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Backpack blowers....school me

Gatorgrizz27 said:
I bought a BR450 a couple years ago. According to guys who have used them in the field it is underrated and blows/scours harder than the 600. It has no problem breaking up mats off wet decomposing leaves that have been there a long time.

The biggest reason I wanted the 2-stroke unit is the 600 I demo’d had a low droning tone that gave me a headache, even wearing earmuffs. It was more a resonance thing than a noise level, I just couldn’t stand it.

Also, the Stihl 4 mix engines have plastic cams, which doesn’t sit well with me. All of my pro level 2-stroke stuff I’ve bought from them has been excellent.
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On the plastic cams.

I have a pile of worn out Stihl 4-mix stuff. Think the crews that weed eat the interstates. I have pulled plenty apart to replace pistons or what not. I have yet to see anything notable on the cams for wear.

On leaf blowers, My br600 is getting worn out. The muffler just recently rusted through and blew out. An 800 is in my future.
 
Wear the backpack in your rig, stab the nozzle into your snorkel, profit!
 
smaller echo here... works good for what I need. 3-4 times a year.
 
bgaidan said:
Should be able to just make a couple passes and suck all this shit up.

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just mow/mulch it, man.

I hate bagging or moving leaves around, burning them or have piles of rotting leaves somewhere. but thats me.
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TrailTamer said:
just mow/mulch it, man.

I hate bagging or moving leaves around, burning them or have piles of rotting leaves somewhere. but thats me.
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Mulching kit for my mower is $$$ and it takes 3-4 passes to get it acceptable with the side chute. And when the big trees start dropping it'll be more than is mulch-able.
 
My Deere 425 with mulching kit and factory mulching blades would push and build up so many leaves that it would pick the front wheels off the ground and loose steering. Going to gator blades made it a beast with no more build up in front of the deck.
 
I bought a Stihl BR340 back in 2005. I use it every time I mow to blow out the garage, front porch, driveway (600ft), and back patio. It then gets used heavily in the fall. I ran regular ethanol fuel in it up until a couple of years ago. I've done ZERO maintenance to it in 16 years, and nothing has broken. I will probably step up to the BR800 whenever this one finally dies.
 
DannyK said:
I bought a Stihl BR340 back in 2005. I use it every time I mow to blow out the garage, front porch, driveway (600ft), and back patio. It then gets used heavily in the fall. I ran regular ethanol fuel in it up until a couple of years ago. I've done ZERO maintenance to it in 16 years, and nothing has broken. I will probably step up to the BR800 whenever this one finally dies.
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i just got a barely used br400 at a yard sale. I LOVE it. Never not having one again
 
ChiScouter said:
Ive had a BR600 for probably 10 years. When I was shopping I went to some landscape forums and they raved more abiout the Redmax than the BR600. Redmax dealer was far away, 2 Stihl dealers were close. Ive been happy with the 600 but I don't believe there is such a thing as too powerful of a blower, they do have throttle control for when you don't need all the power. If I could find someone to give me a good price for the 600 I would go for the 800. When on the landscape forums they talked a lot about the 4mix engines getting gummed up with carbon. The cure was Amsoil Saber at 100 to 1. I a not that brave but have had no issues with the Saber oil at 75 to 1.
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Where you at and what's a "good price" for a 10 year old blower?
 
bgaidan said:
Mulching kit for my mower is $$$.
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Worth the $$$! I mulch all summer too. No clipping rows even if you slacked & let grass grow stupid tall, not just for leaves.
bgaidan said:
And when the big trees start dropping it'll be more than is mulch-able.
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My crapsman with gators & side discharge cover have no issue mulching what you’d think is not mulch-able. Realistically, just at least mow/mulch on a weekly basis like you will in the summer time.

On a side note, I inadvertently found my crapsman mower deck’s 1/2” v-belt tensile limit few times. 5/8” v-belt solved that problem. :homer:
 
tracyb said:
side note, idle the echo and any other machine side by side. the echo sounds mean as hell. when i first fired mine up buddies at the house and the neighbor thought i was tuning a new bike for the kid:laughing:
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Now I really want one :laughing:


Look like clone/knock off for $320?

LaGinza 78CC Commercial Gas Powered Backpack Leaf Blower Snow Blower 5-Year Warranty Gasoline Backpack blower for Lawn Care Yard Snow Blowing Dust Debris 880 CFM Amazon.com: LaGinza 78CC Commercial Gas Powered Backpack Leaf Blower Snow Blower 5-Year Warranty Gasoline Backpack blower for Lawn Care Yard Snow Blowing Dust Debris 880 CFM
 
TrailTamer said:
Now I really want one :laughing:


Look like clone/knock off for $320?

