The Best Backpack Gas Powered Leaf Blowers

Handling

• The Husqvarna 350BT receives excellent ratings for handling. "Consumer Reports" ranks it “Excellent” in this category, and "Popular Mechanics" remarked on its comfortable belt, “we were skeptical about its hip belt until we started scaling steep hills and stone walls. It works.”

  The Echo PB500 is also a top-ranked backpack blower. "Consumer Reports" ranked this model “Excellent” for handling. "Popular Mechanics" notes, “The gas tank is designed so you can position your foot on the blower frame for an easy pull start.”

Sweeping and Loosening

• "Consumer Reports" rated the the Troy-Bilt TB4BP “Very Good,” noting, “This Troy-Bilt blower was very good at sweeping leaves and loosening embedded debris.”

  GALT Home Buying Guide recommends the Tanaka TBL-7800R for its superior power to sweep and loosen leaves embedded in the lawn. The guide notes that this model “features a tube mounted throttle, a 65 cc, 4.3 HP engine, with 205 MPH blowing capability.” This model is considerably more powerful than the other three top models. This much power comes at a price; it’s the noisiest at 75 decibels.

Noise

• Gas-powered leaf blowers are noisy. Though they fall beneath the decibel range required for ear protection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the models listed here still average 71.5 decibels. This range may fail to meet municipal noise ordinances. Noise-canceling earmuffs are advised.

  Of the four leaf blowers listed above, the two gas-powered backpack models producing the lowest decibels were the Troy-Bilt and the Echo models; both tested at 70 dB.

Backpack Models vs. Hand-Held Models

• Once you’ve decided that you need more power than an electric model can provide, you’ll have two choices for gas-powered leaf blowers: hand-held or backpack. The backpack models are convenient and minimize muscle strain. Backpack models also offer more power than hand-held models because the extra weight is distributed more evenly.