---Update at the end---
Bit of a 'Dadsnet' question if I may.
With the autumn leaves making a mess, I'm trying to buy a leaf blower. Having previously bought one that was utter rubbish, I thought I'd ask if anyone's had a really good battery powered one? My garden, patio, driveway are mid size so hopefully a good battery one will do the job. I asked my neighbour's gardener and he said the only brand he would buy is Stihl - expensive but worth it. The gardener at my tennis club said Stihl used to be good but their battery powered stuff is rubbish with small parts like buttons and battery housings failing after warranty and Stihl not really standing by their product.
As I think about it, I will eventually be replacing my Bosch 41cm electric lawn mower with a battery one at some point as well. So perhaps it would be sensible to think about a brand that does a quality one of those as well with the batteries being the same. I don't really use many other power tools so it's just those two I would need to think of - not a broader 'ecosystem'. Maybe a hedge trimmer perhaps.
Google chucks out so many brands and specs. 18V, 36V, 40V batteries; all sorts of claimed speeds - it's a minefield. I'd ideally want to buy something where parts are available easily. My Bosch lawnmower is 5 years old and needed a couple of bits replaced and it was easy enough to get them!
Share your experience and recommendations please?
Last edited by Ethos; 25th November 2023 at 17:08. Reason: Update
I bought this one a year ago, it’s really got some grunt, batteries are stupid money, I’ve got the smallest battery, it lasts 15 minutes on full power
https://www.toolden.co.uk/power-tool...iABEgJLpvD_BwE
It’s a good tool, if it went bang I would buy another
I bought an Al-Ko petrol mower about five years ago, we have a fairly large garden, it’s never missed a beat, even on sopping wet grass.
https://alko-garden.uk/garden-tools/...re/lawnmowers/
Last edited by adrianw; 22nd November 2023 at 13:49.
I went electric a couple of years ago and bought an EGO self propelled mower and have since added an extendable hedge trimmer and a strimmer. I have no experience of their blowers but the tools I do have are well thought out, extremely well made and seemingly bulletproof. The 56v battery fits all the tools and has never dropped below 50% capacity even after mowing front and rear lawns, strimming edges and clipping hedges. Battery recharge times are pretty rapid too. The only issue I've had was after 20 months the original battery pack developed a loose terminal which meant it occasionally disconnected during mowing. They sent me a new unit by return of post and didn't even want the old one back, which was handy, so I dismantled the pack, resoldered the affected terminal and now have two power units.
https://egopowerplus.co.uk/
We got a Stihl BGA 57 a couple of years ago & it’s great, so much better than our old B&D one.
Will be getting their small battery lawn mower to replace an old electric one next season too.
Got a makia dlm460z mower last year that uses 2 of the 18v drill battery's no complaints
I replaced my strimmer and leaf blower with a Dewalt Flexvolt.
When the petrol mower finally packs in I'll replace that as well.
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Makita 18v battery range.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
I would also recommend Ego power tools, my wife loves their leaf blower. I also have their other garden implements but not the lawn mower, although a friend does and he raves about it.
If buying one I would recommend the larger capacity batteries.
I had the Makita dub186z leaf blower ran for 20/25mins at full throttle using genuine Makita 5AH battery (£70 for blower body and slightly less for 5AH battery), was ok unless leaves were wet, or leaves were on grass or if numbers got to numerous
I had to upgrade to a Stihl petrol bg86 for about £270 which is bloody brilliant saves time, very powerful and runs for duration i need it for and not just 25mins, only drawbacks is its noisy and a target for local thieves
https://www.powertoolworld.co.uk/mak...QaAhNvEALw_wcB
https://www.mowwithus.com/Machinery/...AaAg8xEALw_wcB
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Last edited by dek10000; 22nd November 2023 at 15:16.
Can I ask if the blower handles wet leaves on grass pleaseOriginally Posted by adrianw
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Looks like it should with ease!
The Stihl certainly does as my wife has been doing it daily. Last of the front garden seems to have fallen now, so at least it’s only the rear to keep on top of.
Many thanks
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Yes, and sticks, it’s got some serious grunt, it sweeps anything off the drive
Got Stihl hedge cutter and strimmer. Both v good
You want to get stuff that uses the same battery as saves a bit of hassle with separate chargers for everything
Sort of agreed but I think the one I recommended is the exception as it is 54volt, its physics, the higher voltage is how it generates so much force
Thanks for that - just realised my drill is DeWalt so need to see if the charger is compatible
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I'm tied to petrol-powered machinery due to the size (mowing) and volume (leafs). Two brands stick out: Stihl and Husqvarna. I hear good stories about their battery powered machines, but also the addition that Husqvarna batteries last longer.
