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With the onset of autumn, the number of worries for the owner of a personal or summer cottage, perhaps, reaches its maximum limit for the whole year. This is the pleasant chores associated with the collection, processing and storage of the crop. But what site in Our Country will do without fruit or ornamental trees and shrubs, as well as numerous flower beds and flower beds. And all of them require special attention on the eve of winter – some plants need to be covered and insulated, others even dug up, and traditionally, all accumulated plant debris is removed from the garden, especially obtained due to abundant leaf fall. Many simply burn this garbage, others act wiser – put it in compost heaps or use it as mulch in the beds. But this process is very laborious, even if there is a small plot of 6 acres. And what can we say about if you have 10, 15 or even 20 acres.
In the modern world, technology comes to the aid of people. And even in such a matter as cleaning the garden area, devices have already appeared that are ready to greatly facilitate human labor. If earlier there were only powerful units that could only be used on an industrial scale: in parks, on the streets and squares, now there are small devices called garden vacuum cleaners or blowers that even women and teenagers can use. Their capacity is usually small, but they cope with the volume of work on personal plots quite easily. For example, a Bosch cordless blower, with low power and a battery voltage of only 18 v, can remove fallen leaves and even small twigs from the entire paved yard and garden paths on a plot of 8 acres in just 20 to 30 minutes. Of course, to clean the lawn, and even in wet weather, you need models that are more powerful and with a large set of functions, but their choice is now so great that it’s time to deal with blowers in more detail.
Blower or vacuum cleaner – what’s the difference
Often in the proposals of even reputable companies, such units are called vacuum blowers, although this is far from the same thing and, moreover, does not always correspond to their true essence.
The fact is that all garden devices of this type can have three functions:
- Blowing air at high speed;
- Air suction with all related elements;
- Grinding the collected/sucked-in plant debris.
The first function is the simplest and at the same time quite versatile. Devices that are only capable of blowing air are usually called blowers. They cannot suck up foliage and other plant debris, although their name often consists of two parts: blower-vacuum cleaner. This is nothing more than a trick of advertising managers, so when buying, carefully read the instructions for the corresponding model.
The second function is more like a regular home vacuum cleaner, with the only difference that it is designed to collect leaves and organic dirt of a larger volume from the courtyard area. It should be noted that if the blower has a suction function, then its power, as a rule, decreases compared to models designed for blowing only. Judge for yourself, if a garden vacuum cleaner sucks everything in a row with great speed, then large clods of dirt and even pebbles will not leave it, which can adversely affect the operation of the engine. True, reputable blower manufacturers, like Makit or Garden, usually solve this problem in the following way: they make several speed switching modes so that they can be used when changing functions.
Shredding often comes with a vacuum cleaner function and will be very interesting for those owners who prefer to use the collected plant debris in the future to increase the fertility of their garden.
For example, the battery blower Greenworks gd 40 bv successfully combines all three of the above functions in its work. It has a brushless motor with high torque, quite comparable in power even with gasoline engines. But this blower does not require special maintenance, and the level of noise and vibration emanating from it is incomparable with gasoline counterparts. The most important advantage of this blower model is that it is rechargeable, that is, it does not depend on an electric wire and it can be used in any place farthest from home in your area.
Classification by engine type
As you probably already understood, all blowers also differ in the type of engine that is used to operate them.
The most popular for use in small private gardens are electric blowers. Their advantages include relatively small size and weight, low noise and vibration levels, as well as ease and safety of control. Typically, the cost of such blowers is relatively low, and the environment is minimally affected by their use. Most of the world’s most famous brands, such as Gardena, Bosch and Makita, have launched a whole series of electric blowers of various capacities. The disadvantages of such blowers are also obvious – you are tied to the length of the electric cord, so these blowers are not suitable for large areas.
