"Mary Ellen Magoc" magoc at velocity dot net wrote in message
...
"Phisherman" wrote in message
news
Anyone comment on gas-powered blowers? I'm thinking about getting one
for leaf pickup, and more importantly, to clean driveways and streets
from grass clippings. Any comments on Stihl blowers?

How do you like the air that we breath? The sounds [of nature] that we
hear?

"According to the Lung Association, a leaf blower causes as much smog as
17
cars . "
. . .

. . . "This paints a bleak picture for the power blower. It is perhaps
the
most over and inappropriately used landscape tool . Autumn's tremendous
amounts of organic debris that requires collection might be considered
appropriate use of this tool. However, the weekly routine of blowing
abuses
the soil and damages landscape plants while the noise generated creates
ill
will from neighbors and clients alike. Leaf rakes deserve a renewed
interest
in the maintenance of landscapes."

http://www.nonoise.org/quietnet/cqs/leafblow.htm
Some pretty interesting reading there . . .


Mary Ellen
My car is used about 1000 hours a year. My leaf blower is used less than 10
hours a year.

What's your point?

Shepherd

"Warren" wrote in message
news:WvMvb.79342$Dw6.379940@attbi_s02...
Shepherd wrote:

On a yard as small as yours with only one tree, raking is no problem
at all.
On the lawns around here that measure from 20,000 to 25,000 sq. ft. or
more,
with half a dozen large mature oak trees, it is a very big deal
indeed.

If raking up one tree is faster than blowing the leaves, why would it be
faster to blow the leaves of 12 trees than rake 12 trees.

Or to put it into numbers:
Time it takes to rake up one tree: 30 minutes. Time to rake up 12
trees: 12x30=360 minutes.
Time to blow the leaves of one tree: 60 minutes. Time to blow the
leaves of 12 trees: 12x60=720 minutes.

The difference? When I swing the rake, it doesn't matter if there is
just the natural layer of leaves under it, or up to 5 or 6 times that
depth. Takes the same effort. With the blower, it may blow that single
layer just as fast as the rake, but as the pile builds up, the blower
becomes less efficient.

And if those leaves are wet, add 50% more time to raking; double -- or
may be triple, depending on the size of the engine -- the time for
blowing.

It's also more difficult to blow onto a tarp than it is to rake onto a
tarp. With the rake, all you have to do is lift the rake high enough to
miss the tarp. With the blower, you have to aim pretty darn high to miss
the tarp, and when you do that, you miss the leaves, too.

I'll grant you that my arms would be falling off if I raked-up under 12
trees, but I'd be bored to death, and my arms would still be sore after
spending 12 hours with a blower hanging from them. At least if I raked,
my pain would be accompanied by a muscle and aerobic workout, not simply
cramps from stretching my arms out, and carpal tunnel syndrome from the
vibration of the blower.

If I had a dozen trees, I wouldn't have the time to rake or blow the
leaves. But I would have the time to use a yard vac. A dozen trees in
about 180 minutes. The leaves are already shredded, and if they're wet,
there's hardly an increase in the time it takes.

But if you want to carry around your blower, that's fine with me. It's
not my time, and it's not my arms.

BTW... 20,000 to 25,000 square feet of lawn is far too much work to
begin with. Unless you need that size of a lawn for kids to play
football, you could save yourself a lot of work, and have a much more
aesthetically pleasing landscape, by converting some of it to perennial
beds. There's nothing attractive about 20,000 square feet of nothing but
grass.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Blatant Plug: Do your Christmas Shopping Online
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/associateshop.com

Your logic stinks!

Your math would not get a passing grade even in elementary school!

Your option of what others like is unasked far, unwanted and stupid.

Go find a busy street and see if you can dodge the cars.

I don't have time nor desire to play silly games with an obviously immature,
ignorant adolescence.

Shepherd

Sherwin Durbren, right on! Lets target leaf blowers, 2 cycle
motorcycles, jet-ski's, all 2 cycle motors, and snowmobiles. (did I
leave any other 2 cycles out?) =



Phisherman wrote:
=

Anyone comment on gas-powered blowers? I'm thinking about getting one
for leaf pickup, and more importantly, to clean driveways and streets
from grass clippings. Any comments on Stihl blowers?

