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RedMax EBZ8500 review

26K views 47 replies 14 participants last post by  crazyflyboy30 
#1 ·
As some of you know one of my EBZ8001s was starting to show its age. After a few hours on lawnsite and some loss of sleep I decided to pick up a new EBZ8500. Couldn’t find much on this blower, which is very surprising especially for how powerful it is. When I went to pick up one at weingartz I was still a little unsure about this new blower because I have heard almost nothing about it. I talked to my salesman about the echo 770 and he said, “don’t even go there, no where near the power or reliability of that redmax.” Picked it up for $578.



Upgrades to the 8500 from 8001/8050
• Redesigned air filter housing has 2 intakes that go down into the blower intake area, no exact idea where they end up but it did help tremendously to keep out particulates.
• New fuel tank is easier to work with. Fill point is the highest point so there are no air pockets, this lets you put more gas in
• Lighter
• Blower tube is more robust at the flexible joint, but the tubes are not as heavy duty.
• Handle on the tube (hip mount throttle) is more comfortable and is made of a heavy plastic that does not flex
• Improved handle mount allows the handle to rotate and not the tube, this gives the tube a solid feel and removes the weak point between the flexible tube and solid tube
• Tubes connect with a great amount of friction, these wont fall off or loosen up on you
• Bigger blower tubes for more air volume
• New back padding is not very comfortable; most of the pressure is pushed onto your back in 2 long vertical areas.
• Just like all redmax blowers, all of the weight of the blower is on your shoulders
• Hip throttle mount is more robust
• More power


All in all I like it more than my older 8001. It may not be as comfortable but the gain in power outweighs that. The newer design made the flexible portion of the blower tube much less awkward, higher up and bit further out so it doesn’t pinch my waist as much when I aim the tube to my left. Seems to use fuel at the same rate (fast) and has the same eye burning exhaust fumes.
 
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#2 ·
Nice review, I have the 8050 I never noticed the fumes!
 
#3 ·
thanks! when the wind is just right or your blowing out a garage the exhaust is just eye burning
 
#6 ·
must have missed it! I've looked into that stihl ultra but i am just going to stick with redmax oil if this blower has a short life you can bet ill switch to stihl. my other 8001 is even older than the one that crapped out on me and i am still seriously considering a stihl, i did try a br600 on and it was a world of difference in comfort. how often do the valves need to be adjusted
 
#7 ·
I have 2 8500's. Way more power than the 8050's. Uses more fuel and is louder. Lighter. Taller and narrower so is a bit top heavy, if you keep them in the back of your truck. The back pad is a little different but no less comfortable. I like the handle on the air tube in that the handle rotates rather than the tube itself. Seems like a nice feature.

Paid $540 total for one and $568(paid extra $25 for shipping/special order) for the other.

One other thing, being a strato-charged engine they are a bit harder to start when cold. If warm, they start first or second pull.
 
#8 ·
oh yeah it takes me about 4-5 pulls cold and 2-3 warm my older 8001 were 2 pulls every time
 
#12 ·
Exactly right. My Husky is the same exact way. First pull every time if warm, but at least 4-5 when cold, and it takes a while to warm up. The Stihl is a lot better on those issues, and way, way better on fuel.
Have heard the Stihl's have very good fuel economy. They are on a lot of guys trailers locally. The exhaust note really starts to sound sour after they get some age on them though. Maybe they just are out of adjustment.
 
#13 ·
Exactly right. My Husky is the same exact way. First pull every time if warm, but at least 4-5 when cold, and it takes a while to warm up. The Stihl is a lot better on those issues, and way, way better on fuel.
it should be better on fuel it has 20% less power
 
#15 ·
According to Stihl, they need to be checked and set one time at 139 hours of use, or as needed, which is determined by performance changing.

I am going to do a review of my 600 and Husky in the next day or two.
they get hard to pull when they need a valve adjust correct? were both in michigan so i would have to imagine we use similar fuel and see a similar amount of leaves in the fall. in you honest unbiased opinion do you think the br600 is really that much better than the ebz8500 in usable air and performance?
 
