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Personal attacks will get you banned here. Please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and post civilly and substantively, or not at all.
This entire thread paints everyone who's not in lockstep as "evil"(TM). I was responding in kind.
For what it's worth a gas powered leaf blower puts out as much pollution in a day of work as a Ford Raptor will in 100,000 miles. Source: https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/features/emissions-test-...
This is not believable. Think of how many tankfuls of gas that will go through in 100,000 miles. Every atom of carbon going out the tail pipe is "pollution".
A day's use of a gas leaf blower has a vanishingly small carbon and NOx footprint compared to 100K miles of a fossil-fueled Ford truck.
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The problem pollutants for vehicles are NOx and particulate (particularly small particulate under 2.5 or 10 microns in diameter). This test found the truck produced a lot of NOx, and didn't test for particulate matter, so it's not really able to say what you want it to say.
Leaf blowers are two-stroke engines which have an entirely (and much worse) emissions profile compared to modern four stroke engines. E.g. you'll find things like benzene in their exhaust. Hence results like "waiting near a 2-stroke scooter on an intersection is orders of magnitudes more poisenous than waiting near a car".
Benzene may be more acutely poisonous than some other molecule which also has six carbon atoms, but from the planet's perspective, it's just six carbon atoms.
If you're breathing any exhaust, you're taking in CO. Less pungent smelling exhaust is not any better for you.
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Really my objection is to the loud noise. If Harley Davidson makes a silent electric one, I'll rescind my call to ban them.
If Harley Davidson made an electric bike, then people would start buying aftermarket noise makers that play the Harley sound at 140dB.
1: https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15117726/faking-it-en...
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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 mode…
Am I missing something? Most Bosch tools for instance use their universal battery packs, they fit nearly all old tools and it's a pretty safe bet that they will fit all the new ones too. There's plenty of 3rd party replacements on the market, but there's almost zero chance that you won't be able to buy a replacement battery for your bosch leaf blower in few years. That's their standardised battery pack - it fits doze…
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I own a house. I have medical problems limiting just how much I can exert myself. This wasn't true when i initially bought the home. Raking leaves, is a 3-5 times event that could take me about 16 hours (an entire weekend) each time. Blowing the leaves takes about 5-6 hours. I had an electric blower for a long time and honestly, it only shaved off maybe a 10th of my time b/c it simply wasn't strong enough. I recycle,…
Have you considered an electric leaf blower?
Using a rake takes me 2 days to rake my yard. (about 16 hours)
An electric blower, 1.5 days (roughly 10-12 hours)
A gas blower takes me about 4 hours.
I have 2 medical conditions going on right now and can't pay someone $200 every single time i need my yard picked up. I spend enough in medical bills right now.
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Neither is young, urba, stuck up progressives with good guy badges and pseudo morals
I find it unfortunate this is how you classify people attempting to better their local environment they exist in.
Talking to environmentalists who have no appreciation for nuance, is like being gay and talking to a evangelical thinking I'm destined for hell.
I have an electric lawn mower. I drive a hybrid. I recycle.
Environmentalism isn't a pissing match, nor is it a purity test.
This culture of sneering down on people is why so many working class people become contrary at environmentalism.
It's self-righteous, snobbery and elitism as it's finest
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I just switched to an electric mower. It cost about the same as an decent mower, is lighter weight, always starts, is plenty powerful, and has about 45 minutes of charge on a swappable battery. I could buy more batteries if I wanted more runtime. I can also swap that battery with other equipment like string trimmers. I've overhauled my last temperamental gas carb. The end of gas lawn gear is indeed in sight.
I just switched to all electric lawn tools. I got the trimmer, chainsaw, and blower from the 80v Kobalt line. Like you say, plenty of power, much easier maintenance, and multiple batteries mean the runtime is not limited.
I don't think you can find batteries that will last that long.
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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.
"More efficient" is not a binary thing. Taking an efficient engine that's capable of throwing two tons of steel down a highway at 100 mph and using it to charge a lithium ion battery is like killing an ant with a sledgehammer. An F150 consumes ~2 litres of fuel an hour at idle and provides 400 watts of power through its outlet. A Bosch leaf blower is 2400 watt. Petrol powered leaf blowers do not use 12 liters of fuel…