Are you looking to buy a garden leaf blower? We have some hints and tips for choosing the right one.  There are many things to consider when choosing the right hand held garden blower, one of the biggest and often most overlooked is whether you need just a blower, or will you want to collect/vacuum the leaves?

Some blowers are just that, a hand held blower, nothing more, like the Echo PB-251, an outstanding machine built to commercial standards, but is purely a leaf blower, built for the commercial sector for clearing parks and playgrounds in Schools etc, it certainly has it’s place in the market but possibly not for the average home user.

Makita, Efco & Stihl offer blower machines, but ones that have the option for conversion into vacuum’s, these are all ideal for occasional use as a garden vacuum, (providing you have the accessory kit, available separately) with a simple swap of tubes, the Stihl BG56, BG86, Makita BHX2501 and Efco SA3000 will convert into garden vacuum’s for the collection of leaves etc, ideal for most home-owners with small to medium gardens for seasonal clearing and maintenance.

Now for the true garden blower, vacuum and shredder machine. Echo, Sanli and Stihl all offer the vacuum shredder, essentially these machines are standard hand-held garden blowers, with a vacuum kit included as standard, however they have one extra party trick that separates them from the others. The Echo ES-255ES, Sanli BV260, Stihl SH56 & SH 86 have blades mounted on the fan assembly, when in vacuum mode the leaves are pulled up by the fan through the vacuum tube and shredded by the blades before being forced into the collection bag, this operation reduces the collected volume by up to a 14:1 ratio. Not only does this allow you to work for longer between emptying the bag, but the material can be recycled directly onto borders and vegetable patches, rather than simply dumping what you collect.

Job Done…No not yet! Garden vacuum shredders are handy, but do have a place, they are a must for larger grounds, but are not always the best option for small to medium gardens, vacuum’s are also not always as effective when leaves are wet or trodden-in, the larger intake pipe does not generate the same force of air when in vacuum mode, often leaving the wet material on the floor especially on hard surfaces such as driveways and paths, this is where the blower side wins hands down, the smaller blower pipe forces the air out faster giving you much more power to blast the leaves off the drive or path, by using the blower as an air sweep, you can soon round up the material against a wall or fence, this process can be far quicker than trying to vacuum, the pile of material can then be composted for use in the following year.

Now the last question – 2 stroke or 4 stroke? this one really is up to you, but here are a couple of points worth some consideration. Do you own and operate other 2 stroke machinery? if you do, stick with it, you can use the same fuel mix across all your machines (check manufacturer spec first to ensure they run on the same ratio), 2 strokes also offer a more effective vacuum shredder as the engine runs at a higher rpm, this rotates the fan and blades faster and often provides a higher reduction/mulching ratio, most vacuum shredders are only available in 2 stroke. The flip side – 4 stroke, these machines may loose out on the shredder capability, but the have advantages where 2 stroke gets let down. 4 Stroke is better on fuel consumption and lower on emissions and marketed by manufacturers as quieter, they dont have the harsh raspy noise when running at full throttle, if you don’t have any other 2 stroke machinery, then 4 stroke is ideal, you only need standard unleaded fuel, like the lawnmower perhaps?, just remember to keep a check on the oil level before each use. Our top 3 blower, vacuum shredders:

1. Makita BHX2501 – A 4 stroke vacuum capable hand held leaf blower, ideal for most homes, will quickly air sweep leaves for manual collection, or with the optional extra vacuum bag set, can convert to a vacuum, one of the most popular machines in it’s class.
2. Echo ES-255ES Shred’n'Vac – 2 Stroke at it’s best, this blower and vacuum shredder is supplied with all you need, blower pipes and vacuum bag kit, the shredder blades will mulch to a ratio of up to 14:1. The whole machine from ground up has been well thought-out and designed even down to the tube fitting, put simply this is a serious bit of kit worth every penny.
3. Sanli BV260 – From China’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, the BV260 is a blower and vacuum shredder, with a solid build priced for any budget, we gave this machine a try and rate it well, supplied complete with vacuum set all for under £160 with a 2 year warranty, dont overlook it!!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.