OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions On Hand Held Blowers/Vacuums Petrol Blowers & Vac's Help, GMC, Homelite or Mcculloch

Hi, I am looking at buying a blower / blower vac but can't decide? I mainly want the blower don't think I will use the vac side of things. The choice is between the GMC blower 2 stroke petrol model $99, the Homelite blower or blower vac 2 stroke petrol model around $130 or the Mcculloch blower vac 2stroke model $200. No-one around here is very helpful all they say is what I already know "you get what you pay for".

brock05,

Here are a couple that I would be looking at Tanaka and Echo both are good quality but the pricing you might not like.

The Tanaka is around $380 and the Echo is around $370.

As to the ones that you mentioned I would only be looking towards the McCulloch as it has been around a lot longer than the GMC and Homelite.

Hope that this is of some help.

Thanks, Big help. $200 is the limit as it is a gift. I was looking towards the mcculloch, one thing I wasn,t sure about is the warranty- Mcculloch has a repair, the other two have replacement. With general use around the house (average 3 bedroom)I don't think there wouldn't be alot that would go wrong in the warranty side of things.

I can tell you from personal experience that the GMC petrol blowers
are a waste of money they have very little power, i have a Homelite one myself which i bought 5 years ago.It's been reliable so far,when i was looking for one i found the Mcculloch blower a bit big and heavy compared to the Homelite one, but that could have
changed with the newer models.

Bruce,
Homelite have been making petrol blowers since 1981 and chainsaws
since 1949.

Thanks gmax I didn't think the GMC one would be all that good. I grew up on a farm and can remember Dad having homelite chainsaws and they were given a hard time but kept going. Iam going done today I will compare the two, I like the 24month replacement warranty of the homelite and it is a bit cheaper.

my experience would suggest the homelite 2 stroke blower is super UNreliable. just my experience though might have got a lemon

If you find it hard to start or lacking power try cleaning or
removing the spark arrestor screen, they are prone to clogging with
carbon.

One thing I can say is also steer clear of Ryobi as well. I wish I spent proper money and brought a echo/tanaka. My problem seems centered around the walbro wyc carbie which idles ok but has problems with the main mixture being too lean. The only things I can think of causing the problem is either the main jet (which is just a plastic tub), the needle not seating properly ( the needle seems to have a rubber tip on it but looks ok). Which leaves the only thing I can think of trying is readjusting the leaver that the metering diaphram pushes against. What is generally the easiest way to fix problems with these carbies, just throw them away and get a new carb or repair.

GregR,

Here are some steps that I usually do when I have carby problems.

1. Replace fuel filter in tank.

2. Check your screen in the carby.

3. Replace carby diaphragms including needle.

4. Tune carby.

Follow in sequence 1 to 4 but at each stage see how the machine runs before spending more money than you have to.