Leaf Blower advice wanted

[whitepe]

I know that this is a chainsaw board but it seemed
to make more sense to post this topic here.
With fall coming soon I am in the market to buy a
new handheld leaf blower.  Since I have 4 Stihl
chainsaws already, I will probably want to get a Stihl.
Stihl makes the BG45, 55, 65, and 85.  
I looked at all the specs on Stihlusa but the range seems to
be very narrow 391 cfm to 459 cfm and 125 mph to 183 mph.
What do some of you folks think? Oh yes
My current blower is a 12-13 year old Sears. Still runs but
it takes me forever to get much done but it has always
been that way.  I fell for the $99 special.

Whitepe

[Tom]

I bought a Homelite blower from Home depot two years ago that can be carried and also mounted on a supplied wheeled cart for 68 dollars.  It has an advertised wind generation of 200 MPH .  I got it to clean the mill and it has been a good piece of equipment.

Now it surely isn't touted as commercial grade but I figured 200 MPH was blowing pretty hard. :-/

[Corley5]

I bought my better half a Husky leaf blower last year for Sweetest Day, pretty romantic huh?  With out going out to the shed to check I think it's a 225 Lite.  It works great she loves it and so do I.  She blows out the yard with it and I use it around the mill and to clean off farm equipment.  I believe it cost $169.95.  

[whitepe]

Tom,

The nearest Home Depot is 165 miles away (chicago).
We have a Lowe's but all they seem to have is toys
and besides no parts dept.  Sears has been going
downhill for years and the only thing I buy at Sears
anymore is screwdrivers or wrenches, nothing powered
by gas or electric.  We have a Menard's but they
don't have things like chainsaws, mowers etc.
This leaves me with our two local farm stores,
Farm and Fleet and Tractor Supply but they seem to have cheap generics. This leaves me with my Stihl dealers so
I will stick with Stihl.
I tried this last year with a brand new  MTD 5 hp wheel
mounted blower last year from Lowes. $400.
Could not get it to run, ever.
Would only run until the shot of ether gave out?
Finally got p&%%$ off and took it back the next day and got a refund and made do with my Sears for another year.
Since it was Friday evening and I couldn't get the MTD
to run I didn't want to run 20 miles back into town
and the MTD was the last in stock.

Anyway, thanks for your input.

Whitepe



P.S. A Home depot is on the way but right now their
site has nothing but a bunch of CAT tractors
running around on it. I don't know when they
are scheduled to open but probably not for two or three
months.

[Tom]

we have one being built close by (6 miles) that has a bunch of Cat tractors running around too.  You don't reckon they're going to carry Cat Equipment do you?

Just think ....a 3208 powered leaf blower.

[whitepe]

Tom,

You're thinking way to small. I kinda had in mind an 8100 horsepower leaf blower.
Take a look at my post over in the saw mills.   That engine is a V16  G340
powered by natural gas. Pistons are just under an foot in diameter.  Crankshaft,
flywheel and rotor in the generator weigh about 30 tons.
When that engine was built in the CAT Motoren facility in Kiel, Germany, it
was the first model to be powered by natural gas. All previous models were diesel.
Anyway, they did not have enough natural gas supply at the factory to run it
on all 16 cylinders so the software was configured to run it on 8.  Then one
of our engineers went on a field trip to the customer site (utility company in Denmark).
To make the final tweaks on the software to turn on all 16 cylinders.  
The whole installation sells for about $15million.
The utility company also sells steam generated from the coolant used
to cool the engine.  With that it sure brings the revenue generating efficiency way up.

Whitepe

[LumberJack]

Whitepe,
I have the DG 85 and it's a good blower.  Had a Echo for a few years till it needed some major work and got a fair trade-in for the Stihl.  Tried the Husky and found it cumbersome to handle.  The only thing I don't like about the Stihl is the choke lever is too small for a gloved hand; if they only made it a bit longer!  Let me know if I can answer any other questions you might have.
Might talk to you about your LT15, I think there might be one of these in my future

John

[whitepe]

John,
Since I am not one to let grass grow under my feet
or in this case let leaves collect in my back yard I
ran out the other night after reading your post and
bought me one of them there BG85's  I sold my
old Sears blower to Rick Schmalzried for 20 bucks.

Seems like it's your turn now.  You oughta run out
and get one of them there LT15's  Sure like mine.
It gives me a chronic case of ORANGE fever.

Once I retire from CAT,  I'll run into the doctor and
get a blood transfusion and change that yellow blood
for ORANGE blood. I've got 27 years with the big
yellow worm, I'm eligible  to retire when age + years of
service equal 85. When I do, I'll probably move up
from the LT15 to one of the big mother's that I saw
in Indy on June 29th.

Whitepe

[LumberJack]

Whitepe,
Hope your happy with your new toy . Its a little easier to sell my wife on a new leafblower then a LT 15:D.  I'm contemplating this machine because we are going to build a timberframe home and have been researching the various kit manufactures, and with what I'll pay in transportation of the kit package to my site willI pay for 75% of the cost of the LT15! So I'm starting to think that sawing my own timbers and having a local timberframer do the erection might be my best bet. Not to mention the pride associated with it!
 
Just yesterday I received my video from Woodmizer in their "saw-off " challange. I watched and was kinda disappointed with what they showed.  I was hoping to see log handling and rotating, etc.; what they showed was the big 40's  just straight cuting from numerous angles, with a brief glimpse of a LT15 in action.

I guess I'll just have to make a visit to the WoodMizer folks down here in Newnan Georgia to see it work.

John

[TJACK]

I have a BG 65 and it works great for blowing leaves.  I purchased the Vac. attachment for removing clippings from the shrubs and it also works good as well.  My only concern is when using the vac. the leaves and sticks go through the plastic wheel that spins to generate the suction/blowing.  Sometimes a good sized stick gets in there and bogs the engine plus makes a racket.  In hind sight, I should have looked at the models that come with a shredding blade.

TJACK

[whitepe]

John,
Oh yes wives,  we can't live with them and we can't
live without them.  In order for you to get your LT15
you need to have negotiating power and work out a deal.
She get's something and you get the LT15 in return.
About three years ago my wife and I worked out a deal.
I got the 4WD John Deere 790 with 5 foot front mount
snowblower and my wife got her H-D Dyna Wide Glide.
It was a pretty even deal as they both were 1500 cc's

Then this year, I got the LT15 and she gets to buy a
French Horn.

You can use these kinds of negotiating skills and soon
you too will have an LT15 sitting on your woodlot.
When it arrives you will think that
was there.

Whitepe

P.S. I could come up with an mpeg video file
of my LT15 in action if you want. One word of caution
with the LT15.   You will get plenty of exercise loading
and turning logs. Small ones I lay on the mill with
a boom pole on the 790.  Larger logs are pushed
with the front mounted tractor weights till I get them
to the spring loaded ramps and then I use a cant hook.
My boom pole will only lift about 800-1000 pounds.
I knew I shoulda bought bigger.

[Tom]

I like that bargaining process.   She gets a new Suburban and I don't have to sell my pickup.  She gets a new steel storage building and I don't have to throw away all my treasures in the barn.  She gets a new necklace and I get to sleep in the house.  She gets to go out to eat with her girl friends and I get to use the remote control and watch "anything" I want to on the TV.