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I decided to buy a Leaf Blower. I'm looking for opinions.
When I look at name brands, they seem pretty expensive. local dealers are all over the place and claim their brand is the best. On AZ, I see a lot under $100 but with Brands that are odd names.
My primary question is should I overextend my budget or go with an unknown with a 2-yr warranty?
If there is a particular Brand/Model that is a reasonable compromise or am I just kidding myself.
Any push toward a vendor, Brand, Model to purchase is appreciated.
I only use a Blower once a week for 20-30 min.

once a week for that long, i'd consider a battery operated unit.

If you want gas / mix, Echo has good blowers, mine (PB250) is over 10 years old & no issues..

And 5 Year warranty, & Lifetime warranty on coil pack..

For a gas blower, I would recommend a stihl or hitachi leaf blower. Last a long time with little maintenance.

This something to consider too. What is you ability to repair the unit if it actually needs repairs. A lot of the battery powered equipment simply don't have parts available after the sale especially if it is from China. Yes battery power are usually fairly reliable until they break down. Replacement costs and usage are be to considered, then just live with your decision afterwards.

Question here is... Do we continue to support the Chinese dumping cheap none repairable equipment or do we buy something that can be repaired down the road?

Now I would avoid the Troybilt and other MTD produce 4 cycle versions as they just don't oil themselves properly and I see a lot of them failing within two years of use. Makita, Stihl, and Shindaiwa all make good 4 cycle units. For local your best bet on a gas powered unit would be your local Stihl dealer and not the big box stores like HD or Lowes.

I just repaired of all things a gas powered jack hammer that don't even have any make or model numbers on it as it came from China. I got lucky as it had Walbro WJ or WL series rotary carb clone on it so I had the spares in the saved parts kit. And boy that 52cc engine could use a decompression valve.

I ended up buying Stihl BG56 C-E
There are two kinds of Stihl oil a Orange bottle and Silver.
The Sales guy told me to use the Silver since it was Synthetic, and the Orange was not.
Is it sales talk or true to only use Synthetic? (The Owners Manual does say to use Synthetic Oil)
Should I Always use Stihl oil?
Opinions?

I also noticed that none of the Premix fuels state that the Oil is Synthetic. So is Premix off the menu?

Using the synthetic oil used to add a year of warranty. Not sure if still does..

Pre-mix is good, costs lot more, Ur choice..

I've always used silver

dkamp said:

I decided to buy a Leaf Blower. I'm looking for opinions.
When I look at name brands, they seem pretty expensive. local dealers are all over the place and claim their brand is the best. On AZ, I see a lot under $100 but with Brands that are odd names.
My primary question is should I overextend my budget or go with an unknown with a 2-yr warranty?
If there is a particular Brand/Model that is a reasonable compromise or am I just kidding myself.
Any push toward a vendor, Brand, Model to purchase is appreciated.
I only use a Blower once a week for 20-30 min.

Click to expand...

When it comes to handheld equipment and what brand to buy:
Stihl, Husqvarna, Echo, and Redmax.

Buy the cheap Troy Bilt, Ryobi, Craftsman, etc. and you will not be as happy, have the longevity, or often a shop that will work on it. Silver (synthetic) Stihl premix is the way to go. Or any other good oil such as Red Armour, Echo oil, etc.

Buy a big box store battery handheld piece of equipment, and it will be difficult to find a shop to repair it. Basically a disposable unit for the hypocrite greenies.

the first question should be what are you blowing? If you are blowing leaves that fall from the trees this time of the year, on an acre, then it will sit the rest of the year that is one situation. Another situation is general lansdcape - is this an all year thing? 30 minutes a week x 52 weeks is 26 hours a year X 10 years is 260 hours. Some of these blowers will not last that long as others have said, without repairs. If I was using one for that much I would want a gas powered blower, unless you are in a state that is moving to EV. A friend of mine had to get rid if two nice expensive backpack blowers because the laws in her city changed to where she cannot use gas powered backpack blowers in her city. It cost her close to $2000 to have enough batteries to do the same she used to do with her gas powered blowers. If you are in an area like that, you may need to go to battery now or you will be buying a blower twice.

dkamp said:

I also noticed that none of the Premix fuels state that the Oil is Synthetic. So is Premix off the menu?

Click to expand...

Just use the correct premix or premium fuel or non-ethanol fuel with the regular Stihl oil. Synthetic is an advertising gimmick to make more money in this situation. It's not a daily driver car or the space shuttle.

If it does have to sit for a long period, empty the fuel and run it out of fuel.