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

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

#91

Post by rootusrootus »

ImPostingOnHN wrote: post #73
mcpackieh wrote: post #15

When a landscaping company uses a gas leaf blower, enforcement of the ban should be targeted at the property owner instead of the landscaping company. Most cops aren't particularly excited about bullying a hardworking landscaping worker so if you call them they won't even show up in time to give the landscaping company a ticket. On the other hand, if you could simply submit a video of the offense to local officials t…

It sounds like the root cause of the issue you describe is cops not doing their job. Perhaps the efforts of the city can be better targeted to the root cause, rather than creating additional bureaucracy, or engaging in collective punishment because it's more convenient. It also doesn't seem like it would work because most property owners are even less excited than cops about confronting a hardworking landscaping work…

You actually want cops to police leaf blowers? Are you joking? We won’t even hire enough so they can police petty crime.

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

#92

Post by brookst »

demondemidi wrote: post #12

“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.)

I’m one of the 40%. It frees up a couple of hours a week, which is all of the hobby time I get. No regrets.

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

#93

Post by jejeyyy77 »

AtlasBarfed wrote: post #67
FredPret wrote: post #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.

Yes this entire thing is a hullabaloo over a soon to be solved problem. All ICE devices are more expensive than battery based ones fundamentally, it's just that the economies of scale and battery tech is still a couple notches down. Well, and the battery based devices are "luxury" versions of the "dirty ICE" variants, so they currently command a ridiculous premium. I keep waiting for plunging battery economics to com…

eh, have you actually used equipment like this? Electric mowers/blowers/etc vs gas.

Never runs out of charge, powerful, reliable, etc. It has nothing to do with the price (in fact, gas equipment is more expensive).

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

#94

Post by downut »

xoa wrote: post #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 cl…

New electric blower owner here, thanks for the additional detail. Mine has 2 batteries too and I don't come close to discharging them in 15 minutes, so a big win. I don't think I've had to use the maximum flow setting yet.

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

#95

Post by chmod600 »

redandblack wrote: post #8

NJ resident who has never cleared leaves in the last 18 years in my suburban home - I just let it degrade over winter and the lawn care companies take care of it in spring. I don't live in a HOA community, which I think is a bane (one of many) of US living

Where do the leaves fall, and do you use that surface for anything else?

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

#96

Post by underseacables »

demondemidi wrote: post #12

“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.)

Until my kids are old enough to put to work maintaining the yard, it has been way more convenient to pay someone else.

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

#97

Post by SkyPuncher »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #6

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…

My yard is hardly manicured, but it’s an amazing place for my kids to play. I have to blow the leaves, otherwise they collect too deep to be able to use the yard.

They get blown into he woods on the back half of the yard where the decompose and fertilizer the dirt.

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

#98

Post by smolder »

bigfryo wrote: post #84

Loud mufflers are a scourge and everyone hates them but we can't get rid of them because companies are making money off of them and they pay the politicians

Mufflers? So there's actually some more nuance to this. Quiet mufflers on ICEs come with some efficiency cost, partly due to weight (for vehicles) and partly due to flow restriction of exhaust, particularly at higher flows, closer to the engines maximum output. Depending on the application, quieter mufflers are not always "better".

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

#99

Post by ImPostingOnHN »

rootusrootus wrote: post #91
ImPostingOnHN wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like the root cause of the issue you describe is cops not doing their job. Perhaps the efforts of the city can be better targeted to the root cause, rather than creating additional bureaucracy, or engaging in collective punishment because it's more convenient. It also doesn't seem like it would work because most property owners are even less excited than cops about confronting a hardworking landscaping work…

You actually want cops to police leaf blowers? Are you joking? We won’t even hire enough so they can police petty crime.

> You actually want [police] to police [law breaking]? Are you joking?

If this is what you meant to ask, the answer is obviously yes.

Do you actually want homeowners to police law breaking? Are you joking? It's not even their job, and enforcing the law is literally what we pay police to do, that's why their job is called "policing" and their employer is the "police".

You want to talk about hiring budgets, what's the government-provided officer hiring budget for homeowners? Or do you expect homeowners to solve the problem with $0 while the police receive significantly more than $0 to ignore the problem? I mean, if the police abdicate their responsibilities and burden private citizens with them instead, obviously those citizens should receive the money the police were receiving.

Meanwhile, I see a lot of police sitting around in cars, at speed traps, etc. Are we sure they're doing as much as they can with the resources they have? Are we sure they're directing resources to where we want them to (in terms of both geographical areas and types of crimes)? I think it's fair for them to be able to present a request for more staffing budget, along with reports on their progress using existing resources, on current deployment of resources, on progress towards having public disciplinary hearings and publicly closing out IA complaints, etc.

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

#100

Post by superchroma »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #6

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…

I cut my grass myself using an electric mower and use it to make compost. We would use a leaf blower on our property even without grass for what it's worth. We have an electric blower too, which is a lot quieter than our neighbor's petrol one.
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