Leaf blowers. Those screaming-loud, smoke-belching destroyers of weekend morning quiet. Of all tools in the entire world, these things are my least favorite. I just don’t get the attraction. Why do you need a leaf blower when you have a perfectly good rake or broom? Nothing personal to leaf-blower lovers out there, but I think you need to seek professional help. That is what I thought until I was introduced to the Kobalt 80 volt cordless electric leaf blower. Wow. Maybe I was just a little bit off-base about these things….
The leaf blower was provided to Home Fixated for review as part of a set of the new 80 volt MAX line of outdoor equipment by Kobalt, the house tool brand of the Lowes chain of home centers. You can find my reviews of the 21” lawn mower, the string trimmer and the 18” chainsaw all here on the Homefixated website. Spoiler alert: I liked them all quite a bit! I left the leaf blower until last because I did feel a bit intimidated by reviewing a tool that I have been so philosophically opposed to for so many years. But considering the quality and surprisingly quiet performance of the other tools in the MAX series, I decided to set my biases against leaf blowers aside and check this unit out with an open mind.
Like the other 80 volt max tools, the leaf blower runs on a mondo lithium-ion battery that I have lovingly nicknamed the “powerbrick.” This gigantor battery sits under the handle of the tool roughly where the gas tank would be on a gas-powered leaf blower. The variable three speed trigger gives you up to 500 CFM of air volume, making it pretty similar to a gas unit. It manages this in such a small package by utilizing an axial jet fan, unlike most leaf blowers, powered by a tough little brushless motor. The fan gives up to 125 miles per hour of air flow. It turns on with the touch of a button, no more pull start, hooray! The variable-speed trigger and 3 power settings allow you to control debris removal.
Run time for this unit is up to 70 minutes at low power setting, and considerably less on high- more like 20…but the 80V Max 2-amp-hour battery fully charges in 30 minutes or less. Initial no-load voltage, when fully charged, peaks at 80 volts; nominal voltage under typical load is around 72 volts. It comes with a 5 year hassle-free guarantee on the tool, and a 3 year hassle-free guarantee on battery and charger, which is pretty decent in the cordless tool world. Watch it here where it almost blows the lawn off:
The greatest thing about this blower is that is is pretty quiet. More like a vacuum cleaner than a chainsaw. And, one of my favorite advantages of this battery-powered unit is… it is safe to use indoors! Holy cow, I can just open up the overhead door in the wood shop and blast about three years worth of sawdust right out the door! The dog’s not so crazy about it, though.
Cheap plastic. My wife dropped it on the driveway and the battery release lever broke. Called the Kobalt help line and no replacement parts are offered. Bye bye, Lowes.
only Hillary would do something like that !!
I love it…
On a set income I wish there were used 80V units available. The ones on Ebay at a good price until you understand “unit only” means no battery or charger ! ! Then you have a very very expensive tool. ! ! !
I have an extremely hard time of getting the battery out of the blower!!!!!!!!!! Is there a secret or technick to help????
Mine hesitates when you pull the trigger, does everyone of them do this?
Yes, all do.
If the run time is not sufficient for your particular job, have an extra battery ready to go. Changing out a battery is so much easier and safer than trying to pour the gasoline in. Also no storage of gasoline or gasoline going bad during off season.
Disposal of bad gas?
I love it!! Absolutely!! By far, the BEST cordless blower ever – SO powerful!! I purchased mine when Lowe’s was offering an extra 80v battery for free with the purchase of the 80v blower. With 2 batteries; it’s not so easy to run out of battery time now!! So glad this gal doesn’t have to deal with the hassles of using 100 ft electrical cords any longer – whew!!
How heavy is the blower? Due to back injuries it is painful and difficult to use rakes & brooms. I need a blower to clear leaves and pine needles that fall off my neighbors’ trees onto my driveway, porch and other paved areas. Any comments that the weight and power level will work for me?
I just purchased this leaf blower to blow off the driveway and patio. I am, however, thinking of returning it because it doesn’t have an attachment on the end that blows up. Kobalt’s cheaper battery operated blower does but I haven’t been able to find this attachment online. Kobalt should really consider adding this attachment, particularly considering the $249.00 price tag.
20 minutes of power on high setting? I’ve never met a 0.5 acre lawn capable of being cleared of leaves in that amount of time. I especially doubt that you’d be able to make a significant dent in a 0.5 acre lawn with the Kobalt given the amount of air it is capable of moving.
500 cfm and 125 mph are not all that impressive for those out there with sizable lawns to care for. For $150 @ Lowe’s the Troy Bilt Jet is a 2-cycle blower with 650 cfm and 130 mph. I bought the Jet last year (Lowe’s online sale Black Friday for $119 w/ free shipping) for my 0.6 acre lawn. It’s not quite as good as the Little Wonder walk-behind commercial blower I’m used to using but, for the price, it does a very good job. I have found it to be better or equal to any backpack blower I’ve used over the years.
Bottomline, this Kobalt blower may be fine for a small patch of grass but don’t expect much from it on a bigger lawn or a lawn with a number of leafy trees.
no better cordless blower out there i have been looking for 3 weeks.
I’ve been using an electric one, works great but the chord gets in the way
this is cordless blower that is being reviewed!!