Once upon a time, when I lived in the more urban environment of Rockville and was young and fit, I thought leaf blowers were tools of the grumpy old man. I raked and picked up the ankle deep pine needles and leaves on my .2 acre city lot. It took over a week and multiple trips to the town leaf pile. Every night after work a couple of trips with barrels full in my pickup truck. It was such a relief when it was done and I could concentrate on getting ready for snow removal.
Then I got a leaf blower as a gift, a Craftsman hand held very similar to this one pictured below. It also worked as a yard vacuum and shredder. My backyard was completely fenced in still requiring me to pick them up in barrels, but in the front of the house the leaves were blown to the curb for the town vacuum trucks to come by and suck up. Picking them up with the vacuum in the backyard reduced the volume about 4:1 meaning less total trips to the leaf pile.
I had it for several years. Then in the middle of autumn cleanup in 2002 it just died. Running one minute and then quit like it was shut off and would never restart. Not even a little cough... as though the spark plug were unplugged. It always had a fresh oil and fuel mix, never old skunky gas. When I took it to a repair shop called Rockville Equipment, they refused to even look at it, telling me that the way those were built, they were basically not repairable. I purchased this replacement machine from them pictured below.
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| My 2002 vintage Tanaka Pro Force THB-2510 Blower/Vac |
Twenty years of hard service and still running like a champ. It has a vacuum/shredder conversion and bagger kit as well. I keep all of my gas powered equipment so well maintained, that when I fuel them up for the season to use, they all start on the first pull. The problem I had was, as good as it is, I need more power. I was already toying with the idea of getting something more powerful. My little Tanaka moves the leaves OK, but doesn't move the CFM like a backpack blower and if the wind is against me, it takes repeated sweeps to get them where I need them to go. If they are wet or mashed down it is even more effort. My property is 3.5 acres mostly wooded, but the lawn area around the house and along the driveway is a total of about 1.5 acres. Then we had a leaf clearing work party at the sportsman's club this past Sunday. It was pretty breezy that day and while my blower did OK, I watched a line of 6 guys with assorted Stihl backpack blowers clear a 1+ acre area of lawn against the wind in like 10 minutes, then they were gone and moved to another leaf covered area. That did it, I started shopping and then saw the text from this ad on the Stihl website.
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| The BR800 comes in two flavors, the -X and the -C*E. The C*E allows staring while wearing. WINNER! |
"Our biggest, baddest, and most powerful backpack blower" OK... THAT'S WHAT I WANT!! I called the first Stihl dealer that came up on the dealer locator, Cash True Value in Willimantic on Sunday afternoon. They didn't have any and they are on back order. The salesman said it could be as soon as a week, or four weeks or longer. He took my name and number and put the order in, not needing any payment until I took delivery. All the other dealers were closed until Monday, so first thing Monday morning I called the next one down on the list and told him what I was looking for. He said they were all sold out as were the smaller BR700's and he wasn't expecting any until next year, but he did have a BR600 in stock. I told him how I liked the ability of being able to restart the BR800-C*E while it was on my back. He tells me to stay away from that model because there are a lot of additional moving parts and potential for breakage. He then asks me if I could call back because he is with a customer. I told him I would. While I was on the phone, I got a voicemail from the first dealer. They received a BR800-C*E from another store. WOO HOO!! I called him right back and said I'd take it! I never called back the second dealer. A couple of points to consider; A) Is there really parts breakage and extra servicing required on the BR800-C? Is the side pull starting system really that fragile? Is it maybe caused by the extra heavy use and abuse by professional landscapers that are causing issues? I baby my equipment, so I am not really too worried. Plus the fact that Stihl quality is pretty much unmatched. The reviews are all mostly good, rating an overall 4.7. Or is it B) was he just trying to get me to buy what he had available in the store? I tend to think "B" based on the reviews I read.
I picked it up Tuesday night after work. I got out the door for $776 of which $39.99 was the one gallon can of Stihl brand Moto-Mix fuel. The standard warranty is two years, but by purchasing the can of fuel mix or a quantity of Stihl 2-stroke oil at the time of purchase, I doubled the warranty to four years. I got it home and set it in the garage because I had a meeting to attend at 7:30 PM. After I got home from my meeting, I cracked open the owners manual. Yes... I am one of those that actually reads these things. The first 11 pages are all the safety warnings. Some are stupid and common sense (think Darwin Award winners), but a couple were actually good to know. Open the fuel cap slowly so you don't get sprayed with gas. The fuel tank can become pressurized. They also say to NOT wear gloves while running the machine. A significant static charge can build up in the tube. There is a grounding system connecting your bare hand through the control handle that keeps the charge potential from building up. Wearing gloves will insulate you from that and you could then get whacked. Another warning was about letting the recoil starter snap back. They want you to hold onto it and retract it under control. That's probably how shit gets broken. Yet another warning is about taking frequent breaks. The constant vibration can cause temporary numbness or a more long term condition known as Raynaud's Syndrome.
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| Pretty and shiny. We test ran it at the store. |
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| It has full backpack suspension, shoulders and hips |
On the lower end models, the hip support is an add-on, but is included on the BR800's. Last night after I got home and took care of the animals, I threw on the driveway floodlights, filled the tank of the blower, and started it up to warm the machine for use. The side pull mechanism is easy to pull, and the machine started right up. Once it was warm and the choke was fully open, I shut it off to throw it on my back. The straps adjust very similar to the firefighting SCBA pack I wear. Once it was on it was comfortable and well balanced. I started it up and got busy.
Holy crap that thing moves serious air! I ended up clearing a small section of my front and back yards and most of both sides of the 300' driveway (I went are far as the lights reached) pushing the leaves far back into the woods. What took me less than 20 minutes to clear would have taken about 2 hours, especially since I pushed old wet decomposing leaves a good 10 feet farther back in the woods from where I used to stop. I will easily be able to clear my entire yard in a day, instead of 3.
So my plan is to spend my day off tomorrow tackling my fall outdoor cleanup. What I don't finish tomorrow will be completed Sunday since I have to work Saturday. I will start by cleaning the gutters one last time before the snow flies. The back of my house is two plus stories up, so I get up on the roof and walk the edge with the Tanaka to blast the leaves out like I always do. I don't want to take a chance with the Stihl on my back and lose my balance up that high. The Tanaka is light and easy to handle, and gets hauled up on a rope just like a vent saw in the fire service.
The other winter preps are bringing the snow blower up from the barn, properly storing the summer power equipment, and moving all the porch furniture down to the barn. Gonna be a busy coupla days for sure.
