Post your Alternative Leaf Blower Uses!

[spackard]

I bought a small, 350W electric one for a cheaper computer duster than the Metro Vac blower. Can only carry so much in the car on a service. It's a $20 Chinese blower and it gets the motorcycle/parts drying. garage dusting duties.

The big, gas-powered one gets normal driveway/yard blower duty.

 

[Nick R]

Dry the car after washing it, uh... Blowing out the garage floor after cleaning it.... Not really much else that I can think of.

 

[abycat]

I actually saw a youtube vid where some kids duct taped a gas powered one to their civic intake and dyno'd it before and after. I think it was around a 20 hp gain. Pretty funny.

 

[nixon]

I use my electric leaf blower to clear the snow off the porches and steps ,and to remove it from the vehicles.

 

[Bgallagher]

Cleaning out the gutters. Thats it besides blowing leaves. I used compressed air for drying my car

 

[bigmike]

Prior to vacuuming the interior, I open up all the doors and blow everything out of the car. Works great at removing the dust and most dirt.

 

[Turk]

Originally Posted By: bigmike
Prior to vacuuming the interior, I open up all the doors and blow everything out of the car. Works great at removing the dust and most dirt.


Just when I thought no one would list anymore clever ideas...

Do you pound on the seats before/during this??

On a windy day: I park the car sideways to the wind, open up all the doors and bang on the seats. Dust raises up and out the door it goes!

 

[whip]

I use mine to clean the interior of the car. Open all the doors, remove anything you want kept, and blow all the dirt and dust straight thru.

 

[Turk]

I'm gonna use my leaf blower on light powder snow this Winter.

Does anyone else use theirs on powder snow??

 

[clarklawnscape]

Originally Posted By: tpitcher
I'm gonna use my leaf blower on light powder snow this Winter.

Does anyone else use theirs on powder snow??


sure do, side walks etc

 

[HerrStig]

I suppose you could "air start" a small turbine with one. "Air start" of course has more than one meaning in the aviation biz.... Monica would know.

 

[wrcsixeight]

I once needed to replace a freeze plug on my 318. I had to drop the Y pipe to access it.

Upon installing the new plug, I took the tool off to check my progress, and the brass freeze plug fell out, and into the Y pipe where I heard it roll quite some distance down, even over my vehement cursing.

I got the leaf blower put the round tapered end fitting on it and jammed it in the tail pipe, and clouds of rust were shooting out the y pipe ends, and I could hear the rattling of the freeze plug. I then covered the drivers side Y pipe with my hand and the brass plug came shooting out the passenger side along with a bunch more debris. I then did the same thing to the passenger side to get more debris from the driver's side y pipe.

The exhaust system was 2 years old from the Y pipe back at the time.

 

[Turk]

Originally Posted By: wrcsixeight
I once needed to replace a freeze plug on my 318. I had to drop the Y pipe to access it.

Upon installing the new plug, I took the tool off to check my progress, and the brass freeze plug fell out, and into the Y pipe where I heard it roll quite some distance down, even over my vehement cursing.

I got the leaf blower put the round tapered end fitting on it and jammed it in the tail pipe, and clouds of rust were shooting out the y pipe ends, and I could hear the rattling of the freeze plug. I then covered the drivers side Y pipe with my hand and the brass plug came shooting out the passenger side along with a bunch more debris. I then did the same thing to the passenger side to get more debris from the driver's side y pipe.

The exhaust system was 2 years old from the Y pipe back at the time.

Great use!

 

[Cujet]

My Echo blower will "jet" power me on my bicycle.

 

[scottw]

OK, I've got one, in theory at least.

I have a ground squirrel problem.....bad. Bait poison in quantity, that works, requires a restricted use permit (training, paperwork and $$). Been looking for a better solution than the old hose on the tailpipe routine, some of the terrain can be steep and rocky and I'm not fond of wheel tracks zig-zagging everywhere.

Have been researching methods of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning for rodents. I had thought about using a leaf blower and piping the exhaust into the fan intake but dismissed the idea because I figured the CO output from the little motors couldn't be enough. A little more searching found a site that compared CO output (and other) of leaf blowers vs a modern V8. I was surprised the leaf blower put out more CO than a pickup.

http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/features/emissions-test-car-vs-truck-vs-leaf-blower.html

http://theroadpro.com/edmunds-leaf-blower-pollutes-more-than-ford-raptor-fiat-500/

Their best case scenario for the leaf blower:

The data below are expressed in grams CO per minute

Phase 1 - 2011 Ford Raptor 0.725
Phase 1 - 2012 Fiat 500 0.544
Idling - Ryobi 4-stroke leaf blower 1.822
Idling - Echo 2-stroke leaf blower 2.043


Also, if you made the air/fuel mix a little richer you could increase the CO output (not that I would ever advocate doing this, waha).

So, next spring I'll be giving this a try. Seems you would need to severely restrict the air flow to the fan to keep the CO concentration higher (and not blow the critters out of the hole). I've noticed that some blowers port the exhaust into the fan output which could simplify the experiment.

Any thoughts? Anybody ever try something like this?

I think this qualifies as an "Alternative Leaf Blower Use".


Obligatory disclaimer: I'd warn against piping CO into or under a building or under a concrete slab under or near a building. Also for the SPCA: no rodents were injured during the making of this message.



Scott

 

[meep]

^^^ you could just capture the exhaust from the engine itself, or from another small engine if the hardware lent itself to better hookup. yes I like the idea.

 

[callbay]

We use them in the Ozarks to blow leaves away and make a small fire break for slow moving brush fires.

Also to blow out under the refrigerator. Only do this when the wife is not home.

I also blow out the grill out on the deck.

 

[JHZR2]

Car drying is my main alt use besides blowing stuff around. Using it to move light snow is a great idea!