Echo's New PB 8010 Backpack Blower

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Darryl G

Lawn Addict
Echo finally has their newest and most powerful backpack blower ready for the market. Their top blower currently available is the PB 770 which falls short of the competition. Specs for the 8010 are impressive. 1000+ cfm at 200+ mph. Unfortunately it looks like won't be available until November. I've already ordered one from my dealer. I think they said it's $599.

https://youtu.be/Ws36VAOYmy8

There's some other videos on YouTube as well.

Edit - I just realized that it doesn't have a hip belt like my Husqvarna 580 does. Great feature for extended use. I forgot to check to see if it even has a sternum strap, but it's pretty simple to add that.
 
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Darryl G said:
Echo finally has their newest and most powerful backpack blower ready for the market. Their top blower currently available is the PB 770 which falls short of the competition. Specs for the 8010 are impressive. 1000+ cfm at 200+ mph. Unfortunately it looks like won't be available until November. I've already ordered one from my dealer. I think they said it's $599.

https://youtu.be/Ws36VAOYmy8

There's some other videos on YouTube as well.

Edit - I just realized that it doesn't have a hip belt like my Husqvarna 580 does. Great feature for extended use. I forgot to check to see if it even has a sternum strap, but it's pretty simple to add that.
Click to expand...

Better hope ya don't need a JOCK-STRAP for it !! .. Sorry Darryl, I just couldn't resist !! .. :laughing:..:laughing:
 
Lol. Nope it's not all that heavy even with an 80cc engine. They lightened it up by using carbon fiber. Seriously.
 
Hopefully I'll have my new blower by the end of the month. The tube-mounted throttle units are shipping first followed by the hip-mounted throttle units. My dealer is only getting a pallet of the hip throttle units but will swap with another dealer to get a tube mounted one for me. I could just go get one from another nearby dealer who is only getting tube throttle units, but then I would be parading it around before my dealer gets theirs and potentially lose them sales. Many of the landscaping pros in my area that I'm friendly with use the same dealer that I do.

I can't wait to see what I can do with 1071 cfm of air at 211 mph!
 
Darryl G said:
Hopefully I'll have my new blower by the end of the month. The tube-mounted throttle units are shipping first followed by the hip-mounted throttle units. My dealer is only getting a pallet of the hip throttle units but will swap with another dealer to get a tube mounted one for me. I could just go get one from another nearby dealer who is only getting tube throttle units, but then I would be parading it around before my dealer gets theirs and potentially lose them sales. Many of the landscaping pros in my area that I'm friendly with use the same dealer that I do.

I can't wait to see what I can do with 1071 cfm of air at 211 mph!
Click to expand...

A proper nozzle attachment and you could blow up a lot skirts .. oooooo-eeeee baby !! .. :laughing:..:laughing:
 
My dealer got in a pallet of the PB 8010 hip throttle blowers today and I checked one out. I happened to be there for supplies just as they were assembling and firing up the first one. The thing sounds mean! Like a 2 stroke dirt bike. I don't think neighbors will like it much...kind of raspy. I should have my tube throttle unit that they're swapping with another dealer for on Saturday.

My first impressions are that it's going to be a game changer for large leaf cleanups. Myself, the counter guy and the owner all had our mouths hanging open when the mechanic fired it up and gave it the throttle. The thing tacks out!

It doesn't really feel very heavy. I was surprised how light it is. Mind you that my big blower now is the Husqvarna 580 BTS which is a heavy unit and they only had 1/2 a tank of fuel in it, but the Echo felt lighter. And mind you I'm 6'2 and 200+ pounds and a professional landscaper. It's not something I'd strap onto my 110 pound wife. It would probably send her flying, lol.

I'm glad I went with the tube throttle. The hip throttle feels too short for me making me **** my shoulder back and the grip for the tube is fixed and at a steeper angle than I'd like. I believe the tube throttle handle is adjustable. It didn't feel very comfortable but I didn't take the time to adjust the straps much. I think I'll miss the waist belt and sternum strap on my Husqvarna but I've actually been keeping the hip strap loose on my 580 lately to get used to shouldering it.

