Doing leaves in the yard

I spent until dark doing leaves today. My lot - for some reason - is Vortex Central for the neighborhood and I swear I get all the leaves from five house in my yard which is over an acre, Literally the leaves are halfway to your knees, boot-top-height-deep. So I have my John Deere / Hasty Vac rig which does a beautiful job when there is just a single layer of leaves, but gets bogged quickly where there is 10" worth - overwhelms its capacity. Today I went and bought the biggest Stihl blower they make, the BR 700 series. Why go with the wimpy ones? GIMME THE BIG BOY. The one the Landscapers buy.

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So yeah, this thing is a hurricane on your back. It has enough torque on the business end of it that you best have hold when you trigger it. It's not magic, but it will kick the 10" layer into the woods enough for me to get the 1" to 2" off with the tractor rig.

As Tim Allen would say ....More power, more power! Arggghhh....Arggghhhhhh!

Anything is more fun with a new tool. My favorite is a new kitchen knife. I'll cook anything if it means I get a new knife!

What's everyone else's favorite new tool?

Nice leaf blower! I was watching the neighbors landscaping guys work the other day they had backpack blowers like what you purchased, they blew the leaves to a spot where they had a vac/mulcher grab them and blow them into a covered trailer. Pretty nice setup actually but I'll make do with my handheld blower/vac.

I have a rake, and the blisters to prove it. :D

Rake? What's that? