Hand-Held Blowers?

[Mowman]

Looking for a new blower to add to my equipment. I have a Stihl BG75 and it works fine, except for moving alot of leaves. I tried out a Stihl BR 320 and was not impressed at all. It belonged to one of my customers and he let me try it out. I didn't feel like I had much control of it. I didn't think it moved any more material than my hand-held.
Are there any hand-held blowers out there that have high mph & cfm's. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mowman

[geogunn]

try the br-400. you should be slightly more impressed. others swear by the big shindawa and redmax but I've not tried them.

if you're stuck on a hand held blower, why don't you try the big homeowners crapsman blower at sears.

GEO

[Cutter1]

I have 2 Shindaiwa 240's. They have run very good for me. I like the size for summer time cutting, less space taken up on the trailer and easier to get in and out of the truck. I also have 2 backpacks, you can't beat the power, if you don't want to buy more than one, I would probably go with a backpack for year round use.

[bob]

As far as handheld blowers go, you've about maxed-out at the Stihl. To get any more power you'll have to move up to a backpack blower. I have a Shindaiwa eb630 and a Redmax eb6200. Their both awsome!

[mdb landscaping]

definately give the stihl br400 a try. i bought this backpack and love it. it is extremely powerful and in my mind is the best back pack out there.

[leeslawncare]

ReddMaxx all the way! I've had mine for a year now an i don't know how i ever did a leaf job without it !

[KirbysLawn]

Sorry MDB, but go with Shindiawa or Redmax, makes the BR400 seem like a toy.

[CCLC]

As far as hand blowers go you won't get much more than what you have. I am partial to stihl just because of their reliability. I have never had problems with them. I do have a stihl bg75 and br320. When we need the capability of of the br400 we get the 8hp Little Wonder out.

[gene gls]

Echo PB 210 E

[Sammy]

New Stihl blowers this spring, BR-340 & BR-420

[Banzaitoy]

Read the Echo Insert in this month's Turf magazine and look at hot the Stihl is constructed.

[mowerguy]

I have the redmax HB2300. it is a nice handheld. It works great and puts oput much more power than teh echo i had before. i definatly recommend it. I also have a stihl BR400 backpack blower. it works great for driveways and the parking lots of the few comerical jobs i do. I just got the back pack blower a month ago, so i could use it for fall cleanup. Although i got the back pack i still use my hand held quite abit. I used the redmax handheld most of the year with no problems. it is very light weight and definently encourage you to get one.

[AB Lawn Care]

We run both handheld and backpack blowers.Only Sthil.We currently have 2 handheld a 1 br400 backpack.What we have found is this.If you are doing leaves or heavy grass go with the br 400,but if you are not doing very heavy stuff,go with a handheld.The br400 can blow anything away and is VERY reliable.We love the hand helds becouse they are very quick to use(no starting on the ground and then putting it on your back)Cheaper than the br400 and good on gas.The best setup for us is having both a br400 and a handheld on 1 crew.The hand held is used as much as possible,but when heavy stuff needs blowing the br400 is used.An other tip I will give is don't but a vac kit for the hand held blower.We bought 1 with or latest blower and found this fall that it is useless.It plugs up,and is very slow.It is MUCH quicker just to blow the leaves out from where ever and suck it up/multch or how ever you gather your clippings.

Hope this helps!

P.S. we use the BG75 sthil handheld blowers.I think there is 1 smaller than that,but I would recommend buying the BG75 becouse it is onlt slightly more expensive,and you get more power and a longer life.

[Evan528]

i second genes vote for the echo pb210E handheld! Mine is 6 years old, Though it is no longer used full time anymore (backpacks are better) it has never one failed to start on the first or second pull. It is very comfortable to hold and has very little vibration. These blowers last forver.

[morturf]

i am with gene and evan....i own a pb210. it has been the one of the best pieces i have owned. it always starts and has never been in the shop. 6 plus years. I abuse it. it has fallen off the truck at 30mph, dropped off roofs, been in an accident. still starts and runs like a top. never even changed the plug. great blow for a handheld.

[Scag48]

Mowman-Are you sure your customers BR320 wasn't messed up? Mine is perfect, I can control anything I want, dry leaves, wet leaves, grass, whatever. I moved piles of leave that have been caked on to asphalt and all wet after 4 days of rain. They were piled the week before then we moved them into really big piles for collection. My 320 easily moved the wet leaves. I would agree that a big blower would be nice but for what I payed for mine and the power and dependability it's given me, I couldn't be happier.

[Lazer Man]

There is somthing I can't quite understand is why would anyone hve to use a backpack blower to clean-up most average size lawns. We have 2 Stihl handhelds , just this fall purchased a Stihl BR400 backpack , for normal lawn clean-up can't see going through all the trouble of putting on the backpack . Usually only have a small amount of grass to blow off walks & drives , backpack seems to much hassle. Know for blowing leaves backpack is the way to go .

[Cutter1]

Lazer Man....I agree. For the majority of the year, we use handhelds. Just too much of a hastle to load and unload. In the fall its a different issue, backpack all the way, but for the majority of the year, handhelds

[geogunn]

banzatoy--how about giving us the lowdown on what you're refering to. I get the impression that you are saying the article you are refering to says the stihl is a POS.

give us the hot details. thanks.

GEO

[Keith]

Originally posted by Lazer Man
There is somthing I can't quite understand is why would anyone hve to use a backpack blower to clean-up most average size lawns. We have 2 Stihl handhelds , just this fall purchased a Stihl BR400 backpack , for normal lawn clean-up can't see going through all the trouble of putting on the backpack . Usually only have a small amount of grass to blow off walks & drives , backpack seems to much hassle. Know for blowing leaves backpack is the way to go .

I don't know what the big deal is about backpacks being too big for some jobs. We use backpacks for everything. Once you get used to them, you can unload, crank and strap it on in only slightly more time than the handheld takes. And have the area blown off in half the time (or less). Use one on a regular basis and I believe you might change your mind.

Speaking of the Echo 210e, a customer gave us one about a month ago. :)