Putting The ECHO PB-251 Power Blower To The Test
The prevailing weather conditions leading up to this winter, with a hot summer and mild autumn, brought a spectacular tapestry of colour to the trees.
One they seemed to hold on to longer than usual until that moment came when they dropped in great swathes. The ideal time to put the ECHO PB-251 power blower through its paces, with the additional challenge of some heavy rain making hard work of clearing the leaves across a sixty by twenty metre outdoor equestrian manége.
The problem here being the rubber crumb surface and the trick of blowing the leaves without removing rubber and leaving great patches of sand to be patched over. The first impression was that the PB-251 felt quite heavy and how was that going to feel with sustained use? Time to power it up and find out.
It was quite a cold day but the ECHO started easily and quickly ran up to speed. Once the blower was operating the weight was no longer an issue, so well balanced is the machine under power, in fact the 4.5kg counters the sheer speed of the blower.
The 24.5cc stage 2 compliant low emission engine, with an output of 0.70kW, belts out a maximum air speed of 71m/s. Wet leaves were effectively lifted and quickly driven into piles and yet the blower was so easily controlled at an angle that it had little effect on the rubber surface.
What had at first appeared to be a long task ahead was swiftly dealt with and fatigue was minimum, so much so that the work moved on to other areas to be blown and quickly tidied, all within an hour. A neat feature is the Cruise Control which locks the throttle in position so you don’t need to keep your finger on it.
The exhaust is at the front so even the low emissions are directed away from you, and there is an EZ lock system for securing and disconnecting the blower pipe. A see-through fuel tank makes it easier to keep an eye on the fuel level. In all a high-powered, well-balanced and easy to use blower that made short work of a mountain of leaves.
