Hand Held Leaf Blower Suggestions

[Snap]

Looking for suggestions on handheld blowers for fall leaves in the yard.

We are at the age that i had to sell the backpack due to it's weight and hauling the GiantVac our is only attractive for the worst cases.
We have a 15 year old ECHO (22cc) that has served well but it's in need of a carb and it has always vibrated the crap out of users hands. Having had carpel tunnel surgery this year I'm not excited about reinjuring that.
The ECHO did always start easily until now. It has enough velocity to move leaves but not push the granules off the roof shingles when working up there. But then again, it can compete with a vintage Brit motorcycle for vibes.

Any recent experiences with blowers?

 

[ATpro]

I have the ECHO PB-2520 that has be good and no hand vibration.

 

[jellyroll]

Husqvarna 525BX i use them at work and there is no vibration with the isolation mounts. Does well on wet leaves as well. Red Max also makes the same blower in a different color as well.
https://www.husqvarna.com/us/leaf-blowers/525bx/

 

[Snap]

Husqvarna 525BX i use them at work and there is no vibration with the isolation mounts. Does well on wet leaves as well. Red Max also makes the same blower in a different color as well.
https://www.husqvarna.com/us/leaf-blowers/525bx/

Thanks for that.
I had a Husqvarna chainsaw that often wore me out before it would start. Drove me crazy. Manufacturer recalled and sent out new carbs. Same deal.
So how do those blowers start? How long have they been in service if I may ask?

 

[jellyroll]

Thanks for that.
I had a Husqvarna chainsaw that often wore me out before it would start. Drove me crazy. Manufacturer recalled and sent out new carbs. Same deal.
So how do those blowers start? How long have they been in service if I may ask?

Since April 2019 it starts easy and runs fine but we only use canned premix at work

 

[ElevatorGuy]

How big is the yard? Have you considered a battery unit? My echo 9010 gets all the big work but I use the heck out of my Milwaukee 18v blower too.

 

[Snap]

The grass area is not hugh but big enough.
Unfortunately my Milwaukee tools are M12 to save weight so I don't think I'd jump to M18.
I considered EGO because I have their trimmer but the blowers don't run long enough on a charge at full tilt.
On the Echo noted, I mentioned that backpacks were out of our picture.

 

[Snap]

I have the ECHO PB-2520 that has be good and no hand vibration.

Does it torque your hand around?
Our PB-203LN (18 years old) tries to steer the user around (besides the excess vibration) making it not a favorite tool.

 

[Snap]

I noticed that the Stihl BG86 has a vibration suspension system. I am just a bit leary now that Stihl is in hardware stores.
Anyone have one?

 

[Lightning Performance]

I noticed that the Stihl BG86 has a vibration suspension system. I am just a bit leary now that Stihl is in hardware stores.
Anyone have one?

Yes. It's smoother than the old yellow no AV Poulan 225 models. Old Homelites are the same in vibration. Buy one with good AV is my best advice. I having arthritis in my hands so understanding poor AV is part of my life now. BG86 is decent.

 

[StihlsawuserMS361]

I actually have and use two BG86's at the same time ,one in each hand. Both are 10+ years old. The only maintenance is pulling the muffler screens occasionally to clean and decarbonize. (Simple task, maybe an hour for the pair.) I use Stihl Ultra at 50:1 with e-free fuel.

Vibration is minimal, machines are pretty well balanced. Sadly, as the OP mentioned, it's hard to find a stand alone Stihl dealer other than a hardware store outlet where I live.

 

[ElevatorGuy]

The grass area is not hugh but big enough.
Unfortunately my Milwaukee tools are M12 to save weight so I don't think I'd jump to M18.
I considered EGO because I have their trimmer but the blowers don't run long enough on a charge at full tilt.
On the Echo noted, I mentioned that backpacks were out of our picture.

I know you don’t want a backpack blower. My point was mine have very different uses. I wouldn’t want to use my Milwaukee for yard stuff but I use it a lot in the garage, patios and for gutter cleaning.

 

[cookies]

Might I suggest the "mexican", you give it a few bucks every week and it gets the jobs done you can't handle anymore...the electric dewalt version worked fantastic with very few pulls to start it, you'll be blowing all the neighbors too before you know it. Yup you'll spend on batteries too but with holidays coming up they will have better deals coming soon.
Neighbor got 1 year of everyday use out of that husky blower listed above before the ethanol got her a carb kit installed. Check out the echo version, they seem to hold up well.

