this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2025
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United States | News & Politics

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[–] regedit@feddit.online 132 points 2 days ago (2 children)

This becoming the next faux-outrage, Republican/conservative wedge issue in...3...2...1.

[–] fox2263@lemmy.world 33 points 2 days ago (2 children)

They’re coming fer yer gas lawnmower!

Like the police will come round and take them.

[–] pticrix@lemmy.ca 53 points 2 days ago (3 children)

well, pretty sure ICE has rounded up many a white person's lawnmower.

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Counties near me already banned two-stroke engines. Gas leaf blower ban is on the books for a month or so from now.

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[–] WanderingThoughts@europe.pub 6 points 2 days ago

Tell them they're made in China or Mexico

[–] Goretantath@lemmy.world 80 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Good, they aren't needed anymore since electric ones do the same job.

[–] motor_spirit@lemmy.world 48 points 2 days ago (6 children)

The amount of people I hear discussing their surprise satisfaction with electronic tools is pretty astounding, even coming from electrical engineers and similar. The skepticism and doubt, propaganda from Big Combustion is real 🤠

[–] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 19 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I’m not sure if it was intentional or if brushless motors are really that much more powerful but electric tools are far better now than they were even just 10 years ago.

[–] tankplanker@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

Battery pack improvements have to be right up there with why electric have gotten so much better now.

The new tabless batteries in particular are a good step forward even with older tools. And they are last 18 months or less depending on your tool colour of choice.

Really big tools like most landscaping or concrete tools that use the really big batteries (think back pack batteries) have an insane amount of watts they can push out.

I never used petrol tools but I did use mains tools a lot due to the extra power but now 240v is often lower than the top battery tools now.

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[–] scsi@lemmy.world 15 points 2 days ago (7 children)

Playing devil's advocate here (I use a battery one that's lasted almost 15 years and works fine on modern Lithium instead of NiCad - Black & Decker came with a weedwhacker too). Electric is fine as a single home consumer, but not for working crews. Modern Li batteries last pretty long for a single user doing basic tasks. (The real racket is in weedwhacker spools, they're like $10ea now. I digress.)

I live in the deep south of Texas (the muggy, humid greenish part not the desert) - it's very common to have "working crews" of lawn maintenance out and about all the time. Generally speaking they just drive a truck + trailer full of gear around and look for opportunities. More common than an ice cream truck or FedEx driver after a flood rain like we get, get a deal for $20 fast & clean.

These working crews use gas powered gear simply because electric cannot keep up with the duration and use patterns required by their team without investing in a lot of batteries ($$) and a way to recharge them on the go (generator == gasoline, maybe natural gas if lucky). I haven't looked into the CA ban from this article to find out if they've carved out an exception or not for working crews, licensed or not.

Regarding the linked Texas law - read it, it actually prohibits any local (non state, non Fed) municipality from banning any device based on it's power source. This includes.... surprise.... solar panels on your roof! There are communities who think they're "ugly" and ban solar roof panels, it's real. The law does not prohibit any ordinances or regulation therein of said energy source (for example noise laws, quiet time laws, etc.) but they cannot supersede state/federal laws. This article flippantly wants you to believe it was enacted just to preserve gas lawn blowers using lazy wordsmithing for clicks.

[–] adude007@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago (3 children)

A landscaping crew would require more batteries and/or a method to charge on the go. Cost might be prohibitive to do that now but in time it might work out. Imagine if you have a large battery in a trailer that charges up all the small batteries between sites or solar on the roof.

Considering most landscaping work is done in the summer months maybe a move to a different Lithium chemistry that is cheaper but doesn’t like cold as much could be beneficial for pro tools.

[–] scsi@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Cost might be prohibitive to do that now but in time

I was being subtle in addressing this, but it's spot on - the lawn maintenance working crews in question are all folks out trying to hustle and earn a living, these are not "outfits" with disposable income to invest in the electric future. Quite often the gear is bought/sold in pawn shops all over town, tools are probably the #1 item in any given pawn shop around here (followed by the usual jewelry, guns, etc disposable income items).