#16 ·
I have the 8500 in orange....Husqvarna 580BTS. It has both a padded hip belt and a chest strap and also has a little bigger fuel tank. I felt like I was Moses parting the Red Sea today blowing fairly dry leaves. I can just stand in one spot and rotate my body and blow a berm of leaves 20 feet back in a semi-circle. I usually run it at 80 to 90% throttle on the cruise control even for heavy accumulations...about all you really need...and then hit the trigger for "turbo" to stuff leaves into the woods etc. It's pretty loud and a bit of a strain on the arm at WOT for sustained periods. Since I got it my wheeel blower hardly gets used.
 
#17 ·
So I have one 8000 and 2 8001's and we run them hard this time of year. No problems and they have been really good to me. I borrowed a stihl from a friend a few years back and the power just isnt there--comfort yes. We needed another blower recently and I wanted to get the 8500 (going on my past positive experience with redmax blowers). Dealer tells me the 8500 I would have to wait for so I bought a Shindaiwa 854. The 854 definitely has more gusto, but what a PITA to start and the H4 is touted as fuel efficient but the redmax blowers will outrun the shindy by 15 to 20 minutes.
 
#18 ·
So I have one 8000 and 2 8001's and we run them hard this time of year. No problems and they have been really good to me. I borrowed a stihl from a friend a few years back and the power just isnt there--comfort yes. We needed another blower recently and I wanted to get the 8500 (going on my past positive experience with redmax blowers). Dealer tells me the 8500 I would have to wait for so I bought a Shindaiwa 854. The 854 definitely has more gusto, but what a PITA to start and the H4 is touted as fuel efficient but the redmax blowers will outrun the shindy by 15 to 20 minutes.
Both blowers have the same size fuel tank?
 
#19 ·
darryl i used just my backpack today to do my back yard and don't know how you do it, just getting out that billy goat is so much easier! sdl get are you going to get an 8500?
 
#21 ·
they get hard to pull when they need a valve adjust correct? were both in michigan so i would have to imagine we use similar fuel and see a similar amount of leaves in the fall. in you honest unbiased opinion do you think the br600 is really that much better than the ebz8500 in usable air and performance?
I wouldn't say a lot more usable air, but rather, a difference in how it's applied. I don't know what model Stihl the other posted used, but I run them side by side (My Husky, and Stihl) and there's a definate difference between them. The Stihl is a wolf in sheeps clothing. I would be willing to bet good coin that those who don't like Stihl 600's have little time with one in real world conditions, or just assume that they are weaker because of their sound.

My review will be fair and unbiased. I see no need to promote one brand over another just because I may own that one. I could have bought any blower I wanted whe I bought this last one, but I went with the Husky for several reasons that I'll cover in the review. In other words, I'm not particularly brand loyal.
 
#24 · (Edited)
I hear you but you just can't beat a wheeled blower for wet leaves!
It's really hard to argue with that since they are so powerful, but the latest generation of big BP's makes them a lot less useful than they used to be. I have yet to see any wet leaves, even in large number that I can't move handily with either the 600M, or the Husky 570. I used them exclusively this fall for leaf clean ups BTW, so I got a lot of good demo time behind them.
 
#25 ·
It's really hard to argue with that since they are so powerful, but the latest generation of big BP's makes them a lot less useful than they used to be. I have yet to see any wet leaves, even in large number that I can't move handily with either the 600M, or the Husky 570. I used them exclusively this fal for leaf clean ups BTW, so I got a lot of good demo time behind them.
Agreed.

With apologies to the original poster I own a 13 hp billygoat wb blower. I think wb blowers would be much more useful if the engine/blower housing was rotated 90 degrees on the frame so that the air discharge came out the front. Then put a swivel "tube" that rotated 180 degrees on the air discharge. May be hard to execute this idea though.
 
#26 ·
Agreed.

With apologies to the original poster I own a 13 hp billygoat wb blower. I think wb blowers would be much more useful if the engine/blower housing was rotated 90 degrees on the frame so that the air discharge came out the front. Then put a swivel "tube" that rotated 180 degrees on the air discharge. May be hard to execute this idea though.
That's funny, because I have thought the same thing when looking at some of the new ones lately. I saw a youtube video of a tractor 3 pt mounted unit that did that, and it was sweet.
 
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