 

[Snap]

I actually have and use two BG86's at the same time ,one in each hand. Both are 10+ years old. The only maintenance is pulling the muffler screens occasionally to clean and decarbonize. (Simple task, maybe an hour for the pair.) I use Stihl Ultra at 50:1 with e-free fuel.

Vibration is minimal, machines are pretty well balanced. Sadly, as the OP mentioned, it's hard to find a stand alone Stihl dealer other than a hardware store outlet where I live.

Thanks for that. It's on the list.

The three brands I have found with antivibration in their design (top of their product list) are Echo, Stihl And Husqvarna but in a test I saw the Husqvarna and Stihl systems were much more effective.

As I mentioned I have had issues with Husqvarna in the past. The chainsaw was a little motocrosser when it decided to start which could take half an hour. It had design issues that they couldn't correct on my tool. Echos have been so dependable. The Stihls have been somewhere in between.

I didn't mean that there were not stand alone Stihl dealers here but meant that the company, after so long as independent, had migrated into hardware stores in our area. That might mean big box stores are next. Dealers around here seem to have reluctance to working on equipment that they didn't sell so bringing problems from the hardware store or big box store to an independent dealer for more a skilled mechanic might be problematic. I really don't understand that because they are charging $80 an hour no matter where the tool came from but I guess ego is above money now.

 

[StihlsawuserMS361]

I hear what you're saying, let me clarify. Mine really aren't stand alone stores either. One sells about everything , had at one time a decent service department, but can't / won't keep or attract good help. They are actually decent if you have the part number though. The other sells tractors, anything remotely complicated gets farmed out. The best one got flooded out about 10 years and just couldn't come back. Now I buy my Stihl products from an Elite dealer over 30 miles away, except for say chains and oil.

I'm not sure about how well Stihl pays it's dealers for warranty repairs, but myself coming from a G.M. dealer, warranty time / pay is about half what customer's labor rate is. That may account for Stihl dealers refusing other sales point warranty work. Can't hate them for that.

Good point too....will Stihl give in and sell @ big box stores?

 

[slowcar281]

I highly recommend a Stihl BG86. My neighbor has one and loves it. I used it to blow my driveway off. Light years smoother than my 10 year old BG55

 

[Snap]

I'm not sure about how well Stihl pays it's dealers for warranty repairs, but myself coming from a G.M. dealer, warranty time / pay is about half what customer's labor rate is. That may account for Stihl dealers refusing other sales point warranty work. Can't hate them for that.

I would expect interactions between dealer and the factory to be on a wholesale level not retail but it's still money.
When I consulted designing buildings I had to provide fixed rate pricing. On occasions when a bad contractor got hired by the owner and the construction got stretched out all of the the consultants got burned because of (sometimes greatly) extended supervision time on the job. Our contracts did not get altered so I could end up working for half my expected hourly rate due to the fixed fee but some money is better than no money. My client would always say we didn't lose money; We earned less money.

 

[ATpro]

Does it torque your hand around?
Our PB-203LN (18 years old) tries to steer the user around (besides the excess vibration) making it not a favorite tool.

Don't remember any of the "tries to steer the user around' are any vibration problem. When you pull the trigger there is a delay stage to full power like changing gears. Starts off slow blowing air then a few seconds shifts into high and stay that way as long as you hold the trigger all the way. It is variable speed so you can blow as hard as you need. It quite easy to use and will blow a line of leafs stack high across the whole yard or blow easy to clean the car port. I gave up the leaf rake for the leaf blower

 

[Snap]

Don't remember any of the "tries to steer the user around' are any vibration problem. When you pull the trigger there is a delay stage to full power like changing gears. Starts off slow blowing air then a few seconds shifts into high and stay that way as long as you hold the trigger all the way. It is variable speed so you can blow as hard as you need. It quite easy to use and will blow a line of leafs stack high across the whole yard or blow easy to clean the car port. I gave up the leaf rake for the leaf blower

This is the reason I asked:

 

[user 188535]

Looking for suggestions on handheld blowers for fall leaves in the yard.

We are at the age that i had to sell the backpack due to it's weight and hauling the GiantVac our is only attractive for the worst cases.
We have a 15 year old ECHO (22cc) that has served well but it's in need of a carb and it has always vibrated the crap out of users hands. Having had carpel tunnel surgery this year I'm not excited about reinjuring that.
The ECHO did always start easily until now. It has enough velocity to move leaves but not push the granules off the roof shingles when working up there. But then again, it can compete with a vintage Brit motorcycle for vibes.

Any recent experiences with blowers?

Stihl BG 86 C-E

My ride or die with lawn care jobs.