# 4-cycle leaf blower recommendations?



## kds (Apr 28, 2017)

I'm throwing in the towel and getting a leaf blower. I have way too many trees on my property and for some reason it seems I have a ton more leaves than I have in the past two years of living here.

I've been reading up on the leaf blower threads here and Stihl backpacks come highly recommended from everyone. Buuuut... ideally, I would get something where I wouldn't have to mix the fuel and the oil. Mostly because I don't use gas appliances much so I'm worried about fuel spoilage (I have a can of mixed gas for my chainsaw that's been sitting in the garage for about two years I don't know what to do with). There's also the secondary issue of keeping different cans of different mixes.

So, does anyone here have a 4-cycle leaf blower? Or are there any that can be recommended?


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

I don't have any 4-cycle blower recommendations, but for occasional use I wouldn't rule out a 2-cycle backpack blower and canned fuel like Stihl MotoMix:

https://youtu.be/7f2lkm4I2XM


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## ksturfguy (Sep 25, 2018)

Yeah i dont use my blower a lot but i just buy a couple cans of the mixed fuel from husqvarna and it easy. Little more expensive then mixing it yourself but its easy.


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## Jdaniel611 (Aug 12, 2018)

I picked up a walk behind powermate cyclone two years ago and love it.

It takes me 30 to 40 minutes for my whole yard with minimal effort.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Powerma..._-rv_mobileweb_rr-_-203515257-_-203515257-_-N


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

Have you thought about getting a battery powered leaf blower, there are many out there that may fit your needs. Not sure what other lawn equipment you have that you could up grade to so they all use the same battery. I know several people here have the Ego brand and seem to like it.

EGO Power Equipment


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## gene_stl (Oct 29, 2017)

It is my opinion that the whole issue of fuel getting stale is way way overblown. I never ever use additives and don't believe in them. I do try to be conscientious about running things dry so that the fuel won't screw up the carb diaphragm. I do fuel my gear with either BP Ultimate or more recently Aviation Gasoline (100 octane Low Lead) because the latter does not have alkyhol in it. I do think I am probably wasting my time and money but where I live now is pretty close to an airport I know well. Just give the gas can a shake and use the fuel. Or mix it with newer fuel if you are really worried. Two years in a closed can is nothing.

Walk behind push blowers are absolutely the bomb. I do have three different backpacks. I usually reach for my Echo Backpack. When I moved a Billy Goat six hp walk behind fell into my lap. It really moves some leaves. My new place has lots of oak trees. The first backpack I bought still runs too but its a smaller Echo in John Deere yellow. I myself have had better luck with Echo than with Stihl. (I only have one piece of stihl gear , naturally a chain saw. It developed an idling problem and I had to challenge the dealer and the companies honor to get it fixed. Being a homeowner it was hardly worn out. They did make good on it. The issue was the price of the repair versus a new one. A $400 chain saw should not cost $300 to repair. (POSSIBLY a leaking shaft seal) I am sure a similar thing could have happened with Echo gear.
I think either is excellent.

You don't have in your avatar how big your lawn is. I bought a NiCd drill in 1977 that always pissed me the hell off so I have been slow to use rechargeable tools. I did just buy a bunch of deWalt stuff with Li batteries. But since I have LawnZilla rechargeable and even AC powered lawn stuff is pretty much out of the question. But they keep pushing the envelope. There are battery powered airplanes and helicopters now. :shock:

PS the place where these things "fall into my lap" had a Makita backpack blower.
https://www.amazon.com/Makita-EB530...776669&sr=8-1&keywords=makita+backpack+blower
It has a four cycle engine. It uses straight gas. I was going to snag it but since I already have too many blowers I dragged my feets and someone else snagged it.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

The good news is that if you use the canned fuel from the store, in a two-cycle or Stihl 4-mix engine, you have no real maintenance to worry about. No oil changes like you'd have on a 4-stroke. Just pour in the fuel and go, run it dry if you think you'll be storing the engine for more than 6 months or so but if you forget, you have a lot more protection than regular pump gas.

@gene_stl AVGas is specially formulated to store well in many different situations. Hence you have not had trouble!


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## gene_stl (Oct 29, 2017)

Av Gas comes from exactly the same distillation tower as regular gas. They all come out at 87 octane. Ironically the ethanol does raise the octane but there are other more aviation compatible additives they can use. They also ad 2 mll of tetraethyl lead per gallon. Soon that will go away too.

In over 40 years of home ownership the only gasoline caused headache I have ever had was I had to rebuild the carb on my beloved Toro S-620e which has a two cycle electric start Tecumseh engine. I left fuel in it and the diaphragm got goofy.
Even in the old days when they talked about "varnish" forming in the gasoline if it sat too long I was very skeptical. All that might have been true in the 1930s. But we have come a long way and if the can is closed excluding oxygen and moisture (mainly oxygen) there just isn't much in the way of chemistry that we need to worry about.

Alcohol is miscible with water and will dissolve it in gasoline if there isn't too much of it. Give the jerry can a good shake a while before pouring (to let the dirt in the bottom of the can resettle) and there won't be any separation of water, ethanol or 2 cycle oil. If there was at all before hand which I really doubt. But I do give it a shake just for the sake of argument. Or superstition.


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## kds (Apr 28, 2017)

Thanks for all the insight, guys! I was holding out for a couple of years for a DeWalt battery-operated blower that is decent but that hasn't happened yet. Looks like I'll just be biting the bullet and picking up a Stihl backpack blower.


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## ForsheeMS (May 21, 2018)

I've got the Stihl BR700 and it's a great blower. Although it sees a lot more use during the fall it still gets used year round for blowing off the driveway and blowing out my shop and garage. I also have a 4-mix trimmer, pole saw, and a couple 2 cycle chain saws and average going through 8 to 10 gallons of mixed fuel a year in them so it never sits too long before it's used up. All I run is non-ethanol fuel.

Storing fuel in a sealed metal container will help it last much longer. These plastic fuel jugs nowadays do not work for long term storage. Plastic is porous which allows vapors to escape through the jug and the lids never seal very tight.


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## kds (Apr 28, 2017)

Just as a follow-up... I went down to my friendly neighborhood ACE Hardware and purchased the Stihl SH-86C. I went back and forth on a few models. I think I'd rather have the higher cfm and mph at a lower cost, so I went from a backpack blower to a handheld blower. It was down to the BG-56 and the BR-86. When it was time to purchase, the Stihl guy there pointed out that the SH-86C was the same engine as the BR-86, but convertible to a vacuum shredder and it was only $10 more. Not sure how often I'll use it, but I suppose it's nice to have the option if I ever do.

Already blew off my driveway and sidewalk and it is definitely more power than I'm used to. Hopefully it won't rain too much this weekend and I'll get to do some cleanup with it.


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