The Home Ownership Thread

[Piobaire]

Meeting Saturday with the landscape architect we hired to re-vision our property and build all the stuff we want. Little does he know we'll probably not start until May 2015 but this should not be a hasty process I figure.

 

[SkinnyGoomba]



Any leaf blower recommendations?  Thinking of a Stihl BR350 which is one step below professional grade.  With 10-20 large trees I need something with power and preferrably a backpack as I will have to use it to cover a little over an acre.  Trying to keep the price <$500.

Also a side note....anyone have a preferred brand of power equipment?  My experience has been good with products sold at specialized dealers instead of Lowe's or HD.  Though I do love my Honda mower.

Most brands have a much more worthwhile professional line, are you specifically talking about landscaping tools?

I prefer to use handtools for most pruning and trimming. Nice to be able to get between the fine new growth.

 

[texas_jack]

I'm happy with my Husqvarna tractor. Can't recommend my Troy-Bilt blower though. I should have gotten something bigger and better.

 

[jbarwick]

Shoot out some brands that are quality and worth looking into. For some reason my trees are already losing their leaves yet none of my neighbors have this problem.

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

I bought most of my tools from Hida tool, just choosing the more expensive handmade varieties of what they sell. Really happy with the result. I also use a bow saw for pruning limbs larger than what a lopper would be able to handle, but if I would not recommend that approach over getting a proper saw for that job.

I really like Honda's power equipment, they are good about maintaining considerations for noise and that sort of thing. For instance, I think my honda inverter generator is only slightly louder at idle than my mercedes, where my neighbor's can be heard for miles.

 

[Ataturk]

I got a little handheld Hitatchi leaf blower this year based on the very positive reviews online. http://www.amazon.com/Hitachi-RB24EAP-Powered-Handheld-Compliant/dp/B003VYC31Q

It cost about $120 on sale and despite being small and light it doesn't feel underpowered. The best part about it is the motor -- the little two stroke is smooth, quiet, and starts easily, everything you could want. It puts every other two-stroke engine I have to shame.

 

[aravenel]



I really like Honda's power equipment, they are good about maintaining considerations for noise and that sort of thing. For instance, I think my honda inverter generator is only slightly louder at idle than my mercedes, where my neighbor's can be heard for miles.

Those things are impressively quiet.

 

[jbarwick]

For the size of our yard I will need something with power and a backpack as the one armed thing could be annoying quickly. I will look into Honda for power tools. We use hand tools whenever we can but mowing, edging, leaves, and other large things for yard maintenance we need power. I originally bought a blower from HD that was lacking in power so once the leaves piled on top of each other it was worthless.

 

[dah328]



Any leaf blower recommendations?  Thinking of a Stihl BR350 which is one step below professional grade.  With 10-20 large trees I need something with power and preferrably a backpack as I will have to use it to cover a little over an acre.  Trying to keep the price <$500.

Also a side note....anyone have a preferred brand of power equipment?  My experience has been good with products sold at specialized dealers instead of Lowe's or HD.  Though I do love my Honda mower.

Red Max and Stihl are the most common brands you see all the commercial crews using. I generally prefer to buy used commercial equipment off Craigslist at a somewhat lower price than new consumer grade equipment. The commercial grade stuff will last forever if you take care of it and you're using it only for your own yard and you get the benefits of the commercial grade stuff which is generally better power, lower cost of operation, and better "repairability" -- i.e., it's not designed to be disposable. I have a Stihl BR550 backpack blower and that thing will blow away small trees and the neighbor's kids if I'm not careful.

Edit: Oh, and don't use ethanol gas in your small engine tools unless you're really fond of rebuilding carburetors and replacing fuel lines. If you're lucky, you have one of the few gas stations that still offers gas without ethanol nearby. If you're not, you'll want to get the ethanol-free gas they usually sells in quart cans for $5-6 under such brands as Stihl's Motomix, VP Racing Fuels, or Trufuel.

 

[Ataturk]

Most of the problems people have with small engines are maintenance related, especially bad gas. Make sure you use fuel stabilizer and empty the fuel tank and run it dry when long-term storage is anticipated.

 

[Piobaire]

Hire a landscape service. So much less pain.

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

Agreed Ataturk, that is what I do after using my generator since it doesn't get a ton of use. The last tool I bought from lowes/depot was when they were dumping Jorgensen and Bessey clamps to replace the lines with their respective chinese knock-offs. Bought them up cheaply.

 

[jbarwick]

Hire a landscape service. So much less pain.

The promise here is that if I get a landscape service, she gets a cleaning service.

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

Get both, that takes most of the dull stuff out of the way and then you can focus on the enjoyable parts of landscaping.

 

[otc]

While I have never owned a leaf blower.. I thought that was one of the enjoyable parts of landscaping.