UKC

Is there a better example of technology replacing something that is just fundamentally better? They are noisy, expensive and use energy whereas a broom, as trigger would tell you, is silent, cheap and lasts forever.

And if my neighbour keeps using one every Saturday morning I might just be giving him my broom, but not neccesarily in his hand!

Ride Sheffield use them on the mountain bike trails round here. Don't think brooms would be much use there! But yes, using them on tarmac seems unnecessary

They do have one valid use I’ve seen - clearing a large quantity of sawdust from an outdoor area after tree felling.

Otherwise I agree with you!

Indispensable if you have a gravel driveway.

Spring tine rake for leaves, surely, not a broom?

I find one invaluable for blowing away the dust and soil left on ledges and holds after cleaning and bolting slabby routes. Takes far longer with a brush and is much less effective.

Also used by F1 teams to help cool down various bits of their cars.

No.

All leaf blowers do is blow the leaves away temporarily, and then for nature to blow them back again - or to annoy someone else - later. They might have some uses, but might be better described as "leaf redistributors".

I once drove home in a howling gale and saw a bloke using a leaf blower on the pavement outside his house.

But they're good fun though...    youtube.com/watch?v=EQ9H_Zrk3jQ&

Leaf blowers are invaluable, how else would you start a pulse jet bicycle???

https://youtu.be/bKHz7wOjb9w?si=ucrDCQXSo3gTjTte

I didn't mind seeing them being used in Northern Italy, on the cycle paths, by someone following the hedge cutter/strimmer. I certainly wouldn't object if an attachment could be fitted to the back of tractors that were hedge cutting the local hawthorn hedges. 

Ideally metal spring tine rake for wet leaves on grass, stiff broom for the same on tarmac.

On gravel, a light plastic rake or blower/vac if the leaves are dry. A vac mashes the leaves up, making them more rapidly compostable into mulch than whole leaves.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of the noise. But having cleared the same driveway without then with a leaf blower I can assure you it takes around a third of the time, is much more thorough (especially if the leaves are wet) and considerably easier. I use it twice a year. For the leaves on grass I just run the mower over them and the worms take them over winter.

Bloody thorns!

We tried cycling back to Manchester from Stoke on the towpath once,  gave up at the top of Bosley locks after the 8th or 9th puncture between us and called the caverly out.

Used by crag developers too in Kalymnos. https://www.8a.nu/news/griffig-kalymnos-the-most-popular-new-crag-on-8a-d71...

If you carefully adjust the height of  a lawnmower it will pick up the leaves and deposit them into the grass box.

However, it will still be noisy and upset any neighbours that are idling the day away

They do exist, some of the hedge cutters in my local area have them. 

came on here to say the same thing.

Can't start a pulsejet without one.

Los Angeles used to be the home of the 2 stroke leaf blower. They changed the law to require them to be electric years ago. Considerably quieter and less polluting (but more so than a broom of course). I don't know why we haven't taken the same route.

In the town I live in, the local council use one or two to (try to) clear the leaves from a park that is about 1km long by 1/2 km wide that is covered in trees.  It takes them weeks, and I think by then most of the leaves have just blown away naturally anyway.

The annoying thing about leaf blowers isn't so much the noise, but rather the repeated on/off/on/off as they are in use. Same with strimmers. 

If it were constantly on then they wouldn't be quite so offensive. I do my best when strimming to keep it either on or off, rather than pulsing the trigger 

I thought around Sheffield they'd have just cut the trees down  

I'll pass that suggestion onto Ride Sheffield 😉

Largely depends on the amount of leaves and the area. Over large areas (housing estates, sports areas) a (good) blower will be infinitely quicker. However on a small average size house area a brush is a lot less faff.

Also as Timmned said above a lawn mower with a raised cut will suck up all but the sticky ones