Cordless leaf blower/sweeper for my wife to use, around $100
mtrot
last year
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mtrot
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Leaf Grinder Suggestions??
Comments (11)Each method of grinding has it's benefits and it's drawbacks. Even the act of grinding could be seen as "bad" when you think about the energy it uses-the gasoline with a lawn mower or chipper type grinder or gas powered type of weed eater. The electricity used in a flowtron (what I have been known to use from time to time)or that style weed eater or chipper grinder. Plus the air pollution involved in using gas or burning coal at the power plants that make the electricity. And there is your own energy and time used to grind up said leaves/grass clippings/straw/hay/paper stuffs/food wastes or whatever else some people feel the need to grind. A lawn mower (which I have also used from time to time))is good for grinding huge amounts of leaves, but you'll need a lot leaves to make up for the scattering and tremendous mass reduction and the need to rake or vacuum the stuff back up. A chipper grinder will give the same effect but is somewhat more expensive to purchase and with a lawnmower you can cut your grass as well as grind leaves. A flowtron allows you to contain the grindings just like a weed eater in a trash can but it can be dusty and its best if you only grind leaves cuz small sticks wear out the nylon string faster, but doing it that way at least means no need to sift/screen your compost when it is finished, if screened compost is your thing. Some mechanical grinding methods are at least a little loud but most are deafening. If you want you could just wait for your compost to cold compost and you won't need to grind or turn or fluff, it just takes time or you could make hot compost and allow the heat to brake apart the leaf particles or as a real professor told me :"The heat acts on the organic matter the same way heat in a crock pot makes the food in it softer and more apt to fall apart". but you do have to fluff or turn it or find some way to put oxygen into the mass (if it is a home owner type pile less than 4x4x4). If you have a pile that's about 10x10x10 then you won't have to turn it to get it hot and keep it hot. but you'll probably need a bobcat to handle/harvest it. is that too much info? I usually skip the really wordy stuff that some people post here. IALBTC...See MoreCheap tools cost you in the end...my story.....
Comments (21)I know this is an old thread, but I just wanted to chime in here. I don't think there is anything wrong with buying inexpensive power equipment as long as you aren't asking the equipment to perform above and beyond what it was designed for. For example, I own a weedeater leaf blower ($99) a Poulan "Wood Shark" chainsaw ($99), and a homelite string trimmer ($79). All of this equipment is over 10 years old and with the exception of the leaf blower, needed no repairs. I did have to rebuild the engine on the leaf blower a few years ago. IIRC it cost less than $35 for the piston, rings and jug. I guess they aren't "disposable" if the manufacturer stocks engine components after several years! My point is that I don't use these tools commercially, and I take care of them. The chainsaw starts every time I need it because I always empty the fuel tank and run it dry after every use. My other equipment gets drained and run dry at the end of the season. They always start right up in the spring. I routinely pick up relatively new blowers, trimmers and mowers out of the trash and most of them only need fresh gas, air filters and possible a carb cleaning to get them running. Some of them are Echo's, Tanaka's and Stihl's. It was the neglect of the homeowner that caused the tool to fail to operate. I wonder if any of their original owners end up buying them back when I have a garage sale. Too many folks just run them until they stop. Oil changes? What are those? Heck, they don't even check the oil! I just picked up a Poulan Pro snow blower with a blown 8 HP engine. Owner let it run low on oil and with all the snow we got this past winter, the engine let loose when trying to move 12+ inches of heavy, wet snow. I am going to re-power it with a Harbor Freight engine and sell it. It looks brand new - what a shame. Once again, even if it were an Ariens that was twice the price, the same result would have happened from the neglect. My "cheap" Craftsman snow blower is 16 years old, runs great, starts every time. It's all in the care and feeding....See MoreNew backpack leaf blower suggestions.
Comments (44)Heres a good review of Tanakas back pack blower: 23 of 30 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Earning Respect, January 1, 2010 By Alan E. Schmidt "Monkey head" (Las Vegas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME) This review is from: Tanaka Commercial Grade Gas Powered Large Backpack Blower Side-Mounted Throttle 65cc 4.3 HP 2-Stroke (CARB Compliant) TBL-7800 (Lawn & Patio) In one word "DOMINATING". The Tanaka 65cc TBL-7800 has made me king of the cul-de-sac. They now call me the blow king. Autumn. 2009. My Tanaka 65cc TBL-7800 arrived late in the afternoon. 4:16 p.m. A quick scan of the yards in the cul-de-sac revealed that the trees had left an abundance of prey all over. My adversaries, or as you would call them, my neighbors, were also surveying the battlefield. I locked eyes with my neighbor, Francis, I lowered my brow and gave him a "whats up" head nod. He returned my head nod with a demonic smile. Stupid french. It was on now. Oh Yeah. See you on the battlefield Saturday morning. What do the French know about blowing anyway. Saturday morning. 6:55 a.m. Garages opened. The gladiators took the field. We sized each other up. Jaws dropped when I turned to the side and they saw the Tanaka 65cc TBL-7800 strapped to my back. Thats right boys. Drink it in. I just brought a semi truck to a demolition derby full of Hyundais. We all spotted the new guy at the same time and smiled. He wore sunglasses instead of ski goggles. HA HA, hope he likes watery eyes.... amateur. 7:00 a.m. Let the battle begin. City ordinance says no blowers before 7. It was like the gates opening at the Kentucky derby. The action started quickly. New Guy - The TBL-7800 blew the sunglasses clean off his head. As he ran away I blew one of his flip flops off also. Like I said, amateur... Don't come into the wolf den wearing deer antlers, idiot. I took the sunglasses as a trophy. The flip flop ended up on the roof. He can kiss that one goodbye. Francis - The leaves were flying, hot air burned my skin. I sacked up and plowed forward. I knew he was limited by his extension cord. The end came quickly. He surrendered in less than 2 minutes. Imagine that, the French surrendering quickly. Who would have thought. I stood in the middle of my leaf free yard like a King. My scepter was the Tanaka 65cc TBL-7800. They lined up to kiss my ring and acknowledge the blow king. All except the new guy. We may have put him in therapy for awhile. The Tanaka TBL-7800 slayed them all that day. Hands down, the clear winner. I did get a little hot on the back. Wear a good shirt. I wore cut off jeans, tank top, knee high moccasins, and ski goggles. Wanted to look respectful when sporting the TBL-7800. No doubt I did it justice....See MoreLeaf vac shredder?
Comments (28)I just found this thread. Glad you got it running. An earlier poster suggested going to half choke, pull a couple times, then go to full choke. That is backwards according to the manuals for every small engine I've ever read. It's full choke till it tries to start, then half. Be listening for that "tries to start" - it will be a brief firing of the engine and you HAVE to stop there and go to half choke so you don't flood it. Another poster mentioned being careful with the choke so as not to flood it. I would agree 100% with that. If you pull it on full choke several times (my limit is about 5) and it does not try to start, STOP and go to half choke for a couple pulls - it may be already flooded with fuel and needs more air. These things can flood easily and no amount of pulling will clear it, only fresh air. If I suspect I've flooded one I go to full open on the choke (ie RUN mode) and pull a couple times. If it doesn't start I go get some ice tea and leave it for a few minutes. Once the engine is warm you may need no choke to restart it, or only half choke. Don't go to full choke on a warm engine unless it won't start without it, or you can flood it. And don't suck up bad crap. :-D...See More
3onthetree
last yearexmar zone 7, SE Ohio
last yearmtrot
last year
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