150 MPH 400 CFM 26cc Gas Handheld Blower Vacuum

Often reluctant to start using start instructions. Pull, pull, pull. After it starts it takes a minute to warm up. Once warm it works fine. Materials look and feel similar Stihl, Echo. The throttle movement feels gritty, low buck. If Homelite could make it easier to start it’d be great. As it is I don’t recommend it.

The blower works fine. You will need the carburetor adjustment tool, $6 or so. The high and low idle screws vibrate loose with use. Never use fuel with ethanol in a 2 stroke without adding gas stabilizer or it will gum up the carb. I see a lot of 1 Star reviews because the machine wont run at full throttle. This is a 30 second fix. Tighten the silver screw to adjust the fuel mixture. Then using the adjustment tool, adjust the front, black screw, low idle, then the back black screw, high idle, until both run smoothly.

I was on a job when my handheld blower failed, so I ran to Home Depot and bought this. I immediately disliked it because it doesn’t have a trigger, but it’s better to run blowers at full power anyway, so I got over that. And I would never expect any small blower to successfully turn into a vacuum device, so I only used it as a blower. I hot-glued the tube on. And that thing would blow the heck out of some leaves! Then it quit working. I figured it was only $99, so oh well. But it was just the spark plug that had gotten fouled. Fixed that and continue to enjoy the power the thing has! I prefer it over my Echo. Has started to get sluggish after blowing trillions of leaves commercially, and I think it’s the air filter but who knows how to replace that, so I’m ready for a new one!

Easy to start and use. A bit heavier that my Craftsman unit it replaces. Nozzle too long for me..

The blower is excellent and more powerful than expected. It starts easily and is light enough for me to use in my wheel chair. I would recommend this product to everyone.

It has alot of hi-end features worthwhile. The trigger sliding cruise lock is good. It is very simple to start. It has hardly no weight to it, nor vibration when in use. However, the impeller is made of extremely cheap plastic & this is horrible as a vacuum! The tubes for the blower vac system lock into place and are difficult to lock/unlock. (See pic below, center is what happens like right away upon trying to VAC)

Good for home . Using the leaf vacuum this part will jam and or get Back up . You cannot use this on big piles of leaves or damp or wet leaves . You will need to youse this light . Buy it will work if you do not expect anything more than light duty on this machine . Hard to start at first but after the first start it will be so so . To start after that . The blower works good . 4 Stars ! First you want better you will need to spend $200 or more !

We live in North Carolina and the leaves and fruit are beginning to fall, it will not be long before the endless months of blowing leaves begins. You leave for work, come home to find the driveway and yard full. This Homelite Blower arrived just in time! Homelite 2-Cycle Gas Blower is a perfect combination of value and performance. The package arrived in perfect condition. After reading the operators manual and making sure I understood all the features and operation needed. It was easy to assembly. It started right up after just a few pulls. Lightweight, easy to use, variable speed throttle for adjustable power. Need more power, hit the throttle which is right at the handle. Cruise control lever/lock allows the operator to use without holding the throttle trigger. The engine is powerful enough to handles both blowing and vacuuming. High Velocity nozzle is great for those wet, damp leaves. It allows you to scrap the debris while using. Converting the blower to vacuuming is simple with a flat head screwdriver. One of the winning features, is the vacuum, you are re-purposing the leaves as mulch, protection for the plants during the winter months. The mulch bag is also a storage bag for the nozzles when not in use. Easy to store. Highly Recommend.

