MPH, CFM and what a blower actually moves

Speed figures get the headlines, volume figures move the pile. What each number does, and which jobs lean on which.

Two figures, two different jobsMatch the figure to the messWeight is the figure nobody lists firstThe charge window and the ears

Two figures, two different jobs

Blower listings lead with speed because the number is big. Speed is how hard the air hits one spot; volume is how much air arrives per minute. MPH breaks the grip of something stuck. CFM carries the loosened pile somewhere else.

Our turbo blower runs 150 MPH and 600 CFM. The first figure peels wet leaves off asphalt. The second one walks the whole pile across the driveway ahead of you.

Match the figure to the mess

Dry leaves and sawdust are volume work. Almost any push moves them; the question is how wide a path clears per pass. Wet leaves, driveway sand and packed grass clippings are speed work first, because nothing moves until the mat breaks loose.

Drying a washed car is speed work at low volume, and that is where a stepless dial earns its place. Our smaller blower rolls from a breath that will not scatter gravel up to its full 2000 g of push at 52000 RPM.

Weight is the figure nobody lists first

A blower gets held at arm length for the whole job, and ounces turn into an opinion around the second fence line. The turbo weighs 1.45 lb and the smaller one 1.28 lb, which is why one hand runs either of them all afternoon.

This is also the honest limit of the class. A one-hand blower clears a driveway, a patio and a workshop floor. Ten wooded acres in November want a backpack machine, and we would rather say so than watch ours come up short.

The charge window and the ears

Full throttle empties a 4.0Ah pack in about 20 minutes. Most clearing happens below full throttle, so the real window runs longer, but plan the loud fast work first and the touch-up second.

At 68 dB the turbo sits closer to a loud conversation than to a gas machine. Earplugs still ride in the box; a long session next to any motor is easier with them in.