Craftsman Leaf Blower Review

I purchased this blower as an alternative to the Homelite VacAttack blower I had purchased a week or so before (which I've since returned). I was drawn to this model because it was the most powerful hand-held model I could find, claiming a 205 MPH airspeed and a 16:1 mulching ratio.

My primary use for this blower is to clean up the sidewalks and driveway after cutting the lawn. I will also probably use it to vacuum leaves out of the flower beds in the fall and mulch them. (For the vast majority of leaves in my lawn, I just grind them up with my mulching lawn mower - sooo much easier!!)

I've found this blower to be very comfortable to use. Compared to the Homelite VacAttack I first purchased, this blower is well-balanced, has very little vibration in the handle, and is easy to maneuver. It has plenty of blowing power - much more than the electric Craftsman blower I've been using for years.

The only drawbacks I can find are that the gas tank capacity is kind of small - providing only about 20 minutes of operation at full throttle - and the tank opening is situated such that if your aim with the nozzle isn't perfect, you'll get gas all over the blower. (Maybe I should use a funnel.) Also, the air filter design is kind of hokey, but I guess it works OK.

I've found this exact same design of blower available from several different manufacturers including Sears, Poulan-Pro, and WeadEater - all for about the same price. For the most part, the only difference that I can see is the color. However, the 79734 model from Sears has the addition of a couple of metal blades on the plastic impeller, which could make it more durable if it picks up a stick or something hard. I have not seen these extra blades on the models from the other manufacturers.

Probably highest compliment I can give to this product is that it just works. It does exactly what you expect it to do, it does it well, and it does it without the little annoyances that taint the usefulness of many pretty-good products.