leaf blower gas or electric?

[millertime150]

My hand-me-down Gas Homelite leaf blower hasn't been running great for the past 2 years. It probably is about 8-10 years old. I am thinking of purchasing a new blower. My main task is to blow off the patio and driveway after I cut the lawn or whenever it is dirty. I don't have many leaves but I do get pine needles from some trees in my lawn. The Homelite gas blower wasn't powerful enough to blow the pine needles off. The pine needles tend to get caught in my Bermuda grass. I don't know if any blower that is affordable would be powerful enough to blow the pine needles out of my lawn.

Ok back to the main question.

Should I save money ($50-$100) and buy an electric blower, or should I buy a gas blower.

I know the Gas is easier to use because you don't have to drag an electrical cord around and you are not limited to the length of the cord. On the other hand an Electrical blower is easier to maintain and start.

It also seems that a lot of the Electrical Blowers advertise a higher MPH speed than the Gas. Wouldn't that mean the Electrical blowers are more powerful?

 

[WastedResources]

In my experience gas powered is stronger and has no cord to deal with, but electric is lighter to carry and starts with the flip of a switch. The electric is plenty strong for blowing leaves and grass around.

 

[Austin]

I had a gas blower for years but did not like dealing with gas, etc. I bought an electric and like it much better. It's lighter and no problems starting it.

 

[Alaskan Eagle]

If it was me I would go with the gas. I have found that they were more powerful but I was using the backpack blower. ($$$$$$$) If you go with the electric let us know what you think. Happy tool buying.

 

[auk1124]

My wife and I just bought an electric model from Lowe's that has some sort of reversible vacuum option. Darn thing is surprisingly powerful and light-weight enough that she enjoys using it (another big plus for me ).

YMMV but the electric models are not nearly as wimpy as I feared.

 

[Doc4]

 

[Austin]

 

[auk1124]

I told my wife a leaf blower was a waste of $, since a cheap old rake would do the same job.

Her response: "Fine. You can rake the leaves then."

We bought a leaf blower that afternoon.

 

[perry]

I bought a Toro leaf blower / mulching vac at Home Depot a week or two ago. It was $70 I think. I've used it to clean the driveway twice after mowing and it's done a fine job. I just need to figure out a pattern so I'm not blowing grass back over clean areas. I don't have any trees in my yard, but trees hang over on either side of my lot so the vac part will come in handy in the fall.

I didn't want to deal with the maintenance of a gas engine.

 

[Y2K]

Electric is fine in my opinion if you don't mind the cord and can reach all areas in your yard with the cord attached. IMPORTANT - make sure the impeller is metal and not plastic in whichever one you buy. The cheap ones have a plastic impeller and it wears out or breaks very fast.

In regards to pine needles, I have a lot of pine trees in the back of my lot and they are in fact a major pain to collect. I am not sure if any blower will be powerful enough because they just get stuck. I had a pretty bad lawn so I did not care as much, but just had the whole backyard redone and hydroseeded as part of my landscaping project. I will be buying a lawn sweeper attachment to deal with needles.

 

[82R100]

I bought a Toro leaf blower / mulching vac at Home Depot a week or two ago. It was $70 I think. I've used it to clean the driveway twice after mowing and it's done a fine job. I just need to figure out a pattern so I'm not blowing grass back over clean areas. I don't have any trees in my yard, but trees hang over on either side of my lot so the vac part will come in handy in the fall.

I didn't want to deal with the maintenance of a gas engine.

+1 This is what I got last fall (with the metal impeller). No regrets. Powerful blower and converts to suck and mulch leaves into the bag.

- Chris

 

[Shave A Buck]

I have an electric to blow out the garage and patio areas. It is fairly quiet and no fumes. The gas one I use for the street and and away areas. Garage sales are good places to pick up the spare one

 

[ibrewbeer]

We have a large driveway and walkway in front of the house- so for us, distance wise alone, we need a gas blower. Our extension cord would have to be over 280 ft (+ some for maneuvering)

 

[millertime150]

In regards to pine needles, I have a lot of pine trees in the back of my lot and they are in fact a major pain to collect. I am not sure if any blower will be powerful enough because they just get stuck. I had a pretty bad lawn so I did not care as much, but just had the whole backyard redone and hydroseeded as part of my landscaping project. I will be buying a lawn sweeper attachment to deal with needles.

What is a lawn sweeper attachment?
I was thinking of just raking it but I am afraid I would ruin my lawn.

I have an electric to blow out the garage and patio areas. It is fairly quiet and no fumes. The gas one I use for the street and and away areas. Garage sales are good places to pick up the spare one

I may have to check out some garage sales. Fumes is a good point if I were to use in my garage.

My wife and I just bought an electric model from Lowe's that has some sort of reversible vacuum option. Darn thing is surprisingly powerful and light-weight enough that she enjoys using it (another big plus for me ).

YMMV but the electric models are not nearly as wimpy as I feared.

It seems like the advertised MPH of electric blowers are close and sometimes greater than some gas models. I don't know if this is just marketing or if the power are really that close in real life.

 

[AndrewGWU]

Having used both cheap electric and cheap gas models I think your inexpensive electric models have more power than the smaller gas ones. My decision would ultimately depend on how far away from an outlet I needed to go. If I got a gas one it would be a quality one.

 

[Y2K]

What is a lawn sweeper attachment?
I was thinking of just raking it but I am afraid I would ruin my lawn.

The one that I will be getting is most likely this one: Agri-Fab 42-Inch Tow Lawn Sweeper It does require that you have a ride mower (which I do). If you don't have one, they also sell a separate push-powered models. Just read the reviews and get the one that has good ones.

By the way, a great forum for everything landscaping related: http://www.lawnsite.com/index.php. It is suppose to be for people in lanscaping business by they always welcome and help home owners as well. Lots of good info there.

 

[PatrickL01]

What is a lawn sweeper attachment?
I was thinking of just raking it but I am afraid I would ruin my lawn.


Raking is good for your lawn, gets the ground dethatched and makes it easier for the moisture to set in. I use a pull behind estate rake on my yard every other year to keep the thatch from building up.

I use a 13hp Toro Walk-behind for the heavy amounts of leaves in the fall. A 2 cycle gas Homelite for everything else.

 

[wazazzle]

Some county laws ban gas blowers. Might want to check local laws. I have a brother in los angeles county that got a ticket for using one cause i guess it's illegal due to their strict pollution laws. From my experience gas blowers are stronger. I used to work on a golf course while in college. The backpack ones vibrate the hell out of your back and you will definitely want eye/ear protection. My neighbor has one of those weed-eater multi attachment things... where he can switch the attachment to edger, weed eater, or leaf blower. Looks like it works fine

 

[garyg]

And in the end, it depends on what you want to do with it and your expectations .. if you have but one 8 foot Red Maple tree you are accounting for, get a corded thing! But you could pick up that many leaves by hand, saving the money of the corded blower. If you have 10 acres of Silver Maples, import some squirrels, save the money of a gas blower ..

I have used them all, they are mostly useless for heavy leaf fall, or small leaves like the willows. Seriously, the only 2 places I use my nice, well functioning Stihl gas blower at ten years old is on the roof to blow out the gutters, or the drive to brush some grass away, which I could do as fast with a broom.

 

[jones2289]

If you have the money, invest in an Echo backpack blower. It's the strongest one I've ever used, and I know people have had them for years. It's pretty expensive though, so you may want to try one of the options that was previously mentioned.