Tangent: I lived in CA (SF) for ~18yrs and recognize a lot of the names of the cities and what they're generally like. "Rich", "white" (light-skinned any race/culture), "affluent" are the words that came to mind. I dare say that many of these enacted bans are based on "those brown folks making too much noise in my pretty neighborhood." $0.02

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[–] s1ndr0m3@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I know a beekeeper who has a power inverter hooked up to his truck. He uses it to charge the batteries for both his power tools and bee vacuum systems. He can even use it to run regular plug-in AC devices. Lawn crews can just have the backup batteries charging while they drive from job to job.

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[–] Sanguine@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 2 days ago

This isn't true anymore. Go check out greenworks commercial line.

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[–] Dettweiler42@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 day ago (3 children)

As a homeowner, sure. However, if I had a landscaping business, I would need something that can run all day.

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (33 children)

Carpenters do just fine all day with electric tools. Replaceable batteries are a thing!

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There's plenty of landscaping businesses in my area that advertise as fully electric and seem to be making a profit.

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[–] Saleh@feddit.org 8 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

I have an even more effective proposal that can run for centuries with minimal repair and does just as good a job on fuel that is practically free.

spoiler


collapsed inline media

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[–] altphoto@lemmy.today 21 points 1 day ago (10 children)
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[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago (8 children)

Got rid of my gas weed trimmer 3 years ago. I’ll never go back. I got a good quality electric. It has enough power to do all the necessary yard work 2x over on a charge. It doesn’t get bogged down. I don’t have to mix two stroke fuel. I don’t have to clean the fuel system after not using it for the winter or store gas over the off season. No worries about spills. Just swap out the batteries and go.

Blowers have suffered from insufficient power when battery operated. Maybe that’s changed. I’d love an electric mower, but they’re crazy expensive for a decent one.

[–] RaoulDook@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

My 40v leaf blower is better than a gas blower, because it's just as strong as one and doesn't use gas or oil at all. Also lighter weight and no maintenance. But if you tried an 18v or 20v leaf blower it might not favor as well.

[–] whoisearth@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 day ago

I love my electric mower. I can do my yard *2 on a battery charge. Worth. Also yes it was like 600$ CAD but no more hassles like you mentioned. Peace of mind is a thing AND it's better for the environment.

[–] dai@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

My 38v pushes leaves and rubbish around well enough in my eyes. It does chew through the batteries however, which ended up tipping one pack unable to charge without manual intervention.

Same batteries go in my electric mower, I can mow my backyard on a single cell if I don't leave it too infrequent between.

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[–] solsangraal@lemmy.zip 12 points 2 days ago

the number of people who deliberately use those things just to annoy everyone is ridiculous

[–] Buske@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Leaf blowers in general need to be banned. They cause too much soil erosion.

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Fuck yes about time

[–] Etterra@discuss.online 6 points 18 hours ago

I mean if the maintenance crew can't wake up the whole apartment complex work the leaf blower what's even the point? /s

[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 6 points 2 days ago

A number of states and cities are banning gas-powered leaf blowers due to pollution, noise and health risk concerns.

🧐 Cars are next, right? Riiiight????

[–] greedytacothief@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 day ago (4 children)

I have come to love gas powered leaf blowers this past month. There really is nothing better for trail maintenance. If you have to clear a couple miles of trail a gas powered leaf blower makes it a literal walk in the park. Electric ones just don't have the kind of power that the backpack ones do and run out of battery too quickly. Or you have to rake the whole thing by hand which could take a day or two.

That being said in some areas you're not allowed to use a leaf blower (electric or gas).

[–] bieren@lemmy.zip 6 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

This supports my stance for the electric vs gas argument. Which basically boils down to use the right tool for the job. Is using an electric blower the correct tool to clear miles of trials, not really. Use gas. Does that Amazon delivery vehicle running stop and go all day need to be gas, no. Use electric. It’s not hard.

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[–] LowtierComputer@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (5 children)

While I disagree on the power (try the Ego commercial backpack leaf blower), the battery life is no question. People don't realize how much energy it takes to blow that much air that quickly.

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