Cordless (Battery Powered) Leaf Blower Recommendation Needed

August 10, 2017, 08:11 AM

V-Tail

I am somewhat mobility limited,and
I have a fairly small area to keep clear,

so I did "instant karma" and gave my cord-powered blower to one of our SIGforum brethren who needed one,

My intention was, and still is, to replace it with a battery-powered blower.

It seems that there are many batter-powered units on the market.

Do any of y'all have experience with these, and have a recommendation? Remember, this will be fairly light duty, to keep a small driveway, sidewalk, and patio, clear. Maybe clean the hangar floor (around 3,000 sq. ft.) once in a while.

I know that I'll probably get some recommendations for high-quality stuff, like Stihl, but I'm not sure that I really need to spend the $$ for that.

Also, a small-to-medium hedge trimmer that could use the same battery would be nice but definitely not necessary.

August 10, 2017, 08:20 AM

Edmond

Check out the Ryobi system from Home Depot. I have their lawn mower and trimmer. I did not go with a blower though as I bag but they do have the tool. It's more than a dozen tools that use the same battery/charger system.

August 10, 2017, 08:21 AM

JALLEN

My wife has a leaf blower she loves. It is light, powerful and uses the same batteries as the weed whacker. It is a Ryobi, 18 volt. There is a more powerful model, and a less powerful one,

Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown

August 10, 2017, 08:23 AM

cmparrish

I have an 80v Kobalt blower from Lowes. It has three speed settings and plenty of power on high for my needs.

August 10, 2017, 08:27 AM

smschulz

Forget Ryobi ~ all their stuff is crap.

Did lots of research before the purchase.
I got the Kobalt 80-Volt Lithium ION from Lowes.
Awesome performer, not cheap, a little heavy and you might want extra batteries for a big job.
Works GREAT lots of power and air flow.

August 10, 2017, 08:38 AM

V-Tail

A couple of you have recommended the 80 volt Cobalt from Lowes. It looks a little pricey at $249, smschultz said it's a little heavy.

Remembering that I have a pretty small area to keep clear, I looked at the Lowe's website and I see that they have a 40 volt model for a hundred bucks less. Any thoughts on this one?

August 10, 2017, 08:43 AM

sig2392

My wife like the lightweight Ryobi stuff.

The lightest weight is actually the cheapest.

It's not the cost it's the weight she likes.

Had it for a few years now.

If it dies we would just replace it.

August 10, 2017, 08:46 AM

Veeper

I just used this at my mom's place and it was easily as powerful as my gas-powered backpack blower:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobal...af-Blower/1000188689

I was able to get on the roof and do the sticks and leaves, her entire driveway, deck, walk, and gutters on the street. It easily blew the giant chunks of wet, clumpy, leaf-mush out into the street as well.

I'm going to pick one up and get rid of my back-pack blower probably.

August 10, 2017, 08:49 AM

Mike S

I have a Stihl battery powered blower. BG-85 I believe is the model. It works well and is not all that heavy. That's there mid-size model. They have one smaller, but I have no experience with it.

August 10, 2017, 08:58 AM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by Veeper:
I just used this at my mom's place and it was easily as powerful as my gas-powered backpack blower:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobal...af-Blower/1000188689

I was able to get on the roof and do the sticks and leaves, her entire driveway, deck, walk, and gutters on the street. It easily blew the giant chunks of wet, clumpy, leaf-mush out into the street as well.

I'm going to pick one up and get rid of my back-pack blower probably.

I looked at that link. One of the advantages that they state, for a battery powered unit is:

quote:
From the Lowe's website:

Push button start eliminates the hassle of pull cords

August 10, 2017, 09:26 AM

911Boss

Another vote for the Ryobi's. I have both the 18v and the 40v models.

My wife likes the light weight of the 18v one, but if you are trying to move a lot or wet leaves, the 40v power does better.

August 10, 2017, 09:28 AM

smschulz

quote:
Remembering that I have a pretty small area to keep clear, I looked at the Lowe's website and I see that they have a 40 volt model for a hundred bucks less. Any thoughts on this one?

I look at two things primarily ~ CFM and battery time.
Interpolating from the 80 volt one I have:
The 80 volt =500CFM > 40V =350CFM
The 80V has 3 settings lo/med/hi and I would assume the 80V on Med would be equivalent to full speed on the 40v .
Med speed is pretty good for most all cases.

Battery time using a variety of settings I can go for 45 min to hour or even a little more of constant use.
So I imagine with less CFM it would be fairly similar.

Conclusion: if you don't want or need that much CFM then the 40V should work out well. It might take more time.
Additional batteries are a plus for either one depending on the job size.
YMMV

August 10, 2017, 09:35 AM

swordsmn

This one has treated me well: I have low A/H and 5 A/h batts both give decent service

http://www.homedepot.com/p/DEW...ne3fOUsaAhxqEALw_wcB

August 10, 2017, 10:37 AM

Veeper

quote:
Originally posted by V-Tail:
quote:
Originally posted by Veeper:
I just used this at my mom's place and it was easily as powerful as my gas-powered backpack blower:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobal...af-Blower/1000188689

I was able to get on the roof and do the sticks and leaves, her entire driveway, deck, walk, and gutters on the street. It easily blew the giant chunks of wet, clumpy, leaf-mush out into the street as well.

I'm going to pick one up and get rid of my back-pack blower probably.
I looked at that link. One of the advantages that they state, for a battery powered unit is:
quote:
From the Lowe's website:

Push button start eliminates the hassle of pull cords

I can confirm that there is no push-button start, per say. You just pull the trigger and it starts blowing air in the direction you're pointing the device.

August 10, 2017, 11:12 AM

cmr076

I cant help you with a leaf blower, but I just got a black and decker battery powered weed whacker from HD and it works great.

August 10, 2017, 11:49 AM

ensigmatic

quote:
Originally posted by Veeper:
I just used this at my mom's place and it was easily as powerful as my gas-powered backpack blower:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobal...af-Blower/1000188689

You must not have a very powerful backpack leaf blower, then.

My Echo hand-held gas-powered leaf blower is rated at 391 cfm and my ~30-year-old Tanaka backpack blower is still more powerful. (Though not by much.)

"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher

August 10, 2017, 12:21 PM

Excam_Man

I've been very impressed with the new DeWalt 20v powered tools and they have a blower, so that's what I'd try.

August 10, 2017, 12:46 PM

cmparrish

quote:
Originally posted by V-Tail:
A couple of you have recommended the 80 volt Cobalt from Lowes. It looks a little pricey at $249, smschultz said it's a little heavy.

Remembering that I have a pretty small area to keep clear, I looked at the Lowe's website and I see that they have a 40 volt model for a hundred bucks less. Any thoughts on this one?

It's not that heavy, my 10 year old uses it. Lighter then a gas powered one. As far as the 40 volt tools. My dad has those and seems to like them ok although I don't think he has the blower, but has the mower, hedge trimmer and string trimmer. I went with the 80 volt because I already had the 80 volt string trimmer.

August 10, 2017, 12:47 PM

cparktd

Do you have any battery powered tools already?

I bought the blower Milwaukee makes that uses the M18 batteries I already have and I love it.

Very handy for light work, blowing off the walk porch and patio or blowing out the garage etc.

August 10, 2017, 01:57 PM

Jester814

I got this combo from Lowes(for 100$, it's more on the website) and absolutely love it:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/WORX-...Combo-Kit/1000180321

Cordless blower and weed whacker, which you can turn sideways to use as an edger as well. 2 batteries.