This gas powered, handheld blower-vac-mulcher was easy to assemble. It took about 10-15 minutes to read the manual, figure out which tubes are for which application, and put it together. Since this tool has a 2 stroke engine, it uses the typical 50:1 (Gas:Oil) mixture and the box included a small container of oil to get me started. Since I find it a hassle to mix fuel (for example, getting the mixture right or using it within a certain period of time), I spend the extra money and buy the premixed 50:1, ethanol free fuel for my other 2 stroke. I’ve found my tools run better and last longer using it. So before fueling this HomeLite blower I figured I should call the company to confirm the premixed stuff is OK to use. It is! So I assembled for blowing, followed the instructions to start it (which are not only in the manual, but also on the unit), and it fired up like a champ! Given this thing supplies 150 mph 400 CFM, blowing dried and even wet leafs/small stick debris on the patio, walkway, and driveway was a breeze [pun intended]. I had everything blown clean in 10 minutes. It takes a moment to get used to corralling debris with a blower, but after a little while it’s simple. The trigger lock was helpful to keep constant blowing power too. After that, I went to the flower beds where the mower and string trimmer had left grass on the mulch. I used the variable speed trigger in the flowerbeds to keep the air at a minimum. More than a little air blows the grass clippings, mulch, AND the dirt away. Worked great! The tool is well balanced as a blower. Regarding weight, the tool weighs roughly 15 lbs. It’s not a lot, but after about 10-15 minutes of vibration through my hands/wrists (even with gloves on), this thing felt like a 35 lb dumbbell. Note that this tool is made to be used in your right hand (sorry lefties), and you’re not supposed to switch hands to avoid burning your pants on the muffler. I briefly tried the vacuum/mulcher, but I don’t plan on using it very often. While mulching leaves down to 12:1 makes for fewer yard waste bags, I feel like it’s faster to blow and then bag versus blow into a pile, disassemble the blower tubes, assemble the vac/mulch tubes with bag and strap, vacuum and mulch some leaves, empty the small bag, repeat, repeat, repeat. “Ain’t nobody got time for that!” If I was just vacuuming a small area, it would be fine. The unit is also awkward in the vac/mulch position and I was concerned about sucking up a rock or stick that could possibly jam/break the mulching blades. Overall, a good product. Best used as a blower in my opinion, but certainly nice for the price.

This is a combination blower and vacuum (with “mulching” capability). Machine Operation -- this machine was easy to start and use. After priming the machine, it started on the fourth pull. The engine has an odd sound, like a hot rod rumble. However, it supplied adequate wind velocity to blow small piles of yard debris effectively and vacuum clumped debris and leaves. There is a nice locking feature on the trigger handle to help eliminate finger fatigue for use during extended periods of blowing or vacuuming, and the lock can be set to hold any velocity. Blower -- assembly of the blower tube and nozzle was quickly completed without tools or reference to the user’s manual. Unlike many other gas blowers which have round nozzles, this one has what the manufacturer describes as a “sweeper” nozzle (see picture) that seems to concentrate the airflow downward, helping to coral debris rather than spread it out. Vacuum -- converting the blower to a vacuum was more cumbersome, and not a process I found to be intuitive. The user’s manual, while nicely illustrated was sparsely narrated. So unless you follow the small print closely, a bit of guesswork might be needed to complete the task successfully. For instance, the intake tube connection needs to be inserted through a hole inside of the collection bag before the end of the tube can be connected to the machine (see picture). The written instructions for this in the manual are easy to miss, and the illustrations show only an arrow pointing across the bag. A flathead screwdriver is needed to connect the vacuum tubes to the machine. A tip here for separating tubes that seem to be “stuck” together, I found it easier to separate them by squeezing the “inside” tube, rather than attempting to pull them apart. The vacuum tubes are constructed of thin-wall plastic that are fairly easy to squeeze. Vacuum Operation -- I found this to be tedious. Because the intake tube goes through the collection bag, it was more cumbersome to empty, because it is necessary to bring the whole machine to the place you're collecting waste product (the curb, driveway or garbage can) where the bag can then be unzipped and emptied. The other option is to disconnect the intake tube from the machine which would require using a screwdriver to press down on a tab to release the intake tube from the machine. The entire process of vacuuming was a bit awkward, and also stressful on my back. Although the Fall season is a few weeks away, the uncomfortable manner in which the machine is held, with a small collection bag suspended from a shoulder strap suggests to me that I would probably not want to attempt to collect a whole yard’s worth of leaves this way. I did not have enough leaves yet to see if the manufacturer’s claim of 12:1 mulching volume reduction was reasonable. Finally, based upon my prior experience with 2-cycle engines in general, my decision to purchase is sometimes influenced by how confident the manufacturer is in their product as demonstrated by their product warranty. In this case, although Homelite provides a 2-year warranty for homeowner use, the small print states that “the warranty does not extend to repairs made necessary by normal wear . . . “ Just what this phrase means is anyone’s guess, but it doesn’t give me that “warm and fuzzy” feeling about the life-expectancy of this product. Overall, this is an adequate blower for its price range, although if your budget allows you might consider whether you will do better over the long run with a higher priced product. I would not recommend the unit if your primary interest is in the vacuum component.