9 Best Leaf Blowers | Australian Buying Guide 2023

What is a Leaf Blower?

This machine uses a motor or engine to create a jet of air that blows dust, leaves, twigs and more into piles for easy collection. They are ideal for larger jobs like clearing a lawn, driveway or street, and the more powerful models can even handle wet debris.

This takes the effort out of clearing outdoor spaces, helps protect your back from strain, and makes the job a lot faster.

Different Types of Leaf Blower

Garden blowers come in a range of different types, including:

Electric Leaf Blower

An electric leaf blower can be corded or battery powered, and are quiet to operate, lightweight, maintenance-free and eco-friendly. They can be pretty powerful, but are generally suited to lighter work.

Corded options have limited range but unlimited power supply, while battery-powered options are the most mobile.

Petrol Leaf Blower

Petrol leaf blowers the most powerful, and are often used by garden maintenance crews or on large pieces of property. The petrol engine requires you to mix and store fuel and oil, and they need to be maintained regularly.

Handheld leaf blower 

Handheld blowers are smaller, electric and are usually the lightest option. They come with a small collection bag and are ideal for smaller jobs like cleaning a small porch, blowing out dust in a shed or garage, or clearing a small area of the garden.

Backpack leaf blower

Because of the shoulder harness, a backpack blower puts the least amount of strain on your back or arms, are easy to direct and are well-suited to bigger jobs. The harness also allows you to carry more weight, so they come with larger leaf collection bags and powerful motors.

Wheel-behind blower 

As the largest leaf blower, the wheel-behind model is often used for commercial applications, and isn’t usually well-suited to home gardens. It works either by pushing it manually or it can be pulled behind a tractor.

What to Consider When Buying a Leaf Blower

When buying a leaf blower for your garden, consider the following:

Fuel type 

Petrol leaf blowers offer the most power and run time, but also the most maintenance, noise and pollution. Electric corded leaf blowers are limited in range and not run time (although you can extend the range with an outdoor extension cord), while battery leaf blowers are limited by their need to charge.

Power 

The larger the area you want to clear and the heavier the debris are, the more power your leaf blower needs to offer. Both electric and petrol leaf blowers offer a range of power options, so be sure to check this so you get a clear idea of their capabilities.

Airflow speed 

The more airflow running through the leaf blower, the more effective it is at shifting heavier debris like wet leaves and grass. This will be recorded by the manufacturer in kilometres per hour (km/h).

Multi-use accessories 

Some leaf blowers can be converted for different functions, saving you having to buy additional equipment. The best leaf blowers offer leaf vacuuming and mulching, making collection and composting easy.

Always check how easy it is to switch between functions, as some are simpler than others.

Noise level 

Leaf blowers are known for being noisy, and a loud leaf blower can be a huge problem in a suburban or urban neighbourhood. Electric leaf blowers are significantly quieter than petrol models, and are often a better fit for built up areas as a result.

Are Electric Leaf Blowers Any Good?

Yes! Modern electric leaf blowers, including cordless leaf blowers, offer a lot more power than many people realise. They are designed for everyday garden use, but a lot of them are powerful enough to be used for garden maintenance companies too.

They are more eco-friendly, emit no fumes, are quieter, lightweight and maintenance-free.

Are Leaf Blowers Worth It?

If you’re young, fit and have a small garden with low maintenance needs, you can probably do just fine with a rake. However, a leaf blower makes a big difference when you have trees that drop heavy leaves, where the rain makes leaves and debris difficult to move off paths and driveways, or if you have a larger garden.

In those cases, a leaf blower takes the strain off your back and gets the job done in a fraction of the time it would take to rake. In addition, many leaf blowers offer vacuuming and mulching capabilities, saving you even more time.

1. MTM 30CC Backpack Petrol Leaf Blower

While most leaf blowers today come with vacuum settings, and a host of other accessories, the MTM 30CC leaf blower is exactly what you need, and only that.

This perfectly made leaf blower shoots out gusts of over 300km/h and can easily clear guttering, borders, paths, and lawns of fallen leaves. If you’re trying to clear pine needles from grass, this can handle it.

If you’ve got a gutter full of damp rotting leaves, this can handle it.

The MTM leaf blower is simply perfect and built to last too. If you’re serious about your garden tools, this has to be the choice for you.

2. Metabo 18V 5.5Ah Garden Leaf Blower Combo Kit

Metabo’s brushless electric leaf blower is a bulky thing, but it's comfortable, well balanced, and reasonably lightweight for a tool with such a powerful motor.

It might only reach a top speed of 150km/h but its wide nozzle means you’re working more efficiently and targeting fallen leaves faster than with more directed nozzles.

Really though, the Metabo is all about comfort. For any gardener who spends a lot of time clearing leaves, finding a comfortable tool is essential.

