Sometimes, it pays to go old school.
The Husqvarna 150BT Gas Backpack Leaf Blower dispenses with all the fancy electric power trends, battery packs, and — oh, yeah — the fact that many “next gen” leaf blowers are underpowered. This is a gas-powered machine for people who just need to clean up leaves.
I tested it on a new property where we live, having moved here a few months ago. It’s about a half acre but there are roughly 10 trees here, all large enough to produce those floating little pedals we all love to hate. I mean, leaves look amazing in the fall. They don’t make you feel that great when there are thousands of them scattered around your yard.
I was surprised by a few things with the Husqvarna 150BT Gas Backpack Leaf Blower. For one, it is a monster (and I mean that in a good way). There are two models available, one that runs at 251 MPH and one that runs at 270MPH. I tested the more powerful model, and leaves had no chance at all. The unit is not light (it weighs 22 pounds) but makes quick work of leaves. It straps to your back so you don’t have to carry it around. It’s a big, serious leaf blower.
Now, I should mention some pros and cons with all of this. With a gas powered leaf blower, you can stay out all afternoon and probably not have to refill anything. With lesser leaf blowers — meaning the kind that use a battery — they will run dry in about an hour or less. I managed to clean up my entire yard without even wondering if I had to refuel.
Because the unit is more powerful and you wear it on your back, you just get into the zone and do what you need to do. Sometimes, with a battery-powered model, I would get distracted and set the product down and do something else for a while. There is no “setting down” with this one. Once you are “strapped in” you just get down to business.
I like the power, I like the fact that it lasts all afternoon, I like that you can just stick with the chore of removing all of your leaves. The two-stage engine (which requires mixed gas) is called an X-Torq and Husqvarna claims it reduces emissions by 60% over other models. That’s great, although the battery-powered models have zero emissions. It’s a trade off. As I mentioned, there are benefits to going gas-powered for your lawn tools.
What is it actually like to use? I noticed the machine doesn’t vibrate as much as I thought it would. Husqvarna says this is due to a technology that limits vibration between the chassis and the blower unit. I was impressed by how easy it was to throttle the leaf blower, angle it toward the weeds, and move around my yard. I didn’t feel like it was overly heavy.
Did I mention it has cruise control? You can lock into a set speed and not worry about holding down the throttle. I enjoyed using this leaf blower more than I imagined, and will keep taking care of business in my yard this fall. It’s powerful, lasts a long time, and gets the job done.
