Blowers- Hand-held or Back-pack style??

[Jack D.]

Please note that in all instances a backpack will be faster.

Jack D. uses compressed air to blow clean cooling fins and vents and clean spark plugs on his gasoline powered units.

[Yard Dawg]

To be honest, I mostly use my handheld because by the time I take the backpack off the rack and put it on, I can already be finished blowing driveway, patio and walkways. On large properties, and definitely when leaves are falling, I love my backpack.

Yard Dawg

[PNA]

Looking at the web site for Stihl, I see the following specs:

* BG 85 (hand held)
Air Volume: 459 cfm
Air Velocity: 183 MPH

* BR 420 (backpack)
Air Volume: 518 cfm
Air Velocity: 172 MPH

How is it that everyone feels the backpack blower is so much stronger than a hand held? Or am I missing something?

[GeeVee]

You're not....

I'm going to be the unpopular one that offers you this....

If you have a big mess to blow clean, you are better off using a BP.

However, if you are fortunate to get the job done without creating a big mess, or are on small walkways and entry ways, a handheld may just do the job....

ONLY you know what your circumstances are.

Most have both, whether the small one gets used much or not.

[MGO]

I started my business last year with a hand-held blower.....mainly because I was only doing residential.

This year I landed a couple of Home Owner Associations.......so I went out and bought a back-pack blower......my plan was to use the back pack blower on the Home Owner Associations and my larger residentials.

Guess what......I use the back-pack blower for EVERYTHING......even my smaller residentials.

Takes no time at all to put on your back (i.e. talking 3 seconds)

[PNA]

MGO,
Did you see the specs I copied off the Stihl web site? Take a look see. How is it that the BP blower is said to be so much stronger than a hand-held but on paper it doesn't look to be?

[Jack D.]

Please note that Stihl 420 & 550 backpacks are very weak and are basically glorified handhelds.

cfm is the crucial statistic.

[Jack D.]

http://www.redmax.com/

[MGO]

PNA.....see Jack.D response above.

I use Redmax myself........big difference between 450 cfm and 750 cfm.......and 172 mph v.s. 204 mph.....especially when the effects of VOLUMETRIC Flow and Velocity are combined.

If you want the technical explanation....here it is:

Energy Available to do work = 0.5 x mass x velocity^2

In other words:

The amount of work your blower will do on the "things" you are blowing is DIRECTLY proportional to the volume of air.....and exponentially proportional to the VELOCITY.

So, lets look at the above example:

750 cfm versus 450 cfm.....equates to a 67% increase

204 mph versus 172 mph equates to a 37% increase

Combine effect is that the 750 cfm and 204 mph blower has 2.29 times the POWER or ability to do work on things you are blowing than the 450 cfm/174 mph.

Regards,
MGO, P.E.

P.S. You don't need to do the calculations.....just try a backpack blower (a quality one, like Redmax) versus a hand held and you will see for yourself.

[waverider]

Stihl BR 600 is out

Is the Stihl BR600 now offered for sale and superior to REDmax 8000.
Or still in beta testing.

[KCM]

I don't see the point in them unless you have huge commercial properties or driveways that are longer then 50 feet. I use a bg-65 and it really does the trick.

[Jack D.]

Please purchase and use backpacks on even basic mow and blows. Time is money.

[bushmaster]

What do you intend to do with this blower? What kind of $$ do you have to work with? If you are only blowing light grass clippings off drive/walkways,a
handheld will likely git-r-done and at low cost .If you plan to do leaves in the fall, a back pack will save lots of work....and time....but...more$$$$.Consider these factors in your purchase.
I use only h/h for mowing clean-ups with an average of 30 seconds clean-up time.The h/h requires less space,less$$ investment,and will help you to be one hell of an arm wrestler.Leaves?.....better off with the b/p....the h/h is about as fun as raking!Consider your needs and the revenue produced....work your way up ,if you need to.

[gosk]

You can't go wrong with Redmax 8000. I got mine on ebay for $440 + shipping. Starts on first or second pull, very powerful.

[John Galt]

It wouldn't be the first piece of equipment I'd replace going from "homeowner" to commercial, but it certainly would be on the list. Run your business like a business, not a hobby. In other words, replace items when there is sufficient "reason" to do so. I upgraded when I went over 40 residential properties or around there. I would look at my arm at my part time job and it was shaking. I thought it was from trimming and edging. I quickly realized it was from my handheld blower.