I personally try to avoid anything after 8pm or before 9am. I think if your neighbor is asking nicely, why not just wait the extra hour?

Thanks all, I appreciate your thoughts.

The iss ue is this eriocaulon,,,everyone ehas their quirks and issues; and where does it end; for isntance, I happen to be an early bird; we hav ean ordinace in town, that states the snow should be removed from your sidewalk within 24 hours after the end of the storm; siome do it,, some dont.

But lets say for instance; I am out in the morning, and like to walk on "cleared sidewalks"....Now would it be ok, proper, neighborly etc,,, to approach these people and say,, "hey do mind clearing off your sidewalk a bit earlier so it can safe for me".. I would never ask such request, But I think society is becoming a bunch of whiners, complainers and very fickle at best.

There is no noise ordinace in town..But bottom line is this, this is no great inconvenience to someone,,if it happens to ccur,, for an hour a two,, out of the whole year; so it disturbs your beauty sleep, whats the big whoop.

Or even further, requesting from these people, hey instead of waiting 2 months hence, would raking your leaves more frequently so they dont blow all over my property? Once again, I would go therough the annoyance of it, but I think you get my drift.

9am at the earliest, and dont let it get to you. I think you can start at 9am and just forget about your neighbors otherwise it will drive you nuts and it isnt worth it. I agree it's a cheeky request but at the end of the day dont let their stupid request irritate you more than it should, i am sure they dotn even think about it anymore!! Hope that helps!!

9 AM. Hope it's not a gas blower. They should be outlawed everywhere!

Agree with 9AM at the earliest on a weekend. It's the day for people who have to get up at 6AM all week to sleep in if they want to. Not everyone is an early riser.

Sounds like you just wanted to rant a bit. Hope it helped to get it off your chest.

I think it's interesting that although I'm a night owl and like to sleep in, I'm one of the more sympathetic voices here.

Since you say you're trying to be neighborly, how much would it hurt to wait an hour? Are there other tasks that are quieter that you normally do later but could do during that hour?

Thanks once again to all. In conclusion,, yes I will acquiesce and /or adjust, and yes it is a gas blower..

However, I sincerely feel, peoples work schedules, sleep habits, desires are not the issue here. As i stated, is 8:00am too early.. No matter what someone does or doesnt do, someone, somewhere, will be offended about something.

My main point was this,,,Everyone has their quirks, issues, habits, personalities. Now if its was personal deisre,, to have you:

1. Shovel your sidewalk,, at 9:00 am...on a cold wintery day, with a foot of snow on the ground,, and you were not in the mood to go outside in that cold wintery, blustery day,, until maybe later on the evening when its more convenient for you ....,, would you accomodate me,, even though its not necessary on your end???

2. If my other neighbor,,, is elderly, then all of a sudden requests,,, " Hey,, I take my nap from 11:00am to 2:00PM,,, do I then accomodate her also????

3. Then, what if I requested of my neighbor,, "hey see those "dead",,,7 blue spruce trees lining your property,,, which look like hell lining the street,,,would you mind cutting those down tomorow",,,after they have been there 10 years or so???? I wonder how would feel,,, of course you are going to comply,, correct!

4. How about,, if the cop that works 3 rd shift,, gets home at 8:00am, goes right to bed,, and then requesets,,, "do you mind if you start your lawnmower after 2:00PM".... Yes, I am sure,, you will gladly comply.....

I can go on and on,,,, never mind if I start tossing my demnads into the picture if I so choose,, but would not dare or even consider asking...

As I said, previously which some did not care to hear,,, American becoming more and more whiners, takers, complainers,, etc.....

Hey,, by the way,, if I may ask of you,,,," do you know how you start your motorcycle up,, or start your car up,, and rev the engine at mid-morning,, almost every day,, would you mind if you dont do that till 3:00PM...It awakes our new born twins.."????

Thanks once again!

I think there is one think missing in this discussion. I usually do not start to mow before 10 or 11 in the morning, not out of consideration of the neighbors but the fact that the grass is usually to wet with dew to start mowing earlier.

As for blowing leaver the same is true. They have to dry a little from the dew or frost. There have been some years I have had to wait until noon before starting to blow leaves. When I went out earlier they were still frozen to the ground and they would not blow.

I probably would have asked why they need you to start later. Some people are just to self conceited to realized that not everybody lives their live like they do. What also gets me is that these type of people choose to live in neighborhoods there they are right on top of one another. I don't think this attitude will be getting better with the me generation coming up.

That being said I would just start later if possible. Following the golden rule with people you are in considerable contact is a good thing.

