Especially gas powered ones. If you are going to blow refuse in the street, can’t you at least do it quietly?
The world will be better when people will stop following the medieval trend of having a lawn. Water consumption, leaf blowers, habitat invasion would be finally gone.
It sounds like a very American problem. I just let the leaves rot away on their own really, maybe sweep the path by my house and they can sit on a garden bed around some plants and rot down there.
Somewhat. Mostly because you have a lot of suburban people in America who like manicured lawns and expect you to do the same. Even without an HOA, you still have people calling the city if your lawn gets too out of sorts.
In the documentary “The Power Of Nightmares”, it’s mentioned that Sayyid Qutb (an Egyptian political theorist who’s ideas directly influenced Osama Bin Laden) saw Americans being overly concerned with lawncare as a decadent and repulsive thing. I can’t say he’s wrong. He wasn’t even around to see what TruGreen does to things. It should be noted, too, that his criticism wasn’t from afar. He spent two years as a student in the US after WWII, and he didn’t come away liking the place.
I sleep with earplugs in because I work nights and have no idea when the HOA maintenance people are going to start blowing those things at 8 in the fucking morning.
Echoing a handful of comments in this thread, I’m from Argentina and I’ve seen maybe one leaf blower in my entire lifetime. However, I’ve been to the US , so I believe you (my condolences)
If my understanding is correct, leaf blowers contribute a lot to the current massive bug die-off that’s been happening lately all over, because many bug species reproduce in leaf litter. In that regard, they’re not only terrible noise-wise, but ecologically-wise as well.
So, terrible all around.
As a scandinavian I never got what the deal is. Just let it decompose? Or use a rake, it’s not that hard.
Then I visited Texas, and leafblowers were everywhere to the point where I had to ask a coworker “why do you guys hate leaves so much?”
It goes against the perfect manicured lawn narrative.
Idk I find using a rake is actually pretty hard
My property has dozens and dozens of trees, many of which are big leaf maples, it’s sweaty physical work that lasts months and months to keep up, the rainy months too, and if I don’t keep up my house gets overtaken by the forest
Gas ones are banned in my town starting June 1st. Going to be reporting so many people.
Luckily I own a battery powered one owned by a giant multinational gas company (Ego/Chevron)!
Or you could just use a leaf rake.
I tend to for leaf removal. The mounds of leaves get too large for a blower to handle.
The blower is more for gutter-cleaning, blowing random woods-generated debris off the porch and deck, and blowing lawn clippings off the sidewalk/street/driveway/walkway back into my lawn.
Dang. Quite a multitool.
And uses the same battery as my pressure washer, lawn mower, weed eater, edger (giggity), misting fan, and chainsaw. It really is a great line of products.
I love the idea behind this. Overall I’ve been burned about 3 times in my home ownership time by committing to a brand like this. The brands seem to change batteries (voltage or connectors or both) on a 5 to 10 year cycle, meaning I either have to rebuild packs (fun with newer BMS etc) or deal with China sourced minimum lifetime packs. Even bigger things do this - but I did recently bought a Ryobi ride on mower that originally had lead acid that I covered myself to a single 48v lifepo4. Their newer ride ons have large 80v “packs” that I’m sure cost an arm and a leg for a proper “official” pack.
Luckily Ego has stuck with the same 56 volt batteries, just offering them in different capacities but all interchangeable. When they need more, they just take more of them; my pressure washer takes two batteries, and their riding lawn mowers take four. They’re made to scale to plan against needing a new architecture in the future.
The limit of that, however, is that they can’t make small devices since their only battery size is huge, so I have to use a different ecosystem for things like drills, drivers, and sanders. But Ego is so much better than the alternatives for lawn care that it’s worth the extra chargers.
I’m Brazilian. As one can imagine, we do have a lot of leaves, being a tropical country and all.
I have not seen a leaf blower in my entire life, and I don’t understand the obsession with them.
I envy you. They are the bane of my existence. I have 4 neighbors that use them for landscaping once a week, most of the year. As for the appeal: you ever see a kid use a straw to blow stuff around? My theory is leaf blowers are an extension of that curiosity. A toy, really. When I hear someone rationalizing their use of a leaf blower, I hear someone talking about a toy they like. nevermind all the times i hear folks revving them like they’re on a motorcycle.
