BR600/Best of the 'snow' blowers?

[RunIt]

I'm one my second one of these and enjoy the fact that they're light, pretty easily/quickly thrown across your body when angling the tube and the fact that they're high volume (vs pressure) so that you don't make a mess. If there is a better solution for detailed blowing I'd like to hear about it. I also like that you can switch it over to one shoulder when there's dicey footing/icy slopes so that you don't become a statistic (or at least one that is a little less banged up).

What I don't like is the (end of) tube wear. Pretty thin on purpose I suppose and I'm sick of replacing them. Has anybody came up with a coupling or even self-made totally different design that doesn't screw with the back pressure too much or effect the engine negatively?

It's amazing to me that you don't see more of these being used in passing (granted it's dangerous)
on snow before it turns in to something else. I used to want to know what machine might be better than the others in terms of design or quality. Now I've pretty much accepted the fact that this model has probably etched itself in to my overall posture and that anything else would never feel right. Oh and I like the fact that it never gives me a fit whether it sits outside or not and simply runs (could be the OEM oil as I run Shell regular with more than a double dose of Stabil added; plus whatever the oil has).

 

[ANewSawyer]

I think that most of the bigger units probably could do it but I guess it is highly dependent on the condition of the snow. There is a video on youtube of some guys blowing snow with husky 580.

 

[RunIt]

We had 6" or so of wet stuff yesterday and I think that most would be surprised at how effective a larger blower is early in the morning. Often you don't go all the way down to pavement yet hit it a few hours later and it's completely dry a few hours after that. For vehicles, nothing beats it in my opinion.
Very surprised that more on here don't have issues with the BR600 crooked extension tube/end as at least 'I' notice the difference when it is replaced (or how high the wand lifts when you take your hand off of it). Not much (seemingly) is worn away before performance suffers.

Hope that I did not come off as an advertisement for Stihl or their blowers. I have had problems with them as well that were documented here and thankfully resolved at the dealership.

If there are others that do the job better and are just as light (or close) and ergonomically easier to handle I'm all ears. By far my most used tool in terms of overall quantity of work done around the property next to my mower.