I'm pretty pissed off at Home Depot (and people in general) at this point...

wbjones wrote:

Zomby Woof wrote: I totally don't get leaf blowers.

when I can do a leaf job in 30 - 45 min that would take me 3- 4 hr to rake … I totally understand leaf blowers

I absolutely love my leaf blower, wouldn't be without it. I use it as a giant outdoor broom more than anything else. Deck and patio are dirty? 10 seconds later they are clear. Grass clippings in the driveway after I mow? Not for long. Leaves or seed pods from my maple tree on the roof? I just go up there with my blower and blast them away. I even use it to clean my gutters, I walk along the edge blowing into them. Beats doing it by hand, the way I used to. Ironically, I don't really use it to move leaves very much. I tow a yard sweeper behind my mower for that.

Woody wrote: I got my money back and stopped at the Husqvarna dealer. Unfortunately, he sold his last two yesterday but should be getting more in within a week. He had a Redmax but said it would be overkill for my needs. It was also $100 more than the Husqvarna, which was $80 more than the Homelite from Home Depot. I'll take a look at Stihls.

I bought a RedMax from a landscaping dealer a number of years ago. It was $450 and the sales guy thought I was mad. I don't use it very often, so it usually takes a few pulls to get started. But it starts. And I figure a commercial-grade blower used for occasional residential work will last forever. Six (7? 8? I forget when I bought it...) years later and it pretty much still looks new. I used to use it for driveway sweeping at the ex's house which helped make it easier to start during the year, but now I only use it at my mother's house (I don't collect the leaves at my house).

Rufledt wrote: I worked at home depot for a while on the MET team (restocking stuff, organizing stuff,etc...) and some of the stores would put broken stuff back on the shelf, others wouldn't. One of my co-workers went as far as taking a fat sharpie and writing "BROKEN RTV" (return to vendor) on all sides of the box whenever she found something broken or missing, just so they couldn't do the lazy thing and put it back on the shelf.

I approve^. Maybe we should all mark the boxes "Parts Missing" when we return them.

Zomby Woof wrote: I totally don't get leaf blowers.

I don't need it for leaves, but I do need it to clear the grass clippings off of the driveway, patio and sidewalk after I mow. What would take an hour with a broom takes moments with a blower.

spitfirebill wrote:

bludroptop wrote: Stihl = German engineering + made in America

From parts made where? I finally got the Stihl dealer I bought my chain saw from to admit the parts were not made in the US. Granted this is the cheap home owner saw.

Most major components including engine parts are made in the USA for the North American market. My employer (a lubricant manufacturer) is a major supplier to Stihl worldwide and the Virginia Beach plant was my account for a few years.

Woody -

My former neighbor had a landscaping business and swore by these guys:

http://www.chainsawsunlimitedinc.com/

I've had good experiences with Newtown Power Equipment, but I think they're a little further from you.

I have a Stihl BR 600 backpack blower that I've had for about 7-8 years and love it. It's a heavy duty, loud unit, and it's been spectacular.

In the early 90's I worked for a contract manufacturer that made parts for Homelite. The tolerances were wide open and we even shipped parts that were out of spec. That's why that stuff is junk. Your commercial stuff like Stihl, Husqvarna, Redmax, Echo, etc, demand tighter tolerances on their parts. That's why we are all recommending you go that route.
Get the best one for your needs from a local dealer. Sounds like you are already there. Let us know what you get and how you like it.

i took back a tub surround that had a broken corner. i went in the next day and the broken one i returned, that i clearly told the return lady was broken, was right back in the shelves. i started cutting open boxes in the aisle to find an undamaged one and when questioned i angrily told the employee i was cutting them all open until i found a good one. she left me alone.

Went to both Lowes and HD tonight. Neither one had double-sided masking tape. Fail.

Bout the only thing I buy at Home Depot is Ryobi stuff, and that's only because I've had 10 years or so of their products and I like them quite a bit.

Grass stuff it's either Husqvarna or Ryobi. I kinda want to grab the 40v electric push mower they have to see how it works, but I have no real reason to.

Had good luck so far with the troybuilt weedeater I got from lowes switched out the bump line head for a fixed line one and havent looked back

Working at a major sporting goods chain, we usually put the broken/defective stuff on the RTV shelf but sometimes a manager would go through it and determine that some items were still saleable.

I scored an open box Troybilt weedeater at Lowes after the original purchaser couldn't figure out how to load the string. It was 1/2 off retail and plainly marked as "USED". Some parts were missing (the guard) but it still works fine.

