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Are the Stihl 600 blowers worth the price or should I go with something different? Always had Stihl products but unsure about this purchase do to the price.

I can speak for the BR430.

It does evrything I want it too. Very powerfull blower. I love it. I couldn't imagine how strong a BR 600 would be.

I do know that the BR 500 and BR550 are not that much different that the BR600. So, I woud say get a BR 430 or BR 600.

mowerman05 said:

Are the Stihl 600 blowers worth the price or should I go with something different? Always had Stihl products but unsure about this purchase do to the price.

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I Run two of the BR 600 Mags now and they do an Excellent Job. There's a world of difference between the BR 430 and the 600. The 430 replaced the old BR 380 they both had the same velocity of 183 mph but I believe the 430 has a little more volume, but not enough to make a real difference. The BR 550 has nearly the same velocity as the 600 a 199 vs the 600 at 201 but the 600 pushes a lot more volume than the 550,. The 550 is 530 cfm and the 600 is 712. There all good blowers but which you should buy would depend on your needs. As far as the price goes the 600 is definitely a better deal with only $50 difference in price over the 550 at MSRP. You can generally talk a deal or catch the 600 on sale at $479.

I have the 430 and 380 now, looking for something with more power for four season use in the north. Just was not sure if the 600 really has that much more power, I read the specs but still was unsure. Thanks for the input.

mowerman05 said:

I have the 430 and 380 now, looking for something with more power for four season use in the north. Just was not sure if the 600 really has that much more power, I read the specs but still was unsure. Thanks for the input.

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There are other blowers out there with more cfm and velocity but they will cost more and I think for the most part are overkill for most jobs that the average guy is going to want to do. The BR 600 Imo is probably the best all around blower you can have, it can do most any job you need to have done. from clearing walks and drives, roadways too blowing and removing leaves. I run the two 600 backed up by the little BR 200 for smaller jobs.

Br600 all the way,

I used my Br600 to blow snow around 6 inches off my driveway this past winter.
You will not regret buying the 600

I love my br 600. I wish I would have gotten it sooner!

zmister11 said:

I love my br 600. I wish I would have gotten it sooner!

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Same here

I know this thread is a little old, but I thought I could help out some people here.

I now own both a BR430 and BR600. I have to say that the BR430 is as strong as the BR600, but doesn't displace as much volume. Think of the BR430 as a Snipper and the BR600 as a Bazooka.

I haven't seen that much of a difference in time savings with my leaf jobs.

Lawnboy18 said:

I know this thread is a little old, but I thought I could help out some people here.

I now own both a BR430 and BR600. I have to say that the BR430 is as strong as the BR600, but doesn't displace as much volume. Think of the BR430 as a Snipper and the BR600 as a Bazooka.

I haven't seen that much of a difference in time savings with my leaf jobs.

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I really don't know how you can say the 430 is as strong as the 600 when the spec's say there's a big difference.


BR 430 AIR VELOCITY 82 m/sec. (183 mph)
BR 430 With tube: 850 m[SUP]3[/SUP]/h (500 cfm) Without tube: 1300 m[SUP]3[/SUP]/h (765 cfm)

Me and my helper think the same thing. I understand the specs. Like I said, the difference is with the volume.

And on the subject of BR 600's it is a good idea to remove the impellar once every season as they rust on solid if you don't
Out of the 5 I have repaired we ended having to cut 4 impellars off which at $ 90 ( AUS ) a piece becomes very expensive.

Lawnboy18 said:

Me and my helper think the same thing. I understand the specs. Like I said, the difference is with the volume.

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Your not feeling volume, your feeling velocity. That's the reason you feel the difference because you don't have the velocity in the 430 that you have in the 600.

Think about this the BR 200 has an air volume of 406 cfm @ 132 mph, that's 94 cfm difference between the 200 and the 430 and 51mph difference in velocity so which in reality is closer spec's to your 430 than the 600 so if your feeling volume you shouldn't feel much difference between the 200 and your 430.

I get it now.

bertsmobile1 said:

And on the subject of BR 600's it is a good idea to remove the impellar once every season as they rust on solid if you don't
Out of the 5 I have repaired we ended having to cut 4 impellars off which at $ 90 ( AUS ) a piece becomes very expensive.

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I have never heard about this. Why in the first place would you need to remove the impellar?

You have to remove the impeller to get the engine off.

Ahh ok. Well if you need to get the engine off, something vey bad happened.

Exactly which is why they are in my workshop

I'd rather buy a new blower. If it lasted me five years and the engine needs to be pulled off, probably cheaper to buy a new one on the long run.

Lawnboy18 said:

I'd rather buy a new blower. If it lasted me five years and the engine needs to be pulled off, probably cheaper to buy a new one on the long run.

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That is fine but down here they are 2 to 3 time the USA price and generally not a stocked item.
The oil sels on the crank need replacing every few years or they start leaking oil, very messy if on your back.
You also need to remove the motor to clean the space between the motor & the impellar housing and when cleaning the cooling fins or all the crap ends up between the motor & the impellar housing.
I rebuild a few every season.
Piston & ring replacement goes about $ 200 a lot cheaper than a new blower, even if it only ends up as the occasional use spare.

Lawnboy18 said:

I'd rather buy a new blower. If it lasted me five years and the engine needs to be pulled off, probably cheaper to buy a new one on the long run.

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My Br 550 was almost 11 years old when it finally went bad that was when I replaced it with the 600. It never had anything done to it.

bertsmobile1 said:

That is fine but down here they are 2 to 3 time the USA price and generally not a stocked item.
The oil sels on the crank need replacing every few years or they start leaking oil, very messy if on your back.
You also need to remove the motor to clean the space between the motor & the impellar housing and when cleaning the cooling fins or all the crap ends up between the motor & the impellar housing.
I rebuild a few every season.
Piston & ring replacement goes about $ 200 a lot cheaper than a new blower, even if it only ends up as the occasional use spare.

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That is what I thought! Much more expensive in Australia! I wasn't aware of that seal leaking tho.

Ric said:

My Br 550 was almost 11 years old when it finally went bad that was when I replaced it with the 600. It never had anything done to it.

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That is very good! You definetly got your money out of that blower!

Lawnboy18 said:

That is very good! You definetly got your money out of that blower!

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Yeah I got my money back on that blower for sure. I use the old adage if it ain't broke don't fix it. To many people like to play with there toys when there's no need.

Same here, I just maintain them and fix them when they need it.

Things are very different down here.
I am currently running at 3 weeks turn around
The shop up the road is also running 3 weeks average.
Most Stihl shops have a 2 week wait for a quote then another 2 to 4 weeks for the repair

Stihl warehouse has now set minimum order values to cut their warehousing & distribution cost so if the shop does not have the $ 2.00 part , I have to either ring every Stihl shop in the city to find one the pay shipping or wait till the shop I order through hs a minimum order which for them is $ 5000, depending upon when they last ordered this can be better than a month.
SO I do scheduled yearly services on the blowers during the quieter time July to Sept and replacing the seals is a routine maintanance job. Schedules servicing parts get preordered repair parts is luck of the draw if I have any in stock
My current store is nearly 3 times my annual turn over, there is only so much one can afford to hold.

It seems hard to be a repair man in Australia. Glad I can order all the parts I want here and get them the same week.

I go to the repair shop for any of my Stihl or Toro it generally comes back in no less than three days. I have taken equipment down and got it back the same day.