The products and services mentioned below were selected independent of sales and advertising. However, Simplemost may receive a small commission from the purchase of any products or services through an affiliate link to the retailer's website.
Simplemost does the hard work by spending hundreds of hours testing and researching popular products. We also incorporate the scores of other experts. The result is the Simplemost Product Score which represents the overall unbiased rating of a product based upon a 1-10 scale.
Our Top Recommended Leaf Blowers
1. Best Overall
Worx Corded Leaf Blower
The Worx Corded Leaf Blower earned a score of 9.3. The Worx Corded Leaf Blower offers the best of both worlds, with the convenience of an electric leaf blower and more power than many gas-powered models. We like that you can switch between low, medium and high speeds tackling both big and small jobs. It’s also lightweight enough, at only 6.4 pounds, that you can work for hours without getting overly tired..
3. Second Best
BLACK+DECKER Leaf Blower
The BLACK+DECKER Leaf Blower earned a score of 9.1. The Black+Decker leaf blower brings versatility to your lawn care, serving as a blower, vacuum and mulcher in one. It’s also quieter than many other blowers on the market, so you won’t have to worry about disturbing the neighbors. It has disposable leaf bags for easy recycling. It can also grind up to 16 bags of mulch into just one.
3. Also Consider
Husqvarna Backpack Leaf Blower
The Husqvarna Backpack Leaf Blower earned a score of 9.0. The Husqvarna Backpack Leaf Blower brings the power of a gas-powered leaf blower without the exhaust. It’s built to reduce emissions by as much as 60 percent. As with many gas leaf blowers, though, the Husqvarna is fairly noisy, so you’ll need to protect your eardrums. It’s built as a backpack to make it easier to transport and maneuver while you work.
Our Findings
Our Leaf Blower Buying Guide
If you’ve ever lived on a lot with plenty of trees, you know how challenging leaf cleanup can be. Sure, you can comb your yard with a rake, but that’s both a labor-intensive and time-consuming effort. With a leaf blower, you can send large piles of leaves in the same direction, where you can later recycle them and keep your yard clean.
But buying a leaf blower comes with its own challenges. You’ll immediately find that you have a choice between gas, corded electric or battery-powered blowers, each with its own benefits. A gas-powered leaf blower is typically more powerful, which means you’ll be able to clear away more leaves in a shorter timeframe. However, corded leaf blowers have made great advancements in recent years, bringing their own impressive power. Battery-powered leaf blowers also still fall behind their gas counterparts.
There are some downsides to all three options. Gas-powered leaf blowers require more maintenance, and you’ll have to keep them stocked with fuel and oil. Electric blowers don’t require that, but you’ll have that pesky cord keeping you tethered to a power plug. Although battery-powered blowers don’t have either of those issues, you’ll be limited in runtime due to the fact that each charge only lets you go so far.
Some leaf blowers come with a backpack, allowing you to access full power without having to worry about weight. The backpack helps you carry part of the load, slipping handily onto your back and staying in place with a strap. These harnesses are designed to promote ergonomics to keep you safe and comfortable while you work. If you choose a leaf blower without a backpack, make sure it’s lightweight enough for those big autumn jobs.
Safety is a concern with leaf blowers, especially for your eyes and ears. Safety glasses are a good purchase for your leaf-blowing projects, keeping you protected against that stray rock you might blow around. But many landscapers also learn to protect their ears with plugs, keeping sensitive eardrums safe from the excessive noise these tools can create.
Even with all of those considerations, though, the most important thing is how well it does its job. It’s all about air speed for leaf blowers. The more air that comes through its blower tube, the more effective it will be. It’s also important to note that some leaf blowers also provide suction ability, so if gathering rather than blowing is your priority, a unit with a vacuum tube may be worth considering.
Fun Facts About Leaf Blowers
How long you’ll spend working on your yard depends on the part of the country where you live. The average homeowner spends four hours each week on lawncare-related tasks. The good news is, you likely get a break during the cold months. If you live in a warmer client, you’ll spend 208 hours per year keeping your yard looking good. But in cooler areas, that drops to 208 hours. Approximately 22 million homeowners outsource those hours to a landscaping professional, which means they contribute heavily to the $30 million per year that consumers spend on their yards. This is fairly notable, considering the average American lawn is only one-fifth of an acre.
Tip and Advice
- A leaf blower that can only move an object a few feet won’t be much help. Gas blowers like the Husqvarna Backpack Leaf Blower have powerful engines to push leaves farther. The Worx Corded Leaf Blower, however, still packs an impressive punch, even though it’s electric powered. You’ll get air speeds of as much as 110 miles per hour with this model, with air movement of about 600 cubic feet per minute, making it effective with even wet leaves and small rocks. Perhaps most surprisingly, though, is the battery-powered Greenworks Cordless Leaf Blower, which offers a powerful 125 miles per hour of airflow.
