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The ban is on gas-powered leaf blowers. I’ve switched to all electric yard tools at home. No regrets; the tools are durable, can easily handle the whole job o

The ban is on gas-powered leaf blowers. I’ve switched to all electric yard tools at home. No regrets; the tools are durable, can easily handle the whole job on a single charge, quiet enough that I feel comfortable letting my children assist (they can hear my instructions and generally what’s going on around them), and no gas engines to maintain.

nate_meurer 8y ago
Agreed. My Ego battery-powered leaf blower is one of my favorite tools. I use it to clean all around the outside of my house, especially the porches. In just a few minutes it will scour the dirt and cobwebs from every nook and crack, and it blows the dirt right out the thin outdoor carpet that covers my porch. It will clean my outdoor shelves of dust and grime, as long as I stand back far enough so that it doesn't take out my things on the shelves. I wear a dust mask. I also have Ego's lawn mower and weed whacker. The mower is fucking amazing. It's so quiet that you often can't hear it inside the house, and easily powerful enough as long as I don't try to mow wet grass. I can do my entire ~3000 sq meter yard on two batteries, which take just a moment to switch out. Same with the weed whacker. I have a second home in the mountains where I maintain the grounds solely with the weed whacker. I can throw it in my car with an extra battery or two, drive up there, and trim up the entire place in a couple hours. I feel like I'm living in the future.
- sjwright 8y ago
  Best part about electric blowers is you can use them inside safely. I love using my ego leaf blower for spring cleaning the wardrobes, and it’s a brilliant way to shift all the mess and crud from under your car seats. Love my Ego tools. Bought the mower because I wanted to be able to stow it vertically for space.
  - nate_meurer 8y ago
    Yes! This is my favorite way to dust. On a windy day I'll open some windows to allow a cross-breeze, and then blast my shit with the blower. I have to mind my distance, and be careful to secure lighter objects. It makes quick work of floors, under furniture if there's at least a little space, and my shelves full of bins. You and I are now friends.
cjensen 8y ago
Sure. But the issue is professional gardeners -- including those who just have a pickup truck and and a few dozen clients. It's not just "handle a job on a full charge" since they need to work all day. The Stihl backpack batteries help a lot, but it's still going to be a lot of investment for a guy who just takes care of lawns for a living.
- sfopdxnonstop 8y ago
  Yeah it totally sucks when you were accustomed to externalizing your business costs onto others but now you have to pass those costs on to your customers. I mean sucks for the customers, not for you (you earn the same) or for the people no longer paying those costs (with their hearing loss). Me? I don't employ anyone to blow my leaves so I'm a winner in this transaction.
  - andrei_says_ 8y ago
    Well this is pretty much the model of most industries, and especially with energy, the oil gas and coal industries. As for one person’s choice, I wish all my neighbors would make the same choice.
- nraynaud 8y ago
  don't big truck have a power outlet from the engine? I think welders are plugged into the engine. I'd share some concern about transition, in particular because I live in Arizona, but I guess things will be better in the long run.
  - jhoechtl 8y ago
    And now guess how the trucks are powered? Now you use a cobustion engine to power an alternator to charge a battery. What is the net gain, if any?
    - freeone3000 8y ago
      It's a more efficient engine, with better particulate filters, a catalytic converter to reduce NOx emissions, and yearly emissions inspections to ensure all of the above is up to standards. It's a gain.
dang 8y ago
OK, we added gas power to the title above.
rootusrootus 8y ago
The real issue IMO is that the battery powered yard tools are infected by the same planned obsolescence as existing power tools. Most gas-powered yard tools last damn near forever even if you don't do maintenance on them. The battery powered ones are good for three years and then you're buying a new one. If you're lucky they still make the battery, but it costs as much a whole new tool. Wish we could standardize modern rechargeable batteries the same way we did with old lead acid models.
- perilunar 8y ago
  Many rechargeable battery packs are just assemblies of 18650 or similar cylindrical cells — if they just made the packs openable then it would be easy to replace and recycle the cells.
  - 05 8y ago
    The cells are welded together with contact strips, you need a spot welder to rebuild a pack. Making cells removable isn’t economic, because vibration resistant electrical connections are not cheap.
    - cerebellum42 8y ago
      While I agree that it's reasonable to make 18650 based packs not officially user serviceable (because of the spot welding thing and because that would open up liability to repairs gone wrong), at least they should be made so the cells can be replaced by someone who has a spotwelder and some electrical knowledge. Basically give the pack housing a nondestructive way to be opened and resealed. That way even if the manufacturer decides to switch battery pack standards in a few years, someone with the necessary knowledge can still get some 18650 cells and be fine.
    - perilunar 8y ago
      > Making cells removable isn’t economic I disagree. Until relatively recently all battery powered devices had removable batteries, which is why we have standard battery sizes in the first place. Welded and sealed proprietary battery packs are a backward step.
bane 8y ago
I recently purchased an electric mower after my old gas powered one died -- repairing it was going to cost as much as just buying a new one. It's so good. It has turned a dreadful experience into a long slightly noisy walk in my yard. I used to have a number of minor breathing problems when mowing my lawn, mostly due to the exhaust. No longer having to deal with smelly, burning chemicals is absolutely awesome. I ended replacing almost all of my other yard tools with an electric equivalent as soon as I could. This is a major change since I last tried electric (and especially battery powered) yard tools, which were flimsy, low powered and died quickly. The modern ones are quite good for most things and since I'm more inclined to use them, I end up dealing with easier to mow/chop/trim yard stuff than before. Upon reflection, using the gas powered equipment today feels like barbarism.