"As I said, previously which some did not care to hear,,, American becoming more and more whiners, takers, complainers,, etc...." Isn't that what you are doing.........

Thanks to all,

lespaul, bullseye, enough said.

And neilaz, personally, I dont see any complaining or whining anywhere from my post. I sought others opinions on whats early. After owning a home for 35 years, have never made any such request from my neighbors or would be too embarrassed to ask. Further, if you want peace and quiet, and cant interact with society, move to Peducah, Kentucky, acquire 20 acres, and there you go.....But then, you know what will happen, all of sudden the issues will be "but its so quiet"..

Lastly, neilaz, I thought for the most part, commerce is conducted and usually commences for the most part in this country around 8:00a.m.

Boy, I guess it hit some nerves. I guess, when America is on the downward spiral, falling from #1 is big hard drop.

Cheers, happy holidays.

Seems to me like there is a new Sheriff in town. I would suggest you check with them when you decide to do any work outside in your yard to make sure that it is alright with them. That way there will be no problems and everybody will be happy.

Also see if they will let you use a rake early in the morning. That should not bother them too much as long as you are extra quite around their bedroom window.
And since you are an early riser you might want to start getting their paper from the curb for them. Heck, they might even give you the key to kitchen back door. That way you can start the coffee up.
Those kind of things will earn you good neighbor bonus points. And everybody will be Happy Happy Happy!

Or (if he is not a cop!) you could â¦â¦â¦.
Crank that bad boy up about 7:02 AM. Good Morning America!!!

I normally make it a habit to not commence anything noisy until at least 9:00AM . Chainsaws , Mowers , Trimmers or Snowblowing included. I suppose if foul Weather was an issue Rain or Additional Snow then earlier or later in the evening may have to be accommodated in such emergency situations . But I try to keep in mind that silence is Golden lol .

It is no skin off my nose to be reasonably considerate toward my neighbors. You know, neighborly. Mine does work the night shift, and I keep that in mind when planning when to mow. It is hard enough to sleep in the daytime even when it is quiet, and hers is a vital job. I made the effort to ask her. Likewise, when they added a new side door light that shone very brightly into my bedrooms, they listened and changed the bulb to a lower but still adequate wattage.
Delaying mowing for an hour is not such a big request, to me. But I am one of those who must get up for work at 0500, not because I like it, and am perpetually short on sleep so appreciate a chance to sleep later on my day off.

If I knew my neighbor was a nurse etc.. with 24 hour shifts I would certainly try to work around that otherwise your neighbor just sounds whiney. On a weekend 8am is fine, if you were out there at 6 that's another story. Many weekends I like to wake up early on Saturday to get stuff done so I can enjoy my afternoon. Your neighbor is the rude one for asking you to delay your plans for the day by an hour.

"Some people are just to self conceited to realized that not everybody lives their live like they do."

The person who posted this was talking about the neighbors, but I think the reverse is true. The neighbor doesn't live his life as the OP does, but if the neighbor chooses to sleep in until 9AM one day a week, that has no effect on the OP. But if the OP chooses to blow leaves at 8AM, this will disturb the neighbor.

Yes, 8AM is much too early to be doing anything noisy on a weekend. Personally, I wouldn't start any loud projects until ten. My neighbors work during the week, and just in case they can manage to catch a few extra Zzzs on the weekend, I will be courteous and let them sleep.

Of course, I don't have to blow my front yard, because my neighbors do it for me. And I seed their yard when I do mine. Not by arrangement, that's just what we do. We are always happy to accommodate each other, and consequently have a very friendly, respectful neighborhood (kids included) with no problems. Good manners and consideration for others will pay off in the long run.

Good luck!

your neighbors have made a ridiculous request. Saturday mornings are for getting stuff done. noisy or not. If you give in to this they'll probably ask you to turn your stereo down after 11 PM or not to play with your dirt bike before 10 AM or wash you car because the water runs to their property, etc. You need to explain to these people that your run your life they way you want to and not the way that would make them happy. period. if they don't like it they can move.

Of course I could be wrong :)

There should be a fee for noise pollution, esp. in the morning! Read this: https://www.noisefree.org/leafblowers/leafscourge.html

Why are you asking us...it seems like your new neighbors informed you when. Just kidding, move out into the country away from people is about the best solution.

Blow all your leaves in their yard...after 9 am of course.

After approximately six years I would hope he has this sorted out!

I would oblige them. Blowing leaves can wait until 9am...

8AM is actually the best time to use the chainsaw. You know, before it gets too hot out.

