Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've tried 3 electric blowers, the Toro 51599, the Troy-Bilt TB195BV and the B&D LH4500 (the B&D LH5000 was not available locally). 2 of them are going back to the store. I hate to buy things knowing I'm going to return them, it's an expense for the stores yet its not their fault. They need to take this up with the manufacturers that are building shoddy equipment. Hopefully it is Toro that eats the cost of the return. My 12 year old B&D 2 speed blower (bv1500) just died, I kept it running for those 12 years by replacing the motor brushes 2 times at about $7/pair. I've been using a router speed controller ($10 on sale at harborfreight) with it (same type of motor) and loved being able to dial it down to a whisper, really handy for blowing out fragile flower beds. I knew that when this blower died I wanted the built-in speed control of and metal impeller that the Toro 51599 had. What a disappointment that turned out to be. In a vain attempt I went back to try to fix my bv1500 one last time, it was still flat-lining. I took back everything bad I've ever said about it, wiped the tear from my eye and went on a search for a suitable replacement. Every review I've read for a failed blower sited a "burned out motor" as the problem. The universal motors in all electric blowers run fast (like 10k+ rpm) and hot. Once the brushes start sparking excessively (due to wear, dirt or vibration), the 12A arcs can burn out a motor in minutes. About 5-10% of the reviews indicate premature failure with a burned out motor (read the 1 & 2 star reviews). You can't buy replacement brushes for any blower sold today by the major electric blower manufactures (B&D, Toro, Troy-bilt). The brushes *can* easily be replaced, they just don't offer them for sale, you have little choice but to toss the whole thing into the land fill. So much for trying to be green. The next best thing is to find a blower with beefier brushes that doesn't spark too much and hope that it will last longer. The Toro 51599 does not fit the bill, the measly brushes are barely ¼" square and about 1" long, they'll be toast in less than 50 hours like many people have reported. My old B&D had brushes that were 1/4" x ½" and 1 ½" long, they ran for 6 years before needing replacement. Excessive vibration can cause the brushes to bounce and arc. This blower has excessive vibration, after 15 minutes my hand was numb. No doubt the vibration is caused by the metal impeller which was not properly balanced at the factory. To make matters worse, the brushes on this blower are next to the impeller (rather than at the other end of the motor like the B&D and Troy-bilt). This is where the vibration is worst. It's also the end of the motor furthest from the vents, so you won't see the sparks until they become really festive. Other cons about this blower: 1. Vibrates like crazy, this causes hand fatigue and is not good for the blower either. I imagine that the vibration will wear on the plastic motor mounts and get even worse over time. 2. You can't operate the blower without the long exhaust nozzle, it holds the intake guard in place and the safety switch won't let you run without it. I have plants close to the house I like to blow away from the house with no output nozzle. My old B&D had a ¼ turn nozzle that was easily added or removed while running. 3. The vacuum intake tubes can't easily be taken apart for storage, they lock together once you attach them. 4. It's not "infinitely variable" as it says on the box. You can adjust the power from 7A to 12A (measured), about 60-100%. It doesn't go low enough to blow out fragile flower beds. You'll get a lower low speed with any 2 speed blower (50% & 100%) (2 speed blowers just switch a diode in series with the ac line so you just get 1/2 of the cycles, it's cheap, effective and reliable). 5. The concentrator attachment is not easily installed or removed. You have to remove the intake guard, remove the blower tube, shove it down the tube from the inside then re-assemble. Pros: 1. it is powerful 2. I like the ergonomics of the handles 3. metal impeller (but matters little if it burns out in 1 year as they tend to do) FWIW, the B&D LH4500 2-speed with metal impeller vibrates even more than this one and it's really loud. Seems that metal impellers are a good idea, but poorly manufactured. Right now I'm gonna stick with the Troy-Bilt TB195BV, it runs very quiet and has no vibration at all. The brushes look beefy as viewed from the vents and has very little sparking when running. The TB195 claims 450CFM (highest of all 3 blowers), but the intake restriction and small output nozzle limits it to nearly half that (estimated). Yet, it still seems to move the leaves nicely. I may knock out the center most ring of the intake finger guard and cut off the last 2-4 inches of the nozzle for an estimated 30% increase in air flow. This will void the warranty, so I'm gonna wait till next fall on this mod. The TB195 is a variable speed and like the Toro, adjustment range is only 60%-100%. Couldn't find the noise spec on the Toro, but the B&D is 69db and the Troy-Bilt is 64db. Per the specs this makes the B&D well over twice as loud as the Troy-Bilt. My experience confirms the volume difference. I barely need ear protection with the Troy-Bilt.