If you don't have bulk leaves and debris to deal with, you can probably get by with a smaller unit. Something with a 50cc engine and putting out 500+ cfm at 200+ mph will tidy things up fairly quickly without breaking the bank. The Husqvarna 150bt is arguably the best value in the 50cc range. It's a slightly cheaped-out Lowes version of their dealer model 350bt. The Echo pb580 is a nice unit for the price too. Having run the 76cc Husqvarna 580bt for several years and an 80cc Echo pb8010 for a season, the smaller units seem like toys to me. But to someone who hasn't been spoiled by using monster backpack units, a smaller one would probably make you happy. My brother-in-law is perfectly happy with the 150bt unit I gifted him for use on his 3 acres.
The thing with using your mower as a blower is that it doesn't really do the job properly - the grass tends to build up at the edges, forming unsightly rafts of grass clippings, and you're putting hours on a machine that costs 10 to 20 times as much as one designed to do the job. Granted, it's not a lot of extra time on the machine, but still...
The thing with using your mower as a blower is that it doesn't really do the job properly - the grass tends to build up at the edges, forming unsightly rafts of grass clippings, and you're putting hours on a machine that costs 10 to 20 times as much as one designed to do the job. Granted, it's not a lot of extra time on the machine, but still...