LaGinza 78CC Commercial Gas Powered Backpack Leaf Blower Snow Blower 5-Year Warranty Gasoline Backpack blower for Lawn Care Yard Snow Blowing Dust Debris 880 CFM Amazon.com: LaGinza 78CC Commercial Gas Powered Backpack Leaf Blower Snow Blower 5-Year Warranty Gasoline Backpack blower for Lawn Care Yard Snow Blowing Dust Debris 880 CFM
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it really does sound mean! its the only tool i'm sure to wear earmuffs when using. never realy bothered with muffs when i used the stihl br700

as for the a knock off model, i wouldn't. i'd buy a good used anything before a knock off blower. after getting the echo i sold the 5ish yr old br700 for $300.

blower designs are tuned perfectly. if i remember correctly the br600/700, or maybe its the br700/800... are almost the exact same machines, just tuned differently. not something i'd think a knock off would get right.



i dont know why dealers dont have them all lined up so the buyer can test/ compare each model side x side. when the my echo was deliverd i put it together and blew off the driveway/ shop pad (have a 50x100 concrete pad infront of the shop, and a 150yd rete drive, and lots of ceder trees) at the time i also had my old br700(which i felt lost power over the time i owned. even though i regularly changed the plug and adjusted the valves. didn't keep losing power but droped off the first year and then stayed the same) and the biggest hand held blower stihl makes.

the echo was the very clear winner. although i think new echo to new br700 would've been more competitive. it'll be intersting to see if the the echo loses some power too.


and just a side note. i'm not a land scaper/ everyday user. i do use the blower far more than most to daily/ everyother day, blow out the shop and pad. i do the full driveway and around the house weekly.
 
Busted out the suck trailer over the weekend. This old simplicity also has a vac trailer that's belt-driven off the PTO but I'm missing some of the linkage and all it does is throw belts so i figured I'd try it with the newer vac.

Or course the vac is right hand and the mower is left discharge. Managed to rig it up enough to try it out.... just couldn't turn right or it'd pull the hose out. :laughing: I found a chute adapter kit that ordered for my zero turn so I can pull it with that.

But blowing the leaves away from the fence line and in to a row to suck up with the vac is going to work perfectly.

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[486] said:
huh funny what post of mine you used for the quote tags
I was just thinking today about making some standard towbar points on all my vehicles
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Me and all my pals tow our ice shacks with slings (like a V) which works fine on the ice since we never pull on trails we don't have to deal with ups and downs of hills.

I once had to pull a shack down a trail, but had no rigid hitch. I unbolted the X brace from a scaffolding and used the bars to make a rigid V hitch. Worked great.

After that I drew up plans to make a nicer, heavier hitch that worked in the same way (to accomodate different towbar point widths).

Sometimes inexperienced guys will stop too quickly with the sleds, and get rammed by the shack. When we're pulling with two or three sleds in series, the front guy decides when to stop, signals everyone else to let off the throttles, and it takes a long time for the train to come to a gentle stop.
 
So now that we have been schooled on backpack blowers, time for a slight change :flipoff2:

How about hedge trimmers. I have a shit load (probably 120ft) of hedges I like when they are kept neat. None will ever be kept over 6ft tall (my height). Whats are the pimp hedge trimmers and what are the good values. Im 99% certain batery powered are out as i dont trust the longevity and I have too much hedge for them anyways. I need a good solution as runinng out the extention cords all over the fucking place to use the 2 free electric ones I have SUCKS

So what's the pro level bush trimmer advice :flipoff2:
 
Clemson13 said:
So now that we have been schooled on backpack blowers, time for a slight change :flipoff2:

How about hedge trimmers. I have a shit load (probably 120ft) of hedges I like when they are kept neat. None will ever be kept over 6ft tall (my height). Whats are the pimp hedge trimmers and what are the good values. Im 99% certain batery powered are out as i dont trust the longevity and I have too much hedge for them anyways. I need a good solution as runinng out the extention cords all over the fucking place to use the 2 free electric ones I have SUCKS

So what's the pro level bush trimmer advice :flipoff2:
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Fuck trimming anything pull them out
 
Stihl on a stick. I'll never go back to the other style
 
Clemson13 said:
So now that we have been schooled on backpack blowers, time for a slight change :flipoff2:

How about hedge trimmers. I have a shit load (probably 120ft) of hedges I like when they are kept neat. None will ever be kept over 6ft tall (my height). Whats are the pimp hedge trimmers and what are the good values. Im 99% certain batery powered are out as i dont trust the longevity and I have too much hedge for them anyways. I need a good solution as runinng out the extention cords all over the fucking place to use the 2 free electric ones I have SUCKS

