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Well if the Redmax 8000 is only 3.3lbs heavier than what i have now then im gettin one! damn, lol. Most are around 20lbs, if it feels heavy, lean forward more, 20lbs on your back isnt bad. What hurts the most is those crappy side blowers that suck either your pants into them or touch the engine on the other side of you.
 
Discussion starter · #22 ·
"touch the engine on the other side of you"

OK, being that I'm right handed, and holding a handheld blowerin my right hand -- there is an engine on the left side of me? How did it get there?
 
soilman said:
"touch the engine on the other side of you"

OK, being that I'm right handed, and holding a handheld blowerin my right hand -- there is an engine on the left side of me? How did it get there?
If your left handed... the engine touches you

If your right handed... the blower housing sucks up your pants etc

no way around it, handhelds are for the mom and pops blowing off their driveway 2x a year. Ive used a few and that was enough for me... years ago before even doing anything commercially.
 
Discussion starter · #24 ·
OK, my blower arrived yesterday. I ordered an Echo PB-260L, at $255 including shipping. No sales tax. But they sent me a 260i. I was really pissed they sent me a different model than I ordered.

I called Echo and they said the 260i wasn't a current model.

However I downloaded the parts list from Echo, and could not find anything about it that was any different than the 260L, other than the fancier starter mechanism. All the other parts had the same part numbers. Even the carburator was the same (tho different serial numbers, of both models, had different carbs). Not to mention the entire short block, and the entire frame including the engine mounts. Alamia offered to take it back, and I wanted to send it back just to spite them, but I decided it would be an unproductive use of my time, to send it back and order another one from somewhere else (at a higher price).

The starter mechanism does weigh an extra 3/4 pound, but at 15.2 pounds total, I didn't have any problem picking it up and keeping it on my back for an hour. I had a problem doing that with the 403, which was 20.7 pounds I think. I found it to be a bit of a struggle even to just lift it into position to get the first strap over my shoulder.

Turns out that the i starter is handy. Why? You can start it while it is on your back. And very very easily. As long as it is still warm. This would seem to equate to less gasoline use, in these days of extraordinarily expensive gasoline. I have found myself turning the unit off if I have to walk all the way across a lawn, then re-starting it with one or 2 pulls when I get to the other side. The starter feels rather unusual, and qwirky, but it seems to work quite well.

Blows fairly adequately. Everything loose goes flying. Could use a little extra power to do things like loosen clumps of wet sand. It will blow small clumps of wet leaves, even loosen some of them if one leaves the blower on them for a few seconds.

I have been wearing ear protection, but I feel quite comfortable using it without ear protection for 15 minutes or so, and I am super-sensitive to excessive noise. The vibration damper seems to work very well for over an hour to prevent nerve-tingling and numbness. As does the damper on my echo string trimmer. This is in contrast to my cheap Craftsman (Poulan) string trimmer which used to give me tingling and numbness after only about 20 minutes of use. I seem to be very susceptible to this as I have a minor congential circulation (cardiac) defect, but I didn't get a trace of tingling from the blower.

I am having a bit of trouble getting the hang of moving things where I want them to go, but the throttle mechanism does work very very nicely. It has a very nice feel.

Yes, I put a drop of silicone spray (unlikely to damage plastic or rubber) at the mater surface of some of the snugger tubes, to make them easier to get on and off. And I put a drop of molybdenum disulfide anti-seize compound on the spark plug thread, to prevent the steel spark plug threads and aluminum cylinder head, from growing together. You often see this recommended in service manuals, but i've never seen a new engine where they actually did it themselves, at the factory. The screw the damn things in dry. Then when you take the spark plug out for the first time, after 2 years, the aluminum threads from the cylinder head end up stuck to the spark plug. You then have to re-tap the spark plug hole and put an thread-repair insert in it, and worry about chips of aluminum getting into the combustion chamber and causing rapid wear of piston ring, piston, and cylinder.

The only criticism I have is that the primer bulb is hard to find by eye. Very minor criticism, since once you know where it is, it isn't hard to feel for. Also, maybe they could have made the shoulder pads just a bit wider and better padded.
 
Discussion starter · #25 ·
It occurred to me that it should not be particularly difficult to start a warm 260L with the regular starter, without removing the unit from my back. Just pull with your left hand behind your back, no? I guess it is a bit of a awkward position to reach that far back and pull. Esp if you are right-handed. But it still seems possible, no?
 
i just bought a 260 about a week and a half ago havent used it a lot yet but i like it so far i almost bought a stihl but i already have a pb 200 handheld and i liked echos features on the blowers over stihl
 
Discussion starter · #27 ·
I was surprised to find that the echo seemed to be constructed just a tad more heavy duty than stihl. For example the way the straps were connected to the backpack frame. Doesn't mean the piston rings are better. But the straps were more obvious.
 
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