3. Greenworks 40V 185 MPH Variable Speed Cordless Leaf Blower

This high-performance battery leaf blower offers air flow speeds of up to 297 km/h, an impressive feat for an electric blower. You can get around 21 minutes of operation on high, and you can adjust performance with the variable speed dial to get even longer run times.

The brushless motor is designed to last with reduced wear-and-tear and the cushioned grip makes it comfortable to operate. This blower also offers mulching and vacuuming capabilities, with an easy, tool-less conversion between functions.

It’s one of the most eco-friendly leaf blowers too, and it has been approved by the NSW Environment Protection Authority to guarantee 35% less energy and zero emissions.

4. Stihl BG 56 Leaf Blower

This petrol leaf blower is one of the most popular on the market, and it’s easy to see why. With Stihl build quality, you get great performance and a well-balanced machine.

The 2-stroke 27cc engine supplies plenty of power to blast through any lawn or patio debris, running up to 255km/h. It’s portable and compact, weighing 4.2kgs, and has variable speed settings to ensure better performance control.

It’s easy to start, emits an average noise level of 70 decibels, and has decent fuel capacity with a tank capacity of 540ml.

5. Bosch Cordless Leaf Blower ALB 18V

Bosch is well-known for the quality and performance of their gardening equipment, and this leaf blower has a lot to offer. Powered by an 18V lithium-ion battery, it offers 210km/h airspeed, and runs for 10 minutes before needing a recharge.

This is enough time to get through most gardening tasks like clearing a patio or cleaning up leaves. It has a soft grip handle, is lightweight at 1.5kgs, and the battery is interchangeable with other Bosch tools in the same range.

6. Baumr-AG 20V Lithium Cordless Leaf Blower 

Electric leaf blowers tend not to have the punch of petrol leaf blowers, but BAUMR-AG’s 20V leaf blower can match most petrol blowers with its fast charging batteries, which power a 130km/h gust.

The best thing about this leaf blower though isn’t its power source, it’s how comfortable it is to use. The perfectly balanced body hangs neatly from your shoulder with a comfortable grip handle for added control.

With batteries included and no cord to drag around after you, this is one of the most convenient leaf blowers, we’ve got on review.

7. Makita DUB186SF 18V Cordless Blower Combo Kit

Makita rarely sells bundled tools and batteries without adding on a huge premium, so if you’re in the market for Makita batteries, consider this leaf blower, which has them included already.

The powerful battery operated leaf blower runs at 244km/h, which is more than enough for tough leaves that have been walked into lawns. 

The only downside is the balance. It’s got an insanely long nozzle, which helps increase the air pressure and makes it more efficient, but it does make it feel like you’re working against the tool, rather than with it.

8. Makita DUB182Z 18V LXT Lithium-Ion Battery Leaf Blower 

This 18V lithium-ion battery powered leaf blower offers good run time at 18 minutes and good performance thanks to the nozzle design and Makita-built variable 3-speed motor.

It’s a great option for cleaning tool sheds, garages and patios, and supplies an air flow speed of up to 186 km/h. With an ergonomic, comfortable handle, rubberised soft grip and balanced power-to-weight ratio, it’s an easy-to-use, everyday leaf blower for the home and garden.

9. BLACK+DECKER GWC1820PC-XE Leaf Blower

MTM’s 30CC leaf blower is comfortable, powerful, and easy to use. Its well-manufactured body makes it ideal for tough jobs and will hold up well to bumps and scrapes.

What’s truly brilliant about the MTM 30CC Backpack Leaf Blower is its design. Forget power, forget efficiency. The long nozzle reaches up to 2.6m and is ideal for gutter clearance, or poking into the backs of borders, under shrubs, and hedges.

Any gardeners looking for a balance of budget and quality should really seriously consider this MTM leaf blower.

It might be pricey, but there are definitely more expensive leaf blowers out here with less capability. Gardeners looking for a top-quality, premium leaf blower should avoid that trap of buying the most expensive model and look for something high-end without spending a fortune.

The Metabo 18V Cordless Brushless Leaf Blower comes with batteries included, is super easy to use, has comfortable handles, and works wonders on tough leaves that have been walked into the soil, cracks, or even trodden into the lawn.

Our selection for the best leaf blowers of 2023 is the battery powered Greenworks 40V 185 MPH Variable Speed Cordless Blower.

It prioritizes in eco-friendly operation without compromising on performance, offering exceptional power to take on even the most challenging jobs with ease.

It has high build quality, and the Greenworks blower comes with vacuuming and mulching capabilities for convenience. Whether you love the performance of petrol or the quiet operation and low maintenance of electric tools, you can’t go wrong with this leaf blower.