The best time to use a handheld blower
Backpack blowers rule in daily landscape maintenance operations mainly because they are packed away on your back and they have lots of power. I normally associate handheld blowers with small landscape operations or home owners. But as I found out last week, handheld blowers can also be used by professional landscapers on smaller jobs.
ECHO PB 250 LN
Install preparation
I spent a few days at a site recently preparing beds for plant and rock installation. I had to rip-up small lawn patches the old-fashioned way with my shovel and part-time chess coach muscles.
Lawn making way for river rock.
Then I used the same shovel to move plants and to remove some that, sadly, wouldn’t be reused anywhere. Unwanted rejects, they would be hauled off to the green waste dump.
Moving yews.
Two fine Spirea japonica weren’t exciting enough for this main entrance.
I also had other tasks. I had to remove any remaining annuals, finesse beds and do some minor pruning of Hydrangeas.
Clean-up
Since I didn’t make a lot of mess my handheld blower was totally fine for my clean-up. The ECHO PB 250 LN unit started well and it felt light in my hand. It was also quiet but I expected that because my ECHO backpack blower has the same 65 decibel rating for noise-sensitive environments.
It’s not that I work in many noise-sensitive environments; I simply couldn’t justify paying $700 for a blower that would only be used on the occasional side-job.
Hands
I definitely prefer backpack blowers because I find the side to side hand motion, combined with the weight of the unit, tiresome. Luckily, my clean-up was quick so this didn’t become an issue.
Specs
The PB 250 LN specifications are available online. If you need help deciding which blower to purchase, I suggest visiting one of the Foreshore Equipment locations.
The PB 250 LN blower is light, it features an ergonomic 3-position top handle and grouped controls, 25.4 cc professional grade 2-stroke engine and front exhaust (so you don’t suck up all of the exhaust).
Conclusion
I find handheld blowers too tiring for my hands but for small clean-up jobs this unit is a nice economical blower.