Doing a base gasket delete on a backpack blower?

[ANewSawyer]

Well my 150BT and me are up to our knees in leaves, literally. Sheesh, I didn't realize that I would be dealing with this many leaves! I just seems like they all fell at once. First thing on the to do list is limb up my trees to reduce the number of leaves. Second is a couple of trees that I want rid of. I really thought the 150BT would be enough blower with the muffler mod. It does fine until we get to about 6" of leaves. From there I am quickly, literally, up to my knees in leaves. The 150bt starts to struggle to move those big piles. I can, with patience, move the piles but they tend to disintegrate and go everywhere as I try to blow them onto tarps. I can't move the whole pile, so I section it. And it goes everywhere, as I said before. Maybe that will happen with any blower. IDK. Probably operator error! I'd like a bigger backpack blower but I am not sure I want to spend my money on a Redmax 8500/Husqvarna 580BTS yet. I am really wanting a KM130 so I would like to make it through this season with the 150BT.

I am looking for gains. MPH is good. I think I need CFM. Is that something engine mods will add? I plan to repull the muffler and finish gutting it. There is still some remains of a deflector that I ground most of away. I have pulled the limiters and retuned already. Can I do a base gasket delete on this puppy or am I wasting my time? It has one of those narrow spark plug holes. How would I get the solder in there to measure squish? Any suggestions?

 

[backhoelover]

the coil on that blower will only let it rev so high

 

[backhoelover]

buy a new br450 with the push start option

 

[ANewSawyer]

the coil on that blower will only let it rev so high

On both my Husqvarna 525LS and 150BT I have noticed that after I tune yea-so-lean, the revs seems to just stop changing. I don't think the rev limiter is kicking in because I don't hear any missing/four stroking. I just stop hearing a rev change. I don't think I am the best ear tuner but I like to think I can tell when the engine isn't running right.

That push button start Stihl. I can get either a Shindaiwa EB802 or a Redmax/Husqvarna for just about the same money. I don't think I am going to regret buying the biggest BP blower. I am not exactly a homeowner in use. I have way more leaves than most city dwellers will see in their natural lifespan.

 

[MrGiggles]

I don't think any mods you can do will increase the output by much. I don't know much about blowers, but I think you'd have to mess with the fan in the blower to fully take advantage of any power gained. Like adding more pitch to a boat propeller.

 

[ANewSawyer]

I understand what you are saying because I was reading about variable pitch propellers in an aviation book.

 

[Franny K]

Have you tried chopping them up and blowing/moving them with a riding lawn mower? Using a rake to load the tarp might be better. If you want to actually move large masses of leaves the four cycle engine things on wheels seem more the tool for the job. Why not put this in the proper section?

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Just do what I do... wait till it gets windy and blows all the leaves over to the neighbors yard.

 

[Moparmyway]

A base gasket delete and port clean up can help, but probably wont alleviate your situation.
You know the answer, you already spit out them out in your post.

IMHO, its tougher trying to avoid the obvious than if you would just throw in the towel and get the big CFM RedMax ............ its what I did and I havent looked back since

 

[ANewSawyer]

Have you tried chopping them up and blowing/moving them with a riding lawn mower? Using a rake to load the tarp might be better. If you want to actually move large masses of leaves the four cycle engine things on wheels seem more the tool for the job. Why not put this in the proper section?

It is hard to chop them up with the riding lawn mower when the leaves get deeper than the highest deck setting. I would have to mow every two to three days at most. Even then I don't have/can't get a mulch kit for my mower. It is so old the model number tag fell off. Yes I guess one of those wheeled things would work but the ones I have looked at are quite expensive.

Just do what I do... wait till it gets windy and blows all the leaves over to the neighbors yard.

Some of them do blow off but I don't want to do that to my neighbor, cause I wouldn't want somebody to do it to me!

 

[ANewSawyer]

A base gasket delete and port clean up can help, but probably wont alleviate your situation.
You know the answer, you already spit out them out in your post.

IMHO, its tougher trying to avoid the obvious than if you would just throw in the towel and get the big CFM RedMax ............ its what I did and I havent looked back since

Sigh, I hear what you are saying but I don't know when I will use it after I finish these leaves. I am about half done. If I get buried again, I may be tempted. Seriously, I am planning to make a trip to the local dealers and see which feels best on my back.

 

[beaglebriar]

Dude.... Get a lawn sweeper.

 

[ANewSawyer]

Really, the problem is I need a better way to transport the leaves. I am currently staking an 8x10 tarp down and blowing the leaves onto it. Then I grab the four corners and carry it across a highway to some woods. That is what is taking the time. If only my lawn mower would pull a large dump cart. Maybe then I could throw a couple of tarps on the dump cart.

 

[PartnerR16]

If your looking for a decent BP for the money,get the Echo 580T,nothing in it's class for the displacement and MPH that I know of. For mods delete the base gasket which will pump the compression to 155PSI, you have to rip open the muffler carefully for gutting,there are several areas that need addressing in increasing exhaust flow and you have be careful in opening up the exit or throttle response and control will be lost at lower RPMs,these PB aren't chainsaws. The carb is fully adjustable but you have to grind the aluminum away for the H&L adjusters to make them accessible for fine tuning. This BP runs cooler, puts out more air volume or MPH than stock and is more efficient in fuel consumption.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Leaf vac is what you need, like this:

this HTML class. Value is http://www.russopowe

 

[Onan18]

Walker, done.


Joe

 

[ANewSawyer]

EBZ8500 is on sale at my local dealer. The deal is $50 off. It was supposed to end 10/31/15 but the dealer said Redmax extended it because sales have been slow.

 

[nitehawk55]

If you do have a lawn tractor I used to run in a circle to gather a pile then pulverize them by running over them and turning them into mulch .

No gains modding a blower and if you were to up them you could push the blower fan past it's limits .

 

[JRHAWK9]

I love my 580........I went out and blew leaves the morning right after it rained all night. Not a problem. We also live in the middle of the woods.

 

[smokey7]

I modded one and quickly blew out the fan. Ill have to detun it some with the new fan!