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Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

oregonlive.com

121–130 of 134 posts

Re: Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

#121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that they require keeping lots of expensive extra batteries on hand—batteries with a limited lifespan—driving up overall operating costs. This is basically just a stealth tax on the already not very profitable landscaping industry. Prices for landscaping services are already getting out of hand, at least in my area. This will make things worse.

The more you have, the more you have to suffer from.

I guess I’m lucky I don’t have an HOA.

As usual, the very wealthy won’t care, and the middle class and small business owners will be crushed. I bet private equity will get some great deals on small landscaping companies.

Re: Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

#122

Whilst I seriously doubt that this will be regularly or universally enforced, I think that gas powered gardening and construction equipment is incredibly loud and annoying, and that especially in built-up areas it's not really acceptable where good alternatives exist. Noise pollution is usually very avoidable, and it can be quite disruptive and sometimes damaging to health. Further, where I live (in the UK), there ne…

We have the same problem where I live in the US. When I get some free time I'm going to lobby our state congress to have the sale of them banned, because it's the only way to get people to stop installing them. There is a law against driving them but it's impossible to enforce because there's no means of measuring the sound and associating it with the vehicle quickly enough to enforce it. I'd love to have an ALPR sys…

It’s a pretty solved problem. In NSW, Australia we have automated systems for heavy vehicle noise fines. (They could of course be used for regular vehicles as well, we just don’t)

For all vehicles the police can issue a defect notice to anything that seems too loud. The owner then has to present to an inspection station and prove that they’re compliant. If they don’t show up or don’t test as compliant their registration is voided and they’re fined. Of course, they can remove the modification before visiting the induction station then reinstall it afterwards, but that gets pretty time consuming pretty fast and people largely stay within the bounds of reason as a result. The system isn’t perfect but it works fine.

Re: Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

#123
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Howdy, fellow east Portlander, you might be interested in this: https://www.eptl.toollibrarian.net/TL/ourtools.php . They have 5 electric leaf blowers available right now. You mentioned you already bought one, but perhaps you could share this info with some of your friends or neighbors to save them the cost. :)

Hello! We do use the EPTL :) that did remind me to donate my old plugin blower though thank you. I will note that EPTL only has plugin blowers and there are good reasons I went with a more mobile blower.

Ah, yeah, I'd suspect they'd only have plugins. Def understand the need for mobility. I never want to miss a chance to share with folks about the existence of EPTL, though. :P

Re: Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

#124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ah yes, nothing quiets the streets like the police literally running a damn dyno It would be bad only if it didn't result in decrease of loud vehicles. If they run the dyno and impound vehicle, it means that this loud vehicle won't be coming back this street for some time.

If the police take my car and make loud noises with it, all that means is the police can potentially make loud noises with my car. Not that I personally made loud noises. The only provable noise polluter in that case is the police. I'm sure they could also put my car on a dyno and prove it could go 100mph on the 30mph street I was on too.

Your argument holds no merit. It’s like arguing you’re a sovereign citizen, sorry does not work.

Re: Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

#125
post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a60583398/nyc-noise-camera... NYC installed these. Turns out with a city noise limit of 76 and ticketing those in excess of 84dBa, that you’ll ticket certain street ‘legal’ cars whose noise levels can reach into the 90s (!) if driven improperly in-city. Always glad to see technology progressing; I hope it spreads elsewhere.

[flagged]

Nope there is a difference between a modified exhaust and a straight pipes or more commonly a tuned ecu that causes after fire. It can be quite loud, pretty darn close to gun shot level and is a disruptive. If you like it go take your car to a track.

Re: Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the police take my car and make loud noises with it, all that means is the police can potentially make loud noises with my car. Not that I personally made loud noises. The only provable noise polluter in that case is the police. I'm sure they could also put my car on a dyno and prove it could go 100mph on the 30mph street I was on too.

Your argument holds no merit. It’s like arguing you’re a sovereign citizen, sorry does not work.

Of course it holds no merit when the law is written such that merely having the capability of loud noise is an offense, and the method by which you are convicted is the police do the thing they say is bad and then damn you for the thing they themselves just did for the purpose of convicting you.

Re: Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your argument holds no merit. It’s like arguing you’re a sovereign citizen, sorry does not work.

Of course it holds no merit when the law is written such that merely having the capability of loud noise is an offense, and the method by which you are convicted is the police do the thing they say is bad and then damn you for the thing they themselves just did for the purpose of convicting you.

Yes that is how society works in most places. Again this is like a ridiculous sovereign citizen argument. It’s comical to read.

Re: Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it holds no merit when the law is written such that merely having the capability of loud noise is an offense, and the method by which you are convicted is the police do the thing they say is bad and then damn you for the thing they themselves just did for the purpose of convicting you.

Yes that is how society works in most places. Again this is like a ridiculous sovereign citizen argument. It’s comical to read.

Oh I am well aware. "Society" takes the things you have, uses them against you, then shits on you for the thing they have just done. Thus is how taxes are born.

But as it turns out, the government isn't society, and the law isn't what's right.

Re: Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

#129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt they are as serviceable as the stihl equipment they’ve been used to working with for years now. There is a reason why commercial stihl equipment in particular is practically standard issue among landscapers.

Stihl makes battery operated equipment, including backpacks that can go all day. For the largest chainsaws gas is more powerful, but for most uses electric is just as powerful.

Even with stihl I am not so sure they would be so servicable. You could rebuild that stihl gas engine yourself with a little knowhow and that is generally not the case in the electric device age.

Re: Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the police take my car and make loud noises with it, all that means is the police can potentially make loud noises with my car. Not that I personally made loud noises. The only provable noise polluter in that case is the police. I'm sure they could also put my car on a dyno and prove it could go 100mph on the 30mph street I was on too.

Your argument holds no merit. It’s like arguing you’re a sovereign citizen, sorry does not work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_the_Malheur_Nati...

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/salvadorhernandez/leade...

Actually, you can argue it and it will work.

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