One advice about lawn mowers: no matter the brand, get one that's self-propelling! It's so much easier!
I've got one of these and it makes short work of our fairly large lawns. Still going strong after 4 years. Not cheap but would recommend.
Before that I had a Suffolk Punch. I would avoid those. The engine (Japanese) was decent but the gearing system (plastic) failed. Expensive to fix and then the problem occurred again.
This ^^
I’ve had one for 4 years or more. Super powerful and will last.
The charger is, the 54 volt batteries will run 18 volt stuff but not vice versa
Thanks that helps reduce the cost a little
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Just picked Ego leaf blower up Today after buying an Ego lawnmower in the summer, very impressive piece of kit!
What’s the verdict on the RYOBI stuff? It seems good value and has a really good ecosystem plus they have kept the battery system compatible for donkeys years.
I now have only Milwaukee ( mostly ‘Fuel’) cordless tools, drills, impact drivers, circular saw ff nailer etc. Previously I had a mix of cordless stuff that included Ryobi and AEG, all brands from the same parent group but sold off all the non Milwaukee in Lockdown 1. When visiting the local service centre I asked about repairing a Ryobi drill and was pointed to a skip full of the distinctive green plastic and was told, “We don’t repair Ryobi - if it’s under warranty we skip and replace it.”
I bought the Lidl mains powered one for about £35 iirc. It is surprisingly effective at sucking / munching and blowing wet leaves. It does eat electricity faster than it eats leaves though.
I have standardised my portable tools to the Makita 18V range (drill driver, impact driver, grinder, top handle chainsaw, hedge trimmer etc etc), and I am incredibly impressed with the quality of tool and longevity of the batteries.
I haven't tried others, and am not sure about the particular tools here, but I can recommend Makita.
I would also add that I use a mains powered Stihl as a vacuum, not blower, and the shredding that this does as it sucks up the leaves makes my leafmould available about a year sooner than it would otherwise be.
I do acknowledge that vacuuming is only really practicable for small gardens, but it is much neater.
I went down the Stihl route as every grounds man in the Caribbean seems to have one attached to his back. Well, that, and a local friend who had a garden sized one that we tried out.
I used to have an MTD leaf vacuum with an engine, did a brilliant job, but the mice kept eating the bag, I gave up with it and sold it.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone! Keep them coming.
I'm off looking at Black Friday deals for the ones recommended here
If you’re already committed to a cordless tool brand that’s the obvious one to consider - I think that Screwfix have the Milwaukee version on a BF offer now. I happened to use a friends one last week and it seemed very good. We have a large garden and I have a backpack Makita 4-stroke blower which is brilliant.
A friend in the USA is a very happy Milwaukee customer/user. I never hear complaints about that brand and the batteries.
My choice of leaf blower.
Ah, old trusty. The Elbow Steam MKI!
This sort of rake with metal pins/fingers (what's the word for it in English) is by far the best tool to get rid of acorns that have fallen onto the lawn. Those modern poxy rakes with their posh plastic 'fingers' are too flimsy for that job!
Au contraire. I find the wide plastic fingers are the Rolls Royce of leaf raking. Too many leaves get pronged on the metal type, and they dig into the ground or plastic grass making raking more difficult.
Probably the only item where I prefer placky over metal.
Ah but to rake or not to rake? That is the question
https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...-garden-leaves
Fwiw I cleared 3 gdn bin bags of bougainvillea yesterday, still not finished!
Last edited by Passenger; 24th November 2023 at 13:29.
Stihl rechargeables here for a decent sized drive and garden. Two batteries and a blower (BGA-57) and lawnmower (and a hedge trimmer for a bi-annual trim). They are bulletproof, powerful enough for household duties and well priced.
Leafs: plastic, acorns: metal for me.
My lawn is ± 4,000m2, with 50 - 100 y/o birch and oak trees all around and that's simply too much, too large for elbow-steam powered raking.
I've got a pretty big lawn but the leaf blower gave me a bit of a sore arm and having to empty it was a chore so lately I've been using the leaf rake again.
