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Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

thehustle.co

31–40 of 150 posts

Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty sure driving 1-2 ton cars every day and flying planes do a way better job of destroying the planet than mowing the lawn with a small four-cycle motor once a week.

Lawns use ridiculous amounts of water for zero agricultural productivity.

This has some merit in the mountain west, but back east nobody waters their lawn, it just comes from the sky for free. (I know some people have sprinklers, but having grown up in Chicago, I can tell you that they're not strictly necessary.)

Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#32
post #24
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why people would put so much effort into growing useless grass is astonishing to me. You can grow anything there and you choose grass? Why? I assume it has to do with an HOA? Or aesthetics? Or it’s easier?

If you have small kids that like to play outside, you would likely have grass, not trees or something else that is more wild.

Ridiculous, kids love trees. But also, rats and therefore snakes love leaves, as does fire. If you live in the woods the kids will love it, but you still have to keep leaves away from the perimeter of the house.

Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#33

“40% of homeowners with lawns pay for landscaping services”?!? Wow. I had no idea the number was that large. That seems so … lazy. EDIT: I should say that I'm biased and think green thick pristine lawns are a blight. (Irony noted.)

Higher than that in my neighborhood in Redmond, and it is not even one of the nicer neighborhoods. Myself and a couple others do our own mowing, the rest hire someone. I mean, anyone that can afford to live in Redmond could afford to hire someone, but it would take me longer to write the check than do it myself, because our lots are about 7-8K square feet. IOW, small SFHs on tiny little lots. Half hour of mowing, tops.

Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#35
Well, fact is they're very, very useful. I spent a solid couple of decades poo pooing them. Finally tried one, and was instantly sold. It's not just the time savings either, blowers allow doing jobs that just aren't very feasible otherwise. I can get rid of leaves and debris from stony/leafy surfaces and structures that can't be raked. I can clear snow from rough whole rock paths all winter, and it will completely clear the rocks and get between them unlike snow shoveling, which prevents the snow from getting compacted and turning to ice. I eliminated like 99% of the need to ever apply any sand or ice melt when I switched to clearing with a blower. Feet of snow on cars, my solar panels, etc can be blasted off quickly and effectively with zero risk of surface scratching. The ROI has been high, even though I don't actually use them for leaves on my lawn those I just mulch. But getting acorns and such off the lawn and blowing leaves onto it from driveway and walkways for mulching is helpful.

However mixed fuel ones really do suck, but happily electric ones are finally getting really solid too. I got an Ego 600 CFM as soon as it became available and while air velocity and total volume are somewhat lower than my Stihl it was able to take over a good 70% of the work. For this fall and winter season (about a month ago) I got an upgraded 800 CFM Ego Commercial one that takes double battery packs and look forward to putting it through its full paces, but so far I'd estimate that has closed the gap to something like 90-95%. Maybe even enough to completely get rid of the gas though the winter will be the real proof. But the pace of advancement has been pretty solid. They're far far quieter, they don't produce all the awful fumes, they're incredibly reliable and convenient in terms of instant start.

The remaining flies in the ointment are just lack of standardization in batteries and interfaces and upfront battery cost (when used a decent amount I think the value vs cost of fuel and oil is often positive over lifetime, but that doesn't change the fact that it's hard for many people to plunk down hundreds/thousands upfront vs as opex buying fuel). Both hopefully will get addressed over time. But I think at least the capabilities to match/exceed 2-stroke in raw performance is there for nearly everyone which is a good change and makes it politically much easier for governments to step in and start accelerating the transition.

Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#36
post #2

The official soundtrack of Houston, TX. The noise is so ubiquitous it is almost noteworthy when you can’t hear it. Paradoxically, the better the neighborhood, the worse the noise.

Maybe it's worth rethinking what a "better neighborhood" is to exclude their use. Do appraisers put extra value in manicured lawns having pesticides in them and the leaves blown off? When someone says you can't have X on your property or you need Y there to maximize the value of a property, that's all the excuse people need to act like assholes sometimes, imposing stupid HOA rules or, in this case maybe, polluting & making a racket.

Edit: Seems like I wasn't far off. Stopping homeowners from making bad choices will need to include real estate agents not playing into the idea that a leaf-free, poison sprayed lawn is more valuable.

> Lawn care specialists have claimed for years this strategy leads to better lawns, but it would only work if customers are willing to accept a change to the manicured status quo, a look that real estate agents and landscapers claim boosts home values and that some homeowners associations require in their bylaws.

Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#37
post #4

Right at the very bottom the article suggests the correct way to deal with fallen leaves: leave them alone. They decompose and provide nutrients to the grass.

i tried this with the 50 foot sycamore in my back yard and the leaves didn't decompose at all. they fell and froze. then in the spring when things thawed out, they formed a thick wet mat that suffocated and killed everything underneath.

Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve never seen a leaf blower used for grass up here. Only leaves. But I also never see the gas powered backpack blowers portrayed on TV so maybe I’m perceiving a different context.

I think the point was, if we didn't have lawns then leaves could remain where they fall and mulch the soil.

Leaves get everywhere and cover sidewalks, roads, roofs and gutters, etc. Over time, they degrade into an unsafe slimy surface.

Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#39

It’s just a symptom of the larger problem of manicured lawns being the number one “managed crop” in America. Eliminating home lawn is probably one of the singular things that would significantly slow down our destruction of the planet I’m sure someone will post some reason why their lawn is different somehow [1] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lawn-largest-crop-america_n_5... [2] https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisf…

Lawns are beautiful and useful. Are we not allowed to expend resources for beautiful and useful things?

Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#40
They use blowers to move snow around in Canada as well. I was a little unnerving to wake up to what sounded like lawnmowers on my first night in Calgary, Alberta, in the middle of winter.

I wonder if the electric ones are quieter and can still get the job done.

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