Landscape contractors have a lot of choices when it comes to their backpack blowers. And according to feedback from Green Industry PRO readers, three brands stand out from the rest.
Stihl, Echo and RedMax earned the highest favorability ratings of the 10 brands listed in the survey (see end of story). Stihl (42%), RedMax (19%) and Echo (16%) also scored the highest when contractors were asked which brand they think is the “absolute best”.
Three other brands—Shindaiwa, Husqvarna and Kawasaki—followed up the leaders with favorability ratings of 30%, 21% and 19%, respectively. Their “best” ratings were 9%, 4% and 3%.
Few contractors identify a given brand as one they absolutely do not like. Echo (12%) and Husqvarna (11%) were the only two brands to register in double digits. All other brands were in the 6-9% range.
Survey Results
Green Industry PRO magazine subscribers responded to a Brand Favorability survey this past winter. Below are the results of the Backpack Blowers section. NOTE: “Favorable Opinion” represents contractors who answered either “like them” or “they are the best”. Other options were “don’t like them” and “no opinion”.
Brand ….. Percentage of Contractors with Favorable Opinion
Stihl ….. 76%
Echo ….. 56%
RedMax ….. 43%
Shindaiwa ….. 30%
Husqvarna ….. 21%
Kawasaki ….. 19%
Maruyama ….. 8%
Tanaka ….. 8%
Dolmar ….. 4%
Efco ….. 2%
