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If you're a subscriber to this magazine, then chances are you use a backpack blower sometime during your workday. They are popular with people moving large volumes of debris in cleanup applications for sweepers, crack sealers, sealcoaters, or anyone else looking to clean up a site before or after a job. But not everyone thinks they're so great. Over the last 10 to 15 years, dozens of communities across the United States have banned or restricted the use of gas-powered blowers, citing noise, emissions, and dust creation as a public nuisance. If you've been around the industry long enough to have used a backpack blower manufactured prior to the 1990s, then you can understand where all those negative feelings came from. However, the gas-powered blowers of today are a different story,

"There's no question about it — the older designed blowers and certainly the larger blowers were just plain noisy," says Larry Will, vice president, Echo Inc. (retired). "We've done things to improve that across the line. Not all blowers are super quiet, but they are certainly quieter than they used to be."

Reducing noise, although not mandated by a government agency, has been an issue the industry has taken on as a goal because of the simple fact that these blowers were noisy, both for neighbors and operators, and something had to be done. In addition to the issue of noise, the blower industry has also addressed emissions. Reducing emissions has been mandated by the EPA, and today's gas-powered blowers have up to a 90% reduction in hydrocarbon emissions compared to blowers manufactured in the early 1990s. The dust issue, however, is something blower design can do little about. This problem is best solved by operators who are knowledgeable with their machines and know how to avoid stirring up dust.

All of these factors should be considered when you look at new models of backpack blowers for your business. Price, durability, and performance are driving factors in any blower purchase, but noise and emissions should be considered when purchasing a gas-powered blower, especially if you do work in residential area.

Choosing a blower

When you choose a backpack blower, you need to look at the performance of the machine and how it will fit your needs. You should consider two factors when looking at blower performance — the velocity of the air coming out of the end of the nozzle and the air volume, or the cubic feet per minute of air that's forced through the unit. Air velocity lifts up the debris you're trying to sweep away, and the air volume carries it away. The air volume is related to the total horsepower of the unit, so naturally a unit with a higher horsepower generally will have more air flow. Backpack blowers can vary greatly in horsepower. The air volume from 1 horsepower blowers generally will supply about 300 cubic feet of air per minute at the tube tip, while a 4 horsepower unit normally will supply over 600 cubic feet of air per minute. Bigger blowers, however, will also generate more sound.