-- =

Celestial Habitats by J. Kolenovsky
2003 Honorable Mention Award, Keep Houston Beautiful
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - business
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal

J Kolenovsky writes in article dated Sun, 23 Nov 2003 17:38:47 -0600:
Sherwin Durbren, right on! Lets target leaf blowers, 2 cycle
motorcycles, jet-ski's, all 2 cycle motors, and snowmobiles. (did I
leave any other 2 cycles out?) =

2-stroke motorcycles are already illegal to ride on public roads (in the
US). Jetski's stink if you're downwind, so do 2-stroke snowmobiles
probably. I wouldn't ban 'em but when I buy one I'll get 4-stroke.

The only advantage to 2-stroke engines is they are lighter than a 4-stroke
engine with the same power output. So it makes sense to make 2-stroke
chainsaws and hand-carry leaf blowers. As I said in an earlier post, I've
been put off those blowers because of the short (100 hr) engine life.

My neighbor who's a manager at a lawn company got out his blower-on-wheels
the other day, I don't know if it's 2- or 4-stroke. But it really did the
job quick! He made one pass right next to his house and most of the leaves
went into the street, 40' away. I think he did one more pass at 20', total
time 1 minute.

-- spud_demon -at- thundermaker.net
The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer.

"Spud Demon" wrote in message
...
J Kolenovsky writes in article
dated Sun, 23 Nov 2003 17:38:47 -0600:
Sherwin Durbren, right on! Lets target leaf blowers, 2 cycle
motorcycles, jet-ski's, all 2 cycle motors, and snowmobiles. (did I
leave any other 2 cycles out?) =

2-stroke motorcycles are already illegal to ride on public roads (in the
US). Jetski's stink if you're downwind, so do 2-stroke snowmobiles
probably. I wouldn't ban 'em but when I buy one I'll get 4-stroke.

The only advantage to 2-stroke engines is they are lighter than a 4-stroke
engine with the same power output. So it makes sense to make 2-stroke
chainsaws and hand-carry leaf blowers. As I said in an earlier post, I've
been put off those blowers because of the short (100 hr) engine life.

My neighbor who's a manager at a lawn company got out his blower-on-wheels
the other day, I don't know if it's 2- or 4-stroke. But it really did the
job quick! He made one pass right next to his house and most of the
leaves
went into the street, 40' away. I think he did one more pass at 20',
total
time 1 minute.

-- spud_demon -at- thundermaker.net
The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer.

If you could find out the name of that blower and post it here I'm sure many
of us would like to check out buying one.

Shepherd

On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 15:17:44 +0000 (UTC), (Spud
Demon) wrote:

J Kolenovsky writes in article dated Sun, 23 Nov 2003 17:38:47 -0600:
Sherwin Durbren, right on! Lets target leaf blowers, 2 cycle
motorcycles, jet-ski's, all 2 cycle motors, and snowmobiles. (did I
leave any other 2 cycles out?) =

2-stroke motorcycles are already illegal to ride on public roads (in the
US). Jetski's stink if you're downwind, so do 2-stroke snowmobiles
probably. I wouldn't ban 'em but when I buy one I'll get 4-stroke.

The only advantage to 2-stroke engines is they are lighter than a 4-stroke
engine with the same power output. So it makes sense to make 2-stroke
chainsaws and hand-carry leaf blowers. As I said in an earlier post, I've
been put off those blowers because of the short (100 hr) engine life.

My neighbor who's a manager at a lawn company got out his blower-on-wheels
the other day, I don't know if it's 2- or 4-stroke. But it really did the
job quick! He made one pass right next to his house and most of the leaves
went into the street, 40' away. I think he did one more pass at 20', total
time 1 minute.


The 2-cycle engines are better when working on any angle. My mower is
two-cycle because of the steep slopes. A 4-cycle engine may not get
the required oil. Yes, they pollute more, more noisy, need a fuel-oil
mix, but I wear hearing protection. Getting back to the blowers, the
Stihl is more quiet than the Poulman (Weedeater), but the cost is 2X.
I'm willing to pay 30% for a quiet machine, but not 100% more. My
Weedeater gas trimmer is 14 years old and still going strong.
Electric tools are not at all practical for my large 1.5-acre lot, but
for small properties they are a good choice.

