Similar situation. Bought my wife a dewalt 20v blower. It's super super light, even my 5 year old can grab a battery and blow off the patio.

Worked out well, as I have dewalt tools so plays well with the investment already.

 

I went with this for my wife. She loves it.

 

EgoPower

 

I second ego. I just bought one and the 5 amp hour battery is pretty hefty. Look into it with the 2.5 battery.

 

I vote Ego.

 

Do you already have cordless power tools in your shed? Best bet is to buy the blower that goes with the batteries of the tools you already have, if can.

I recently bought a makita 18v blower for work, it's great for small jobs.

 

I am in the Milwaukee power tools category and have the Milwaukee M18 blower and it does a solid job against my handheld gas blower. My wife loves it too and won't touch the gas blower after using it once.

If you don't have any power tools, Ego seems like a solid choice.

 

Thanks for the input, wish I would have read them before I went out and bought a Stihl BGA 57 kit (BGA 57 Blower, AK 20 Battery and AL 101 charger). The kit was on sale for $199.99.

I'll let her hold it and if it feels good just keep it. If not the dealer also carries Ego and said I can exchange it if we don't use it first. The AK line has a couple types of trimmers and chainsaws that use the same battery and charger if we ever want to add anything but I already have a Kombi system, a chainsaw and the backpack blower.

Thanks again.

 

I don't think you'll regret buying the Stihl.

 

I went with the EGO but the Milwaukee that my BIL has is considerably smaller & more agile... with just enough CFM to blow off patios & sidewalks, etc. If you're not committed to an ecosystem Milwaukee is top of the line.
https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200625337_200625337?cm_mmc=Google-LIA&utm_source=Google_LIA&utm_medium=Lawn%20%2B%20Garden%20%3E%20Leaf%20Blowers&utm_campaign=Milwaukee&utm_content=44113&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9_mDBhCGARIsAN3PaFPG5sSETjyyXI1wC0R2qzVwKf8OeF06rEFJpmbYN19e0B-8LzZvZUkaAqq6EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

I let my wife try the 7.8 pound (with battery) Stihl BGA 57 and seems she would prefer something a bit lighter. My issue is once you get into 5 pound or less battery blowers the reviews aren't as good, especially power and battery run time. Both the Milwaukee and Stihl have solid reviews for the larger models but not as positive on the lighter model.

That is all common sense I suppose. I'll try and convince her to start working out because while I would use the BGA 57, I'm not sure I would bother using the lighter models. I just need to remind myself this is for her.

 

I don't think you'll regret buying the Stihl.

Ditto. I think you did even better with the Stihl.

 

If you have a good Stihl dealer that you already shop from, why not consider Stihl? They make some electric blowers that are quite good.
Beyond that, its really a question of if you are already invested in a battery platform. If you already own the batteries, the cheapest and best route is to buy a blower and get it tool-only.
Ive owned Ryobi blowers in the past and they have worked well, Craftsman makes good blowers too. Its really a matter of what and if you are already in a battery platform.

 

I'm a huge fan of the EGO 650 CFM blower. Awesome little blower!!!

 

I'm a huge fan of the EGO 650 CFM blower. Awesome little blower!!!

Looks good but seems to be the same weight as the Stihl BGA 57 I bought. I will take her to the shop where I think they have both as well as the lighter Stihl model and I assume a lighter Ego model, I can exchange if needed but I'm hoping she will agree holding 3 more pounds for 5 or 10 minutes is manageable. To quote the movie "New Years Eve" she makes me watch with her every New Years, the Sofía Vergara character says while attempting to throw an egg, "I am a delicate girl".

 

I'm a huge fan of the EGO 650 CFM blower. Awesome little blower!!!

Looks good but seems to be the same weight as the Stihl BGA 57 I bought. I will take her to the shop where I think they have both as well as the lighter Stihl model and I assume a lighter Ego model, I can exchange if needed but I'm hoping she will agree holding 3 more pounds for 5 or 10 minutes is manageable. To quote the movie "New Years Eve" she makes me watch with her every New Years, the Sofía Vergara character says while attempting to throw an egg, "I am a delicate girl". (My wife, not me).

 

For posterity, I can confirm an Ego 580 CFM blower with 2.5 Ah battery weighs about 7lb 13oz. With the 5.0 Ah battery it weighs about 9lb 14oz.

 

For posterity, I can confirm an Ego 580 CFM blower with 2.5 Ah battery weighs about 7lb 13oz. With the 5.0 Ah battery it weighs about 9lb 14oz.

Just about the same as the BGA 57 with the 2.5, the 5.0 much heavier for her, no issue for you or I. Thanks.

 

It looks like you could probably get down into the 6-6.5 lbs range with a DeWalt 20V Brushless or a Milwaukee M18 Fuel unit with the right battery. It looks like the Milwaukee bare tool is about a half pound lighter. They both claim similar performance - 450 CFM and 120-125 MPH.

The DeWalt and Milwaukee compact blowers have a bare tool weight of only 2.5 and 2.8 lbs, respectively. But as you probably read in the reviews, they both only push about 100 CFM.

 

The stihl bga57 is a good unit.

 

The stihl bga57 is a good unit.

My wife bought one and loves it. We are heavy into Sthil at our house because of close dealer support. I also like the fact that the same battery will fit my Sthil MSA140c chainsaw.

 

The stihl bga57 is a good unit.

My wife bought one and loves it. We are heavy into Sthil at our house because of close dealer support. I also like the fact that the same battery will fit my Sthil MSA140c chainsaw.

How large of diameter branch is the chainsaw useful for? My property and neighborhood is surrounded by trees and I have an acre of wooded steep bank down to a small lake and I am always needing to clean up branches that fall in the yard, garden and over the trail down to the lake. It would be convenient to use a battery powered chainsaw for quick smaller cleanup so I don't need to break out the gas powered chainsaw.

 

The stihl bga57 is a good unit.

My wife bought one and loves it. We are heavy into Sthil at our house because of close dealer support. I also like the fact that the same battery will fit my Sthil MSA140c chainsaw.

How large of diameter branch is the chainsaw useful for? My property and neighborhood is surrounded by trees and I have an acre of wooded steep bank down to a small lake and I am always needing to clean up branches that fall in the yard, garden and over the trail down to the lake. It would be convenient to use a battery powered chainsaw for quick smaller cleanup so I don't need to break out the gas powered chainsaw.

It has a 12" bar and I use it for exactly what you describe. It's really convenient to just grab & go. It cuts more than I thought it would. I have 3 other Sthil saws (18"-28") that I use for larger jobs. I'm extremely happy with it.

 

I took my wife to the store and she compared the Stihl BGA 45 to the BGA 57 I had bought. It was an employee that ultimately talked her into keeping the 57. She explained that it takes much longer with the smaller blower and you need to almost touch the nozzle to the ground in order to blow off debris vs a foot or more with the more power full 57.

Now that she is using it she is fine with the weight and loves it. I just need her to be careful not to blow off the grass seed I put down on parts of lawn our puppy destroyed.