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Hurricane Blo-Vac vs Billy Goat

38K views 93 replies 24 participants last post by  LeafPro 
#1 ·
Long shot, does anyone have both?? Im wondering if the hurricane has more or less blowing power than the 18 hp billy goat. The hydro self propel and weight must eat up some power. I have the 18 billy goat and use it alot. I bought it just before they came out with self propelled. I want to get another one next year plus a leaf loader which will be over 6k. Hurricane is going for 8 1/2.
 
#3 ·
Went to GIE this year and saw both, the Brown model and the Hurricane model. The way the reps for Hurricane handled our conversation totally killed any purchase I make. Talked with my local Brown dealer and am demoing the Brown unit tomorrow. Brown is actually coming out with more attachments for their unit so it can be used year round.
 
#4 ·
No thanks, I'll stick to my thousand dollar 10-12hp push units, yours might get twice the work done but I'll just stick that 5 thousand dollar difference in my pocket to pay for all the extra hours I will be working, which I hear say is a good thing to have plenty of.

anyone see this new hurricane style blower by brown products?

http://brownproducts.com/Products/Blower-Vac.htm
Oh yeah, they always clear out good when it's dry leaves on flat ground and freshly cut grass!
 
#6 ·
No thanks, I'll stick to my thousand dollar 10-12hp push units, yours might get twice the work done but I'll just stick that 5 thousand dollar difference in my pocket to pay for all the extra hours I will be working, which I hear say is a good thing to have plenty of.

Oh yeah, they always clear out good when it's dry leaves on flat ground and freshly cut grass!
lol you have alot to learn.
 
#9 · (Edited)
lol you have alot to learn.
No, it's the folks who keep spending more and more who apparently fail to see the light.

I spent many years with my head in those same clouds chasing a silver lining that doesn't exist, but I thought it had to, I thought the darker the cloud the better the chance it contained great amounts of silver, and boy did I ever invest a lot of time and effort in a chase that resembles going after the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

But you know what, when you finally get there...
First the rainbow keeps moving away so I'd double up my effort time and again, you will see.
But when I'd finally get as close to the end as I could possibly get.
Either someone else has already been there, or there is nothing there.

And the clouds, no matter how dark their color, contain no silver in their lining.

It's the same in all of life, you think you are better off because your stuff gets more done.

But you can work as hard as you want and have the best equipment in the world ...
And you'd think you spend more to make more ...
But at the end of the month, it's the same money.

Which means the grass isn't greener on the other side.
There is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
And there is no silver in the clouds.

That took me many years to figure out.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Now I'll tell you something else...

18 horses doesn't do twice the work of 10 horses, not even close.
It doesn't even do 80 percent more work.

That's because you need THREE times the HP to put out DOUBLE the work.
A blower would have to sport a 30hp engine to put out double the load a 10hp blower delivers.
At 18 horses you're probably getting about 40% or so more done.

Minus the power that machine spends on hydraulics, doing work that would likely do the operator's muscles some good.
A fat Lco ain't getting much of anything done either, a fatso's fastest waddle is hardly the speed of my trot because
the lard gets in the way more than the hydros can move.

Ain't worth 6 thousand dollars, folks.
 
#11 ·
Now I'll tell you something else...

18 horses doesn't do twice the work of 10 horses, not even close.
It doesn't even do 80 percent more work.

That's because you need THREE times the HP to put out DOUBLE the work.
A blower would have to sport a 30hp engine to put out double the load a 10hp blower delivers.
At 18 horses you're probably getting about 40% or so more done.

Minus the power that machine spends on hydraulics, doing work that would likely do the operator's muscles some good.
A fat Lco ain't getting much of anything done either, a fatso's fastest waddle is hardly the speed of my trot because
the lard gets in the way more than the hydros can move.

Ain't worth 6 thousand dollars, folks.
lol you STILL have ALOT to learn little buddy, Why don't you put one of your cute little $1000 dollar units side by side a hurricane and take a look at the size difference of the blower housing its self, The hurricane's blower is 1/3 bigger if not LARGER then the small blowers, So althoe it might only have 8 more hp it pushes twice the air from the bigger housing/fan.

