Yard equipment question. I think there was a thread a while ago about yard equipment, but I can't find it. I think that the general consensus was Stihl are the best all round manufacturer. My question though is, Stihl or Husqvarna for a back pack leaf blower? I borrowed my father in laws Husqvarna yesterday 2.5 hours to do the front yard, I never got to the rear. I think I need to buy my own ASAP and stop running over to his place.
Not sure about leaf blowers, but my next chainsaw will be a Stihl. We had a tree service out last year to trim up some of our trees, and that's all those guys had. My current leaf blower is an Echo, and it's OK. I mean, it works fine, but it's very fussy about starting, especially in cold weather. You have to massage the choke for several minutes before it will run strong enough to work. My Stihl string trimmer gives me no such headaches.
So, long story short, I'd go with a Stihl. Check Weingartz, they probably have some good deals going right now.
We get about 5 years out of our Stilh backpack blowers before they start getting too worn out to bother fiddling with. We've only ever replaced coils and adjusted or cleaned the carbs. Commercial lawn service, used 4 or 5 hours a week for 8 months of the year.
This reminds me, for absolutely no reason: I need to fire up my string trimmer and run it out of gas for the winter.
So all here say Stihl, that's what I thought, but look at this I found after my post. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6byublIeO8 Make the Husqvarna look better
I've had great luck with my Husqvarna back pack blower. I've had it for 8 years now. It works fine for my yard the 3-5 times per year I use it. My last yard was much larger and it got worked harder. No problems.
My Stihl chainsaw works well too however.
Echo
If you have neighbors, please don't lol. I absolutely hate the sound those things make, and people seem to love to spend a couple hours ruining everyone else weekend spending hours walking around their yard with those stupid things. If your closest neighbors live far enough away you can't see them, then carry on :).
A fellow brit car club member went to the local john Deere Dealership and told them to sell him what all the local landscaping pros in the area use. He came home with Echo stuff (weed eater, blower, trimmer, chain saw).
I don't have a prejudice against ope of the Orange variety. Husky, stihl and Echo all make homeowner and commercial grade stuff. Buy the commercial grade orAnge stuff and it'll last some time.
Shindaiwa
Stihl BR600. Run their synthetic oil in high octane gas to extend the life.
@Travis_K... yeah, they're noisy and annoying, BUT, more horsepower & noise means you'll get it done quicker! 
I don't have a backpack blower …hand held … and I've got nothing against husqvarna … but I like my Stihl blower, chainsaw, and weedeater
I was recently looking at back pack blowers myself, and was really close to getting the Stihl. The BR-350 was the one I was going for. My goal was to get the flower beds and shrubs blown out and then finish the job with my big blower. I was disappointed by the power in the end and so far have been using this: http://www.troybilt.com/equipment/troybilt/trimmer-attachments/tb720-trimmerplus--add-on-turbo-blower with great success. I'm not really happy with the way it starts/runs, but Stihl makes something similar for their Kombi system.
Knowing what the Stihl costs, you can find a used walk behind blower in the same money range that will get the job done a lot faster. I love my Billy Goat, other than having to store something that big. I can get my 1/2 acre done in about 30 minutes.
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