Especially gas powered ones. If you are going to blow refuse in the street, can’t you at least do it quietly?
…and also stop using it when a car is passing by. Thanks assholes
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.
I have a reel mower, and my leaf blower is pretty quiet, but thanks.
They were invented in the 1950s.
So the Depression and the World Wars were quieter…
I was also invented in the 1950s, and you did not start to see them until the 70s or 80s.
I had a neighbor who was rather compulsive about her yard. She would mow her yard/have it mowed 2-3 times a week and would use a leaf blower to push the grass clippings onto her neighbors yard every time. She would also leaf blow her roof with surprising frequency.
I gotta say, I was a little relieved when I saw the for sale sign in the yard earlier this year.
Blowers should be illegal.
Gas powered high volume blowers, yes.
Electric ones aren’t so bad.
Maybe, but the hardware battery pack industrial complex needs to be regulated as well. So much e-waste and batteries use in most contexts where an extension cable is more suitable.
They’re still unnecessary and enviriomentally harmful.
we are blessed here to have the noise in the winter, too. more than three flakes of snow and there’s sure to be a legion of leaf blowers clearing off precious pavement in neighborhoods all over town. the guys that do it at 4-5am are the true treasures.
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…
suck my stamen yo
You know, I was just— bbbrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Your comment blows, dude…
am i the baddie?
Relevant podcast episode. https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-los-angeles-leaf-blower-wars/
Good episode for sure. Well… most 99% Invisible episodes are good!
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.
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.
If on the scale of annoyance gas leaf blowers are 10/10, electric are 3/10.
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?
The female orgasm is a myth.
Counterpoint: your mom
We’re not talking about cheap whores here though.
Or clean your gutters?
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?
Ditto. Primarily mine is used to “sweep” the shop and dry off motorcycles after washing.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
I always think about something along these lines about cars.
Fuck leaf blowers and whoever invented them. Should be illegal along with ultra bright headlights
