Tools and Gadgets

G-VilleTider

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I have enjoyed Bazza's DIY thread. I found some useful info there and I love tools and gadgets. I thought I would see if anyone is interested in this. Good or bad. I'll start with a good.

We have a lot of big trees with a fairly big yard and a large deck so a good blower is required if I want to keep things looking decent. I have a husqvarna backpack blower that has worked great for many years. But its a bit of a pain to get it for a quick 5 minute blow of the deck everyday and as its gas powered, it gets stored in the basement. Bought a Dewalt blower this past spring and absolutely love it.

41B1DMpmzNL.jpg

I have been using it since the spring but never thought it would be able to handle the heavy fall leaves. I was wrong. This thing has almost as much power as my backpack blower. It gets almost 25 minutes of run time at full power on a 5ah battery. Zero maintenance, zero cleaning and because I can keep it in the mudroom, I can blow off the deck and have it put up quicker than I could even get the backpack blower up to the deck.
 
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Bazza

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Excellent idea for a thread, G-VilleTider!

I too have found the cordless handheld blower to be of very good value around here.

I still have the old Ryobi unit (see bottom of pic below) that came with the Ryobi package I bought many many years ago that worked with the old Ni Cad batteries....and it is still working well, now using the 18v One+ Li Ion batteries.

I also have an Echo handheld 2-cycle blower that I use for my business as well home use.

Stashed away I also have 2 backpack blowers...one a Husqvarna and the other I bought as a collector item - the original Echo with all metal construction.

Then I have a whole slew of additional handheld 2-cycle blowers I bought over the years and will eventually put on CL or eBay. Most are the legendary Echo PB210e model that was so popular - befoe all the emissions regulations came out.

Intenet pic:
 

TIDE-HSV

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I have a Stihl backpack and a corded AC handheld. I've thought about buying the Stihl battery, since I have the charger and a spare battery. The cord is a PITA...
 

Bazza

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I have a Stihl backpack and a corded AC handheld. I've thought about buying the Stihl battery, since I have the charger and a spare battery. The cord is a PITA...

Here's a recent review of the Stihl Li Ion cordless - Model# BGA 56:




Very good power and duration; ease of use.
October 25, 2019
DonB75 from Atlanta


Pros: Easy to Use, Light
Cons: full recharge of battery took 3 hours.

Able to blow leaves off my 3 roof valleys, blow off both porches and carport (twice), and then today, blow leaves off the back lawn (1,500 sq.ft.) before needing a recharge. I've had it for three weeks and am just now charging it after its initial charge. The convenience of not having to plug in a 100-foot extension cord means I use this more often and have a cleaner yard and house. It had enough kick to blow asphalt aggregate off our curbs and driveway after repaving work. Gasoline power would be overkill even for our 0.4-acre wooded lot.


Written by a customer while visiting stihlusa.com

Huntsville area Stihl dealers

Go for it, Earle! :)
 

TIDE-HSV

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Here's a recent review of the Stihl Li Ion cordless - Model# BGA 56:




Very good power and duration; ease of use.
October 25, 2019
DonB75 from Atlanta


Pros: Easy to Use, Light
Cons: full recharge of battery took 3 hours.

Able to blow leaves off my 3 roof valleys, blow off both porches and carport (twice), and then today, blow leaves off the back lawn (1,500 sq.ft.) before needing a recharge. I've had it for three weeks and am just now charging it after its initial charge. The convenience of not having to plug in a 100-foot extension cord means I use this more often and have a cleaner yard and house. It had enough kick to blow asphalt aggregate off our curbs and driveway after repaving work. Gasoline power would be overkill even for our 0.4-acre wooded lot.


Written by a customer while visiting stihlusa.com

Huntsville area Stihl dealers

Go for it, Earle! :)
That's the one which interests me. I have the AK charger and two AK10 batteries with the charger. However, it looks like they almost throw in the charger. The AK20 battery is $60 by itself. The AK10 doesn't have much constant runtime. It's fine for the little chain saw and intermittent use. However, the two AK10s I have would be nice backup while the AK20 was charging. The gas backpack is a PITA to get up on the roof and the 100' cord on the AC blower is actually dangerous on a roof...
 

Bazza

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That's the one which interests me. I have the AK charger and two AK10 batteries with the charger. However, it looks like they almost throw in the charger. The AK20 battery is $60 by itself. The AK10 doesn't have much constant runtime. It's fine for the little chain saw and intermittent use. However, the two AK10s I have would be nice backup while the AK20 was charging. The gas backpack is a PITA to get up on the roof and the 100' cord on the AC blower is actually dangerous on a roof...

One thing I have come to realize is spending money on power tools is worth every penny (and more), if it helps one get the job done.

You brought up the safety angle - heck, that's an even better argument.

Think of it as an early Christmas present! :)
 

4Q Basket Case

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The Basket Case household recently downsized to a garden home. Not a townhome in that all residences are free-standing, and we don’t share a wall with anyone. But the yard is small, which at this point in my life, I love.

