Vacuums for the Outdoors

!: Vacuums for the Outdoors

Mention vacuums and most people think of cleaning carpets. There is a niche of commercial vacuums designed for the outdoors and they are powerful.

The fall season creates some problems for the maintenance of large lawns. Smaller homes and smaller lawns can deal with the leaf problem with a rake. Some larger lawns can make use of a blower that uses the force of air to replace the muscle power of the rake. Both of these methods have a similar drawback. They move the leaves from one place to another, but they do not remove them. A second step is needed to either burn or bag the piles of debris raked from the yard.

The solution for the maintenance of a large lawn is the commercial leaf vacuum. The leaf vacuum works in the same manner as a vacuum cleaner. A powerful motor creates a suction that sucks leafs into a hose and deposits them in a large container. The container can be rolled to another location and dumped. The vacuumed lawn looks well maintained and manicured with a minimum of effort.

There are two major styles of leaf vacs available. The first type is a push and walk behind model. The container is usually a large, but light weight wheeled cart. The engine assembly resembles a push lawn mover. In fact, most of them are equipped with Briggs and Stratton or Honda lawn mover motors. The user starts the motor and pushes the machine around the lawn in the same manner as he would vacuum a rug inside.

For larger lawns, there are several units that are designed to attach to riding lawn mowers or garden tractors. These are designed for the largest lawns. The cart is much larger as it can be easily pulled by the tractor. Most of these models are designed to work in conjunction with the lawn mower. Grass can be cut and the clippings removed at the same time that the leafs and other small litter is being vacuumed.

The leaf vacuum is a valuable tool for a landscaping operation that is concerned with creating perfectly maintained lawns. The size of the lawn is usually the main determining factor. The type and amount of trees spread across the grounds or nearby also makes a big difference. When there are large numbers of trees in the area, the total volume of debris on the lawn becomes too large a job for rakes or a simple leaf blower. It is then that the leaf vacuum is needed.

Vacuums for the Outdoors

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How to Choose the Best Snow Thrower For Your Needs

!: How to Choose the Best Snow Thrower For Your Needs

Several years ago, I bought my first snow blower for my first house. Before purchase, I had researched different snow throwers, because I had never used one or owned one, and we did not have them at home when I was a kid. I had several main criteria in mind, so that I could match the snow thrower to my needs.

Power, which translates into how deep the snow would get before it would need to be removed, what kind of snow the machine could handle (heavy or fluffy), and how much area would need to cleared. A single stage machine was right for me. I have a cement driveway, about 150 feet long and generally one car wide. If it was gravel, I would have considered two-stage snow throwers. Single-stage means there is one spinning rotor that both collects the snow and throws it out through the chute. These machines are less powerful than two-stage snow throwers that have an auger to collect the snow, and an impeller to throw it. Weight of the machine was also important. It needed to be light enough that I could lift it, and even hang it on the wall for storage. Fuel source. The choices were gasoline or electric. I chose an electric snow thrower because I have grounded outlets in the garage and house that are right next to the driveway, and because I wouldn't have to deal with gasoline in the cold.

As for the power cord, I discovered the type that has an all-weather coating. These stay flexible in cold weather, an added convenience when using the snow thrower. In the end, I selected the Toro 1800 electric snow thrower. It can handle the type of snow I get most often. Unless you match your needs to a product, in my experience, it is likely that you will be dissatisfied with your purchase.

My biggest challenge throwing snow was learning how to deal with the prevailing wind. It blows across my driveway, and I was not going to be able to throw snow in that direction. So I had to develop my clearing pattern to throw down the driveway most of the time, while avoiding a bath in snow, covering the neighbor's driveway, and filling up my own driveway after I just cleared a section.

After several winters using this snow thrower, it was worth the time and effort to research the products, choose the best one suited to my needs, and learn now to use it. This electric snow thrower is a lot faster than using a shovel, and a lot less work.

