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A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

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Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#151

Post by dijonman2 »

amluto wrote: post #132
showerst wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the sentiment but pragmatically I think we have to time bans to when replacements are really equivalent or better-- electric mowers in particular are still 4x the cost and get mixed reviews, and I don't think chainsaw usage is a huge civic problem here in DC, but I don't live next to any big parks. Maybe we could also go with making new ones illegal to sell, though we'd have to coordinate with MD and VA…

Power washers used regularly on commercial property, too. As far as I can tell, the electric ones are every bit as effective and cost about the same amount. And anyone using a power washer is already trailing a hose around, too — a cable is not much of a hardship. (Few things are quite as unpleasant as a crew using a stinky 2-stroke engine to do prolonged work on an otherwise nice plaza.)

my pressure washer is 20hp, residential electric services can’t power that large of an electric motor.

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#152

Post by BuyMyBitcoins »

feet wrote: post #49
jamal-kumar wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I opened the door recently just to have a tiny rock fly from a weed whacker across the way come RIGHT into my eye, it hurt for over a day. Just hearing those rocks hit against my window is stressful enough but that was enough for me to fantasize about locking people up for using these things if I owned my own small country.

How about banning grass lawns instead? They're incredibly wasteful. We could be using land to grow food or do other useful things

Lawns serve an unacknowledged purpose in many places, they keep the land clear. Without cutting the land will revert to scrub.

Even if you wanted to grow vegetables you’d still need to cut the grass and keep saplings from growing wherever they happen to sprout.

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#153

Post by matthewdgreen »

mech987 wrote: post #126
rob74 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They cut right through safety chaps, no problem Ouch! I assume that's a combination between the higher torque of an electric motor and shoddy low cost Chinese engineering?

Gasoline engines struggle to produce torque at very low RPM's, so once they begin choking on the fibers in the chaps, they lose momentum and stop. Electric motors on the other hand produce peak torque at 0 RPM, so it's way harder to bring them to a standstill. Many of these electric chainsaws are premium brands and still have this problem- to my knowledge there are no electric chainsaws that have a safety feature des…

This surprises me. I visited a major tool manufacturer a couple of years ago and even their midrange electric drills now use a microprocessor (specifically an ARM Cortex of some variety) and a sensor to synthesize the waveform that drives the brushless motor. They were talking to me because it had so much extra computing power for so little cost they were trying to find IoT applications for the thing.

I would expect commercial-grade electric chainsaws to use similar technology, and that they could be programmed to cut power in the event of a sudden speed reduction, mimicking the safety of a gas engine. But what do I know.

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#154

Post by feet »

BuyMyBitcoins wrote: post #152
feet wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about banning grass lawns instead? They're incredibly wasteful. We could be using land to grow food or do other useful things

Lawns serve an unacknowledged purpose in many places, they keep the land clear. Without cutting the land will revert to scrub. Even if you wanted to grow vegetables you’d still need to cut the grass and keep saplings from growing wherever they happen to sprout.

Why is keeping land clear important? That's an ecosystem where numerous organisms live, its not like it's "unused"

See my other comment about bugs. Almost any option is better than a wasteful grass lawn

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#155

Post by RickJWagner »

My problem with this decision is the wasted leaf-blower bodies when the batteries die and the user can't find a reasonably-priced replacement. The rest of the leaf-blower goes to the landfill and a new one is purchased, starting the cycle over again.

Meanwhile, a 2-stroke leaf blower will last for decades. (Well, probably a decade until the little squeeze bulb on the carburetor goes out. Replace that for $2 and you're good to go for another decade.)

If the leaf-blowers used a standardized battery so the implement isn't discarded with every other battery change I'd see it differently.

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#156

Post by ctf1er »

_Wintermute wrote: post #5

Living in Europe, most people just leave fallen leaves alone. I've never seen someone use a leaf blower except for dust etc. Is it a uniquely American thing to obsess over tidying up leaves?

Trump said you guys rake your forests though.

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#157

Post by rascul »

horsawlarway wrote: post #40
bradfa wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is now fuel injected 2-stroke engines which will pass the current Euro4 emissions rules for dirt bikes and motorcycles. There's no reason that a small 2-stroke can't have lower emissions today. It's clearly more expensive to make a fuel and oil injected 2-stroke engine than a simple pre-mix 2-stroke, but it's possible and then you get all the benefits (and even more!) of a traditional 2-stroke in terms of power…

Interesting - At least in my area most of the gas weed eaters available for sale are now 4-stroke. Wonder which will end up being more prevalent.

I have two trimmers, one is a four stroke and the other is battery electric. The gasoline trimmer is generally a rarely used pole saw now because I can trim the whole yard without killing the small battery. It's easier, lighter, and quieter.

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#158

Post by rektide »

prepend wrote: post #150
rektide wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

9 batteries by the numbers I presented runs to 5.5 hours. 15 batteries at 37 minutes a piece is 9.25 hours. I can see that being a possibility for someplace like a college campus where one crew is literally just roving around an limited area for the day to maybe get in 5.5 hours of straight actual use, maybe, if the team is super well pipelined in what they are doing. But it seems like a fanciful/rare/contrived examp…

I’m not a yard company but I’ve talked to the team that does my yard and they said (two of them) that they do 12-16 houses a day and each house takes about 30 minutes. Usually one is blowing the whole time while one mows and weedwhacks and then the second puts on a backpack. They have a long day from like 7am to 6pm. So my example certainly isn’t contrived. But it’s just one example and the only one I know.

If these teams start at 7am, they should be executed/shot without legal reprecussions if they start at 7am in most areas with gas bullshit.

You've specified an 11 hour work window. If, between two people, they spend 50% of that day working with full-throttle leaf blowing, I'm very impressed with their efficiency. Getting around & blowing being that dominant a factor in the day is impressive. That's still 9 batteries tops & they should accept that easily given the very very very very low total cost of ownership, given that they dont need to figure out how to lug a bulk of batteries around & can just carry 1 at a time (the backpack hardware allows for two).

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#159

Post by spfzero »

feet wrote: post #49
jamal-kumar wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I opened the door recently just to have a tiny rock fly from a weed whacker across the way come RIGHT into my eye, it hurt for over a day. Just hearing those rocks hit against my window is stressful enough but that was enough for me to fantasize about locking people up for using these things if I owned my own small country.

How about banning grass lawns instead? They're incredibly wasteful. We could be using land to grow food or do other useful things

You'd have to ban trees as well. Few people in my area have lawns, but all of their gardeners run the leaf blower for 20 minutes pushing the leaves around.

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#160

Post by feet »

spfzero wrote: post #159
feet wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about banning grass lawns instead? They're incredibly wasteful. We could be using land to grow food or do other useful things

You'd have to ban trees as well. Few people in my area have lawns, but all of their gardeners run the leaf blower for 20 minutes pushing the leaves around.

My comment was purely in reference to the person wanting to ban weedwackers

Trees make great habitats for local wildlife, short grass does not

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