Blowers; good brands to use

[TUCCI L&L]

I am going to purchase a new blower soon. I am looking at a kawasaki
KRB400B. Any suggestions are appreciated.

[Keith]

Shindaiwa EB630 or Redmax EB7000 :)

[jnjnlc]

I have a Maruyama which I beleive is made by Kawi. No complaints. Starts easy every time and will blow the crome off of a trailer hitch.

Just kidding about the crome.

[lawnman_scott]

STIHL. enough said

[Avery]

:cool: Stihl BR400...only way to blow!

[greenisgold]

i've got 2 stihl br400 that i've had for 5 years each and have had no problems or trouble out of either one. used in very dusty chicken house environment with great success. i have tested the redmax eb7000 unit and it seems to have way more power so that will be my next purchase when i run over my stihl. guys on here love the redmax blowers maybe you want to do a search.

[Eric ELM]

We have had good luck with Shindaiwa and Redmax. Both are good blowers.

[65hoss]

I like my Stihl. I've never had one single problem out of it.

[lawnboy82]

i have a stihl br400? they just came out with a br420. i also have an older redmax. the low end model. while it has a lot less power than the stihl it is probably the best back pack blower i have ever seen. my stihl keeps falling apart on me. last things to happen were the spark plug cap came off and the tube came off, other things have been hard starting, constant flooding, um, pieces coming off, etc. i think if i get another one this year it will be from shindiawa or redmax. i really like their products. for the chain saws i will only use stihl though. just the back pack blowers, trimmers, etc i will use the shindiawas. p.s. i beat up on my machines real bad.

[swn]

I use stihl br 400 and have had good luck:)

[Mike (MLC)]

I just bought two new stihl blowers this year. Haven't had any problems with them. Good product:D

[Scag48]

Stihl all the way! I've got a Stihl BR 320. Not as powerful as the BR 400 but it works great for me!

[KirbysLawn]

Originally posted by lawnman_scott
STIHL. enough said

Originally posted by Avery
:cool: Stihl BR400...only way to blow!

LOL:laugh:

I said the same thing until I bought the Shindaiwa EB630, now the BR400 just collects dust!

Do a search, MANY MANY MANY post on this debate.

[Paradise Yard Service]

I would love to have the new Shin. I will raise eyebrows when I say that the br400 has had some problems with starting for the unintiated. Saw a LCO 2weeks ago strugglng to start his just out of the box. I'm sure he has it wired now. And the br400 is a good blower but with all the new ones out I would save my money and check into whats out there.

Just my 2 cents.
Aloha,
P.Y.S

[leeslawncare]

REDDMAXX 7200 the best of the best...

[TJLC]

I'm sorry to be different, but my dealer steered me away from the eb630 and towards the echo pb603. He said the eb630 has a rexmax engine on it and there has been bearing problems with it. I demoed both and for a $100.00 difference in price I went with the echo. I just didn't see enough of a power difference to warrant the extra money. I think echo has a better warranty also. Just my opinion. I just read about the new echo backpack comming out in july. It sounds pretty strong. I think it's the pb650. My opinion is they are all probally very good units, you just have to try them all and decide for yourself.

[guntruck]

Shindaiwa eb630...........blow a brick across the street!!

[ronslawncare]

i got 3 echos pb 46ht there sweet for cleanups

[TLS]

I have a Lesco/Echo LBB 4200 that is almost 10 yrs old. Isn't the most powerful, but gets the job done. Has fallen off the trailer twice (onto major roads, dont ask!) and only has a few scratches. I am very happy with it. Just replaced the flex tube with a nice used one for $10. Replaced muffler last year. All in all a good series blower.

I am in line for the new PB650. It will not only blow a brick across the lot, but it will blow my current blower across the lot.....literally! Cant wait! Hope its half as reliable and the current one.

[summitgroundskeeping]

Go to home depot. Buy an $80 Homelite blower. When it breaks, take it back. Get a brand new one. Or if the warrenty is about to go bad, throw it off the truck and take it back. Get a new one. Why spend $350 on something to blow grass. I use that Homelite and it does a great job. Home depot will let you do this on just about anything they sell. Cuts down on maintance cost and time at the dealer. If it breaks spend 5 min to get a new one ensted of 45 min fixing an old one.

[summitgroundskeeping]

I just do that for blowers,and next year may be echo trimmers. The trimmers are the same ones I have, but with that great replacement thing.

[KirbysLawn]

Thanks summitgroundskeeping, that great advise, real ethical! :(

Maybe your customers will soon figure out a way to rip off your business in a similar manner.


Ray

[summitgroundskeeping]

had to take anything back yet. Homelites are suprisingly good. But if it does go bad, I will just take it back, and get a new one.
(if home depot couldn't swing that deal, they wouldn't have it)
I wouldn't toss it off the truck, that is a joke me and anther LCO have.

[1MajorTom]

Go to home depot. Buy an $80 Homelite blower. When it breaks, take it back.

Unfortunately, I believe a lot of people do this. I'm not talking really about LCO's, but instead homeowners.

I know we were in Sears last fall, and there were lots of blower/vacs being sold for reduced costs. The saleman said that homeowners use them to clean up their leaves, then they bring them back.

