this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2025
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United States | News & Politics

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[–] Goretantath@lemmy.world 86 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Good, they aren't needed anymore since electric ones do the same job.

[–] motor_spirit@lemmy.world 50 points 1 month ago (4 children)

The amount of people I hear discussing their surprise satisfaction with electronic tools is pretty astounding, even coming from electrical engineers and similar. The skepticism and doubt, propaganda from Big Combustion is real 🤠

[–] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 21 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I’m not sure if it was intentional or if brushless motors are really that much more powerful but electric tools are far better now than they were even just 10 years ago.

[–] tankplanker@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

Battery pack improvements have to be right up there with why electric have gotten so much better now.

The new tabless batteries in particular are a good step forward even with older tools. And they are last 18 months or less depending on your tool colour of choice.

Really big tools like most landscaping or concrete tools that use the really big batteries (think back pack batteries) have an insane amount of watts they can push out.

I never used petrol tools but I did use mains tools a lot due to the extra power but now 240v is often lower than the top battery tools now.

[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I was an early adopter of an electric lawnmower, which I regretted. That thing had so little power that I had to mow like every 3 days or it would just push the grass over. I went back to gas after one season. However I went back to electric 5 years ago or so, and it's FAR better. But for a blower, or weed eater, electric has always been superior.

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[–] Dettweiler42@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 month ago (3 children)

As a homeowner, sure. However, if I had a landscaping business, I would need something that can run all day.

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Carpenters do just fine all day with electric tools. Replaceable batteries are a thing!

[–] Psythik@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (15 children)

You underestimate just how big and heavy of a battery you would need to power a leaf blower all day. Gasoline has 50-80x more energy density than a lithium battery.

I suppose you could bring a bank of smaller batteries with you and swap them out throughout the day, but that means another piece of equipment to lug around, and climate control becomes an issue if you live in a hot climate. Batteries and heat are not a good combo for safety and reliability.

[–] Tinidril@midwest.social 9 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

This all sounds like FUD to me. You might as easily complain about how much harder it is to refill the gas tank than swap the batteries a few times.

Lithium Ion batteries generally have a maximum optimal operating temperature of 122°F but will operate up to 176°F. If the temperature is approaching 176°F, I think the human will be the first thing to fail.

Also, nobody needs to lug around a full day of power. Spare batteries can stay in the truck until needed, at most you would have one spare on your person.

[–] projectsquared@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Fairly certain that a battery will immediately get hotter than its surroundings with any kind of sustained use or charging.

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[–] Nalivai@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 month ago

need to power a leaf blower all day

That's the magic thing in the word "replaceable". They are, you know, can be replaced. While you use one, the other is charging, and then you replace them. Just like, you know, construction workers are doing for the last at least three decades.

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (6 children)

I was thinking in the context of a landscaping company driving to a bunch of different clients’ houses and doing general cleanup and maintenance, lawn mowing etc at each one. Electric lawnmowers now have dual battery packs that you can swap between, each one lasting about an hour. I wouldn’t expect a leaf blower to be much different in power requirements. Could probably even share the same battery design with the mower.

If you’re only doing an hour or less of leafblowing per client then you can just keep swapping batteries and have spares in the van/truck. For a really big job you might need more but then you could probably ask the client if you can plug your charger into their house to charge. I think a lot of people have outdoor outlets. Otherwise you could have a charger in the vehicle.

[–] greedytacothief@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago (4 children)

I work trails, carrying a bunch of batteries out into the woods would be awful.

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[–] fuzzzerd@programming.dev 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Power usage on an electric blower is very different than other power tools. With a drill you are not constantly revving it. You use it for a few seconds to drive a screw and then setup for the next one. With the blower it's running continuously.

I have a drill than can run on a battery for most of a days work, while my leaf blower using the same batteries gets maybe 20 minutes of use, if I am conserving it.

I'm not a landscaper, so maybe it can be done, but I'll believe electric is better when the landscaping companies start using electric tools, just like carpenters switched from wired to battery when it made sense.

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[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Most of the stuff's pretty good but finish nailers aren't quite there unless you're using the smallest brads available.

[–] MrTolkinghoen@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Air tools for finish nailer. Any nailer air is going to be better (in my narrow experience with electric nailers, I could be wrong.)

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Air is definitely the preferred tool for the job.

Makita just released a new 18 gauge that everybody's gushing over. That said you're not going to get that air Bam Bam Bam Bam Bam. It's more like Bam..wazzit..Bam..wazzit..Bam..wazzit..Bam..wazzit..Bam..wazzit.

There's plenty of landscaping businesses in my area that advertise as fully electric and seem to be making a profit.

[–] josephalumin@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

And it's a thing with batteries on your back. Cities around here have these and it works well.

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

I have an even more effective proposal that can run for centuries with minimal repair and does just as good a job on fuel that is practically free.

spoiler


[–] pulsewidth@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

And it makes you healthier, and uses far less resources.

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