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Blower vacs buyer's guide - garden use
All hand-held garden blower vacs consist of a small petrol-powered engine (usually two-stroke) or electric motor connected to a plastic fan that pulls in outside air and forces it through a small-diameter tube at high velocities. This velocity is measured two ways: in cubic feet per minute (cfm) and miles per hour (mph). Cfms can be measured at different points resulting in different numbers. (In the listing of various garden blower-vacs below, the cfms are measured conservatively in the "pipe," "tube," or "blow-mode.")
On some Blower Vacs fans are side-mounted, but on most newer models they are bottom-mounted, a design feature that makes for an easier-handling machine because there's no twisting action caused by the spinning fan.
Manufacturers of garden blower-vacs are highly competitive. For most tasks, a 150-mph air velocity will serve your needs in the garden. Except for comparison purposes, this measure is meaningless by itself. A blower vacs nozzle opening could be reduced to the size of a straw and conceivably blow at 275 mph--good for cleaning out a computer keyboard, but because of the high pressure, it would perform poorly for blowing garden leaves.
What is more significant is how much air the unit is moving, in cubic feet per minute. A blower vac capable of 250 cfm or more (in the "pipe" or blow mode) is a powerful blower vac, and very capable for garden use.
A reduction ratio of garden leaves to mulch of at least 10:1 is respectable, but you'll probably need to use the unit in the vacuum mode and see for yourself if the amount of reduction suits your needs. Remember, most of these blower vac units are designed to mulch only leaves and grass, not small twigs, branches and other garden debris.
More Blower Vac Pages
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