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I went into my local dealer today to purchase a backpack blower. This is the oldest dealer in our part of the country that sells handheld lawn and garden equipt. They sell Stihl, Huskvarna, and Shindiawa. When I told him what I was hunting he immediately went to Shindiawa. He said that it was hands down the better machine.

There was a guy on there as well that I have known for years that is in the lawn service business as well. He said the same thing.

I have been partial to Stihl but I decided to listen to them and bought the Shindiawa.

You did the right thing, the BR600 has nothing on a Shindaiwa or Redmax. I'm talking performance and quality / maintenance / lifespan. We have the BR in the repair shop all the time, coils, valves, carbs...always something. In the 6 1/2 years I've been n this business I have not yet done service work on ANY of the Redmax blowers I've sold! I hope you like it.

MRCo. said:

You did the right thing, the BR600 has nothing on a Shindaiwa or Redmax. I'm talking performance and quality / maintenance / lifespan. We have the BR in the repair shop all the time, coils, valves, carbs...always something. In the 6 1/2 years I've been n this business I have not yet done service work on ANY of the Redmax blowers I've sold! I hope you like it.

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You must have bought a lemon blower. I've run Stihl products for over 12 years and have never had them in the shop for any major repairs. All I have replaced is a carburetor on one of my blowers after six seasons of use. Other than basic maintenance [ annual spark plug and filter changes ] all of them run great. I'm not sure how long you had your Red Max blowers, but it must have been just threw the 1 or 2 year commercial warranty period before you sold them. You keep anything long enough and use it daily it's going to have its issues.

LoCo86 said:

You must have bought a lemon blower. I've run Stihl products for over 12 years and have never had them in the shop for any major repairs. All I have replaced is a carburetor on one of my blowers after six seasons of use. Other than basic maintenance [ annual spark plug and filter changes ] all of them run great. I'm not sure how long you had your Red Max blowers, but it must have been just threw the 1 or 2 year commercial warranty period before you sold them. You keep anything long enough and use it daily it's going to have its issues.

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I agree, Same here. I Have and run three different Stihl Blowers for the last eight years and have never had an issue with any and they've never seen a repair shop. Have eight other hand held units all types, all Stihl and never had any issues. The Shindiawa is owned and made by Echo it's nothing more than an Echo with a different cover. The reason the the sales guy immediately went to Shindiawa is because they make more money off it than the Stihl because of the mark up in price.

I didnt buy one, my repair shop works on them. We have had a number of them with major failures, chronic issues, etc. I have a Kubota trachoe that's the worst machine I ever used but other people have no issues. I'm stating personal experience, and as a repair shop, I have a dragnet that someone who owns one machine doesn't to see issues.

Ric said:

I agree, Same here. I Have and run three different Stihl Blowers for the last eight years and have never had an issue with any and they've never seen a repair shop. Have eight other hand held units all types, all Stihl and never had any issues. The Shindiawa is owned and made by Echo it's nothing more than an Echo with a different cover. The reason the the sales guy immediately went to Shindiawa is because they make more money off it than the Stihl because of the mark up in price.

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shinddiawa would have the koritz then?,also didn't Redmax yrs ago brag about a tank full of gas in one of their trimmers should last like 12 or some weird number of hrs of continuous use? never heard anything bad about redmax,

tybilly said:

shinddiawa would have the koritz then?,also didn't Redmax yrs ago brag about a tank full of gas in one of their trimmers should last like 12 or some weird number of hrs of continuous use? never heard anything bad about redmax,

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Yeah, Kioritz, Shindiawa and Echo are all owned by the Yamabiko group out of Japan. Shindiawa and Echo are made in the same plant here in the USA.

This dealer has been a dealer for many years. He said that the newest Stihls were not what he would recommend. He said he would gladly sell me anything I wanted. However he reccomended Shindiawa hands down on new equipment. I now see a lot of local people here running Shindiawa. I talked to a guy yesterday who I would say is one of the larger operators in our area who said he had been running Shindiawa stuff for years and it was ag good as it gets.

I have been buying Stihl equipment lately. I have two sets of Stihl hedge trimmers and a Stihl, string trimmer as well as a Stihl chainsaw.

