I think you need to provide information on your new property. Is it a golf course with no trees or bushes? Is it heavily landscaped with lots of trees, bushes, flower beds, etc. If you have a lot of trees, a battery leaf blower may not handle the amount of leaves falling from larger trees.

It may do a great job it you are only blowing out the garage, cleaning the porches, sidewalks and drive.

I have a three quarter lot and have a 4cycle leaf blower, weed eater, and lawn tractor. However I have an electric chainsaw, which is a love hate relationship. I love the fact that all I have to do is plug it in to cut wood, I hate the fact that I have to have cords that reach most of my lot.

Remember that a battery power device is not going to have the power of a similar gasoline unit. or even a corded unit.

If you are considering battery and electrical units because, you do not want to mess with mixing oil and gas, and oil clogged gas jet if it sit for longer than you planned, you may want to consider the 4 cycle engines. They are reliable. There is no measuring and mixing oil into the gasoline, and you can put it into the shed in the fall, forget it and it will easily start in the spring. There is minimum maintenance.

When we live in central Indiana I would use my 4 cycle blower for leaves in the fall, put it in the shed in the winter, and take it out in the spring to blow the grass from the lawn tractor. I do the same in North Carolina, and in both place never had a problem starting them.

The 36 volt cordless tools are starting to have enough power that they can do some real work. 40 volts is just lying about a tool with 10 Lithium cells in series just like the 20 volt tools are 5 cells in series and really 18 volts.

I have been using a 36 volt Black & Decker for light blowing duties mainly because Lowes had them, then discontinued them, and it was about $120. It would not have been worthwhile at regular price. It takes forever to charge like all cheap Lithium tools that don't have the sophisticated charging systems. It will run long enough for me to blow from my front door to the street, which is 80', do the front sidewalk which is 100', and blow the driveway which is 30'x60'. On a yearly basis, I probably do that 3 times a week and it is just now coming apart after about a year.

I use tons of 18v Makita Cordless tools in business and based upon using their 18v small blower in business, I will get their new XBU02 36v blower before the B&D one bites the dust. The new Makita will be far more than the B&D but their tools last in a commercial environment so I know it will work well. The bare tool is about $250 if you already have batteries and charger. If you are buying it plus batteries and charger, it would add up fairly fast but still might be worthwhile depending on how you feel about noise and convenience. I have lots of trees including 58 citrus and avocados and have replaced my 12" in-tree saw with a Makita 36v and am thrilled with it. Noise and convenience make it worthwhile where it wouldn't work out for a professional tree service that uses it constantly. I broke out the gas chainsaw to fell an oak with a 12" trunk but used the Makita to cut up all the branches up to 8" or so because it is quiet and I could use it early in the morning when it was cool outside. I can't tell you how much nicer it is to climb around in a tree or work on a ladder with an electric chainsaw.

If you are going to use gas, 4 cycle helps a lot. So does using gas made for that use instead of the junk they sell for cars that just doesn't last in the tank. I buy gas at the gas station in the summer when I have to cut the grass every week and the gas will get used in a month or two. I buy the more expensive stuff in the winter because 1 gallon may last me 5 months.

Cordless tools are like electric and hybrid cars. They make lots of sense for some things and NONE for other uses. You have to define your use. It also may make sense to have both, a small blower for small jobs and gas for the bigger ones.

Thanks for the replies.

As for my yard. PNW. On the high bank. 2 acres but some of that is the bank and beach. Long and narrow.

I bought the lot from a guy who camped on it. I thought "it looks nice natural like this!" Except it was not really natural, just looked that way. It's how most people do it around here. But it takes effort to get that natural look.

So lots of trees. Hemlock, some kind of cedar, maple. I have some grass. But mostly ferns, rocks, gravel.

For the blower I need to blow leaves out of the gutters (gutter guard advice welcome) off the metal roof, out of the ferns, and off the gravel drive. I had rock around the foundation before, and tons of Oak leaves. That's my experience with the 120v blower.

Thanks again.

I have had several wooded lots. I find that it is nearly as much work to maintain a wooded lot looking "natural" as it does to keep a grass lawn looking nice. With a lawn you have to mow it periodically, but for a "natural" looking woods you are constantly picking up dead wood trimming small trees and other under story growth.

With a long thin two acre lot you are looking at probably 300 feet to the back of the lot. That is a long cord. With all of those trees and other things I believe you will find that a battery driven equipment will just not "cut" it.

I think your only option is to gas powered, and if it were me I would go for the 4 cycle engine for convenience and reliability.

I'm a big believer in the higher end cordless stuff and I would have to agree with mostly gas on that size lot. It's about 170 feet from the back of my house to a 45' tall Avocado in my back corner that needs trimming a fair amount. I can't imagine using an electrical cord to do that even having 600+' of cords in my garage for work. I think I'd rather climb a tree with the small gas chainsaw than climb it with an electric attached to a cord.

I do edge my front grass with a corded electric edger but only because I can JUST reach all of it with one 100' cord. Flat lot, almost no obstructions for a cord to get snagged. Even that is a bit of a pain. Corded electric gets to be a pain quickly unless you are talking about small stuff.

I have a 3 acre lot that has a 1 acre grass yard and everything else is decidious tree. I use an echo 58 volt trimmer. I cannot kill the battery. I use an echo 58v chainsaw for the trim work. It has the type of thin blade found on pole saws, the kind they call a pico, but it is 16 inches instead of small. I went through three batteries topping a fallen full grown Hickory tree once before I killed the blade by burying it well into the thicker part of the upper 1/3 of the trunk at which point I had to get out my Stihl. The new high voltage rigs are good so far. Multiple batteries is key, I have both 2ah (lighter) and 4 amp hour (heavier weight). The downside is weight, The motors are copper wound, and batteries are heavier the more they put out. I love not waking the neighbors and not polluting the air. God knows what that works out to at the power plant pollution level or the battery landfill level. Those facilities are more able to concentrate resources on pollution issues than I. It also tickles me that I cut down a diseased fruit tree in my yard with my neighbor across the street working in his yard and when I spoke with him later, he said he did not hear what I was doing and was surprised.

Thanks for the info Tricky.

Since October I decided to get a gas backpack blower. I got a great deal on a factory refurbished Ryobi 2-cycle. I decided I would spend the money I saved on premixed gas to avoid my past issues. I have done quite a few repairs on things so I figured I could keep the 2-cycle running.

It's a decent machine. Good power. The backpack really helps. It does what I need it to do.

Good info on the rechargeable electrics. I went a different direction.

Thanks.

I have a back pack stihl and a hand held stihl blower. Love the back pack. I am going to try to replace the hand held with electric. The handheld is usually used on the driveway, front walk and rear deck. With 2 acres of trees around the house we have 3 and 4 foot leaf drifts in the fall, which is when I get the backpack out, and feed the leaves into my chipper/shredder for compost. Its better than a rake for somethings. Life Pro Tip: Always run 89 octane or higher fuel in small for max performance. You do want the machine doing all the work it can so you do not have to; There is always something else to do.