While I posted earlier in this thread, at that time we were living much further north. We now live about 20 miles east of Raleigh. In the summer the temperatures and humidity become unbearable. Several summers ago I tried to start mowing/blowing/trimming later. What Happened? Because of the heat and humidity I spent the afternoon in the hospital with a heat stroke, and they nearly kept me all night. So while I started up later, the neighbors had to put up with sirens and all of the extra traffic in the neighborhood.

So my comment is if you can start later without endangering your health, start later. If the heat and humidity is such that you are endangering your health by starting later, explain to the neighbor why you must start when you do and continue to start at that time.

Maybe they will volunteer to do your yard for you in the summer. Sorry I forgot this in 2016 not 1966.

Krnurtle that's probably the best comment in this thread. At least something good came of it.

Besides being a troll, HU-, you've clearly never used a leaf blower. Perhaps a better name would be a blower. I use mine to sweep the porces and decks, clean the garage, car, and to blow grass clippings around on the yard. Of course mine is electric and makes hardly any noise at all. Sure, I could use a broom.

I used to rake but it gave me blisters.

My back can not take several hours of raking so if there is someone who does not like my leaf blower, I would gladly let them come over with their rake and rake the leaves from my 3/4 acre wooded lot.

Since I am on am retired and have limited resources, my alternative to that above is not rake the leaves and let them naturally blow into the neighbors yards.

krnuttle, are you saying you blow your leaves into the neighbor's yards? You could bring them to me and I'll mulch mow them into my yard.

I neither rake nor blow my leaves (I only sweep them off the walk and porch). I just mow over them & they disappear into the grass. Very nourishing for the lawn.

Wow I cant believe this thread is still going...Bottom line,,,, The Gal's husband came over and apologized for his so-called "demanding" wife.....All in all turned out well, I am still out there at 8am,,, and have not had any issues... Funny part, a year or so after,, the neighbors had a large addition put on,,, complete new roof,,,,,and siding,,,,contractors were on site at 7:45-8:00 sharp,,,,6 days a week....And yes,,, it was noisy for awhile, and of course let it go... But I did joke with the husband, and we had a good laugh and his better half has been a peach...But, boy,,,, when the shoe is on the other foot.........

Krnuttle, I am with you and your comments are right on...We have 1.65 acres, with maybe over 75 various types of trees.......so any complainers are more than welcome to come on over,,,,and get going this fall... I do suggest, bring along 2,3 other helpers.....and some really huge rakes and some heavy, heavy duty gloves, dont let the gnats bother ya, mosquitoes nibble too much and all the other noise in the neighborhood disturb your concentration as you focus on clearing my property in a very timely, neat professional manner...See ya soon...

Cheers!

dchall_san_antonio Yes I do use my blower to blow the leaves into my flower beds, but I could let the wind blow them into my neighbors yard if they do not like the noise of my leaf blower. As U said there is no way I could rake he whole thing.

I hope you got everything worked out with your neighbor. I have a new neighbor FROM HELL. It’s my moms land, someone bought the lot next door and built their house right on the back of the property next to ours. We never once complained during construction or their late night parties or their dry hacking cough at ALL HOURS OF THE DAY (he’s a smoker that smells too) still never complained because-LIFE right?! Cost of living in this unpredictable world. So anyways, I’m doing work breaking down a deck and landscaping. Always minding sound etiquett. but last night I had to use the electric leaf blower for 5minutes at 8:30 to clear a spot so I could do some painting by light. I have a young child so my time is limited on when I can work on some projects and if I can do them at night, I try. Anyways this guy was loudly complaining to his friend for 30min after that. With curse words and ugly phrases. Like dude it was 5minutes and our city’s sound ordinances don’t start til 10pm. The fact that he doesn’t talk anything out with us and goes straight to the city is an even bigger problem but just sitting there and saying it loud enough so I can hear but not speak to me is worse In my book. It was so dishearten I didn’t even paint. Anyways now it’s Sunday at 8:30 am and I can smell is cigs and hear him just bitterly talking about his lame life...I just wanna CRANK IT UP!!!!!!!!!!

I have new neighbors, it's 7:30 AM he has his leaf blower going.. are you kidding me!! I'm up! But my folks are not! I said something to him... He gave me a nasty response, but he stopped.... Ut oh what am I in for now??

Gas leaf blowers are toxic to humans & the environment. They not only damage hearing and produce ozone and VOCs, but spew benzene and other terrible chemicals all over your yard. They also produce fine particulate matter that everyone breathes and which is linked to cancer, heart disease, and pulmonary issues. That's why GLBs have been banned or severely restricted in more than 200 towns around the country. Nobody should be using them--no matter what hour of the day.

