leaf blowers?

[question everything]

We have many trees. Staring to lose leaves in September and all through Thanksgiving.

We had a machine with an electric cord. OK on blowing, but as far as collecting - one leaf at a time. So OK, can use the blowing function only. But is heaving and we have to drag it around and first plug it on one side, then the other.

We are looking at a cordless machine but it appears that the battery lasts only... 15 minutes?

Will appreciate inputs.

Thanks

[MontanaMama]

1. My husband bought me a DeWalt battery operated leaf blower and...

IT IS THE BEST THING EVER!! The battery pops out and goes on a charger...I think it is 12 volt but don't quote me on that. This blower works a long time before the battery needs a charge but I bought a second battery/charger so I can swap it out if I need to keep working. The blower works so well that I bought the DeWalt battery operated string trimmer and it works as well as the blower...same battery and charger. I would recommend both all day long. The blower was a game changer for me...I move a crap ton of leaves each fall.

[question everything]

3. Thank you! Will look it up

[DonaldsRump]

2. I have a cordless Black+Decker that takes 40 volt batteries. It works well.

Last edited Thu Oct 15, 2020, 05:01 PM - Edit history (1)

Mine lasts about 30 minutes or so, and does a very good job on a leafy property.

Get a second battery (a 3rd party one from Amazon. They are much cheaper than B&D's batteries and have done well.)

With a spare battery, you will always have juice. I have a corded one also, but that cord is a REAL pain. I only use it when I have heavy duty jobs.

[question everything]

4. Thanks! Will look at it. And yes, a second battery is a good idea

[klook]

5. Those things make life in my neighborhood unbearable at times.

Almost every day of the year, you can hear a gasoline-powered leafblower at some point during the day. In the fall, of course, it's truly maddening. Maybe the electric and battery-powered ones aren't so bad.


I understand the difficulty of raking lots and lots of leaves. Have you considered just leaving them in place? This article recommends doing that to give pollinators and other invertebrates cover for over-wintering:
https://xerces.org/blog/leave-the-leaves

I may do that in part of my yard, at least. I have a very large oak tree, a tall tulip poplar, and numerous other lesser trees (not to mention the ones that drift over from the neighbors' yards!). I rake the leaves -- a task made easier by using a leaf chute:

I usually end putting 25 or so bags of leaves on the curb every fall, even though I stomp them down to pack them pretty tightly. So I can appreciate what an onerous job it would be to rake a big yard with lots of trees. Maybe this year I'll leave some in place and compost some -- although I don't really have a good place to put a compost bin in my little yard.

My post isn't meant to be critical of you, so I hope you won't take it that way. Just wanted to offer some food for thought.

[Miguelito Loveless]

6. I use an EGO blower

along with other battery operated yard tools (mower, leaf blower, weed trimmer). I just charge up all the batteries at use them. By the time I get to my third battery, they first one is recharged.

[3Hotdogs]

8. I have an EGO snow blower and also an EGO hedge trimmer.

Last edited Thu Oct 15, 2020, 10:26 PM - Edit history (1)

The snow blower takes about 35 minutes to do my walk, driveway and two neighbor's walks. The two batteries drain about 20% of their energy during that usage.

The hedge trimmers uses one battery on about 40 ft of hedge. My arms wear out before the battery quits.


In other words, modern batteries are such that you are not likely to run out of charge before the task is complete.

[Miguelito Loveless]

9. When we moved

in 2015 to a house with a much larger yard, I switched out all my yard equipment as part of our move to lower our carbon footprint. I do not miss the noise, the stink, or the mess of gasoline powered equipment.

[Miguelito Loveless]

7. Also,

In the grassy areas, I just set the electric mower to mulch, and mow them into the grass.