I am going to have to buy at least one more string trimmer this year as well and I am thinking hard about trying the Shindiawa trimmer as well.

I think all of the major companies like stihl, husky, an echo all have great machines. Each company has there flaws with certain products though. Personally i prefer stihl chainsaw over any other brand. I have yet to try a stihl blower so i cant say much but have used many echos and all suprised me with there power.

I am a STIHL guy. Why? Because I have had a good experience with there products, but it doesn't meen I hate all the other brands out there. The main goal is to run something that is good and supported by manny local dealers for easy parts access. In some places, I have seen ECHO everywhere and not so much STIHL. Where I live it is all STIHL and if I go out for a drive in another town, there is a tone of ECHO.

My friend works at railroad tracks and uses leaf blowers to clear snow off the rail road tracks all night non stop. They use to have STIHL BR600 blowers and each year they would breack. Now, they have changed to Shindaiwa, which has more power for the money and he uses it all night. I think he goes thru 10$ of gas on one blower in one night. Even tho he is using a Shindaiwa blower, it doesn't mean STIHL is bad. He still recommends it, but he does say that the leaf blower is better.

Lawnboy18 said:

I am a STIHL guy. Why? Because I have had a good experience with there products, but it doesn't meen I hate all the other brands out there. The main goal is to run something that is good and supported by manny local dealers for easy parts access. In some places, I have seen ECHO everywhere and not so much STIHL. Where I live it is all STIHL and if I go out for a drive in another town, there is a tone of ECHO.

My friend works at railroad tracks and uses leaf blowers to clear snow off the rail road tracks all night non stop. They use to have STIHL BR600 blowers and each year they would breack. Now, they have changed to Shindaiwa, which has more power for the money and he uses it all night. I think he goes thru 10$ of gas on one blower in one night. Even tho he is using a Shindaiwa blower, it doesn't mean STIHL is bad. He still recommends it, but he does say that the leaf blower is better.

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I agree with you on the fact that some machines one manufacturer makes are better than others and vice versa. To be honest coming from the dealer I bought from Iw as amazed. They have been A Stihl dealer for a long time.

I have not used a big back pack of either brand. This is my first. We always used handhelds to do what we had to get done. Probably will use them still primarily because they are light and easy to handle and get the job on sidewalks and small driveways ect done.

Because I see the service some other guys here are getting out of the Shindiawa trimmers I plan to buy one of those this summer as well.

Lawnboy18 said:

I am a STIHL guy. Why? Because I have had a good experience with there products, but it doesn't meen I hate all the other brands out there. The main goal is to run something that is good and supported by manny local dealers for easy parts access. In some places, I have seen ECHO everywhere and not so much STIHL. Where I live it is all STIHL and if I go out for a drive in another town, there is a tone of ECHO.

My friend works at railroad tracks and uses leaf blowers to clear snow off the rail road tracks all night non stop. They use to have STIHL BR600 blowers and each year they would breack. Now, they have changed to Shindaiwa, which has more power for the money and he uses it all night. I think he goes thru 10$ of gas on one blower in one night. Even tho he is using a Shindaiwa blower, it doesn't mean STIHL is bad. He still recommends it, but he does say that the leaf blower is better.

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In reality the shindiawa doesn't have more power than the Stihl it just seems to be that way to some. They get there power from changing tube dimensions, longer and smaller tubes than Stihl uses the same as Echo. You can see that happen on there site when they change from their round tube to their turbo tube it changes the cfm's and velocity's. There's a big difference in using there blower with a 471/2 inch tube that's 2 1/2" in diameter vs a Stihl 40" tube that is 3 1/2" diameter and if you check spec's you'll find there both just over 700 cfm tube volume and their housing speeds are so close to being the same it's not measurable to the user.

So Shindaiwa has a better designed tube that makes their blower do as good a job as more powerful blowers that use more gas. I think that's a good thing.
I used to have a Japanese car w/ a small 6 cylinder engine. It smoked most Z28s and 5.0 and 4.6 Mustangs. It got better gas mileage, handled better, and was more dependable too.
Had some well designed tubes in it
The first blower I bought was an eb240 hand held. It was ancient and well used when I bought it. The guy I bought it from bought it from a local county maintenance dept. It would still start on the first or second pull when I sold it. Must have been about 25 years old. If walbro still made a carb for my eb45 I'd still be using it.
Shindaiwa is good.