So what's the pro level bush trimmer advice :flipoff2:
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my parents have a shitload of hedges / shrubbery at their house Easily 300 linear ft That need to be done every 6-8 weeks. Dad sold the stihl hs45 gas hedge trimmer in favor of a dewalt cordless 20v unit.

my brother had a husqvarna gas hedge trimmer that was functionally as good as the stihl but he switched to a ryobi battery unit too.

if you’re already in a cordless tool platform, a cordless unit will definitely get the job done at your homeowner scale usage demands. I think I bought a dewalt for dad on Black Friday for $99.
 
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WTF? said:
my parents have a shitload of hedges / shrubbery at their house Easily 300 linear ft That need to be done every 6-8 weeks. Dad sold the stihl hs45 gas hedge trimmer in favor of a dewalt cordless 20v unit.

my brother had a husqvarna gas hedge trimmer that was functionally as good as the stihl but he switched to a ryobi battery unit too.

if you’re already in a cordless tool platform, a cordless unit will definitely get the job done at your homeowner scale usage demands. I think I bought a dewalt for dad on Black Friday for $99.
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Shit....so what youre saying is just spend the 300 for another 5ah battery and the hedge trimmer at big orange today? I guess I would have no issues with my heights for it. I know I would use it more often on the hedges if things are just downright easy
 
Clemson13 said:
Shit....so what youre saying is just spend the 300 for another 5ah battery and the hedge trimmer at big orange today? I guess I would have no issues with my heights for it. I know I would use it more often on the hedges if things are just downright easy
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I have the M18 Fuel trimmer- LOVE it. I have ~250+ foot long hedge row, one battery not a problem. it just goes and goes.
 
Clemson13 said:
Shit....so what youre saying is just spend the 300 for another 5ah battery and the hedge trimmer at big orange today? I guess I would have no issues with my heights for it. I know I would use it more often on the hedges if things are just downright easy
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Yeah and you’re only at 2 bills if yellow and black are your colors:

www.homedepot.com

DEWALT 20V MAX 22 in. Cordless Battery Powered Hedge Trimmer Kit with (1) 5 Ah Battery & Charger DCHT820P1 - The Home Depot

Tackle tough trimming jobs with ease by using this DEWALT Lithium-Ion Cordless Hedge Trimmer. Compact and lightweight design.
www.homedepot.com

I initially bought pops the dewalt for smaller scale use at their coastal property and he liked it so much that he brought it home for use there; worked so well that he sold the gas trimmer and bought a second dewalt to keep at the beach.

taking the initial plunge into cordless yard tools feels hippie ish but a deal on a fuel weed eater made a believer out of me Particularly for lesser used stuff like the trimmer/ weed eater. No issues with running out of mix fuel or hard starting/ gummed up carbs over the winter, just pop a battery in and hit the trigger.
 
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I opicked up the Stihl BR600 yesterday from my locla dealer. Holy shit.
Thing's impressive as hell. Cleared my backyard in literally 1/4 time as my old Echo.
They had the 700 and 800 there too. Sales dooder said the 600 is superior as far as he is concerned.
 
Mow/mulch the leaves with a riding mower while drinking beer. I got a free br450 that had been straight gassed. Ebay jug and piston and 30 mins had it running like a top. I use it quite a bit for everything but blowing leaves around. Way more comfortable than a handheld, lots of power. Really fun on ice skates.
 
JTreadway said:
I opicked up the Stihl BR600 yesterday from my locla dealer. Holy shit.
Thing's impressive as hell. Cleared my backyard in literally 1/4 time as my old Echo.
They had the 700 and 800 there too. Sales dooder said the 600 is superior as far as he is concerned.
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What was his reasoning? I saw a vid with the 800 moving a brick like it was nothing, my 600 could not have done that. The published velocity and cfm for the 800 are a lot more than the 600. I just don't want to spend the bucks on an 800 and find out that it isn't that big of a deal.
 
ChiScouter said:
What was his reasoning? I saw a vid with the 800 moving a brick like it was nothing, my 600 could not have done that. The published velocity and cfm for the 800 are a lot more than the 600. I just don't want to spend the bucks on an 800 and find out that it isn't that big of a deal.
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He said for what 99% of homeowners and commercial guys do the 600 is more than enough. Add in the additional $100 and weight too.
I was prepared to get either, since I have a ton of poplar, oak and maple on our property. I can say the 600 will clear an 8 foot swath 20 feet long instantly.
 
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