Need a cheap and quiet leafblower

ripplyuk

There's 6 cherry trees beside my house and they shed an awful lot of leaves over my gravel. I've tried a rake but ended up moving the gravel and digging up muck. So I've been lifting them by hand, but I'm really getting tired of that.

I'm thinking of buying a leafblower. It needs to be a cordless one. Could anyone tell me if they are still very loud? Also, they seem very expensive. Are there any that are decent quality but reasonably priced?

glasgowdan

Quiet+leaf blower does not compute. Why the need for silence? Are you blowing at midnight?

ripplyuk

I don't need silence, but I'd rather it didn't annoy the neighbours. I've seen some on YouTube and they were very noisy, with the guys wearing ear defenders. I was hoping to find something quieter but still powerful enough to do the job.

andrewf75

If it needs to be cordless, it will be petrol and that means it will be loud and expensive! And probably overkill for blowing leaves off your drive. My suggestion is get a non-cordless one. I’ve just bought one for £30 in Robert Dyas and its plenty powerful enough. Get an extension lead if need be.

spadoosh

rating for a road ~ 70 - 80db

rating for an electric lawnmower ~ 80db

Petrol lawnmower ~ 96db (like the ones the council use for public spaces)

rating for an electric leaf blower ~87db

petrol leaf blower 90 - 105db


People wear ear defenders because they are 1 ft away from the machine and anything above 80db can be damaging to hearing (the longer used the worse it can be). Thats why you get council workers who manintain grounds wearing ear defenders (using equipment all day) and absolutely no one wear ear defenders when doing there own garden.

Youtube videos of people leaf blowing, there really is something for everyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ9H_Zrk3jQ

spadoosh

andrewf75 wrote: »

If it needs to be cordless, it will be petrol and that means it will be loud and expensive! And probably overkill for blowing leaves off your drive. My suggestion is get a non-cordless one. I’ve just bought one for £30 in Robert Dyas and its plenty powerful enough. Get an extension lead if need be.

You can get li-ion leaf blowers. Around 86db.

Justagardener

I have tried the cordless stihl leaf blower Rated at around 90dB it was as powerful as a handheld petrol leaf blower but not as noisy and very light the battery lasts about 15 mins so you won't be annoying the neighbours for too long. There is also a bosch with similar rated power and noise levels but I haven't tried that one. There is up to date info here on leaf blowers http://theperfectgarden.co.uk/2016/09/03/leaf-blowers/
It might be worth thinking that 10mins with a slightly noisy, powerful blower is better than 2hrs chasing a leaf with a hairdryer!

firefox1956

I have just bought one of these
http://www.stihl.co.uk/STIHL-Products/Blowers-and-Vacuum-Shredders/Petrol-hand-held-blowers/21374-410/BG-56-C-E.aspx#
Obviously it makes a noise but the noise is somewhat muted if you know what I mean !!
Its not a sharp rasping exhaust note.........
HTH

glasgowdan

Can't see any neighbours moaning about ten mins outdoor noise once a week during autumn!