Mike88se said:

So Shindaiwa has a better designed tube that makes their blower do as good a job as more powerful blowers that use more gas. I think that's a good thing.
I used to have a Japanese car w/ a small 6 cylinder engine. It smoked most Z28s and 5.0 and 4.6 Mustangs. It got better gas mileage, handled better, and was more dependable too.
Had some well designed tubes in it
The first blower I bought was an eb240 hand held. It was ancient and well used when I bought it. The guy I bought it from bought it from a local county maintenance dept. It would still start on the first or second pull when I sold it. Must have been about 25 years old. If walbro still made a carb for my eb45 I'd still be using it.
Shindaiwa is good.

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Shindaiwa doesn't have a better tube designed, there just using there alterations to enhance there volume and velocity's to make there machines look better than they really are. As far as gas consumption goes I can't see two stroke using less gas than a four. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Shin or Echo are bad blowers it's just my opinion they misrepresent themselves to the public for sales.

I run three different blowers, all Stihl just different sizes. The BR 200. 380, and 550 and you know which feels the strongest, it's the BR 380 but it's not. It doesn't have the cfm or the velocity of the 550 not close but what it does have is a 2 1/2" tube which makes it feel like it has more power but it doesn't move debris like the 550.

From what the guy at the shop explained to me it would be the very newest Stihl Back Packs that he would steer away from. I see several comment that they have run Stihl for numerous years. He agreed but said that as a dealer they were seeing issues with the latest ones.

He has been a dealer and repair shop since the 1970's so I would figure he would pretty up to date on what was going on.

Shindaiwa doesn't have a better tube designed, there just using there alterations to enhance there volume and velocity's to make there machines look better than they really are.

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To me a design that enhances volume and velocity is a better design. The Shindaiwa has a less powerful engine but the blower has comparable performance. Why is that not a better design? CFM and velocity is how a blower performance is measured right? Not by the size of it's engine. Just sayin
I'm not married to any particular brand either. You can look up any brand...stihl, echo, redmax etc and some of the people who have an opinion will say the product is the best no doubt whatsover and the rest will say it's junk. Most of it is opinion right?
But yeah I've been happy with my echo and shindy tools. I like my stihl edger too. Hell that $100 Hitachi blower I bought is great so far but its too soon to give a final opinion. It moves wet leaves and will knock over a coke can at 30" but it could crap out tomorrow. I enjoy talking about these things... hope it doesnt sound like arguing for the sake of arguing

Mike88se said:

To me a design that enhances volume and velocity is a better design. The Shindaiwa has a less powerful engine but the blower has comparable performance. Why is that not a better design? CFM and velocity is how a blower performance is measured right? Not by the size of it's engine. Just sayin
I'm not married to any particular brand either. You can look up any brand...stihl, echo, redmax etc and some of the people who have an opinion will say the product is the best no doubt whatsover and the rest will say it's junk. Most of it is opinion right?
But yeah I've been happy with my echo and shindy tools. I like my stihl edger too. Hell that $100 Hitachi blower I bought is great so far but its too soon to give a final opinion. It moves wet leaves and will knock over a coke can at 30" but it could crap out tomorrow. I enjoy talking about these things... hope it doesnt sound like arguing for the sake of arguing

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There design of the tube doesn't change what cfm and velocity the motor puts out. Let me explain it this way. Take a straw that you would get with your soda from McDonalds and put it next to a one inch diameter pipe of the same length, now blow the same through both and tell me where the air flow is strongest, you haven't change the volume of air from one to the other the straw will feel stronger because the air has been condensed. Shindiawa, Echo both do the same thing by reducing there tube size. The engines put out the same volume and velocity it just seems stronger because it's been condensed like the straw. Think of it like shooting a shotgun, are you better off shooting or hitting something at 50ft with an open choke with a shot spread of 6ft or a full choke with a shot spread or 2 ft. It's the same with your blower the more condensed your air flow is the less debris you move and the more time you spend doing it. Oh btw the shin is 79.7cc the Stihl 600 is 64.8cc they have the less powerful engine but the blower has comparable or better performance for size.

jekjr said:

From what the guy at the shop explained to me it would be the very newest Stihl Back Packs that he would steer away from. I see several comment that they have run Stihl for numerous years. He agreed but said that as a dealer they were seeing issues with the latest ones.

