Homelite?

[Nitro]

I told my wife that what I wanted her to get me for Christmas was a Husqvarna (closest dealer sells Husky) hand held blower/vac to use to vacuum leaves out of flower beds in spring and fall. What I got was a Homelite (which they also sell for residential use) Vac Attack with Zip Start or something like that! Anybody have an opinion on how long this thing will last and whether I should take it back and spend the extra $75-100 to upgrade to the Husky?

[Guido]

You might want to think about a backpack blower to blow out the beds and such, you'll waste a lot of time with a vacuum.

And also, depending on how much use you will be demanding from it, it may be worth the commercial upgrade.

Hope this helps!

[Lawnworks]

I would definately get a backpack blower. If you have only got a certain amount of money, try to get a used one off ebay or the used commercial forum. I bought a used Shindiawa EB630 for $300 from Bob on the used equip. forum. I saved alot of money and got a very high quality blower.

[geogunn]

nitro--the homelite handheld blower thing is strictly home owner grade. they can be ok for blowing the drive and sidewalks.

as for the vac on the thing, don't expect much. for sucking up leaves out of beds, it's not worth the trouble.

I used to sell units similar to this one at home depot and for the homeowner, they generally got good reviews.

for commercial use...forget it.

the homelite backpack blowers are a cruel joke of nature they are so pittiful.

HOWEVER, for LIGHT COMMERCIAL use I do recomend the ST-275 homelite string trimmer.

GEO

[TJLC]

I for one hate to pay commerical prices but I also learned early on it pays in the long run to use only comm. equipment.

[awm]

I use tolike homelite allright.But the linkage
looks flimsy now,almost like a kids toy.
GOOD LUCK TM

[grassyfras]

i owned one but i took back to homedepot. It took to long to blow. the backpacks arnt any good either my friend has one its pretty much the same thing but he likes it because its comfortable. i decided to get a stil blower. I only do 13 yards but i didnt like that other blower. You wont have much luck doing leaves in beds.

[Eric ELM]

Nitro, I would take it back if I were you. When I started out, I bought cheap equipment, but I learned the hard way, trial and error. I didn't have a great forum like this to learn from, so I did what I could on my own. Homelight will get you by, but you just don't know how long.

Professional equipment is built to last using it every day, all day long. Home owner equipment is built to use once a week for a couple years.

[accuratelawn]

I would sweep sidewalks before I would use a Homelite hand blower again. Mine lasted about a month.
Take the advice of others that have made the mistakes. Buy quality. It will be cheaper in the long run.

[bob]

Take the Homelite back!

[LoneStarLawn]

If you are going to stick with a hand held blower than keep it. All hand held blowers will last about the same amount of time....you will just be paying more for the name. We started with a hand held Homelite blower for our first season and it lasted all season with 40 accounts. When we became larger we knew it could not endure the extra load so we went to back pack blowers from Shindaiwa. I would never use a blower as a vacuum though.

[Edited by LoneStarLawn on 12-27-2000 at 10:16 PM]

[Toroguy]

Unlike my Homelite trimmer ( See "Homelite R.I.P" thread) my Homelite handheld blower bought from Home Depot has lasted me a year and a half. It is in need for replacement soon, and I will find a high quality backpack to supercede it come spring. I have been happy with price and performance, but am looking forward to a new, more productive tool.

[Skookum]

Well, I hate to go against the flow, But I still have a Homelite handheld blower that is right at 7-8 years old. Kept saying I would buy a commercial unit when it quit, but the thing will not die. I have used it every week for those 8 years on an average of about 2-3 days a week.

It is the old model that actually has a trigger throtle. I admit that I purchased a newer Homelite model called a "Bandit" a few years ago for when a friend helped me out one summer. It was the same motor and case but it did not have a throtle, just had a low and high setting. It was a real pain in the behind by not being able to control the speed.

I also purchased a backpack blower that was a Homelite as well, last year. Glad I did purchase the Homelite. It was half as much as a low priced commercial unit. Without getting into power issues, I hated the thing. Not because who made it, just cause the whole backpack setup. To me it was more cumbersome and time consuming than the little handheld unit that I have become use to using. 4 or 5 hundred dollars for a commercial unit would have made it worse of a experience.

My step-father had a Echo and a Stihl handheld that he paid about 300.00 each. He used them residentially. He got one year out of each before they would not start anymore. I've never done anything to my Homelite, ever! It starts every year easier than I do.

My theory is two fold. One: if you have employees you might want commercial, IF it is more sturdy built. Which today's commercial units of all kinds are getting cheaper with each new model, in my opinion. Two: If you take care of your equipment properly it will last no matter who made it.

Using the blower as a vac WILL shorten the life of the blower since it is using the turbine as a intake enabling it to mulch as well. This turbine is most likely plastic and vaccuming will wear down the turbine blades, eventually causing it to lose blowing power as well as vaccuming suction. I use vac attachments for a Ryobi trimmer that this happens to after about four seasons.

Good luck on your choice!

[curlawngreen]

They work better than a broom. If that is all you can afford it will work until you can afford a backpack. I used one for a couple of months after theives felt they needed my equipment more than I.