nate_meurer 8y ago

Agreed. My Ego battery-powered leaf blower is one of my favorite tools. I use it to clean all around the outside of my house, especially the porches. In just a few minutes it will scour the dirt and cobwebs from every nook and crack, and it blows the dirt right out the thin outdoor carpet that covers my porch. It will clean my outdoor shelves of dust and grime, as long as I stand back far enough so that it doesn't take out my things on the shelves. I wear a dust mask. I also have Ego's lawn mower and weed whacker. The mower is fucking amazing. It's so quiet that you often can't hear it inside the house, and easily powerful enough as long as I don't try to mow wet grass. I can do my entire ~3000 sq meter yard on two batteries, which take just a moment to switch out. Same with the weed whacker. I have a second home in the mountains where I maintain the grounds solely with the weed whacker. I can throw it in my car with an extra battery or two, drive up there, and trim up the entire place in a couple hours. I feel like I'm living in the future.

sjwright 8y ago
Best part about electric blowers is you can use them inside safely. I love using my ego leaf blower for spring cleaning the wardrobes, and it’s a brilliant way to shift all the mess and crud from under your car seats. Love my Ego tools. Bought the mower because I wanted to be able to stow it vertically for space.
- nate_meurer 8y ago
  Yes! This is my favorite way to dust. On a windy day I'll open some windows to allow a cross-breeze, and then blast my shit with the blower. I have to mind my distance, and be careful to secure lighter objects. It makes quick work of floors, under furniture if there's at least a little space, and my shelves full of bins. You and I are now friends.

cjensen 8y ago

Sure. But the issue is professional gardeners -- including those who just have a pickup truck and and a few dozen clients. It's not just "handle a job on a full charge" since they need to work all day. The Stihl backpack batteries help a lot, but it's still going to be a lot of investment for a guy who just takes care of lawns for a living.

sfopdxnonstop 8y ago
Yeah it totally sucks when you were accustomed to externalizing your business costs onto others but now you have to pass those costs on to your customers. I mean sucks for the customers, not for you (you earn the same) or for the people no longer paying those costs (with their hearing loss). Me? I don't employ anyone to blow my leaves so I'm a winner in this transaction.
- andrei_says_ 8y ago
  Well this is pretty much the model of most industries, and especially with energy, the oil gas and coal industries. As for one person’s choice, I wish all my neighbors would make the same choice.
nraynaud 8y ago
don't big truck have a power outlet from the engine? I think welders are plugged into the engine. I'd share some concern about transition, in particular because I live in Arizona, but I guess things will be better in the long run.
- jhoechtl 8y ago
  And now guess how the trucks are powered? Now you use a cobustion engine to power an alternator to charge a battery. What is the net gain, if any?
  - freeone3000 8y ago
    It's a more efficient engine, with better particulate filters, a catalytic converter to reduce NOx emissions, and yearly emissions inspections to ensure all of the above is up to standards. It's a gain.

dang 8y ago

OK, we added gas power to the title above.

rootusrootus 8y ago

The real issue IMO is that the battery powered yard tools are infected by the same planned obsolescence as existing power tools. Most gas-powered yard tools last damn near forever even if you don't do maintenance on them. The battery powered ones are good for three years and then you're buying a new one. If you're lucky they still make the battery, but it costs as much a whole new tool. Wish we could standardize modern rechargeable batteries the same way we did with old lead acid models.

perilunar 8y ago
Many rechargeable battery packs are just assemblies of 18650 or similar cylindrical cells — if they just made the packs openable then it would be easy to replace and recycle the cells.
- 05 8y ago
  The cells are welded together with contact strips, you need a spot welder to rebuild a pack. Making cells removable isn’t economic, because vibration resistant electrical connections are not cheap.
  - cerebellum42 8y ago
    While I agree that it's reasonable to make 18650 based packs not officially user serviceable (because of the spot welding thing and because that would open up liability to repairs gone wrong), at least they should be made so the cells can be replaced by someone who has a spotwelder and some electrical knowledge. Basically give the pack housing a nondestructive way to be opened and resealed. That way even if the manufacturer decides to switch battery pack standards in a few years, someone with the necessary knowledge can still get some 18650 cells and be fine.
  - perilunar 8y ago
    > Making cells removable isn’t economic I disagree. Until relatively recently all battery powered devices had removable batteries, which is why we have standard battery sizes in the first place. Welded and sealed proprietary battery packs are a backward step.

bane 8y ago

I recently purchased an electric mower after my old gas powered one died -- repairing it was going to cost as much as just buying a new one. It's so good. It has turned a dreadful experience into a long slightly noisy walk in my yard. I used to have a number of minor breathing problems when mowing my lawn, mostly due to the exhaust. No longer having to deal with smelly, burning chemicals is absolutely awesome. I ended replacing almost all of my other yard tools with an electric equivalent as soon as I could. This is a major change since I last tried electric (and especially battery powered) yard tools, which were flimsy, low powered and died quickly. The modern ones are quite good for most things and since I'm more inclined to use them, I end up dealing with easier to mow/chop/trim yard stuff than before. Upon reflection, using the gas powered equipment today feels like barbarism.