With the lone exception of the pressure washer, we have gone totally gasoline-free on home-maintenance tools. Ryobi battery-powered edger, blower and string trimmer. Fiskars non-powered reel mower — like I said, the yard is small. Still have a corded electric shrub trimmer, and the cord is a pain, but I haven’t found a good battery option on that.
 

AUDub

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Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
Still exclusively gas on outdoor power equipment right now. Need the power. Gotta be either Honda or Stihl, with the only exception being my backpack blower, which is a Ryobi (I was on a budget at the time, and the thing has been super reliable over the past 6 years).
 

AUDub

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Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
On my work truck, though, everything is Milwaukee. Hammer drill for when I have to mount unistrut to concrete, pipe cutter to speed things for plumbing work, power drill and impact driver, pipe spreader, etc.

With the exception of the hammer drill, which is 110, they all use the same battery. Saves me a crap ton of time on installs and repairs.
 
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G-VilleTider

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The Basket Case household recently downsized to a garden home. Not a townhome in that all residences are free-standing, and we don’t share a wall with anyone. But the yard is small, which at this point in my life, I love.

With the lone exception of the pressure washer, we have gone totally gasoline-free on home-maintenance tools. Ryobi battery-powered edger, blower and string trimmer. Fiskars non-powered reel mower — like I said, the yard is small. Still have a corded electric shrub trimmer, and the cord is a pain, but I haven’t found a good battery option on that.
I loved the blower I posted about above so much that not only did I get one for my parents, I also got the hedge trimmer and chainsaw (that use the same battery). I haven't used the chainsaw yet, but I trimmed the hedges the day before yesterday. I was able to trim all my hedges and the battery still showed 2 out of 3 bars. It worked great and was so much easier to manuever than my stihl. I have a stihl that has attachments for weed eater, hedge trimmer and pole saw, but that thing with the hedge trimmer on it is so heavy that it will wear you out in a hurry!
 

G-VilleTider

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On my work truck, though, everything is Milwaukee. Hammer drill for when I have to mount unistrut to concrete, pipe cutter to speed things for plumbing work, power drill and impact driver, pipe spreader, etc.

With the exception of the hammer drill, which is 110, they all use the same battery. Saves me a crap ton of time on installs and repairs.
Milwaukee is great! Don't own any (cost) but have used them plenty of times.

My cordless drill, driver and saws are porter cable so a couple of years ago when I was looking to get an extra battery or 2, there was a sale where their hammer drill with 2 batteries was the same price as just buying 2 batteries (at lowes around the holidays) so I got it. It goes right through concrete easily, but will not touch brick. I tried for 10 minutes and got less than a half inch into brick, switched to a cheap skil corded hammer drill and no problem (I don't use a hammer drill nearly enough to justify a good one).
 

Bazza

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On the subject of hedge trimming (and pruning in general).....there are control products on the market that can be applied to your plants to slow down their growth.

They are called PGR's (plant growth regulators).

Some are granular and some are in liquid form.

I use this one with fantastic results:



This is an online seller's website that usually has the best price and service:

LINK

You have to read the label first to see if it would apply to your plant species. A link to the label is on the linked website.

It may seem expensive but IMHO, when used properly it pays for itself in reduced labor. Especially when you have to use a ladder because your hedge is so high...lol.

There are other similar products on the market.

I use another called Podium on turf. ;)
 

seebell

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I used Sthil chain saw and blower for years. Quality tools. I bought a Ego blower, chain saw and weed eater a couple of years ago. They are great. I bought an extra battery so when I start I put the other battery on the fast charger and swap them out. No more gas & oil. Push a button and go. Thinking about buying their lawnmower.

https://egopowerplus.com/products
 

G-VilleTider

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Now for a bad one.

A few years ago, I saw and bought a set of 2' ratchet clamps from Harbor Freight. They have some decent things, but these weren't that. They are worthless!! A 4 pack of those was about half the price of a single irwin so I thought I would give it a try. Don't make my mistake.
 

Bazza

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Now for a bad one.

A few years ago, I saw and bought a set of 2' ratchet clamps from Harbor Freight. They have some decent things, but these weren't that. They are worthless!! A 4 pack of those was about half the price of a single irwin so I thought I would give it a try. Don't make my mistake.

I always look at those when I visit HF but have yet to buy any...lol. I picked up some from HD but ended up not needing them so jury still out on their worth.
 

Bazza

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OK this is a little weird......I was going through my tool boxes yesterday - I have about 6 of them - trying to organize all my tools. In one of them I found a gadget I had no idea what it's purpose was. I just left it alone for now - bigger fish to fry. So just now browsing FB and see this video advertisement - and this is that item! I didn't even post a pic of it or say anything to anyone about it until just now? Is Google reading our freaking minds now?!? :eek2:

 

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