Echo ES-250ES Shred 'n' Vac Hand-Held Garden Blower

A little back-story first... I had a Poulen vacuum/mulching/bagger/blower that served me well for fifteen years of HARD use (two large properties to maintain with lots of trees). I was really bummed when it finally died and disappointed that they didn't make one anything like it anymore, as I would have bought another in a heartbeat. I've been a mechanic for almost 30 years now and am REALLY picky when it comes to this type of equipment, so finding a new one I liked was a frustrating endeavor. I bought a Ryobi at first which looked like it was going to be a nice piece and I've had excellent service from Ryobi equipment before. I'll spare you the long and agonizing horror story around that unit. In a nutshell, it was a quirky starter and if you didn't get it perfect the first time, it would flood immediately and you'd have to pull the plug, clean it, and try again. Once running, blowing power was "adequate", but vibration was awful! It would start to put my hands to sleep after five minutes or so. OK for blowing off the driveway, but I'd never tolerate a couple hours of blowing leaves with that thing, so back to the store it went. My brother, who owns a landscaping business, told me to quit screwing around and buy an Echo. I balked at first, since it was double the price of the Ryobi, but he assured me it was worth the up-front expense. So I bought the ES-250. It started easily right out of the box and was clearly smoother and more powerful than the Ryobi. It did have an issue where it didn't run well if the tank was less than half-full. A quick trip to the authorized service center down the street and I found out that there was a service bulletin on it for a mis-routed fuel line (mine was a very early production model). They fixed it quickly and no more problems since. The engine feels smooth and powerful even to a 30-year mechanic. It starts easily EVERY time! Vibration is low and blowing power is excellent. Noise level is average in my opinion (the Ryobi was actually quieter). It feels like a well made piece in every way. In vacuum/mulch/bag mode, it's a powerhouse! It easily picks up even piles of damp compacted leaves without a hiccup and mulches them much finer than my old Poulen, even though the Poulen boasted a higher mulch ratio. It does get heavy after awhile as the bag fills, but no more so than any other unit of this type. Now here's the part where I pick nits (as I'm known to do). The shoulder strap that supports the bag is kind of narrow and thin, so it starts to dig into your shoulder as the bag fills, especially if you have ALOT of leaves to vacuum. A pad would be a welcome addition, but those are easy to come by so I'll be adding one before the next bout of leaf vacuuming. The bag is also a little awkward to empty because of the zipper placement (my old Poulen was much easier because the zipper was right on the end of the bag). And finally, since it does require a tool to remove the discharge tube when changing from vacuuming to blowing and vice-versa, it wouldn't have killed them to include some kind of key that would clip to the blower somewhere to release that tube. Perhaps something that would pull out of the handle or clip to the power unit somewhere so you don't have to keep a screwdriver in your pocket or walk back to the garage every time. I'll probably tether something to the blower and add a little plastic clip to hold it so it's always handy. So all in all, even a nit-picky person like me can find little to complain about with this unit and those few complaints are truly small ones. The FIVE YEAR MANUFACTURERS WARRANTY doesn't hurt my feelings any either. Overall, very happy with the purchase. Here's hoping I don't have to do it again for another fifteen years! ;-} (

Dave