People who do this type of stuff to the stores, end up raising our costs. :angry:

Note to Summit: I think you mentioned previously that you are 17.
If you are 17 now and thinking up ways to cheat, I wonder what scams you will be running when you're 34?

[summitgroundskeeping]

For all who read some of these blower posts...
I don't plan on screwing the depot. Just incase something breaks I don't want to spend tons of bucks on maintance parts and junk. I bought it because I don't need an expensive blower to do side walks and drivways. I know another LCO who has had the same homelites for 6 years now. That is why I bought em.
Great quality + super low price + returns not a prob. = why buy anytrhing else?

[leeslawncare]

Well summit ...All i can say is "when you get tired of meesing with CHEAP JUNK "you will learn the hard way like most of us an buy top quality equ.......it pays for it's self over an over again..if i'amright guys give me a HELL ,YA,!!

[summitgroundskeeping]

This is the only "junk" equipment I got. I got thoes blowers because they get used a total of 30 min a day. And they aren't junk. And why spend $350 on a shind. when it will never get used and a homelite does just as good of a job. Why?

[summitgroundskeeping]

I don't need to stand far away to blow off walks. To do leaves I use a Billy Goat vac. And the homelite works great and fast.

[KirbysLawn]

Originally posted by summitgroundskeeping
This is the only "junk" equipment I got. I got thoes blowers because they get used a total of 30 min a day. And they aren't junk. And why spend $350 on a shind. when it will never get used and a homelite does just as good of a job. Why?

Summit, that fine if you never use your blower, however this is a professional forum and this thread was posted by someone looking for a good blower for use in his business on a daily basis. Your advise was as you stated above, which I thought was bad advise therefore I questioned you. Since your first post on this subject you have recanted most of what you said.

If you only use your blower 30 minutes a day that's great. The reason some of us buy expensive blowers is because we use them on a daily basis and need a blower that will get the job done quick. With my EB630 I can stand 20' away from grass clippings and blow them, when clippings get wet or in water blowing is still very easy. During the fall I can blow piles of leaves quickly and move on to the next lawn. I often spend 30 minutes at one lawn blowing leaves in the fall, therefore your $80 blower would prove useless.

Soooooo, while you are just saving money with your $80 blower at the initial purchase I'm saving time & money all year long, every year which adds up to much more savings!

[summitgroundskeeping]

I was giving him advice for my type of application for a blower, so that is why I said what I said. I am a professional, people don't belive that(being 17), but I am. For my applications on leaves I use the Billy Goat. So if you don't think what I siad was professional, you can take it off the forum(if it is possible).

[KirbysLawn]

Just one question, with the great return policy at Home Depot why did you not buy your mower there?

Why spend thousands on a Great Dane Chariot (You said you own one) when you can buy a Murry for $800 and return it every year.

[leeslawncare]

I give youa he$^ ya kirby. I use mine to clean up the drives an kill the leaves in the fall .but .....i could always use a hand brome. I'am not puttin you down summit by no means so don't think i am.O.K.It's just that i've been there an done that an got a tee-shirt..( know what i mean ?)Had a homelite an at the end i've learned buy the bet to start an you will be ahead of youself an the compatiation...

[summitgroundskeeping]

I was talkin about my scamper.
Cause I put enumerable hours on it a week. Trimm enumerable hours a week. Start the blower, hold the gas down for less than a min. and done. If it works great, why buy better? I never use it in fall. Billy Goat vac for that. As I said, perfect for my application of residentail lots. Every thing else I have is top of the line, because I need it to be, but not for a blower.

[KirbysLawn]

Originally posted by summitgroundskeeping
I was talkin about my scamper.

Sorry, you posted on the thread that was asking about Chariots v/s ZTR's, I figured that you owned one since you posted on the topic, the Scamper is neither.

Originally posted by leeslawncare
.....i could always use a hand broom.

http://www.homedepot.com/cmc_upload/HDUS/EN_US/asset/images/pii/7/1/2/5/A35217_3.JPG

Hey, that would be even cheaper than $80!:eek:

[Grateful11]

A Dewalt rep told me once that the reason they have all those refurbed tools at Northern and Harbor Freight is because people buy them and do one project with them and take them back and get their money back. Then the manufacturer is stuck with having to sell it as a used tool. If you're taking something back because it's broke or didn't do what it's suppose to do that's one thing but just because the time of return policy is about to run out thats another.

[TLS]

I use my blower probably 32 minutes a day. If I switched to a $80 Home Cheapo I would be using that POS 64 min a day or more. They just dont BLOW~! I knew a girl in High School who could......never mind. Its kinda like pushing a rope.....they just dont work well enough. If you have never tried a COMMERCIAL backpack blower, you are really missing out on a nice piece of useful equipment. $350??? that even sounds cheap. They last a long time, get the most powerful and best that you can. I even use mine to dry off my truck after washing it!

[crew]

If you want CFM's and velocity the shindaiwa eb630 kicks ass. In the recent Grounds Maint.(?) they looked at all blowers. the only one with more was a Vandermolen and I have never seen one of tose around here. I have Tanakas, echos and shindi's and will never buy anything but a eb630! Well i shoulnt say never............