But whatever, what do i know right???
 
#12 ·
lol you STILL have ALOT to learn little buddy, Why don't you put one of your cute little $1000 dollar units side by side a hurricane and take a look at the size difference of the blower housing its self, The hurricane's blower is 1/3 bigger if not LARGER then the small blowers, So althoe it might only have 8 more hp it pushes twice the air from the bigger housing/fan.

But whatever, what do i know right???
Guess he has never had to clean up wet leaves a foot deep on an acre plus. I had one clean up today where I removed 10 yards of leaves with my $4000 leaf loader and box. Half days work $500 and booked for the rest of the month.
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#15 ·
anyone see this new hurricane style blower by brown products?

http://brownproducts.com/Products/Blower-Vac.htm
Their demo video is pretty sad. I'd think they could have gotten a more experienced operator than that. Big ride-on blower and I could have moved the leaves he did in half the time with a backpack blower. I'm not saying it's a bad unit, but watching that video sure didn't impress me regarding it's productivity.
 
#17 ·
Just bought a Hurricane X3. It is a beast! Love that you can blow left, right or forward. Yes, it was a bunch of cash. Wish it had attachments. Hard to tell from crappy Brown demo video but from the looks of the video and the specs I would say the X3 has more blowing power.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Here's a better video of the Brown blower. Skip till the last 30 seconds, he's blowing a bigger pile but not huge
 
#20 ·
I have the 314 hurricane. It is a beast and it is a hundred times better than a walk behind blower. It also saves operator fatigue because it's a ride on. There is no way a guy could walk back and forth as fast as they could ride on a machine. If you are a one man show and you only have a certain number of cleanups to do and you will get it done either way than maybe its not for you. For me, more productive machines mean more work and less labor. Therefore, spending the money on better equipment directly translates to more money in my pocket. I think if you talk to anyone that owns one or has run one they will tell you the same thing. I have never seen a bad review of the hurricane but they are still fairly new. It's kind of like using a stander vs. a push mower. They are both gonna get the job done but the stander is far more efficient and a lot more expensive.
 
#22 ·
14 hp little wonders aren't close. We had an 11hp billy goat that wasn't close. I highly doubt the 18 hp is close. The reason why is the impelller. The paddles on the hurricane vs. on the little walk behind blower aren't close. Take a small piece of paper and wave it back and forth really fast and see how much wind it creates. Pick something larger like a magazine or place mat or something and wave that. Without nearly the effort you are creating a lot more air from the larger piece. The horsepower doesn't need to be as great because it really doesn't have to go around as fast to create a lot more air. I would demo one if you are seriously considering it but I would bet that the hurricane moves a lot more air.
 
#23 · (Edited)
I would say it is about three times more powerful than my little wonder which I think has a 9hp Honda. By powerful I mean volume of air movement.

That other Brown video is better but I still think the Hurricane would move more leaves.

As far as the X3 vs. an 18hp BG I think the edge would go to the Hurricane. I wouldn't switch for power, I don't think the extra power would be worth the large expense.

No doubt easier to ride but only you can decide what value that has.

Two main reasons I bought the X3. Conserve energy when out working. I will and do spend money to save energy/time so not so tired end of day, next day, etc.

Second reason is front blowing so when mowing I can blow off long paths, etc. this to me puts the blower on the trailer on HOA and commercial mowing days, not just using it in fall. I also have street blowing to do which riding is ideal for.

Lastly, I wanted to invest in biz instead of sending money to Uncle Sam. I guess that is more than two!
 
#25 ·
I am downstate, Albany. I have a dealer fairly close in CT about 1/2 hr from me. I am nearly sold on it. Its the extra 1500 for the truck loading equipment that urks me. That brings it to 10k and it certainly isnt the engineering, or size/power equivalent to a 10k zero turn but then a zero turn wont blow leaves.
 
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