Whether you are buying a blower to clear sidewalks of snow, grass trimmings or debris you need to know what the limitations are. We have street leaning once a month to clear the streets of leaves so they don't clog the storm drains but that's really not enough to take care of the leaves from all of the trees. The other hand held blower that I had worked great but it was awkward to hold and use on an angle. I wasn't interested in getting a combo blower and vacuum but when I did use this to suck up the dirt that had washed out of the yard and into the patio I was impressed with how it worked on the fine silt type of dirt as well as the dirt that had dried in clumps. You can use this to clear sidewalks, steps and paths when it snows but you will get the best results if the snow is fresh and hasn't been walked on. When you clear it you are going to want to throw down some salt or use calcium chloride to keep the area clear. It sounds like a lot of work but if you do it correctly the first time around you are going to end up saving yourself time throughout the day. As far as noise is concerned, this isn't something that I'd suggest running early in the morning unless you have neighbors that are early birds. My two oldest will use both blowers to clear the front of the house, sidewalk, driveway and steps and as long as no one has walked on it they can get it all done in about twenty minutes. This is ten ounces lighter than the other blower but performance wise there's no power difference. This is a nice mid range blower that also has the vacuum feature if that's something that you think you might need in the future. If you are looking for a secondary blower for winter snow storms or something that doesn't require a gas and oil blend, this combo blower / vacuum is well worth checking out.

AlexFortune

Pittsburgh, PA