Contributor
The newer brushless battery blowers are pretty impressive. As a comparison, the highest-end Stihl "professional" non-backpack blower claims 444 CFM. All the battery models by Ego do significantly more CFM (one does 650CFM). I suppose if you were a professional landscaper, the battery runtime would be an issue, though. But for a homeowner, it wouldn't.Originally Posted by Doug Dawson
Member
Some of them may be. I’ve tried a few and they haven’t been. You have both CFM and MPH and they both matter, and there’s something else about gas blowers that just seems more ballsy, somehow. I have Hitachi and Echo gas blowers and they both perform great and start every time, so I don’t feel like carrying around a heavy Lithium ion battery for a problem that doesn’t exist. They’ve already perfected lightweight gas motors.
Member
I went with Ryobi 40V for no particular reason. So happy I won't cut the cord on the hedge trimmer anymore. Added a weed eater after the old shaft broke. It's nice not having the noise to deal with. I chain saw is soon to join them.
Contributor
I use Ego. I haven't paid full price for any of it. There is a store locally that sell Home Depot returns. I managed to buy the stuff with batteries and chargers really cheap. Some of it had obviously never been used. Unfortunately, they had so much volume of Ego stuff that they started sending the Ego stuff to auction. The little bit of Ego stuff they get now they remove the batteries and sell them separately.
I can't stand the Ego straight shaft string trimmers. I am 6'-2" tall and the shaft just isn't long enough. I still use my Stihl curved shaft string trimmer.
Contributor
I was in the Makita camp until I started having problems with their drills. So I switched to Milwaukee. Over all I'm happy. My neighbor got both their chainsaw and trimmer. The chainsaw is nice but it would be just a saw for limbing as the stuff I have around the house requires a good size saw. The trimmer worked ok. I borrowed it so the wife could try it. But I have a Honda that even a small child could start and it's not much noisier so I couldn't see spending the money. Their blower is at the top of the list to buy. If Milwaukee comes out with a pole saw I probably would get it.
Member
Milwaukee has a pole saw, it’s part of their QuikLok system (I have one and it works well.)
BTW, the Milwaukee 16” chainsaw is sensitive to what battery you use in it. Some people might think they can get the bare tool and use their existing M18 batteries in it. The _kit_ OTOH comes with a 12ah HO battery, which the saw really needs to perform well (and it does,) and is a much better deal. Until recently, you could get a package deal with the kit where they would throw in an 8ah HO battery for free (presumably as a backup.)
Contributor
I have an EGO chainsaw and the unit was shutting down due to overload. I was only using a 2.0 or 2.5 amp battery and it was supposed to use a larger battery. The issues have been less since I got the bigger battery.
Member
PS: If you get their pole saw, you’ll want to get the extension with it. The _strap_, which IMO the whole system needs, is included with the extension, which you might otherwise be tempted to buy separately, at some expense. Good to know (it is not documented.)
Contributor
All my garden tools are cordless except for the trimmer, it plugs I’m.
My lawnmower is a push reel mower, does a great job, is quiet, no cords or batteries.
Regards, Rod.
Contributor
Not cordless, but this thing is POWERFUL. I think something like 725cfm, at 140 mph. I keep a 14ga., 100 foot long cord zip tied to it, so it can't separate. That cord is not that hard to flip around, and it can be run for half a day without worrying about charging a battery.
Between the 13hp Billy Goat blower on wheels, and this, that's all we need. I've stopped using the backpack blowers because this thing does just as good.
You do have to be fairly strong to keep it going wide open for a while. For someone with a half acre lot, this would probably be all you need, and at less than the cost of a big battery.
https://www.amazon.com/TORO-PowerJet...383314&sr=8-15
Contributor
I mostly detest gas engines. I just don’t use them often enough. The gas’s goes bad and…. I have a car and a lawn tractor that doubles as a snow blower. Everything else is Ryobi One for lawn stuff and Dewalt for tools. I freely admit that I’m trading away power but I love not having to deal with a bunch of motors that don’t work (had a 2-stroke snow blower that only worked in warm weather).
if I used things every day, I would have gas. But I’m just an occasional user.
Moderator
I can relate to this...and it's been a major reason that I've been grabbing some battery powered outdoor tools to use here at our new property. They are convenient, relatively inexpensive, never have a bad fuel issue (although one obviously must have a charged battery or two available), are quiet to operate and not tethered to an outlet which is hard to find at this property. I have a gas weed-wacker that I have not used in nearly 6 years I think and the previous owner left behind a gas pole saw. Those are going to be liquidated. The only gas powered outdoor tool I will keep for sure is my Stihl chainsaw. I'll also keep the electric "tethered" blower for those times when the extra power is needed and because it can also be used to collect leaves in it's "suck" mode. Otherwise...batteries.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Member
My rule of thumb is, if you have to use something at least once a week, such as the mower and trimmers, etc, gas is good. But if you have to use something only sporadically (or for self-defense,) such as chainsaws etc, an electric equivalent is handy to have. You don’t want to be caught short when the time comes.
My Krenov (Remington) chainsaw finally gave up the ghost a few months ago, and the Milwaukee turns out to be a worthy successor.
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