Recs for battery powered leaf (utility) blowers?

[wahoowad]

I want a battery powered "leaf" blower for small, fast jobs where fueling up my gas-power backpack is more time consuming than the chore at hand. I'm not going to clean up my lawn, instead doing odd jobs like a quick cleaning of my deck or the gutters or like today where I just wanted to blow the dust off my riding lawnmower.

Anybody use one they recommend? I'd pay up to $150 for a reliable model with a battery that won't fail within a year.

 

[xman23]

I don't have one. Do they make one that works. You see that one on TV, it looks useless to me. I had a electric Toro for years. It blew a lot of air and was decent for the deck. You can do leaves with it, but not much. I have a red max 7200 back pack. I say you can blow bricks with it, not quite but it's good. So easy to start and run around the house with. Blows the deck of and dry's the motorcycle and cars in seconds.

 

[TreePointer]

I've used various gas powered and corded electric blowers but never battery powered. I just did a search and saw a bunch of them that I never knew existed. Interesting.

 

[wahoowad]

The more I look into them the more I am having second thoughts on battery power. I want the convenience and low maintenance aspect of battery power, but the prices are near the same for a decent gas powered one and I don't have to worry about a $75 replacement battery in a year or two. That said, I do think Lithium ion battery technonology allows the batteries to last longer (runtime as well as life of unit) and was hoping someone was going to be able to comment. My last few battery powered tools all started to fail at the end of a year and they bleed ya for the replacement.

At least the manufacturers are now making the gas powered ones easier to start, and I can run it on those cans of pre-mix fuel which should help the carb and avoid any ethanol issues from limited use. I am going to go look at the Stihl one today.

 

[TreePointer]

I have a Stihl Kombi KM-90R with multiple attachments including the blower. It's more expensive than entry level gas and electric blowers, but it's very easy to start. If the homeowner units are just as easy to start, then I'd have no reservations in getting one.

I actually use it very often for what you intend to do--quick jobs and to blow off my lawn tractor after every use.

 

[wahoowad]

I went ahead and bought want I originally wanted - a lightweight cordless blower. I found a combo blower and weed whacker at Lowes on sale so bought it. It is the Worx 20V Lithium Ion Cordless blower and so far it has worked great.

It isn't going to handle cleaning up a yard full of leaves but I didn't expect it to either. It has done a great job blowing sawdust and leaf debris from my garage and also my deck. I haven't tried the weed whacker part and am not going to expect much from it, although I only have a few feet of fencerow where grass grows so it should do fine.

I read some online reviews where people expected the blower to run for an hour on a single charge . It is probably more like 15 minutes, but my small jobs are rarely longer than 3 or 4 minutes so it is going to work great provided the batteries last.

 

[pma1123]

Congrats on your purchase. You'll love that worx weed wacker also. I battle the pine-rows and multiple outbuildings with mine; granted use is On/off but it goes strong for 35-45mins. I must say, it really packs a punch for some little 2lb battery powered job.

 

[wahoowad]

You are right, I did use the weed wacker yesterday and was pleasantly surprised at the performance!

 

[pma1123]

I agree on the battery powered stuff. I think the Lithium ion batteries are a big step ahead of the old NiCads. I'm on 2 years with mine thus far and original battery; I do store it in the house during the winter so I don't have an expensive surprise. I don't always fully discharge before a recharge either. I'm sure like many cellphones, over time the battery will develop a memory as it gradually degrades.

But if somebody was looking for a nice lightweight trimmer that their wife could also use, this gets my vote.
The batteries are somewhat expensive to replace or purchase additional, but there is no gas smell, noise, starting issues, or weight to contend with. It also folds-down and takes up no more room than a broom hanging on the wall for those who are space-challenged.