Blowers / Vacs / Mulchers - which one's best?

[ATC1983]

Hi was looking others' views on which blower/vac mulcher is best on the market for power and price?

 

For those of you who read my other thread about starting into basic gardening I think this is probably the last piece of equipment I got to buy before I go out there. Have done one large garden for experience and it's come up very well, but it's taking forever to rake all the debris and soil - the garden hasn't been done in 3 years and it's weedy / moss as hell. So I've taken the approach of digging much of this out and, as the garden is so long and backs onto a park, putting most of the debris up against the fencing to the parkland. My conclusion is I should be using a blower / vac to dramatically speed up this process as the rake is to laboursome?

 

Also just a question on lawnmowers - I got a Briggs and Stratton lawnmower at £270, self-propelled, which is good but very heavy and I think maybe too big for a lot of the properties and lawns I intend to pitch for. Can anyone recommend a nice light weight one, that is easy to turn, and is petrol driven to get around in?

[GardenKit]

Firstly Blower/Vacs

As on the previous thread, avoid the cheapo makes sold online or in shed stores, instead go for one from your local machinery repair and sales shop.

 

He will likely have a small choice of economy and premium models to suit your budget, but unlike the online ones, these should be fully supported with warranty and spares from the dealer.They will all have similar performance. I use the Mitox as my economy model and Tanaka as premium. The tanaka cost twice as much as the Mitox and does have a better feel to it.

 

Many folk think that a vac conversion will be handy, but after using it once its left in the shed, frankly none work well and are very slow to use. Best stick to a blower IMO.

 

Secondly, you have not got a B&S lawnmower, you have a mower with a B&S engine on it. If you identify it accurately we will be able to advise on a suitable machine that is lighter and smaller. Many of my gardening contractors use the ALKO 4610HPD steel deck, 46 cm, self propelled mower with a Honda engine. They are priced slightly over £400 and offer excellent value. They are very reasonable quality and not over heavy.

[Pedroski]

I assume you're after a hand held blower/vac?? Up until recently, I would have said Stihl was the best. BUT the one we are using now we no longer use as a vac. The impeller in it is made of about the softest foamiest plastic I have ever seen, and even small twigs and tiny bits of gravel smash it to smithereens in very short time. Something like £30 for a new one as well, and we're eaten 3 so far. From now on it's blowing only. Blowing ain't too bad though - just blow everything into a heap and either shove soil and grass over it, and explain it's the most environmentally friendly way to deal with the waste (by making a compost heap) or just bung it in a in or bulk bag and take it away.

 

Seriously looking for a make other than Stihl that might be a bit more robust!

[Marc]

Never heard of a decent blower vac to date, I used to use a big billy goat but these are expensive and to be honest of limited usefulness to most users. So I,d avoid the rookie mistake of buying a blower vac and just get a decent blower preferably a back pack model which you can use to blow all detritus into an easy to deal with pile.

Then again I was never a commercial gardener.

[Pedroski]

The only thing the blower/vacs are REALLY decent for is clearing up on some of the town centre work we do - ideal for fag ends and sweet wrappers!

[likeitorlumpit]

really hate blower vacs

As the bag fills up your body suffers twisting that it shouldn't.

We just blow into a pile and rake into a bag

I tell customers who ask why we don't use them that our risk assessment has pinned them as a no no.

billy goats are also rubbish as the bag fills up and you have to support the weight. I suppose they work OK on dry leaves but thats about it

plus they don't collect from under cars.

There you go- divulging trade secrets again:001_smile:

[Pedroski]

Another problem with vacs...... DUST! The amount of potentially hazardous dust that gets breathed in when using them is a nightmare. Risk assessment should specify wearing of masks and goggles. And when it's raining......using one with a wet bag is a nightmare. And another THUMBSDOWN for the Stihl ones is the really really bad zip they put on them that ALWAYS fails within weeks. We ended up tying up with a bit of rope instead.

[Dan Frazer Gardening]

The only tool you need is a good backpack blower. Get a Stihl BR600.

 

You blow everything onto lawns before you cut the grass and let the mower pick it all up. Sand and soil can be blown back into shrub beds, cigarette butts are blown into corners making it easy to scoop them up with a shovel, overflowing gravel and pebbles are blown back onto the gravel area etc etc. You also blow everything out from under hedges and shurbs (i.e. debris and leaves) to be mowed up when grass cutting. No other type of tool will do as thorough a job of clearing up rubbish from borders and under hedges.

 

The BR600 is virtually my MOST important tool, and I do a lot of ground maintenance. It clears up cores after hollow tine aeration, disperses any clumps of grass after mulching, moves dog foul out of the way before cutting grass... honestly, the list is endless. Without it my quality would suffer and so would my profit.

 

This is from someone who does the job day in day out and has tried most methods.

[ATC1983]

Is engine size important - it's just I was going to get a Ryobi off Amazon for £146 but there is a mikita at £186 - reduced from £370 odds. I think the Ryobi though has a higher CC engine. How much should one read into this?

 

I mean I got a Ryobi hedgetrimmer at 30cc and the husqy was at 26cc - would the husy still be the meaner piece of equipment for cutting despite having a lower engine size?

[miker]

buy good kit once, buy crap kit 4 times,try and go for a good stihl blower/hedge cutter, i know its hard when starting out but will save you £££££'s in the long run, good luck