My dinky little Ryobi backpack blower died and the spare parts required for repairs are more than the thing is worth. Can anyone recommend a nice blower for less than $450 or so?

I'm thinking Coasty will have some good input.

A bg66 l is a very powerful hand held at $229, it is a stihl, and most of my saws, trimmers and blowers are stihl.the number one factor for me is a good, full service dealer, not Lowes or home depot.

I just hire some Mexicans.

I pay $25 each time twice a month and they mow, edge, trim, bag up all the clippings, pick up fallen branches and twigs, pull some weeds and sweep.

They even put down fire ant killing powder if they see any ant hills.

Then for a little extra they put down fertilizer toward the end of the winter or if you need some of the trees trimmed, they do that too.

You don't have to work outside in the heat or the cold or climb on a tree and risk getting hurt.

They do a better job than I would if I had to do it myself and they do it quicker.

When I used to do it myself, I would be out all day for 6 hours.

They get it done in 1 hr or less.

Thanks, coasty, I'll look up Stihl dealers in my area.

ColJamesD, I've not had much luck with any of the leaf removal "help" in my area. They trample my gardens, blow leaves into my pond, and generally do crappy jobs. I don't mind paying for good help, but that's just hard to find among these contractors. The last time we had a "cleanup crew" over, they uprooted several plants that I'd put in... It's just exasperating.

Leaves make good fertilizer.

I bet you can hire a couple of high school kids to do the work using just a rake, a broom and a trash bin.

Love mine, works so easy, starting is painless and with the leaves dropping so fast do to dry conditions
I use mine every day to keep the leaves out of my entry areas that track in all the time.

i use my leaf blower to dry my car

I have three big Wright mowers, a36 inch, a 48 inch, and a 52 inch and they suck up the leaves and grind them so well that my leaf blowers are mostly used just to get leaves out of flower beds and such so the mowers can get at them

I have a 72 inch mower deck on my Kubota F3680 that I mow close to 5 acres and trim
close to 3 miles of sidewalks and edgings around my buildings. Stihl is my #1 brand
for trimming and blowing. Have no need to mulch with such a large place, just blow
it away and the wind will take care of it.

This is what I use

Eh, just burn off the entire yard every year. Good for the soil. It'll grow back.

I'm looking to get a good handheld blower again my old Echo finally bit it and the electric one I've been using just doesn't cut it with the wind around here, not sure I'll go with Stihl but like Coasty mentions it'll be a brand my local mower shop covers, they couldn't work on the Echo since another guy had dealer rights. I wouldn't go to the other guy cause I've known the mower shop guys for years and the other half of there business is a bike shop I frequent.

Going to need a new mower soon too, old betsy is 15 yrs old......

In my experience though Echo and Stihl are both great brands.

I think RK has been channeling 20mm.


Wheels

Yeah, it had to be said. LOL

I'd go with a backpack style Redmax, you may pay more than $450 but they are some NICE leafblowers and they last forever. Plus they're selective enough about who deals them that you'll still get good service.

I'll second that nomination for a Stihl backpack leaf blower.
I've had one for about 6 years and it works hard, and it's still like new.
Just clean/change the plug once in a while, and use their oil, keeps on tickin'.

Mine is a 420, and I paid $400 for it, and then got the vacuum attachment for another hundred.
It ended up costing me $520 with tax, for the whole thing.

I use the vacuum attachment for leaves.....my yard is almost 2 acres and I have almost a hundred trees on it.....so I just use the vacuum for finish work.
I use a Cyclone Rake for big work in the yard.
The blower is just for finish work.

But I like Stihl.
My Stihl chainsaw has never let me down either.

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Edit;
Just looked it up, my paper work says I bought it in '2003'. Time fly's.
Had it for ten years, a "BR-420". I got the price right, although I'm sure they're more now.

Still, it hums like a sewing machine, never had a problem.
If it's just for a regular lawn, you wouldn't need anything else.
The vacuum even mulches the leaves before they get in the bag.
Plenty of blowing power too.
Worth the money.

Sure would like that Kubota that Jim has...just can't afford it.

Thanks, guys.

I guess I've got to find a couple of dealers.