He has been a dealer and repair shop since the 1970's so I would figure he would pretty up to date on what was going on.

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Seeing how the dealer is there to make money there going to tell you what ever that have to tell to sell the piece of equipment they can make the most money on. They have a bigger mark up on the Shin and Echo my dealer has told me that.

Ric said:

Shindaiwa doesn't have a better tube designed, there just using there alterations to enhance there volume and velocity's to make there machines look better than they really are.

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Ric said:

There design of the tube doesn't change what cfm and velocity the motor puts out.

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Ok now it's getting confusing. How is enhancing different from making it better? CFMs are CFMs. If the measurements are taken at the same place on each blower then it doesn't matter why the CFM of the smaller blower is different. And how is it not changing it if it's making it better? I get the straw thing but we're not talking straws here.

Mike88se said:

Ok now it's getting confusing. How is enhancing different from making it better? CFMs are CFMs. If the measurements are taken at the same place on each blower then it doesn't matter why the CFM of the smaller blower is different. And how is it not changing it if it's making it better? I get the straw thing but we're not talking straws here.

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The straw thing is the basic principal behind what there doing, they make it seem stronger than it really is, that doesn't make it better. You're correct though cfm is cfm but it's the way they take the readings that are different. Echo and Shin take there readings at the housing and that's what they advertise, take the PB500t, they will tell you it's 465 cfm with 195mph performance and that's true for the housing but its average speed out the tube is 163 mph but they don't tell you what the cfm is out the tube. Stihl and a few other will give you cfm at both tube and housing like the BR600 mag. there spec's tell you there housing cfm is 1024 and there tube cfm is I think is 712 cfm at 201mph big difference in cfm readings right :smile: so now tell me what happened to the cfm for the PB500t when it drop its air velocity from 195 mph housing down to 163mph out the tube. :thumbdown: You are right though it gets real confusing, like someone else said and I agree people need to do there homework so they know what there getting.

ok I'm with you there. Posting the measurements at the housing is deceptive no doubt.

Man ric where did you get all this info. I mean I am with you it makes since I'm just curious. Got all scientificy lol

exotion said:

Man ric where did you get all this info. I mean I am with you it makes since I'm just curious. Got all scientificy lol

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You can get this information out of any spec book the dealer has.

All of that Math stuff. The only thing that kept me from doing good in high school math was elementary school math.

I love my Stihl model br600, it it's 2 years old and starts 1 or 2 pulls every time. I've had craftsman & toro but so far I like Stihl the best.

exotion said:

Man ric where did you get all this info. I mean I am with you it makes since I'm just curious. Got all scientificy lol

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As said it's all in any manual that comes with the equipment, you have the best source in the world for information on anything right in front of you, it's that thing your punching keys on DUH. It's all pretty elementary stuff.

I have a Shindaiwa eb633rt backpack blower and a Husqvarna 350bt. The Shindaiwa is a lot stronger than the Husqvarna, but both are great blowers. My father-n-law has a new Stihl handheld blower and has gave him nothing but problems since he brought it home.

gregmartin said:

I love my Stihl model br600, it it's 2 years old and starts 1 or 2 pulls every time. I've had craftsman & toro but so far I like Stihl the best.

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The dealer that I bought mine from said it was the NEW Stihl blowers he was recommending the Shindiawa over. I needed a blower. He reccomended it. Another guy I have known for years that has a larger business than I do that has been doing it a lot of years also said he preferred the Shindiawa blowers as well. He was purchasing a smaller one that same day. So far it has done an excellent job for me.

jekjr said:

From what the guy at the shop explained to me it would be the very newest Stihl Back Packs that he would steer away from. I see several comment that they have run Stihl for numerous years. He agreed but said that as a dealer they were seeing issues with the latest ones.

