Best leaf blowers: Keep your garden clean with garden blowers & vacuum mulchers
When fall arrives, a bunch of leaves not only look messy but can be dangerous when they get wet and slip. Any gardener should invest in a leaf vacuum mulcher or garden broom for the easiest arrangement. We have reviewed and listed the best options here.
We've reviewed a selection of cordless leaf blowers vacuum mulchers in Trusted Reviews, and the list here includes the best. We've reviewed leaf blowers and patio brooms, as well as products that do both.
Leaf blowers are best for large amounts of debris, allowing you to blow everything into a pile for easy removal. Leaf vacuum mulchers suck everything up and can be useful for picking up trash, but they take longer to do larger jobs because you have to move around to pick them up. The built-in tools do both, but the setup and use process can be tedious.
1. Stihl BGA 86: The best hand-held leaf blower we've tested
Why We Love Stihl BGA 86
The Stihl BGA 86 is a welcome improvement over our previous pick. Well crafted, this tool is designed to naturally face down your hand, making it easy to clean your patio. This tool uses Stihl's professional line of AP batteries, and you can purchase the tool without or with batteries and chargers.
The airflow, with a top speed of 69 m/s, running at a whopping 902.11 m3/h, is huge. What size? Well, you can feel the leaf blower growing back in your hand when you use it, and it quickly clears even the most stubborn debris, including large twigs and leaves stuck in blades of grass.
However, precise trigger control means you can let go of the handle and lower the engine rpm to a soft noise, giving you the ability to store exactly the right amount of paper or even blow up the workshop.
The weight, especially due to the battery, is quite heavy, so longer tasks with this model can make you a little tired. However, with the recommended AP300 battery, you can get around 21 minutes of use, which is more than enough to clean everything, even the largest gardens.
At 82.9 dB, the BGA 87 is quiet for a leaf blower, especially a very powerful one - it's as loud as a cordless vacuum at full power.
2. Makita DUB183Z: A small, easy-to-use leaf blower for anyone with the Makita cordless kit
Why we love the Makita DUB183Z
If you have a Makita 18V power tool kit, then the Makita DUB183Z is an attractive leaf blower for you and well worth the money. This very small blower is very quiet and is suitable not only for the garden but also for cleaning the floor of the workshop after the work is done.
The downside is that this outdoor leaf blower cleans leaves very slowly and doesn't have the power of other stronger cleaners. It can still clean by blowing wet leaves onto the 4-inch base, but the Makita DUB183Z takes a little longer than the other leaf blowers on this list. As such, this leaf blower is best suited for small spaces and you will need a larger fan for larger gardens.
However, for those with existing batteries they can use, the Makita DUB183Z is a useful add-on.
How do we test leaf blowers?
When we test leaf blowers and leaf mulcher, we look for 4 things:
Time and ease of use
Each time we test a leaf blower or leaf vacuum mulcher, we collect 3 kg of wet leaves and scatter them over 40 square meters of lawn. Then we determine the time it takes to blow the leaves into a pile. Along the way, we'll take a look at the device's ease of handling, power levels, and noise levels.
Blowing
To have the blowing force, we stand at a fixed point and use the fan to create an arc on the piece of paper. Then we measure the blowing distance by the blower. We use wet leaves in the lawn; This is when the blower really shows his bravery. To remove dry leaves and other debris from hard surfaces, even weak blowers provide long battery life.
Noise
As for volume, we kept the decibel scale at head height when operating the device in its usual position on the side of the body.
Suction power (for leaf vacuum mulcher machine)
For the void, we then empty the whole stack and evaluate how well the void has adapted, check for any bottlenecks, whether it can absorb the whole stack and do Empty how easy it is. We also assessed how easy it is to switch between blow and sweep - some multi-tube blowers can be too tedious to switch.
Tips for leaf vacuum mulchers blowers
How many leaves will you clean?
It sounds obvious (and it is), but it's important. If you have a small garden, you should use a smaller, less powerful fan or vacuum mulcher. Most people will be better off with a blower or blower and vacuum combination, but if you have a large amount of paper, you'll need a stronger and more durable machine to get the job done. If you have a lot of space to cover, don't skimp on machines, you'll regret it later.
Battery or gas, which is better?
Most models use batteries that last 30 minutes. Powerful models will consume a lot this time, but if your yard is large and you're looking to work a few hours, an electric or gas-powered leaf blower vacuum mulcher will be essential. Gasoline models give you range, but they tend to be more expensive and are often something we only recommend if needed. For most homes, you should buy a power tool kit and an extension cord.