Home Improvement Today?

Back east where the Oak leaves get to knee high depth a gas powered backpack blower is the minimum I'd go with. I'm in Cali now and my 20V DeWalt blower does just fine on my 1/4 acre yard. It is really about where you are and how big your property is.

 

Indeed. I have an acre lot lined on two sides with mature oaks & maples. Gas is the only thing that'll handle the leaves in the fall. I've been known to use the blower in winter if there's a dusting of dry snow.

 

Yep. When I was back east we had 2.5 acres in northern Jersey. The backpack blower did fine for the start and end of leaf season. Once it got to the middle of leaf season I'd bring out the walk behind blower. That thing was awesome. It took what would have been a 4 hour job and turned it into a 1 hour job. If the wind was blowing in my favor I could get that down to 40 minutes. lol

 

I started with a generic Toro corded vacuum blower from HD. Then decided dragging a cord around the yard was not a happy experience. The pool in the backyard also created safety hazards with this.

Then went to a Husqvarna 320iB (cordless electric) and used it for about a year with 2 batteries. Each battery slowly dropped in run capacity to less than 10 minutes and started developing faults where the blower just shuts off randomly or when switching between battery cells (3 cells in each battery) and won't start or only does when it wants to. I hate the damn thing, but still keep it for occasionally blowing out the garage, front entrance, or drying the cars. The batteries weren't cheap either.

Ended up buying a 2 stroke Stihl BR450 backpack blower from Ace Hardware for about what I spent on the 2 batteries and Husqvarna 320iB. The Stihl is probably the best piece of equipment I've bought in long time. Always starts and runs without issue. It's a little more than I need, but I'm very happy with it.

Stihl makes some 4 stroke backpack blowers also. They're not as obnoxious if that's something you're interested in.

 

I have papa bear and my only complaint is I didn't upgrade to it sooner! It made everything about lawn clean-up easier. Love my Stihl backpack blower, weed eater and chain saw. They're a little bit pricey but worth it in my opinion.

 

Which one you like best?

 

The BR600 (Backpack). Thing will blow the chrome off a bumper.

 

FYI - I run ethanol free 93 octane in all my 2 Stroke power equipment with the Stihl HP Ultra synthetic 2 stroke oil. 2 Stihl blowers and 2 Stihl chainsaws. Never had an issue with starting, gumming up, etc.

 

I wonder what the best 2 stroke oil is?



I may need to start a dedicated thread on this important matter.

 

You could put it right next to the "best" tire thread. Come to think of it this site needs a "best" sub-forum. That way we can keep all those type threads in one place. lol

 

Luckily i dont need it much here but yes use the non ethanol on small engines.

 

Great idea, but I fear/expect people would still not search.

 

Dishwasher install not my ideal saturday......

 

I had a bulldog help me when I had to replace mine.

 

Had to prime some walls to get ready for painting. It took more time to tape off everything then it did to actually paint thanks to the new spray gun we got.

 

Bulldogs make the best supervisors

 

Are you replacing the carpet or painting that as well?

 

Maybe changing the color on the ceiling fan as well.

 

Haha that will be getting replaced with wood flooring