He has been a dealer and repair shop since the 1970's so I would figure he would pretty up to date on what was going on.

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If he doesn't like the new Stihls then apparently he doesn't understand there new technology. He sounds pretty old school because that's what he is recommending is the old school two stroke equipment. Like you said he has been a dealer and repair shop since the 1970's and it sounds like he's not up to or on today's technology and the 4 mix or 4 stroke engines of today and how much better and more efficient they are than the old 2 stroke.

The thing is I've seen this 2 stroke vs 4 Stroke battle before, it took a few years before company's came around, realized and said I guess the Japanese know what there talking about and they made the change to the 4 stroke engines their all running now and the same will happen in this industry.

Have to say tho in the 2vs4 stroke. That Suzuki 2 cycle

exotion said:

Have to say tho in the 2vs4 stroke. That Suzuki 2 cycle

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I'm not talking motor cycles when I'm talking about the battle I've seen and watched and the industry lose although it was Suzuki and Honda that led the battle I'm referring to and told everyone else this is the way but the old school guys just would not except that there was a better way to start with.

Nono I am talking about the old toro proline with the Suzuki 2 cycle engine. I have never used an engine with more torque and power than that thing. With the added benefit of steep hills. I wish lawn mowers still used these for that reason. Now for small equipment I would not want a 4 cycle I bounce and flip those around way to much.

exotion said:

Nono I am talking about the old toro proline with the Suzuki 2 cycle engine. I have never used an engine with more torque and power than that thing. With the added benefit of steep hills. I wish lawn mowers still used these for that reason. Now for small equipment I would not want a 4 cycle I bounce and flip those around way to much.

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Well the stihl is a 4 mix which means it's a single cylinder 4 stroke engine which runs on or with a gas and oil lubrication and has no crankcase, so bouncing and flipping the thing upside down or sideways or in any direction is completely irrelevant to the way the machine works or runs. It's also the way the shindiawa 4 strokes run. As far as I know Stihl was the original or first one to come out with the 4 mix and was followed by Shindiawa.

As far as Suzuki goes you don't need to talk to me about them because you wont find a bigger believer in an engine than I am with Suzuki. As far as I'm concerned they make one of the best engines that ever hit the market.

exotion said:

Nono I am talking about the old toro proline with the Suzuki 2 cycle engine. I have never used an engine with more torque and power than that thing. With the added benefit of steep hills. I wish lawn mowers still used these for that reason. Now for small equipment I would not want a 4 cycle I bounce and flip those around way to much.

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I like my Ybravo for that. I have been up slopes no fat man can climb with my mower and it keeps on going. The Kawi has a presurised oil system.

So does my Suzuki 4 cycle and most commercial quality kawi engines. But if you read the manual it gives you a limit on slope. Because oil can get in the wrong places if tipped wrong.

2 cycle Suzuki could take you up a 90degree angle (why I have no idea but it could) and keep going. I loved that thing. Emissions got the best of them however and now emissions are going.after small 2 stroke and soon small 4stroke. I meen they do put out more than a car running the same amount of time

exotion said:

So does my Suzuki 4 cycle and most commercial quality kawi engines. But if you read the manual it gives you a limit on slope. Because oil can get in the wrong places if tipped wrong.

2 cycle Suzuki could take you up a 90degree angle (why I have no idea but it could) and keep going. I loved that thing. Emissions got the best of them however and now emissions are going.after small 2 stroke and soon small 4stroke. I meen they do put out more than a car running the same amount of time

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I might wanna check that limit. Thanks for mentionning that.

Lawnboy18 said:

I am a STIHL guy. Why? Because I have had a good experience with there products, but it doesn't meen I hate all the other brands out there. The main goal is to run something that is good and supported by manny local dealers for easy parts access. In some places, I have seen ECHO everywhere and not so much STIHL. Where I live it is all STIHL and if I go out for a drive in another town, there is a tone of ECHO.

