That made me happy enough that I ended up buying a Stihl MS250 chainsaw.
Unfortunately, it leaks bar oil like a sieve, so I need to take it back to
Ace Hardware and have them take care of that.

As far as battery-powered blowers are concerned, I think the 40V+ blowers
will give you plenty of volume and reasonable longevity. Get a second
battery if you're concerned it won't last long enough. I wouldn't advise it
for clearing a 0.5 acre lawn with lots of trees, but the Ryobi 40V my
parents have does quite well. My 18V Ryobi ONE+ blower doesn't have nearly
the output nor the longevity - but it only came with a 2Ah battery. The 4Ah
battery would certainly help it run longer, but it still lacks the oomph
for heavier amounts of leaves.

-Peter


On Sat, Oct 24, 2020 at 2:00 PM Jimmie Mayfield <
mayfield+shoptalk at sackheads.org> wrote:

> You have to look at the battery size. You can't simply compare amp-hours
> because, unlike most power tools where 12V and 18V are pretty much
> standard across different manufacturers, outdoor power equipment uses a
> variety of voltages...18V, 36V, 40V, 56V, 60V, 80V...and I think there
> are a few 120V designs out there now.  Instead, you can compare
> Watt-hours which is the amount of energy the battery contains.
>
> For example, my 5Ah 56V Ego batteries contain about 280 Watt-hours of
> energy, a 12Ah 18V Milwaukee battery contains 216 Watt-hours, etc.
>
> Runtime also depends on how hard you drive the motor.  If you're running
> them at wide-open, they're not going to last very long because their
> brushless motors can draw a lot of power.  I've read that Ego's motors
> are rated north of 2000 Watts.  So based on those numbers, I could
> probably expect less than 10 minutes at wide open ~600 cfm from the
> blower.  The reality, though, I rarely find that I need to run it wide
> open. Leaves a foot-deep would  would probably be a problem though,
> especially if they're wet.
>
> Here's an alternate solution that I use...even on my lawn:  use a
> pressure washer with the fan spray nozzle.   I find that it works far
> better and faster than any leaf blower that I've ever used, gas or
> otherwise.  It's also effective for slowing traffic on my street as
> drivers do a double-take to watch the guy pressure-washing his lawn.
>
>
> On 2020-10-24 11:46, Scott Hall wrote:
> > What's the endurance of those battery blowers? The driveway is
> > probably 400 feet all in, plus maybe 1000 sq. ft. of parking pad in
> > front of the garage.
> >
> > In the summers it's just grass clippings after mowing.  Right now, it
> > can get at least a foot deep in leaves.
> >
> > (The lot is oddly-shaped and they put the house towards the back of it.)
>
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