- Blowing leaves and other small items generally means alternating between needing high-speed airflow, much lower speeds and something in between. This makes a leaf blower with multiple speed settings very valuable. The Worx Corded Leaf Blower lets you choose low, medium and high as you work. The Greenworks Cordless Leaf Blower offers six different speed options.
- Although a backpack leaf blower can offset some of the burden, a handheld one can be just as comfortable, provided you choose a lightweight one. The battery-powered Greenworks Cordless Leaf Blower is extremely lightweight, at only 5.6 pounds. The Worx Corded Leaf Blower is fairly lightweight as well, totaling only 6.4 pounds. The BLACK+DECKER Leaf Blower is likely better for those who plan to tackle small jobs since it weighs 14.85 pounds.
- With electric leaf blowers, you have to worry about a cord. It can continuously get in the way, making it difficult to do your work. The Worx Corded Leaf Blower has a power cord retainer, which ensures the cord stays out of the way while you work.
- Another uncomfortable part of leaf blowing is holding a trigger in place for the entire time you’re working. The Husqvarna Backpack Leaf Blower has a cruise control feature, which means you can take your finger off that trigger for longer jobs.
- If you opt for a battery-powered model, make sure you pay close attention to whether the battery is included with the leaf blower. The Greenworks Cordless Leaf Blower doesn’t come with one, and it’s compatible only with a 40V 4Ah (146 Wh) battery, so you’ll need to purchase one before you can start using it.
- Even the most subtle vibrations can get annoying after you’ve worked for a while. The Husqvarna Backpack Leaf Blower puts a damper between the engine and chassis to keep those pesky vibrations at a minimum.
- If you’re going with a gas-powered blower, pay close attention to tank size. A smaller tank means you won’t get as much work in before you need to refuel. The Husqvarna Backpack Leaf Blower offers a 42-ounce tank, giving you hours of uninterrupted performance.
- Leaf blowers can be noisy enough to wake the entire neighborhood, but newer models strive to keep things as quiet as possible. Thanks to a redesign, the BLACK+DECKER Leaf Blower is 50 percent quieter than it was previously. The Worx Corded Leaf Blower is also relatively quiet, although it gets much noisier when you switch it to high. As with many gas-powered leaf blowers, though, the Husqvarna Backpack Leaf Blower is so loud, you’ll need earplugs to protect your eardrums while you’re using it.
- Some leaf blowers work not only to push air out, but also to suck things in. If you think you might want to use this vacuum feature, look for a multipurpose blower. The BLACK+DECKER Leaf Blower is a blower, vacuum and mulcher, so you can collect yard debris and chop it up to make it easy to reuse or recycle. The Husqvarna Backpack Leaf Blower and Greenworks Cordless Leaf Blower also have vacuum capabilities. The Greenworks Cordless Leaf Blower lacks in the suction area, though. So if you plan to use your blower as a vacuum frequently, it might be better to go with the BLACK+DECKER or Husqvarna models.
- If you plan to use your leaf blower for mulching, the BLACK+DECKER Leaf Blower can grind 16 bags of mulch into just one.
- Environmentally concerned consumers generally steer toward battery or electric-powered leaf blowers, since gas-powered models consume fuel and emit exhaust. Although the Husqvarna Backpack Leaf Blower runs on gas, it does have an X-TORQ engine design that can cut down on exhaust admissions by as much as 60 percent. This design also means an increase in fuel efficiency by as much as 20 percent.
- Changing from a blower to a vacuum is easy with the BLACK+DECKER Leaf Blower. With just one button, you can eject the attached pieces.
- The BLACK+DECKER Leaf Blower comes with a disposable leaf bag, making it easy to get rid of what you’ve collected. If you’re environmentally concerned, though, the model comes with a reusable collection bag. Simply dump the contents when you’re ready and reattach it.
- One thing affecting the Worx Corded Leaf Blower’s efficiency is that there’s an air intake in the rear. Unfortunately, this means that as air is going out the front, it’s also sucking in air from the back.
- Gas leaf blowers are often far more expensive than their battery and electric-powered counterparts, and the Husqvarna Backpack Leaf Blower is no exception.
- Durability is always an issue with household tools. If you’re shelling for the Husqvarna Backpack Leaf Blower, you might want to read through the two-year limited warranty before you buy. The Greenworks Cordless Leaf Blower is built to last, with a design that makes sure components don’t have to be replaced or repaired often. You’ll also get a four-year warranty on the blower.
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