Backpack Blower V.S. Handheld

[exotion]

"ECHO is honestly a better company in my opinion easier to work on and reliable VS Sthil where you have to tear half of the unit down just to replace the carb or a fuel line"

Echo is a good unit. They just don't produce power like stihl. Besides even if you have to tear half the unit down to replace something it only takes 5 mins

 

[djdicetn]

Echo is a good unit. They just don't produce power like stihl. Besides even if you have to tear half the unit down to replace something it only takes 5 mins

I was bent on getting a backpack blower but I ran across an Echo PB2050LN handheld at Home Depot that was a "refurb" for $70. I couldn't resist the deal so I bought it. When I went to the Echo website to check the warranty registration it appeared that the "original" owner never registered it. I was able to register and receive the full warranty on it and consider myself to have made out like a bandit. I am VERY pleased(as is my wife, who volunteers to do the trimming and cleanup when I mow) with it's performance(starts on 2nd or 3rd pull every time) and for a homeowner's needs it does a stellar job.

 

[Ric]

Echo is a good unit. They just don't produce power like stihl. Besides even if you have to tear half the unit down to replace something it only takes 5 mins

As far as tearing it down either unit Echo or Stihl would probably be about the same. I really can't see one being easier than the other too work on.

 

[tct]

Everybody's got an opinion, and here's mine for what it's worth. I have owned or used quite a few leaf blowers in over 30yrs in the mowing for hire business, in my opinion commercial hand held leaf blowers are of bad design, and the reason I say this is they are all left handed, which is great if your left handed, but if your right handed the sideway's mounted fan is going to suck your pant leg into the intake, the other problem I have is that they wan't to torque or twist because of the side mounted fan. The 1st hand held blower design that stihl came out with had the fan on the bottom, something they should have stuck with, but I'm sure it was cheaper to build the fan on the side or they wouldn't have changed. I have only used stihl, echo, red max and husqvarna hand held blowers, none of which blow as hard as my 32cc mtd, the fan is mounted in the front so you can use it in either hand without it sucking your pant leg into the intake. The draw back is I have to change the cylinder about every 2 seasons, the mtd is a consumer model with a half crank and a single crank bearing I've been using 2 of these blowers since 07 and have not had to replace a crank bearing. 0ne is my primary handheld blower and the other is back up, I also carry a third back up and it's a stihl that rarely gets used. As far as back pack blowers go if you wan't power thats the way to go. I'm currently using an old fradan back pack blower, which gets the job done but I prefer kawasaki's, they blow hard and last long, I don't have any experience with stihl back pack blowers but I'm sure they're good.

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http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff72/wiretechbucket/pb2-1-1.jpg





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