@vsjacobs: Other than moving more air, what's the difference between a leaf blower and a lawn mower with respect to your comment?

The quick answer is that gas-powered mowers are terrible too--they have the same type of engines--that's why lots of landscapers are turning to "greener" (read electric/battery) mowers; that said, the 175-200 mph air jets from leaf blowers present an independent problem: they stir up/aerate ground matter (e.g., heavy metals, pesticides, animals feces), which we then breathe; the air jets also destroy insect and animal habitats--which is why most environmental groups oppose their use; bees and pollinators are dying--in part because of these machines...

That sounds a little dodgy to me, but maybe. You do know there is no free lunch, right? Electric tools come with their own environmental drawbacks. Pick, for example, the fact that 40% of the electricity generated to power your electric lawn mower came from coal. Do you think a coal powered lawn mower is better than a gas powered one?

I routinely use a leaf blower and a lawn mower on my 3/4 acre lot. The back pain and similar problems are all part of taking care of leaves and mowing the yard with out gas power equipment. I will stop using my leaf blower and lawn mower the minute some one comes over and volunteers to freely rake my leaves and freely mow my yard.

First, you are ignoring the fact that power plants have regulations and scrubbers, etc.--AND that the pollution is emitted up high (from a smokestack) not at ground level where people breathe it right in. Second, batteries for blowers and other "electric" equipment can now be recycled and even broken down and used for other purposes. Third, you are ignoring the other polluting aspects of using gas-powered equipment (the vapors that escape as you fill the tank, the spillage that occurs when you try to mix the oil and gas, etc.). And BTW: the aggregate of those leaks/spillage is enormous and impact on our aquifers and waterways is terrible. And finally, you are ignoring the fact that--at least when it comes to blowers--a lot of the time they are used simply for cosmetic purposes (not real cleanups). Blowing grass clippings is a prime example--and the practice has to stop if we want to get serious about protecting the environment --AND our health.

Even I think this argument is a bit spurious. Let's break it down point by point.

Lead and other nasties in the environment from coal plants is ridiculous. There's no argument there and I'm not even going to bother finding the links. I'm also in an 80% coal-fired area, yet listen to people complaining about the tiny amounts of cadmium compounds from what comes off my painting palette. If one runs on solar, there might be a slight advantage to going electric. Wind, definitive. I'm not a vast fan of solar due to the amounts of rare earths gobbled to produce it.

Battery recycling is, unfortunately, at not such great percentages. Half of lithium batteries get recycled. That's a lot of discarded--and very rare--lithium. It's produced by spallation in the atmosphere, mostly (cosmic rays and oxygen/nitrogen, with a bit from the Big Bang nucleosynthesis; stellar nuclear reactions actually destroy lithium). We're not exactly swimming in the stuff.

So toss that argument right in the garbage along with those batteries. You recycle yours? Great! Half those got thrown away for lack of any interest in retrieving the materials.

(Most seem to think that lithium-ion batteries are used; they're not, they're too unstable for exterior use. Those use very little lithium. Most exterior batteries are lithium-iron, which require far more. Some might be lithium-manganese, ditto. The same is true for most newer chemistries, of which there are a few, most not in the common market yet).

99.3% of lead batteries are recycled. That...sounds good, but they retrieve the lead plates and lead sulfate material in the gunk, and throw out the rest. And nobody uses lead in electrics any longer, they're too heavy and the electrical potential is too low. They're great in car batteries, though.

Ground vs. Air distribution...immaterial datapoint, actually, that would only impact the direct user and a few other people at most. Once atmospheric mixing occurs--give that two puffs of wind and a single pass over a warm lawn--it's done for. Point in fact, you've just argued against power plants. Their pollution (heavy in carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, water vapor, a very strong greenhouse gas, and so on) is distributed in the atmosphere high enough that grasses, trees, and other landscape has no chance to bind it before it can mix and head for the stratosphere.

Spillage...visit a coal plant sometime. The entire place is sterile and covered in coal bits tracked around, dropped off trucks. We won't discuss coal mines or, for that matter, Centralia, Pennsylvania. And some of us are quite careful with our gas, thank you. I've accidentally spilled more due to my gas station having an extremely wonky gas dispenser.

Cosmetic... Well, yes. Personally, I don't. In either case, one is using electricity or gas, both resources, to make the place look nicer. Maybe don't do that if it offends you, but leave others to do as they please while pointing it out in...well, frankly, a slightly less touchy manner.

