Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

As part of my latest OPE Madness,   I've been thinking about a backpack blower. It seemed to me that a handheld would become tiresome on the arm if used for an extended period of time and a backpack would fit the bill. While in HD today I came across an ECHO 40 cc reconditioned blower that was laying on the floor unopened. I never tried one on before and thought, what the heck. Man, I was suprised at the weight and how it felt. I found as I walked around with it that I was bending forward to counter act the weight of the blower. This in itself seems like it would be tiresome.  Now I admit, I'm only 5'4" and 144 lbs, but I'm no weakling. I liked the idea of a backpack blower, but not sure if thats the direction I want to go in now. Any opinions or suggestions as to a lighter machine or alternative are appreciated. I figure at worst if I buy one, I could hook up a dual tube to the back and fly around the neighborhood.

                                                  Thanks,  Kevin

If you drop down to the 23 - 25cc blowers the weights about cut in half. 23-24lbs is pretty heavy.

I used a backpack blower when I used to work at Hovander park and your hand and arm still gets tired using it the same way with a regular blower. If the backpack blower is too much for you to handle than my best advice is to just buy a 140MPH regular blower

Hi AJace. They wanted $210. Normally $299. Tag said it was reconditioned. It was a 44cc model as pictured here.

Kevin

Marshall wrote:

Hi Marshall. That model, the PB-403 runs about 21lbs, the next model down, the PB-260L runs close to 15 lbs. Do the 25 cc units have enough push in them though? Will it fly me around the house.  LOL.  I'm just starting to check these out so I have some researching to do. I was just suprised when I strapped it on how it felt.
                                                                                                                                  Kevin

Kevin,
I have a little 2100 Shred and Vac. It is a hand held. It's light, blows and sucks well, steel shredder, runs pretty smooth. It is no problem to use for an hour or more. It's size and weight make it very convienent, I use it all the time. If you don't use a blower for several hours at a time, you might want to look at something that is easier to use. That way you will use it, Does that make sense?

I, like Rob, have the Shread-N-Vac ES 2400, it blows! 

robmints wrote:

Hi Robmints. Yes, that does make sense. LOL.  It's nice to see "blows and sucks" in a positive light. These are the Echo Shred and Vacs on their site. I assume they both have the steel shredder.

ES 210

ES230

Kevin

I have a BP200 and it BLOWS too

Hi Brian. So I guess the Echo's really blow. Sometimes they suck. Hows yours for extended use?

I had a handheld blower and gound it very tiring after not too long.  Wasn't crazy about the vibration either.  I finally sold it at a garage sale and have been looking for a backpack blower since.  The one I wanted was teh Echo PB360L with the separate throttle arm but couldn't pass up the bargain on the Husqvarna 145BT I picked up a week or so ago.  I have yet to use it, or for that matter try it on (I will post when I finally do use it).

There are a number of backpack blowers out there and I'd imagine their comfort is a fucntion of not only the weight but as is the case in using a backpack for hiking, the placement of the weight and the design of the straps.

When I see the local professional lawn care companies, they typically don't use the backpack blower for more than cleaning up which doesn't take all that long so I don't see comfort as a big concern to them.  They want reliability and power to get the job done and get it done quickly.  If there are large areas to clear, they tend to use walk behind blowers and fihish up with backpacks.

I guess you need to consider how long you will be weaing it as well as how it feels when it's on.  If you plan on using it for an hour straight, I'd still rather be carrying the weight on my back than holding it in a hand.

Also, don't just look at MPH.  CFM really tells how much air the machine will move.  Theoretically, you can get air blowing 250 MPH out of a straw but it won't move that much material.

LL