Stihl BR550 or BR600 blower?

[recycledsole]

thanks rsk. i might buy one new. they are hard to find used around here atleast. there are some far away in NJ, but its going to be $100 in gas atleast, and might not even be a good machine..
thanks for your help, i really appreciate it very much.

thanks exmarkboy for confirming my decision with the br600 and giving me confidence in the machine. it is working great so far.
thanks for everyones help i am grateful

[Darryl G]

Originally Posted by Exmarkboy13

When shopping for backpacks, I looked at all brands and felt Stihl had the best combination of comfort, performance, ease of maintenance, starting, and durability. Plus easy part access and a great warranty. I have used the 550 and my 600 magnum side by side, and even blowing light grass off of a street or drive, you can tell a difference. The 550 honestly seems like a waste to me. The extra power is really worth the 50 or some bucks. If stihl didnt exist, Husqvarna would be my second choice in handheld. But to me, The br 600 magnum is the ultimate.

Dont let the low sound fool or specs fool you. In real world conditions, its just as efficient and powerful as the 8001, 8500, 770, or 580bts. why? I have honestly used them all and can tell you that in reality one may be alittle stronger, but weights more. It all equallys out in the end really. There all very close in real performance. If you cant move it with a Br 600, You need alot more than a backpack blower.

There's more than a little bit of difference between a BR600M and the Husky 580. Yes, it's huge, heavy and loud as hell, but it blows a lot harder than the Stihl...a lot. For a good sized solo guy like myself, having that extra power makes a big difference, especially when the conditions are less than favorable. And even though it is heavy I don't find it uncomfortable. In fact I find it more comfortable than my old Shindaiwa EB630s because I don't have all that weight on my shoulders. The padded waist belt on the 580 makes a big difference in being able to wear it long enough to burn a whole tank, which is about 1.5 hours.

I don't see how it equals out. I can get more done faster with an insanely powerful backpack blower. You can really pick up the pace because most of the time you can blow as fast as you can move. If you're a bigger/stronger guy who really likes to go for it and bust tail when doing cleanups, I'd highly recommend it. If you're a smaller/weaker guy who isn't in much of a hurry, buy something else.

[TempleLawnCare]

Wish I had 2 580's.....thinkin about selling my goat with the new 13hp honda motor for $850

[Darryl G]

Originally Posted by TempleLawnCare

Wish I had 2 580's.....thinkin about selling my goat with the new 13hp honda motor for $850

If it only had a 10HP Briggs on it that would be some tempting.

[caseysmowing]

Originally Posted by RSK Property Maintenance

go with the 9hp honda little wonder, model is 270h i believe. honestly more power is better and will create a little more cfm, but its not worth pushing the extra weight around and the higher price tag. if you want your customers wondering how you got the job done so fast and how their lawn is cleaner then ever, BUY the little wonder. I did and that's what every new customer i get says, and they all say they have had several different big name companies do clean ups for them. As for the backpack blower, I have used echo pb770h which, the husky 180bt, and br600 which are all comparable cfm wise and price tag wise. they all cost about 530 after taxes in my area, the stihl is the lightest, then the echo, then the husky. the husky is also the most powerful, which is great if you are doing you clean ups with a backpack only, but you are not. so I would go with the lightest.....I have owned my echo pb770h for 7 years. and it still works great. my husky is 4 years old and still works great. both are much heavier then a br600, and now that i have all the tools to do clean ups the right way, I'm switching over to stihl br600's because they are light and quieter. and all i need backpacks for is blowing grass off, and blowing out beds, and leaves from corners. anything other then that my little wonder is used and once the pile becomes too large for that, I use my leaf plow and push the leaves wherever they have to go.

This is also how I roll on leaf clean ups. 2 BR600M, 13hp BG blower, and a leaf plow.

[kawasaki guy]

Kawasaki. The KRB650B rocks. It feels like it has more power than it is rated at. They also make KRB750.

B at the end of the model # means tube mount throttle, an A at the end of the model # means hip mount.




580 Husq weigh a lot.

[Darryl G]

I'll carry an extra 8 pounds to have twice the power. Again, the Redmax 8500 and Husky 580 are not for everyone, but they make the smaller blowers seem like toys and in many situations will out perform a wheel blower.

[TempleLawnCare]

Daryl is 100% correct, I have a 13hp Billy Goat and I can move a wall of leaves way more efficiently with my 580 then with my Goat. It will wear you down, especially if your like me and have and extra 15lbs worth of carhardt's on. If you can handle a little fatigue at the end of the day and let's face it were not pencil pushers, the 580 is well worth the money for cleanups. I wouldn't recommend it for your everyday walks and drives, thats what I have a 150bt for.

[kebrowns]

I have the br600 and its good. My advice is if you are so confused just get the best. For just about $40 more get the br600.

[RSK Property Maintenance]

Originally Posted by caseysmowing

This is also how I roll on leaf clean ups. 2 BR600M, 13hp BG blower, and a leaf plow.

its efficient even if you are running a one man show, it is still the only way to do a clean up. I was pushing a pile so big monday morning I literally couldn't see where I was pushing the pile anymore. I wish I took a picture, it was 5ft over me sitting down on my cheetah, and about another 4ft wide at least.