My friend works at railroad tracks and uses leaf blowers to clear snow off the rail road tracks all night non stop. They use to have STIHL BR600 blowers and each year they would breack. Now, they have changed to Shindaiwa, which has more power for the money and he uses it all night. I think he goes thru 10$ of gas on one blower in one night. Even tho he is using a Shindaiwa blower, it doesn't mean STIHL is bad. He still recommends it, but he does say that the leaf blower is better.

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Husqvarna I would say is the most powerful, it's the same as redmax. I use the br600 stihl, never fails. it's also incredible on gas. I suppose it's a matter of choice. the h4 shindaiwa I would avoid cuz of the valves. the 802 is good.

I have been sorta following this thread, but finally decided to post. I am a back pack blower freak for lack of a better term. They are one of my favorite pieces of equipment to run. I've owned quite a few, and ran all the top name, top tier BP's in the last few years.

I owned a BR600M (much more blower than the 550 for only a few bucks more) until early last year. Started first pull every time. Light, fuel efficient, and powerful, but the shoulder straps suck. I run BP's in the fall leaf season for 4-6 hours straight without taking them off, day after day. It is a good blower, but nowhere near the best by any stretch. 4 mix technology is not the wave of the future (that came straight from a Stihl tech rep at our local open-house this year), strato charged engines are.

In regards to the Shindy 802. Paper statistics don't mean much. It will outperform the 600 (though not by a huge amount) as it comes from the factory. It can be easily modded to way outperform the 600 though. The thing about the tubes that has been discussed earlier in this thread being misleading advertising, really isn't at all. They simply do the end user a favor by supplying them with two options for one machine. The larger tube end is slightly lower MPH, but with higher CFM for moving large piles of leaves better. The turbo nozzle forces the air stream through a smaller tip, which raises MPH at the expense of CFM, which is handy for lighter debris like wet grass clippings that are stuck down etc, and for scouring the ground clean of all sorts of stuck down debris and hard to move stuff like cigarette butts. The length of the tube really has nothing to do with the performance compared to the Stihl or other blowers.

I sold my 600 because the year before I bought a new Husky 570 right when they came out. It is the same size engine and same HP as the BR600, but outperforms it by a mile. You'll have to experience it to understand how much. It has the best shoulder harness system of any blower on the market by far. Though it weighs a couple pounds more than the Stihl, if you have to wear either for more than 15 minutes, the Husky is far, far more comfortable. It stays in place on your shoulders thanks to its shoulder straps and cross chest strap design. I know Stihl makes an add on chest strap, but it is junk. I bought one and tried it. The 570 will moves stuff long after the 600 has stopped. We have ran side by side tests time after time on heavy leaf piles and the 570 just keeps on moving them well after the 600 no longer can.

Since Husky owns Redmax (but RM makes the blowers for both companies), the Husky 570 is the same exact blower as the RM 7500, and the 580 Husky is the same machine as the RM 8500, but again, the Husky has a much better shoulder harness than the RM. I have ran the 8500, and while it has more CFM, it doesn't have near the MPH of the 7500/570, and their performance in the real world on debris is very close. The 570 is lighter and uses less fuel, so to me it's a no brainer.

I also use a BR380 for a lot of daily cleanup work while mowing since it is all I need for that type work, and my wife likes to run it in the fall on leaf cleanups when she gets the chance. Those old Stihl 2 strokes are great blowers.

Here is a video that shows what most of the top blowers will do side by side. While it isn't leaves or grass, it is repeatable and fair. the one blower that should have been included but wasn't was the Shindy 802. It would have fallen right between the BR600 and Echo 770 (which is an excellent blower)-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePqL085xf-g

Wow that's a lot of info there bud lol

exotion said:

Wow that's a lot of info there bud lol

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Here's a little more info that may be handy when you talking blowers that people don't think about.Figures are based on 15.5hrs run time per wk. 40weeks per year.


Fuel consumption data provided by a third party independent laboratory: IAVF Antriebstechnik GmbH. Two-cycle engine oil cost per gallon is included in figure and is based on an MSRP of $1.10 per 2.6 oz. bottle of STIHL High Performance Two-cycle Engine Oil. All company names are trademarks of their respective companies.