How to Choose the Best Snow Thrower For Your Needs

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Using Leaf Blower Ratings to Choose a Backpack Leaf Blower

!: Using Leaf Blower Ratings to Choose a Backpack Leaf Blower

Leaf blower ratings can help you choose a backpack leaf blower that will suit your needs. There are technical ratings concerning the physics of how these tools work and there are others that are more the view points of people who have already bought the particular leaf bower that you are looking at. Both types are important but understanding what each means and how they can apply to your choice is just as important. This article assumes that you have already decided on a backpack version rather then a hand held or walk behind type.

Backpack blowers are available in two types. There are ones that just blow and others that can blow and vacuum as well. You firstly have to decide which type will meet your needs. In terms of the work to be done there are advantages associated with each type. The blower only type is simpler in design with fewer attachments to worry about. They will push the leaves and debris about and you can either blow them to the boundaries of your land where they are out of the way or direct them into piles which can then be collected and disposed of later. The ones with a vacuum feature have to have a bag attachment which is used to collect the leaves as they are sucked up. This bag has to be emptied when full and also restricts your movements compared to a simpler blower. You have to decide whether it is less trouble to move the leaves once they are in piles or to keep on emptying a bag.

There are 2 main measurements used to describe the ability of a blower to do its job. The first is the air speed generated in miles per hour and the second is the volume of air moved, measured in cubic feet per minute or CFM. The higher the air speed the larger and stickier the items that can be moved by blowing. A machine with a high air speed is more likely to move large wet leaves and this might be an advantage depending on the type of work you need to do. High air speed also means that debris further away is likely to be moved as well. The CFM measure is useful for determining the vacuuming ability. The higher the CFM of the machine the better that it is likely to be at sucking up larger objects, rather than leaving them lying on the ground.

Ergonomics describes how much thought has gone into making the machine easy on your body when you use it. The fact that this is a backpack design already means that thought has gone into this. It is used to make the machine easier to carry. They are heavier than the hand held ones so this feature is essential. The ergonomic design will determine whether it is comfortable to wear and easy to put on and take off. It will also relate to how easy it is to operate. Strap design and frame design are both important in producing a user friendly tool. Using a blower involves many repeat movements which can damage joints in the body. It is therefore essential that it is well balanced and that the controls are easy to get at and use.

Manufacturers will always say that their machines are well designed, so for information on this you need to consult reviews on the internet written by people who have already bought and used the equipment. With reviews you need to keep in mind that people generally write these if they are very satisfied or very dissatisfied. The vast majority of people who use the tool without problems wouldn't bother to put pen to paper. This means that if you see no reviews it doesn't say that the equipment is bad. You should mainly look to see if there are a lot of complaints about a specific issue and then decide if the information is important in your choice.

The choice of a backpack leaf blower therefore mainly involves looking at the air speed for blowing, the volume of air moved for vacuuming and the ergonomic characteristics to match the human body so that it can be operated in comfort without harming the body. There are many other issues that should be considered but there isn't room to discuss them all here.  

Using Leaf Blower Ratings to Choose a Backpack Leaf Blower

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Troy-Bilt TB 672 208cc OHV Gas Powered Jet Sweep Walk Behind Wheeled Leaf Blower

!: discounted Troy-Bilt TB 672 208cc OHV Gas Powered Jet Sweep Walk Behind Wheeled Leaf Blower guide

Brand : Troy-Bilt | Rate : | Price : $399.00
Post Date : Nov 03, 2011 20:24:12 | Temporarily out of stock. Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information. Your credit card will not be charged until we ship the item.

Features a 208cc OHV Troy Bilt Engine. 14-inch High Output Impeller, 90 Degree Chute Control with Semi-Pneumatic Wheels.

• Front 8-inch by 2-inch rear 12-inch by 2-inch wheel size
• 90 Degree chute control, semi-pneumatic wheels
• 14-Inch high output
• Blowing speeds up to 175-mph / 1150-cfm for maximum blowing power
• Non-carb Compliant/Not For Sale In California

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