I'll update this thread when I get my unit and get some time on it. I'm already running into some pretty heavy leaf drops on some of my accounts but I won't be into the big piles for a while yet.

Pretty sure I'm going to sell my Billy Goat 10HP wheel blower. I've hardly used it since I got my 580 and it seems that this Echo will make it entirely obsolete.

Edit:. Here's a photo of it in the bed of landscaper friend's truck.
 

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I've had my blower a few days now and put about 4 hours on it. It's certainly very powerful, very loud and very thirsty. It seems to be running a bit rich because it gives off fumes like my old Shindaiwa EB-630 units do. I'm not choking on it but it's noticeable.

Comfort is a bit of an issue for me. I can't seem to get it sitting on my back how I'd like it to and although the shoulder straps are curved they sit out further on my shoulders than is comfortable for me. This is where a sternum strap would help. Mind you I've done over 3,000 miles of long-distance backpacking and have been a professional landscaper since 2002, so I'm no stranger to carrying things on my back and no wimp. It doesn't feel heavy to me, I just can't help but keep trying to fuss with the adjustments on the straps and can never seem to get them right. The padding is good, the position of the unit on my back and shoulders just feels wrong.

I had to put the disc in to block the air flow against my back because temps are down in the 50s now and it blows quite a bit of air on your back. It even blows a substantial amount with the disc in. I'm sure it will be nice in the summer but so far I find it to be giving me an unnecessary chill.

The detent on the cruise control level between idle and off is basically non-existent on the tube throttle model. I've already shut it off by accident twice trying to idle it down and once while putting it on. The hip throttle model has a much more obvious detent.

The tube and handle also have comfort and use issues for me. The elbow and flex tube are so large in diameter that they hit my hip if I try to move it left much past the center of my body. The limit is around the 11 o'clock position so if you want to blow left you need to twist your body. I've messed with the angle of the handle and its position fore and aft and no matter how I adjust it my elbow keeps hitting the top of the flex tube, making it tender after a while.

The good news is that it reliably starts cold at 3 pulls and at 2 pulls when warm. It's ready to work almost immediately and throttle response is excellent. There's no noticeable vibration from it; the spring mounting system does an excellent job of isolating the machine from the frame. The tube is about the right length for me. It produces a wide and powerful stream of air that's good for moving leaves and bulky debris like twigs and light brush. I haven't had a chance to try it on large acorn accumulations, pine needles or pine cones yet. Scouring of stuck material is good but not excellent like some units with a higher air speed and more focused stream. Overall it seems to strike a pretty good balance of air flow and velocity and the power is impressive.

The cruise control is a bit tricky to get it set exactly where I want it and I wish the lever was a bit bigger. What I tend to do with tube mount units is to set the cruise at a good speed for what I'm doing and then use the trigger as kind of a turbo when I need some extra power. On this unit I tend to just use the trigger because it's hard to adjust the cruise control with just the small lever and if you hold the trigger and then slide the lever to where you want it, it backs off. Again, it seems like a constant fussing rather than just being how I want it, similar to the straps. I do like that you can hold the trigger all the way in and then slide the cruise control all the way past a locking detent so the throttle doesn't back off over time like it can on some units.

The bottom line is that although this blower is extremely powerful, I'm not in love with it the way I was with my Husqvarna 580 BTS and instead find it kind of annoying to use. The negatives are all pretty minor but add up to the point of annoyance to me. It shouldn't be hard to put a blower on, adjust the straps, operate a cruise control and move a tube a tube around. Maybe I'll get used to it and get things adjusted so that it's comfortable for me but if I haven't managed to do that after 4 hours of use I'm not very hopeful. I want something that I can just throw on my back and use for an hour or 2 without having to fuss with it...ya know. Maybe I won't care once the leaf piles start getting big and I get to use it to its full potential, but I can't see it replacing my 580 as my preferred blower for my mowing route at this point.

I'll put up some pictures and a video or 2 when I get a chance.
 
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