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Gas 4 strokes. No batteries for me.

I've got a couple of the Ryobi battery powered blowers. An older one to blow grass off the porch around the house, and a newer one for the shop. They also work well to blow out mowers, balers, etc. after they've been used. The newer Ryobi has a little more power and also the option to plug in a cord and make it electric if you choose to do so. Won't hold a candle to a Stihl gas powered back pack blower, but does great at odd jobs and little stuff.

Can't comment on the weed eater stuff. I've got gas powered ones because I don't own enough extension cords to use it everywhere and have too much for a battery unit. But I'm interested in the reviews for the battery ones as it might be a good option to have around for a quick job here or there.

eureka40 wrote:I've had a Ryobi trimmer for a couple of years. It's affordable and reliable. And the ONE batteries work in all their tools. I have several Ryobi tools and just 3 batteries and 1 charger. Just got their flood light yesterday, it lights up the whole back yard. If your just using them around the house, I think Ryobi is a great value.

I have a Ryobi battery hedge trimmer and it works fine for me. I bought an extra battery. I also have a Ryobi dual battery or cord blower. It would be for very very light blowing, lets say you needed the small patio blown of dry leaves, before guests come and your in a hurry, its perfect. Anything else get a 2 stroke gas powered blower.

A suggestion, there are outlet malls that have a tool store. They sell reconditioned tools. You can save a lot over Home Depot or Lowes.

A buddy of mine has a Kobalt Li-on hedge trimmer that he uses daily in his lawn service business. He swears it is great.

philip964 wrote:
A suggestion, there are outlet malls that have a tool store. They sell reconditioned tools. You can save a lot over Home Depot or Lowes.

Direct Tools outlet stores sell Ryobi, Rigid and some Milwaukee tools. I have found some awesome deals on new and/or refurbished tools in their stores. There is a store at the Tanger Outlets in Texas City and one at the San Marcos outlets as well.

Keith B wrote:

philip964 wrote:
A suggestion, there are outlet malls that have a tool store. They sell reconditioned tools. You can save a lot over Home Depot or Lowes.

Direct Tools outlet stores sell Ryobi, Rigid and some Milwaukee tools. I have found some awesome deals on new and/or refurbished tools in their stores. There is a store at the Tanger Outlets in Texas City and one at the San Marcos outlets as well.

I have been to Tanger Outlets in Texas City. They have a very nice store.

Thanks all for the great tips on where and what to buy.

I very much appreciate it!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I2F ... ge_o09_s00

I got one of these recently. So far so good. I especially like that these new 40V batteries have built-in LED charge indicators. Speed and hence battery life is adjustable.

VM177,

That's the one I'm currently looking at, but in combination with the sweeper/blower. Cheaper to buy both at the same time.

You can use the same battery for both too.

I figure if the battery is only good for one days edging, I can blow the grass off the driveway next day after the battery is once again charged up.

I think the technology for battery operated items like these is far superior to what came before...

I wasn't tracking it so I"m not sure but I think the battery recharges in 1 - 2 hours.

My wife wanted one as I "butcher" certain sections of the yard.
Bought the black and decker 40v - as indicated above. I think it was in a package with the blower for about $20 more.
Before buying - I checked on the price and availability of batteries. I noted that the 36v version was no longer being made and batteries were hard to find.

cb1000rider,

From what I've read, you can use the 40v battery in the 36v trimmer.

Abraham wrote: From what I've read, you can use the 40v battery in the 36v trimmer.

Thanks. I didn't catch that at the time.

How about a broom and a rake?

Update: I bought the Black & Decker LST136W 40V Max Lithium String Trimmer with the blower as part of a package deal at Lowe's for about $160.00. I got 10% off showing a copy of my DD214.

The trimmer comes with 6 speeds and I find it trims and edges just fine on speed 2. Using this speed promotes longer battery life and the performance at this speed is great and less noisy to boot.

The 6 speed blower does a great job too. No, it's not as strong as gas or electric, but it's plenty strong enough and it's lightweight.

While they both make noise, it's far less than gas or electric.

Not having to have a gas mix or a long electric cord to mess with is a dream.

The hassle they save and their performance is great.

A broom and a rake is for masochists.

I get my exercise with free weights and cycling, plus tree pruning and digging out stumps cuz they haven't invented any better technology for those chores, but I do on occasion have professional tree surgeons over...