[Green Finger]

Nitro

I know what it's like starting out in business and you are trying to cut corners but some things you just don't try to cut around.

Quality service and quality equipment.

Example:You are on a premier customers' yard and you go to start up that homelite blower and it doesn't work.

Because it just can't take it anymore.

It makes you look real bad.

Image is everything.

Obey your thirst and upgrade.

[LoneStarLawn]

To solve that problem green finger you should have two of everything...no matter what brand it is. He isn't cutting corners by having a homelite (he might be because he has a hand held) but if people are saying it lasted them years then it should be fine. Who is to say that a echo hand held or a stihl hand held won't have the same problems. Why spend twice as much for a hand held when all you are purchasing is a name ( I feel that if thats what you can only afford for a hand held then purchase it and say towards a back pack). Obviously if he is looking for a hand held he must not need a commercial back pack yet. I would keep it and use it as long as you can....more than likely it will become a back up when your are able to purcahse a back pack blower. Quality work can be done without a blower....just takes a lot longer.

[Jason_S]

In the past 3 years, we've gone through 2 Homelite blowers.
They are cheap, not made for the long run, or commercial use. They would probably last 5-10 years with residential use.

[Shack]

The name should speek for itself. Home(home use), Lite(light duty) LOL

[DMC300]

homelite?...DOLT!!!

[Lawnworks]

I had a homelite backpack blower and it was junk, but I had an old homelite string trimmer 5 years ago and it ran forever. I have a Shindaiwa now after using Echo and Green Machine and it is a great machine. 62.5cc is a big engine.

[Redmowers]

Well I don't have a Homelite but I do have a Craftsman 32cc,that just will not die.It never fails to start winter or summer,it has fallen of the trailer and skidded down the road,one side of the housing is real thin.It got left behind at on job ,but we were reaquainted the following week I guess nobody wanted it.Every year I really expect I will have to replace it "this year" but that year has yet to come.Not too bad for a homeowner "Craftsman"but maybe This year.DOH !

[geogunn]

red--I too have a crapsman blower. 13 years old and I used it for nine years solid around my house. today even, it'll run good. it is a great home owner blower.

but for my commercial needs, no way it will cut the mustard.

my place is kind of like a "retirement home for old equipment"!

GEO

[Redmowers]

GEO
You too huh,I could start a lawn care museum with all the crap - stuff I have collected over the years.If it still works or could I probably still have it ,why I can't explain that.

[grassyfras]

i hate to say this but if u buy it from homedepot and u dont get as much power or it breaks they will take it back no questions asked i did it about 5 time to trimmers and blowers i hate to say that but i did for 2 years but remeber 3 blowers and 2 trimmers in less then 2 years is poor

[mowerman90]

Nitro,

I too, started out using a Homelite handheld and it worked well for me for many years. Of coarse I was only doing 20 yards per week when I first started. Now, I wouldn't even think of using one after using my Stihl BR400 for the last 7 years. In comparing the Homelite to any other commercial blower think about what always goes first on almost any handheld or 2 cycle peice of equipment - the rope starter. Now take a look at your Homelite and imagine how long it's gonna take to replace the rope on it. You have to take the entire case apart to get at it. On commercial equipment there's 4 screws and 10 minutes worth of work and you're back in business. I bet it would take over an hour to replace the rope on a Homelite. Remember, time is money.

[geogunn]

yo red--a couple more antiques that I have include a YAZOO 24 IN. BIG WHEEL mower. this thing is aolid cast iron! about 20 years old. you can't kill it! a bullet to the brain would bounce off!

another is a mccouloc[(sp?) sorry, too much bubbly for the moment, HAPPY NEW YEAR!] chain saw. that baby will hurt your ears it's so perky!

hey, I ve even got a JC PENNEY 8 hp tiller!

mister stone ought to be proud of me!

GEO

[Nitro]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. The case on the Homelite hand held blower looks glued together and pretty cheap. One of my main concerns was whether or not I would have problems starting it when it gets some age on it. I hadn't thought about having to change the starter rope and appreciate the good advice. I think I'll go back and get the Husky!

[BIG D]

Grassyfras, Think about this. You pay 75 bucks for a hunk of crap you take back 5 times a year. You buy a decent blower at worst case $130-250 it will last you 1 plus years. You spend 5-10 minutes per yard trying to suck start the hunk of crap. My dealership is the service center for 10 Home Depots. I will tell you. I see a lot of Homelite, Weed Eater (poulan- same as crapsman.) and Ryobi. I hardly ever see Echo That is pretty much all they sell and starting soon they will only sell Homelite, they are dropping the rest. I understand that the crap is more popular but when I do see the Echo back it usually isnt warranty. Its one of you guys that brought it back because you forgot to remove it from the front of the pickup before you drove off. I am totally serious. I get deisel, pure water, I even had a guy bring back a sprayer that he bought from me that didnt spray. He forgot to remove the owners manual from the tank. So when you get a quality piece of machinery when it breaks it usually (not all the time) is because of the user. If you pull your blower from two feet of grass every time you want to use it and expect it to start. You will be a great employee for the fast food industry.