Being in a tropical country, I imagine most/all of your trees are non-deciduous, as in they don’t lose all their leaves in autumn and then regrow in the spring? Imagine all the leaves drying up, falling off, and the mess is left all over the ground. Cleanup is a laborious effort. Leaf blowers speed up the process by blowing the leaves from trafficked locations and/or to more centralized locations that are easier to clean the debris. Helpful, noisy, and often environmentally unfriendly.
I live in the UK, I have never had an issue with leaves beyond a brief sweep of the main pathway.
The massive jacaranda mimosifolia (native to Brazil) which is dominating my front garden, laughs at your suggestion that it does not leave much mess on the ground.
It regularly carpets the area below it in purple flowers, tens of thousands of small leaves, hundreds of twigs/seed pods and a few larger dried branches. Not just one season either - it flowers multiple times a year with how weird the weather is nowadays. The birds and bees like it though so we’re cool.
You’re correct about most trees not following your typical seasonal variance.
You’re incorrect about this meaning we don’t deal with significant amounts of leaves and flowers. Search for Handroanthus images, then imagine one on each sidewalk, and imagine all their flowers on the ground.
Peiple just use “rastelos” here (is there even a translation?)
A rake?
I get a lot of leaves. I have a battery powered 60v leaf blower. I blow them away from my foundation so I don’t get a rotting mound around my house. Then I have to blow those away or they won’t biodegrade without leaving giant dirt patches. What I’ve found works well is blowing them into the forest bed at the edge of my property. The deer and other animals seem to help break them down. I don’t have to worry about them until fall but there are just too many to leave lie where they land. I go through three batteries a day over the course of weeks to keep them from building up really bad. I’m not a mow every week manicured lawn kind of person either. Right now most of my back yard is over a foot tall with a mowed area for my small dog.
I also like the leaf blower for cleaning off my gutter guards, drive, lawn mower, garage floor, deck, and even when it’s just a light snow I’ll go out a few times to blow everything off so I don’t have to shovel.
Is that really so much easier than raking?
Yes.
It’s also a billion times more annoying. Just use a rake, dude. And while were at it, install a lawnbot. Fucking lawnmowers are just as loud and annoying.
Wouldn’t a goat be a cheaper and less polluting solution which would also automatically mow the lawn and produce milk…?
(Of course it wouldn’t solve the noise problem, but it’d probably be less offensive than a leaf blower…)
You think that right up until you see and smell how much poop comes from one cow/goat/sheep. If your neighbor had one, you would have complaints.
Can’t even jump in big piles of leaves anymore cuz they just blow them away 😩
I agree that overuse of them is an issue, but damn they come in handy more than I thought it would… Mine is at least electric, and cleaning out dusty stuff (fans, cars, rugs, etc) is so quick and easy… I almost never use mine for grass or leaves.
Yeah! Clean the coils onthe fridge fast and easy. (Open windows first. Close cupboard doors.)
Oof, I’d go shop vac there. You’re just spreading it around, no?
If on the scale of annoyance gas leaf blowers are 10/10, electric are 3/10.
Ditto. Primarily mine is used to “sweep” the shop and dry off motorcycles after washing.
Have you ever used one to stoke a fire?
Honestly this is a reason I would kinda like to have one. But I do have a 500w electric blower for cleaning dust from my PC. Have thought of using that to help get the BBQ going real hot sometime if I get an extension lead for it.
How would you like your steak? I can apply it directly to the coals anywhere from orange to white hot.
I’ve been doing my steak over 600 degree Fahrenheit charcoal lately and it turns out killer.
That is only 315°c, that can’t even be glowing surely?
Yeah I guess it’s not the coal temperature but the actual bbq temperature.
Or bring a woman to orgasm?
Or clean your gutters?
The female orgasm is a myth.
Counterpoint: your mom
We’re not talking about cheap whores here though.
Relevant podcast episode. https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-los-angeles-leaf-blower-wars/
Good episode for sure. Well… most 99% Invisible episodes are good!
The answer to the world’s problems … remove leaf blowers
you jest, but children around the world are no longer starving thanks to this post.
you jest, but various pollinators depend on leaf coverage for winter protection. Fewer pollinators does result in less food…
You know, I was just— bbbrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Your comment blows, dude…
Leaf blowers piss me the fuck offffff VvRrrmmmm Five seconds later… VRRRMMMMMM Sound gets closer… VRRRRRrrrMmmmmmMMMMM!!!
