But what if you are the bug? Huh? Huh?
I hate the things as much as anyone, but a leaf blower is definitely faster than a fork. (The word you’re looking for is rake.)
Fortunately most all outboards (that I am aware of) exhaust underwater for a natural muffler.
All noise control methods that I can think of will degrade the power output of the machine. Ultimately I imagine this is a significant reason behind the manufacturer’s choice to allow the machines to be noisy, along with cost, cost and cost.
Huh? You must have me confused with somebody else; I’ve never been to Utah–except once, in 1983, for about 20 minutes.
Yes, they are faster. But what about the simple pleasure of the quiet sound of people raking and taking in the beauty of an autumn day and you know, exercising their fat asses? 
I also wish people were required to use engineless mowers. Just the quiet clip clip clip on a saturday afternoon. It will be at least one positive benefit when the oil runs out.
My guess is that there will be a lot more suburban jungles.
All I know is that my back patio would be basically impossible to get the Douglas Fir needles off of without a blower. The patio is constructed of alternating 3’ squares of regular concrete and exposed aggregate. The needles glue themselves to the exposed aggregate, and one could sweep for hours (literally) without getting them to let go. (Particularly as here in the Great Pacific Northwet, they are ALWAYS wet.) I guess I could use my gas-powered power washer, but that’s a lot louder than the blower.
I don’t use a gas-powered blower, but the electric that I do use makes quite a bit of noise. However, I generally use it for only say an hour per month, if that, and if that’s too much for the tree-huggers, screw them.
An editorial comment. Douglas Firs are beautiful trees, but Gawd, are they messy. Something is coming down from them for at least twelve months of the year.
I’m not your dude, mate.
So first, instead of politley asking for a cite, you immediately know it’s “propaganda”, and now, after mention of scientists doing that, you still know that this is more cartoon than reality.
What kind of scientist could I possibly bring to challenge those strong beliefs?
I said it sounds like propaganda. I did not completely dismiss your claim and I’m baffled by your post about German scientists being socialist or whatever.
Cite, please; thanks in advance. Seriously, it’s GQ, the least you could do is explain explain the source (tv show? newpaper?), what type of “critters,” and what “harm.” Those are all pretty generic terms. Sorry, but claiming “scientist” isn’t enough.
Moderating
constanze, this is GQ. If you have a cite, produce it. If you can’t, admit it and drop the argument. It’s not appropriate to get testy and dodge the question when asked for a cite.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
I’m not allowed to ask what kind of cite is sufficient before I spend hours digging them up? I just waste my time to find the cite and have it dismissed afterwards? No thanks.
i don’t use a blower or a rake. i use a long broom with ash twigs. less strain on the arms and back than with a rake. everything from birch leaves, to “floaty” maple leaves, to pesky pine needles can be removed from cracks, rocks, and trimmed grass. broom the ground lightly without generating the screech a broom makes. that’s how i do it.
In other words, you don’t have one. If there was real evidence for your claim, it shouldn’t take “hours to dig it up.”
Bwuh? Just because I need time to look it up, it’s not valid? That’s a new entry in the list of “playing the cite game”. Wow.
But yes, I don’t have a city that would satisfy the cite game your people play.
Lots of manufacturers have been switching to 4 strokes to meet new EPA emissions standards that began this year.
My new mulching mower is actually quiet enough that I can hear the roar of the wind off the blade over the noise of the engine. Even so, hearing protection is still a must.
I find it ironic WRT this thread that the quietest gas-powered lawn mower I’ve ever experienced was my old neighbor’s 2-cycle Lawn Boy. That thing purred.
A lot of equipment that uses two-stroke engines need to be used at different angles. In a four-stroke, you’d need a pressurized oil system for this which adds weight. Most small four-stroke lawn equipment is splash lubricated.
I have a lot of uneven ground to mow, and when I did it with a lawnmower I used a two-stroke Lawn-Boy. Any splash lubricated engine would experience oil starvation.
With all the ta-do being made over 2-stroke vs 4-stroke I thought I’d point out a couple things:
[ul]
[li]2-stroke engines all have mufflers, they won’t run without one. Its not just to make them quiet, a 2-stroke engine needs them for proper flow of combustion gases.[/li][li]In terms of leaf blowers, 2-stroke or 4-stroke isn’t that big of an issue, noise-wise. My unscientific guess would be that fully 80% or more of a leaf blower’s noise comes from the fan itself. High speed fans and propellers are *tremendously *noisy, more so even than internal combustion engines. Stand next to even a small, ultralight aircraft while it does a braked run-up to full power, or an industrial fan driven by a rather quiet electric motor. They’re deafening.[/li][li]Sound is the movement of air molecules, and that’s kinda what fans & props do…[/li][/ul]
Good to see you’re still around, Hail Ants.