Drag all the leaves to the back gate, open it and sweep all the leaves into the woods!
Animals do seem to like to make homes in the piles too.
Cheers,
Neil.
It looks like their lawn mowers use a different battery to the ones used in the leaf blower. Or have I got that wrong?
Hmmm am sure they did use the same ones as that was a key thing for me. Will check when back from holiday and take my battery to a garden centre to be sure.
Many thanks for your opinions all. I thought I'd share my takeaways in case it helps anyone else. I shortlisted it down to 4 main products - Stihl, Ego, Husvarna and Makita. They're all around £200-220 including a bundled battery and charger except the Ego at £270.
I expected the Stihl to be the most expensive but surprisingly it isn't. However, reviews are a bit mixed and the batteries & ecosystem products (mower mainly but also hedge trimmer etc) are expensive. Ego seems to be very well reviewed and the performance seems a cut above the rest. However, ecosystem products are expensive - as are batteries. The Husqvarna seems a decent option from the metrics but not many reviews. Not sure how their consumer grade stuff is.
The Makita is pretty close to the cheapest, has excellent reviews and batteries & other ecosystem products are inexpensive as well as well reviewed. So that's the direction I'm going in.
Hope this helps anyone else thinking about the same thing!
Stihl BGA57
Price including bundled battery and charger: £210-220
Battery: 36V, 2Ah capacity; Spare costs around £100
Weight including battery: 3.4kg
Blowing force: 9N
Max airspeed: 45 m/s
Airflow: 620 m3/hr
Mower: RMA248 46cm cutting width - £400 bare or 37cm for £310
Takeaway: Great brand reputation overall but mixed reviews for this one. Battery capacity very low and other ecosystem products expensive
Ego LB5301E
Price including bundled battery and charger: £270
Battery: 56V, 2.5Ah capacity; Spare costs around £110; Higher capacity ones available but pricey (4Ah is £180)
Weight including battery: 3.4kg
Blowing force: 16N
Max airspeed: 59 m/s
Airflow: 900 m3/hr
Mower: LM1700E 42cm cutting width - £370 bare
Takeaway: Great reviews. Most powerful. Expensive though
Husqvarna 120iB
Price including bundled battery and charger: £200
Battery: 36V, 4Ah capacity; Spare costs around £125
Weight including battery: 3.25kg
Blowing force: 9.6N
Max airspeed: 46 m/s
Airflow: 610 m3/hr
Mower: LB 142i 42cm £360 bare
Takeaway: Good brand. Not many reviews
Makita DUB184RT (the model mentioned on this thread is not powerful enough)
Price including bundled battery and charger: £220-230
Battery: 18V, 5Ah capacity; Spare costs around £50
Weight including battery: 2.9kg
Blowing force: 10.9N
Max airspeed: 52 m/s
Airflow: 780 m3/hr
Mower: DLM432 43cm cutting width £250 bare
Takeaway: Lots of great reviews. Matching ecosystem products inexpensive as well. Lots of battery and charger options. Battery is 18V – lower than others products – but it doesn’t seem to impact the performance as per the metrics and the reviews
^^^^I like a man who properly does his homework. Hopefully it is all spreadsheeted up.
I get the thinking behind battery but a Stihl petrol BG56 is significantly more powerful 64 m/s and 13N which is a real consideration for a blower. Do you have a pressure washer, as you'll find that is a very good leaf blower, the actual amount of water used in those is a lot less than you think and a half decent pressure washer will beat those battery blowers all day long with the right nozzle
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
Thanks! Definitely can't buy a petrol given my infrequent use... Good idea re the pressure washer. Will give that a go.
- - - Updated - - -
It's a disease my wife says :)
Big supporter of bees (a good friend is a bee keeper!). I only push the leaves from the driveway and lawn into the flower beds - I don't remove them. They're free mulch as I see it.
Good point.
Hence my earlier post about raking all the leaves into the woods behind me where all sorts of creatures can make their homes.
We actually have an underground bees nest at the base of a cherry tree in the garden.
Fancy horticulture can be a burden on bees, butterflies and insects.
Cheers,
Neil.
If you’re only after powerful garden tools (and won’t need the batteries for other tools), Makita also sell 40V blowers/lawnmowers.
Well done gentlemen .
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
Yep. Same tactics here. Not only with bees in mind. Hedgehogs love leaf piles as shelter for the winter.
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