Anyone use a battery operated blower?

[mrad]

I am wanting to buy a battery-operated blower to blow debris off my slideouts before bringing them in. I am curious as to how many out there are using one of these. I am also curious as to how many have a larger volume blower (350+ cfm) to use for yard work also. We have Milwaukee 18V tools with a couple of 3 amp hour batteries. I can get a Milwaukee 18V blower that puts put 450 CFM for $149. I know this would be overkill for bowing off the slideouts but would come in handy for blowing snow off cars in the winter and short bursts of blowing leaves off the patio when we don't want to start the gas backpack blower. My concern is the battery life as well as the durability of the tool. I have read some bad reviews on the Milwaukee's on their longevity. Curious as to the opinions on those who have used these for both blowing off slideouts and using them for light yard work.

[mrad]

p220sigman wrote:
Not a bad plan if the mower works for you. I replaced my gas push mower with an electric and love it. The electric is half the weight of the gas powered one and does a great job. The only place the gas was better was if I let the grass get really high. The electric has to work harder and it is slower going. It still cuts it, just takes longer. Then there is the added benefit of not having to get gas before mowing and having the smell in the shed.

We mow about 4 acres with a commercial mower. the push is only for up close to the house where we like to keep it a little shorter and better groomed. I think we use it more for exercise than anything as it sometimes turns into a battle between me and my wife over who gets to use the push mower. This past year we used an old reel mower but found too many little twigs for that

[JIMNLIN]

Yeah those cordless chainsaws are the cat meow. I cut and sell a bit of firewood each winter and I use mine for delimbing the tree out once I get it on the ground. Its so light and instant power cutting off limbs up to 6"-8" diameter.
My 311 Stihl with the 25" bar says it weighs in the 15-16 lb range but my age and arm/shoulder muscles says its closer to 50 lbs.

[mobeewan]

I have a Ryobi 40v blower that works great. I have also purchased other Ryobi 40v tools, an expand-it weed trimmer that uses all my Ryobi gas powered attachments, a chain saw that works great and a couple lawn mowers.

[JIMNLIN]

I bought Dewalt to match all the rest of my tools. They all take the same batteries.

Same here.
I'm running a chainsaw...hedge trimmer....drill motors...big blower cordless 20v DeWalt.
As my other corded/gas tools wear out their gonna' get replaced with a DeWalt 20v cordless tool.

Except the the Stihl chainsaw.

[Reisender]

2oldman wrote:

obgraham wrote:
I have a corded one, too, but hardly ever find it worth getting out the long cord.

No cord, no gas, no oil, no fumes.. priceless.

Exactly. Also quieter and no stinky garages or sheds with storing fuel etc. Oil changes, gas stabilizer for off season storage etc. Much more convenient.

A lot of the same reasons people buy electric cars.

At least for the Ryobi brand I would recommend highly the high performance high current batteries for gardening equipment. Huge difference in performance.

[2012Coleman]

What would be really nice is if there were some sort of attachment that would let you blow off the slide tops from the ground - I could then leave my collapsible ladder at home.

[p220sigman]

Not a bad plan if the mower works for you. I replaced my gas push mower with an electric and love it. The electric is half the weight of the gas powered one and does a great job. The only place the gas was better was if I let the grass get really high. The electric has to work harder and it is slower going. It still cuts it, just takes longer. Then there is the added benefit of not having to get gas before mowing and having the smell in the shed.

[mrad]

Thanks for the advice. Our gas push mower and weed whip also need replacing. I'm thinking of getting the GreenWorks 3 pack, mower, weed whip and blower for around $800. I would then have two 60V 4 amp hour batteries and two 2.5 amp hour batteries.

[2oldman]

obgraham wrote:
I have a corded one, too, but hardly ever find it worth getting out the long cord.

No cord, no gas, no oil, no fumes.. priceless.

[2oldman]

ajriding wrote:
The high amp batteries do a better job, 40 or 48 amps like the Ryobi..

Don't you mean high voltage?

[ajriding]

The high amp batteries do a better job, 40 or 48 amps like the Ryobi.

Your choice to keep the family together with milwaukee or not. Milwaukee is expensive and you might be better getting the 48a/h Ryobi instead of a Milwaukee blower. To use the Milwaukee 18v blower it is best to get the 12 a/h battery, which is $150 for an off-brand battery that works with it, and lord help us the price of a Milwaukee 12a.h battery.
You could be fine with a 9a/h battery for short blows, and very short blowing jobs your 5a/h batt will work.
The issue is for these large power demands that the battery gets hot. You are depleting the battery very quickly and this is very hard on a battery, thus the bigger batteries like the 9 or 12 a/h ones will do better.
I have the Milwaukee 18v chain saw and the 5's are no good for it. I had to go to an off-brand $50 eBay batter of 9a/h to have any use of the saw. The batt gets warm. The 12a/h batt they say does not even get warm.
Do the math, price of Milwaukee blower plus price of the bigger battery vs the price of a complete Ryobi with tool, battery and charger and the battery is not under any stress unlike an 18v system.

For your quickie RV blowing job you should be fine with a 9a/h battery, but not for a yard.

I Used the Ryobi at work for short clean-up of small areas and the battery will do OK.

Power as compared to the biggest gas blower HD has - no comparison.

[obgraham]

I've had two identical small Toro blowers. 20v. I like the small size for small jobs. Unfortunately they both have failed. One will only run 1 of its 2 speeds, and the other the charger failed. I'm a slow learner! Can't recommend it.
I also have a bigger one from Lowes, 40v. It's a beast, and runs a long time on a charge with a nicely variable speed control.
I have a corded one, too, but hardly ever find it worth getting out the long cord.

[2oldman]

MFL wrote:

2oldman wrote:
Greenworks is good. The higher the voltage the better. I also have a 110v battery lawnmower that does an excellent job.

Have to ask...110volt battery, or 110V AC powered/plus battery powered?

Jerry

Battery. I couldn't believe it either.

[MFL]

2oldman wrote:
Greenworks is good. The higher the voltage the better. I also have a 110v battery lawnmower that does an excellent job.

Have to ask...110volt battery, or 110V AC powered/plus battery powered?

Jerry