When you think lawn and landscape company you think large – heavy duty gas powered equipment, at least I always did. But is it always necessary? There are jobs that require gas powered engines, but for the day to day mowing – does it all need to run on gas?

We are giving something new a try this year. Battery powered leaf blowers for day to day lawn care services. We still need our large back pack blowers for leaf clearings of course, but to clear off sidewalks and driveways it always seems like over kill. The goal is to cut down on gas usuage, save some time (pull a trigger and go vs start a gas engine, and we all know sometimes they don’t want to start) and reduce noise (ever heard a br600 Stihl blower?). 

What did we notice so far?

The noise difference is night and day. You barely hear the battery powered blower compared to a gas model. Large back pack blowers are being banned in certain cities due to noise – this could be a game changer for day to day operations.

Quick and easy — you literally flick a switch and go vs pulling a string, priming, choke etc. It saves about a minute on each job. The weight difference is great too – no more shoulder pain at 5pm.

Maintenance cost savings. There no fuel filter, no spark plug, no air filter – just a battery. We normally tune up gas equipment twice a year for around $30 each time, so that’s $60 a year per machine (we have 10).. big savings there!