# Walkbehind blower vs backpack blower.



## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

Il start of by saying that I have an ego backpack blower with 2 x 5ah batteries. I realize that for 90% of the work it works great. For 10% of the season which is fall it is falling short. I can usually cycle between batteries but I am surrounded on 3.5 sides with trees. Maple, oak and walnut. I can get my entire lawn and driveway covered everyday for a few weeks maybe from mid oct- early November. For this 3 week or so time period I find nyself using the turbo alot more and therefore the decreased battery life. I realize a 7.5ah or even a 10ah battery would be better but for that price I could have another blower maybe.

Must say trying to justify $700 for a 3 week period is a tiny bit of concern too.. lol

So the 2 options are

1. Get a ginormous backpack blower like a echo PB-9010 (200+mph, 1100 CFM). Sell of the ego I guess. Keep both the batteries I think for the chainsaw. The money I would get from selling the ego would be minimal though.

2. Get a used walkbehind blower. Looking at something like a 9hp little wonder. (160mph 2530cfm).

I am leaning towards the walkbehind but looking to see what everyone thinks.


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## TulsaFan (May 1, 2017)

I am currently an owner of a ginormous PB-9010. I actually sold an 11 hp Little Wonder before I purchased the Echo. I absolutely love the power of the 9010. It's so much fun. The Little Wonder was powerful, but the way it maneuvered was awkward.

You already have the best spreader...you should also have the best blower with the 9010! :thumbup:


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## cleohioturf (Jul 20, 2020)

backpack, you can hold a beer while using it.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

I love my 9HP Billy Goat with a 200cc Honda Engine. Not cheap, but moves leaves way better than any backpack blower. I also hate 2-cycle engines - I hate both the noise they make and the smell.


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## MattR (Sep 1, 2021)

The walk behind probably saves me 20 hours or leaf clearing a year and I have a cheap one from Home Depot. No question the walk behind is better when clearing large spaces, but you still need a back pack for beds and smaller areas.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

MattR said:


> The walk behind probably saves me 20 hours or leaf clearing a year and I have a cheap one from Home Depot. No question the walk behind is better when clearing large spaces,* but you still need a back pack for beds and smaller areas.*


Or do I dare mention using A RAKE for smaller areas like beds? :thumbup:


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## MattR (Sep 1, 2021)

Deadlawn said:


> Or do I dare mention using A RAKE for smaller areas like beds? :thumbup:


Certainly! I use one of those too. I have a lot of odd shapes where the walk behind doesn't work well and the backpack does. Then there are some areas that have to be raked. Horses for courses.


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## BigBlue (Aug 27, 2021)

I have the Ego back pack blower and surrounded by trees and at the end of a street in which all of the wooded properties of the neighbors up the street blow into my yard. I use the blower with 3 different size batteries (2.5V, 5.0V and 7.5V) and I found if I go small to large I can cycle through 5 batteries (2.5, 5, 7.5, 2.5, 5) before I have to wait for a charge to complete. It's still not ideal for the ankle high leaves but with rakes added to the mix I've been getting the job done.

I borrowed a big walk behind one year from a neighbor (who regrettably moved) and it was amazing! But definitely awkward do maneuver especially in weirdly shaped areas and the beds (which I have a ton of) still needed the back pack.


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## BurtMacklinFBI (Jul 17, 2021)

My buddy had a push behind blower and the thing was awesome. That said it was big and awkward, took a lot of room to store when not used, ect..... I'll stick with my Stihl BR800 backpack haha.

I have to ask though, if the property is big enough to consider a push blower, do you not have a riding lawnmower? If so then just mulch and bag the leaves. Of course if you don't bag the leaves then that's not the best option but you could just dump the catcher into the woods or wherever you plan on blowing them to. Even a push mower works good for leaves. In the past I've set the cut up high, just empty the bag into leaf bags as I go. Slow going if you let a lot of leaves drop at once though.


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

Thank you everyone for the valuable feedback. I think some of the things that everyone mentioned I knew already i.e the ease of use of a backpack and the difficulty with a walk behind.

I think one thing that has kept me on the fence is the sheer noise the 2 stroke engine makes and I wanted to avoid that (I think). That said I completely agree with how useful it would be.

@BurtMacklinFBI I don't have a riding mower. Our house sits on a 2 acre lot as most houses in our area. We have about a quarter acre at least of trees on each side. My front almost 30k has just trees. So I get dumped on by leaves on all sides.

I've considered a riding mower but went with a walkbehind (61") for fast mowing and side discharge. Even if I have a mulch kit on the sherr amount of leaves is very difficult to get down unless doing multiple passes everyday. Dont have a bagger yet.

I really like the JRCO blower buggy that you can mount the blower on. But that means getting 3 peice of equipment and not 1


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## BurtMacklinFBI (Jul 17, 2021)

uts said:


> I think one thing that has kept me on the fence is the sheer noise the 2 stroke engine makes and I wanted to avoid that


Not sure how all the stihl backpacks sound since they use diffeent engines but my BR800 is actually quite quiet. Coming off a handheld that sounded like a chainsaw, I was surprised the first time I fired up my stihl. You could always go demo a few models and see for yourself.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

For the cost of your big batteries, you could get a Stihl BR600 and be way ahead performance-wise.

Regarding the wheel-blower vs backpacks, it depends on your space. Backpacks like the BR600 or other big backpack blowers pretty much retired the homeowner 5-6hp wheel blowers for good. Just not enough power to justify an extra piece of equipment and a backpack is much more versatile year-round. If you have wide-open spaces to clear, a wheel blower in the 11-13HP range is awesome. Use the Ego to clear out beds and tight spaces pushing leaves to where you can get at them with the big blower. If a backpack works well and you just keep running out of "fuel", buy a gas backpack and run it on canned fuel during the season. Run it dry for storage.

For noise, here's my two cents. I'd rather listen to a Stihl four-mix's lower pitch exhaust note than a high-pitch two-stroke. And the more powerful the blower, the less time your neighbors have to hear it. We've all heard the poor guy trying to move 3ft leaf piles with the $69 plug-in electric blower for 3 days straight.


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## 2018stanleycup (Mar 31, 2020)

Backpack. Takes up less space, easier to maneuver, fits it smaller areas and I like to use mine if we get a light snow, to clean off the cars.


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