Gasoline garden vacuum cleaners are designed for large and complex objects, they are more powerful, and with them you can quickly clear the territory of any size from plant debris. In addition, they do not overheat like electrical counterparts. But they are very noisy, pollute the environment and are characterized by a high level of vibration. In general, these are machines more for professionals than for homeowners.
The most interesting compromise option is battery blowers – vacuum cleaners. On the one hand, they are not tied to sockets, therefore they are very mobile and maneuverable, on the other hand, they are light, silent, easy to operate and environmentally friendly to use. But charging the battery of such blowers lasts from 15 minutes to one hour for the most advanced models, which can be exemplified by some Makita cordless blowers. Most cordless blowers need to be charged quite often. Therefore, you will constantly have to be distracted from work to recharge the batteries.
However, due to the fact that they are the most suitable tools for cleaning small garden areas, it makes sense to look at the available models of blowers from the most famous manufacturers, such as Bosch, DeWalt, Makita and Gardena, in more detail.
Cordless blowers
Among garden cleaning units powered by batteries, most often there are blowers with only one mode of operation, blowing, without suction, although, as mentioned earlier, they can be called a battery blower – a vacuum cleaner.
The vast majority of blower models are powered by one or even several lithium-ion batteries. They began to be used in blowers relatively recently. They have a high energy density and, of course, a higher capacity than other types of batteries.
Therefore, they can be charged even without waiting for the final discharge.
The battery capacity of different models of blowers is different. Some models have a single charge for 15-20 minutes of continuous use, which is enough to remove leaves from the path or freshly fallen snow from the roof. Such, for example, is the Stihl bga 56 set cordless blower. Its battery capacity of 2,8 Ah is enough for approximately 20 minutes of operation.
Other models of blowers can work continuously on a single charge for about an hour, but they usually use several batteries, and their cost is much higher. An example of a successful ratio of quality and price is the battery blower Dewalt dcm 562 p1. Its battery capacity reaches 5 Ah, respectively, this unit is able to work without recharging up to 50-60 minutes.
Battery blowers differ in the maximum speed of the air blown out of the pipe opening. It can range from 40 to 75 meters per second. With a high air flow rate, you can sweep away even small pebbles and branches.
Because for all similar technical indicators, the blower model you have chosen may not be designed for garden work.
An example is the Bosch gbl 18v 120 blower model, which has a high flow speed of 75 m / s and an average battery voltage of -18v, but due to the very small battery capacity, it can only work 5 or 9 minutes without recharging.
All blowers are very light – their weight varies from 1,5 to 3 kg, and this is convenient because they can be held on weight even with one hand. An example of one of the lightest models, which is not inferior to others in terms of performance, is the Gardena Accujet 18 li blower. Its mass, and together with the battery is only 1,8 kg. Despite such a small weight, the airflow speed of this blower reaches 190 km / h, and it is able to clean an area of u300bu18babout 18 square meters per battery charge. meters. The designation XNUMX li in the abbreviation of the model indicates the use of a lithium – ion battery with a voltage of XNUMXv. In addition, this blower has a battery level indicator.
Therefore, when choosing a charger, be guided by the battery voltage according to the blower’s passport, which can be 14v, 18v, 36v or 40v.
Cordless Garden Vacuums
Cordless models of blowers for collecting leaves and other plant debris are quite rare. Unfortunately, neither Bosch, nor Gardena, nor Dewalt, nor even Makita produce this kind of models.
Among the more or less well-known brands, in addition to the already mentioned Greenworks model, there are only Ryobi RBV36 B and Einhell GE-CL 36 Li E blowers-vacuum cleaners.
Of course, the Ryobi RBV36 B can be considered the most powerful and reliable among them, this blower-vacuum cleaner even has wheels located on the suction pipe, which allows it to achieve great efficiency in sucking up plant debris.
In the article, battery models of blowers were considered in particular detail, since they are the most in demand for most owners of small country plots. But, everyone should choose a garden assistant, first of all, based on their needs and capabilities.