Blowing grass clippings...um, who does this any longer? Everybody I know and see here has mulching mowers. On rare occasions, I might see somebody blow them off the driveway if they're incredibly heavy and a potential problem.

It's interesting to note that they're a water pollutant if left on the driveway, washed into the sewer drain, and go into there, hence the rivers (around here, our sewers dump directly into the river, then into the Atlantic). Phosphorus and nitrogen lead to algal blossoms. Not at all a healthy thing for the oceans as they cause anoxic zones. We're advised to remove them when possible.

So if we want to be Earth friendly, they need to be removed.

One of the thing environmentalist forget about batteries is we are currently using the best chemical couple LI and H. A battery depends on the voltage potential between the to atoms in the couple. With Li and H there is about that is about 3 volts. Lead and sulfate is similar. Most couples use vary around 3 volts. So as I said the Li Hydride couple is the best battery considering storage capacity and weight.

My brother says I don't know what will be developed in the future. That is true, however I know the chemistries of the materials God has given us to work with to make batteries.

Just for reference I believe the first battery found was one about 3000 years old. Guess what the potential across the electrodes was about 3 volts.

Voltage potential isn't a problem if you simply chain cells (which we do). We're more often worried about amps output without negative consequences like things getting explody.

I've built solar chargers for pretty much everything from old bits. Solar panels are 0.5 V each. Just chain them out to the appropriate voltage (as long as the amperage isn't too mismatched) and use the appropriate diode at the end to limit back-flow of current.

Lifespan under full draw is also a consideration.

Lead-sulfate batteries (2.1 volt) stink in the second category and aren't great in most applications, but shine when starting cars. The draw is quite good, but you can't pull off all the power repeatedly without killing the battery pretty fast. Marine batteries are better, up to 300 charges, but even so, they don't function well when used full stroke.

Lithium-manganese (3.7 volt) varies from 300 charges at full stroke to 10,000 charges at half stroke. Li-ion is similar. A simple limiter that says the battery is "empty" at 80% stroke can more than double battery life.

But nobody uses li-ion in equipment due to that explosion issue. Li-iron (3.0 v) is a much safer choice and can handle 2,000 charges even at full stroke. However, it can't output the same amperage as easily and you need a larger battery to do the same job--the internal resistance is much higher.

@vsjacobs: You are missing the point, which is that there are trade offs. Gas powered has pluses and minuses re the environment but so does the alternative electric. If you are specifically and only trying to eliminate some problem about inhaling gas exhaust then, yes, and electric motor would solve that.

morpheuspa: I understand that you can chain cell, change the matrix, and similar things, but the point of my post was that the Lithium Hydride couple was the highest energy per weight couple that you can use. Lithium and hydrogen are the lightest molecules in the periodic table, The only way you could get the couple to weigh less was in some way get the inert gas Helium to react with Li Anything you change increase the weight and size of the battery. It does not matter if you have one cell or a dozen chained together, any other couple will increase the weight.

Ideally a small nuclear reactor like has been used in satelites would be the way to alleviate the problems that are associated with solar, wind, water, and chemical power sources.

I guess my point is more, it doesn't matter. Voltage separation is only one measurement; energy density and safety are others. We actually don't use lithium and hydrogen in a lot of applications, simply due to safety. Because li-ion is not a very safe configuration.

A low voltage but exceptionally high energy density is potentially (hah!) much better than a high voltage but very low energy density.

Energy storage doesn't require a chemical solution (see a capacitor). The efficiency is far lower at the moment, but they've been working on that and it's getting better, while battery efficiency has been fairly flat for decades. And voltages on those are improving as well.

For that matter, take a glance at graphene batteries (not graphite, graphene). It's interesting stuff with its own advantages and disadvantages. The concept of "battery" is really not a simple one.

Don't know about youze guys but I'm holding out for a cold fusion leaf blower. :o)

I want full-blown H-He hot fusion beryllium chamber fusion before I leave the house, thanks. :-)

Even there, it'd be more efficient to do it centrally and pipe it out over a grid. And cold fusion doesn't look practical as anything but a scientific curiosity.

"And cold fusion doesn't look practical as anything but a scientific curiosity."

That's why I chose cold fusion. My next choice would be dilithium crystals. :o)

Oh, no, those totally work.

:-) I'm currently on a thread with people who think putting a wick in your pots drains and aerates them, so... OK, wicking isn't exactly Physics 101 (capillary action and electrostatic attraction are more complicated bits and bobs) but I'm starting to run out of energy to fight the anti-science and run out of hope that it will ever end.

In other news, plan on getting your Logan Labs report read on the other site next year. After yesterday, forget me doing it here any longer.