With a bit of wind, how many of these leaves ended up on his neighbors=92=
lawn?

Fran=E7oise.

Spud Demon wrote:

He made one pass right next to his house and most of the leaves
went into the street, 40' away. I think he did one more pass at 20', t=
otal
time 1 minute.

-- spud_demon -at- thundermaker.net
The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer.

With a bit of wind, how many of these leaves ended up on his neighbors=92=
lawn?

Fran=E7oise.

Spud Demon wrote:

He made one pass right next to his house and most of the leaves
went into the street, 40' away. I think he did one more pass at 20', t=
otal
time 1 minute.

-- spud_demon -at- thundermaker.net
The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer.

Warren wrote:

...The point is that a leaf blower puts out a disportional amount of
polution for it's size. Comparing it to a typical car is only meant to
emphisize that an engine far to big to strap on your back is 17 times
cleaner for each minute of use...



It's not the car engine that's that much cleaner (although it is cleaner
by itself), but all the attachments they add to get rid of the unburned
hydrocarbons etc coming out of the car engine. The car engine can be
scaled to a liftable size (e.g. lawn mowers), but still isn't suitable
for a blower.

The leaf blower (and all other 2-stroke engines like chain saws and
trimmers) puts out a lot of hydrocarbons because of the way it's
designed to be used. The engine has to work in any position, so the oil
is mixed with the fuel to keep the engine lubricated. Automobile engines
don't work well upside down or sideways because the oil won't circulate
properly (the oil inlet has to be in the oil sump). These engines are
frequently used for short periods of time, so catalytic converters won't
work on them because they don't have time to heat up.

If you really worry about 2-cycle engine pollution, buy electric
blowers, trimmers and chain saws. They work just as well, although they
are far less convenient.

Snooze wrote:

.... If you use your
gas powered leaf blower for 10 minutes every week, that translates to 170
minutes of driving time a week, about 24.2 minutes a day...



Please also take into account that most of us don't use our leaf blowers
during the spring and winter months. That gives you a factor of two at
least (for a long term average). Summer useage is probably minimal.

have just bought an American Sears "craftsman" petrol leaf blower and my dear wife has broken it by running it on neat petrol rather than two stroke mixture. Does anyone know if it can be repaired in the UK or is it wrecked for good? Originally posted by Ronnie Sloane (UK)

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 18:35:01 GMT, ronniesloane
wrote:

ronniesloane wrote:
* *

have just bought an American Sears "craftsman" petrol leaf blower and
my dear wife has broken it by running it on neat petrol rather than two
stroke mixture. Does anyone know if it can be repaired in the UK or is
it wrecked for good? Originally posted by Ronnie Sloane (UK)


I'd guess that the engine is burned due to no lubrication. Take it to
a mechanic to check it out.

chuck it and get a new one,
It will cost as much to repair as a new one would cost,
sorry.

--
Sam
Along the Grand Strand of Myrtle Beach,SC
"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 18:35:01 GMT, ronniesloane
wrote:

ronniesloane wrote:
* *

have just bought an American Sears "craftsman" petrol leaf blower and
my dear wife has broken it by running it on neat petrol rather than two
stroke mixture. Does anyone know if it can be repaired in the UK or is
it wrecked for good? Originally posted by Ronnie Sloane (UK)


I'd guess that the engine is burned due to no lubrication. Take it to
a mechanic to check it out.

chuck it and get a new one,
It will cost as much to repair as a new one would cost,
sorry.

--
Sam
Along the Grand Strand of Myrtle Beach,SC
"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 18:35:01 GMT, ronniesloane
wrote:

ronniesloane wrote:
* *

have just bought an American Sears "craftsman" petrol leaf blower and
my dear wife has broken it by running it on neat petrol rather than two
stroke mixture. Does anyone know if it can be repaired in the UK or is
it wrecked for good? Originally posted by Ronnie Sloane (UK)


I'd guess that the engine is burned due to no lubrication. Take it to
a mechanic to check it out.