Husqvarna 965877502 350BT 2-Cycle Gas Backpack Blower, Orange

This blower strikes a good balance between ease of use, weight and performance. As a fit senior female, I was able to use it for three hours without difficulty. It is powerful enough to clear leaves on a one-acre property, and with good technique, did not damage flower beds. It starts quite easily and runs for hours without issue. It is quieter than I thought it would be. I did find adding a chest strap to be helpful in keeping the blower in place and high on the back given that power tools are built for broad-shouldered men, not petite women. I would like to see Husqvarna add an adjustable chest strap to the product. It already has a great, adjustable waist strap. I am very impressed with this purchase and would recommend. The seller was quick to ship, it was well-packaged and I received it in two days.

I was window shopping on Amazon to see where the technology was in terms of battery powered backpack blowers and happened to stumble on this with the notation in the listing "last purchased November 2011." I recently gave up on an old Stihl string trimmer and went Makita electric -- the 36 volt model. Also went to Makita hedger -- 18 volt model. Not that I have anything against 2 stroke or gas equipment, it's just I needed something that started easily and the Stihl was way past its prime and for a residential setting the electric is plenty of power and keeps the noise down as well. Was just curious as to where these backpack blowers were in terms of electric powered. Anyway, time does fly but this blower is truly one of the best purchases I made. Others have written detailed reviews so I won't go back over them, I just wanted to let everyone know that this blower is still going strong after 13 years and starts on the second or third pull every time. Its comfortable to wear, fairly quiet, has lots of power, and doesn't really smoke at all. Its a two stroke so obviously there is some, but there is no large plume of blue smoke emitting from my yard. I open my three bays up and walk through it with this and clean it out -- airs out in a few minutes. I treat it well. Put the highest grade gas in it at Costco (I believe it's 91) with a quality two stroke mix that has some anti ethanol properties. I have a Honda mower and add some treatment to that gas as well -- 4 stroke. Every now and then Ill put some injector/carb cleaner in and let it smoke it out. I keep it inside a shed when not in use and put it on the bench and wipe it down every few years as well. I live in the pnw and my yards over the years have been more pine trees than leafy trees. Although I have had some fairly large maples and walnuts. This has plenty of power moving wet leaves, pine needles -- wet or dry -- and whatever else falls into the driveway. I do remember that I was debating getting the larger engine model when I decided on this. I don't think I need more power than this for what I use it for. Great quality product -- good value for the money -- mine was mid 200s when I bought it. This is one of those purchases that I wish I had made earlier.

I purchased this in April and waited until December to post this review. I wanted to have a chance to put it through it's paces before rendering judgement. Assembly was fairly easy. I read that some folks had difficulty assembling the plastic blower tubing. I agree, they are tight. I assembled mine inside on a sunny day so I set the female end of the tubes in the sun for a few minutes. The black plastic expanded enough to make the pieces slip together easily. I imagine a hair dryer would probably have the same effect. This blower is much easier to use than the old handheld model it replaced. It's 26 lb weight is no problem. I find the easiest way to put it on is to set it on something at least as high as a table. The workbench in my garage works great. I haven't been able to just pick it up and slip it on like a backpack. The unit starts on the second pull every time and runs as well on regular as it does on premium. Another reviewer mentioned needing to buy fresh gas before each use. This hasn't been a problem for me. It uses the same mixture as a my trimmer and chain saw so I initially filled it up from a 2 gallon can at least 3 months old. A few presses on the primer, set the throttle and choke and two pulls later it's running. Same thing every time, even when the temperature dropped into the thirties. This blower is no noisier than any other as far as I can tell. However, the engine is less than a foot away from my ears so I always wear earplugs and muffs. My hearing is bad enough that I don't need to take any chances. One of the reasons I bought this one was for the extra vibration dampening. It must work since I haven't had a problem with fatigue, even after 1.5 hours of constant use. This thing has plenty of power. It blows leaves and other lawn debris like a champ. Once I figured out the technique I could move some pretty big leaf piles. It even blows acorns well. My only complaint is that the primer bulb is well hidden. Not a big deal, I just wish it was a little more accessible. Overall I'm very happy with the blower and would definitely recommend it to others. 2020 Update: I am still happy with the blower. It continues to start on the second pull just like when it was new.

Love this blower, lots of power and fairly quiet. Took my Stihl back and replaced with this one. It is heavy I find but the straps help secure it well and it's not to much of a burden, pretty good on fuel as well.

This replaced a smaller handheld Husqvarna blower, which worked well but just wasn't quite big enough for the size yard I use it in. I debated this model for a long time, and when a family member had a use for my smaller blower I decided to go ahead with it. This model isn't nearly as easy to use for blowing debris out of gutters. That's the only thing it doesn't do better though. I've been using this about 6 months now, and here are my impressions so far. It starts up on usually the second pull (once in a while the first) every time, runs about 3-4 seconds on the choke, then I flip the choke lever to the running position and get going. Absolutely none of the sputtering and stalling out you so often get with 2-cycle motors when they're cold. It can easily clear hard surfaces (concrete etc) at idle, in fact I rarely go past 1/2 to 3/4 throttle for anything. The exception is when I need to clear the huge acorn crop off my yard in the fall (at full throttle it moves acorns 2-3 inches deep as they pile up), de-thatch the lawn the lazy way, or clean little sticks after a storm. This isn't the most powerful blower out there according to the ratings but I assure you it has plenty of power for any task I've given it, I even used it to clear about 2" of light powdery snow last winter and it did an amazing job. Obviously the key is "light, powdery snow", but if that's what you have get this out and leave the shovel alone. I'm trying to think of negative things to balance my review, but I can't. The waist strap could be easier to put on I suppose, it swivels at the blower so you have to spend about 10 seconds facing it the right way, but that's really all I can think of. If you're only going to clear gutters get a handheld blower, they're easier to use for that particular job. Otherwise seriously consider this one instead, you'll save a lot of time, it's way more comfortable to use, and can do things no handheld could even think of. Compared to other backpack blowers from that other company that uses white and orange the power and comfort levels are very similar, but the Husqvarna wins in my opinion by being much quieter than the particular one I used from the other guys, and mainly by being so amazingly easy to start. Oh, one last thing, I should mention that I always use "straight gas" from a marina (luckily I live near a large recreational lake, so that's easy for me) and mix my oil at closer to 30:1 than 50:1. Therefore I can't comment on some of the issues reported with the fuel system that seem to be associated with ethanol blend fuels.