You may have seen my previous dive into high performance battery operated garden tools with the purchase of Stihl string trimmer: http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?3743-Great-innovation-in-string-trimmers-Stihl-FSA-85
Well, I decided to go deeper in the pool , and get the compatible blower, the Stihl BGA 85: http://www.stihlusa.com/blowers/bga85.html
This is one powerful blower. Pushing the button on it creates enough draft to push the unit backward as you hold it! It of course doesn't smell like the 2-stroke gas operated units. Always starts. And is rather quiet although I find that it is noisy enough that I wear hear protection.
It goes through the battery faster than the trimmer so the larger capacity battery is recommended. Good thing then that they have a $100 off discount on purchase of a battery. The whole package with a battery, fast charger, the blower and tax came out to a cool $700! After the $100 discount it will go down to $600. An insane amount for a garden tool of course but I can't tell you how nice it is to not have a cord dragging, or worrying about starting the thing and messing with gas and oil.
The only down side is that the unit is a bit heavy. Fortunately by the time your arm gets tired, the battery is out too so you get to rest anyway . I am able to use both of my batteries with it after which I am exhausted.
With this unit, I no longer procrastinate when it comes to keeping our front yards clean. I even use it to blow out the dust in the garage. I wear my powered respirator to keep the dust out of my lungs and eyes. Didn't do that the first time and my allergies really got to me.
Well, I decided to go deeper in the pool , and get the compatible blower, the Stihl BGA 85: http://www.stihlusa.com/blowers/bga85.html
This is one powerful blower. Pushing the button on it creates enough draft to push the unit backward as you hold it! It of course doesn't smell like the 2-stroke gas operated units. Always starts. And is rather quiet although I find that it is noisy enough that I wear hear protection.
It goes through the battery faster than the trimmer so the larger capacity battery is recommended. Good thing then that they have a $100 off discount on purchase of a battery. The whole package with a battery, fast charger, the blower and tax came out to a cool $700! After the $100 discount it will go down to $600. An insane amount for a garden tool of course but I can't tell you how nice it is to not have a cord dragging, or worrying about starting the thing and messing with gas and oil.
The only down side is that the unit is a bit heavy. Fortunately by the time your arm gets tired, the battery is out too so you get to rest anyway . I am able to use both of my batteries with it after which I am exhausted.
With this unit, I no longer procrastinate when it comes to keeping our front yards clean. I even use it to blow out the dust in the garage. I wear my powered respirator to keep the dust out of my lungs and eyes. Didn't do that the first time and my allergies really got to me.