I worked as a vendor for a couple companies whose products were sold in Home Depot and Lowes. Both stores are just as bad when it comes to return policies. When I worked as a vendor for a lumber manufacturer at Home Depot and someone was actually allowed to return a piece of lumber that had a Lowes tag on it back to Home Depot. Also, I worked as a vendor for a outdoor products manufacturer that produced fencing and railing components and someone was allowed to return to a vinyl fence post that had brackets glued to it. Then the returns clerk tried to get credit for defective merchandise due to someones lack of doing their job for realizing that a fence post should not be allowed to be returned with brackets glued to it.

At least Lowes/Home Depot got it right during Hurricane Sandy when it came to the policy for returning generators. You open it, its yours.

I was redoing the bathroom at an old job. I picked up a vanity at HD. The box had been filled with scrap wood and Sheetrock. I went back to the store and there were four more just like it on the shelf, all glued shut like new.

They both suck.

Lately, Lowes had been pissing me off more. We have really hard water at my house, so we are using the sink tap filters to make the water taste better. We started using the Pur Filters, but the sink attachments were brittle and filters are expensive, so we switched to the cheaper Instapure ones they sell at Lowes. They are half the price and attach to the faucet in a much sturdier fashion, except for the fact that the small plastic fitting that screws onto the tap can crack over time.

After 2 years of having one, I didn't mind dripping another $15 to get another tap attachment. I went to three different Lowes stores before I could find one that still had its attachments in the damn box.

Oh, and if you can, get small engine equipment elsewhere. The stuff that Lowes and Home Depot is just not the same, even if the name is the same. The only big box store where I've had consistent luck with their small engined stuff is Sears.

Our mower is a Toro self propelled "Recycler" walk-behind bagger that my dad bought over 15 years ago at a small engine machine dealer. It starts every time on it's 1st or 2nd pull. My current trimmer is a small 25cc Craftsman that after coupons and sales was only $63 last summer. It starts right up with zero trouble, which is something I am not used to with 2-cycle stuff.

On the contrary, my dad has bought two Troy-Bilt products from Lowes in the past 10 years - a garden tractor/mower and a pressure washer. Both have been giant piles of E36 M3. The tractor would snap or throw belts constantly until one day it decided not to anymore, and it backfires after running sometimes, which will scare the crap out of you! The pressure washer's pump went after only a few hours of use, and the hose and gun fused to each other so they need to be replaced. He is giving me that machine along with an upgraded pump he bought (he bought a Honda machine), and hopefully I can get more than a few hours out of it this time around.

Woody wrote:

Zomby Woof wrote: I totally don't get leaf blowers.

I don't need it for leaves, but I do need it to clear the grass clippings off of the driveway, patio and sidewalk after I mow. What would take an hour with a broom takes moments with a blower.

A quick pass with the mower that is already running will also get most clippings off sidewalk or driveway... the wind will get the rest..

In reply to novaderrik:

It depends on the driveway. In my experience, that doesn't work.

doesn't work on mine … at all … gravel/crusher run … rocks get bounced around … not so good for the blade

novaderrik wrote:

Woody wrote:

Zomby Woof wrote: I totally don't get leaf blowers.

I don't need it for leaves, but I do need it to clear the grass clippings off of the driveway, patio and sidewalk after I mow. What would take an hour with a broom takes moments with a blower.

A quick pass with the mower that is already running will also get most clippings off sidewalk or driveway... the wind will get the rest..

No...the sidewalk and patio both have multi levels and the mower is a little too big to to do this effectively.

I know I would have a multitude of problems if I didn't have my back pack blower. So many uses.

I use my leaf blower to clean out the bed of my truck after hauling wood. Faster than a broom!

I just bought a new Stihl at a small local shop. I wasn't even considering a Stihl before this thread, so thank you. It looks like it will be prefect for my needs and as a bonus, it was $10 cheaper that the Husqvarna that I originally wanted from Lowes.

In reply to Woody:

Congratulations and welcome to the club! My back pack blower, grass trimmer, hedge trimmer, saw and sprayer are all Stihl and all are reliable as gravity.

Woody, use the ultra mix oil - silver bottle - with 93 octane gas and she'll run forever. I have a BR600 that gets a seriously heavy workout every fall, sleeps most of the winter, and starts on the first pull every spring. Good stuff. I don't regret spending money on quality tools.

Going against the grain a bit, I have had a Ryobi 2 stroke weed eater for 4 years now. It was given to my by a co-worker who apparently didn't know anything or didn't want to have anything to do with mixing oil and gas. Other than the crappy head that I replaced with an "Ugly Head", it starts easy and meets my needs. That said, when it needs replaced I will buy a Honda. http://powerequipment.honda.com/trimmers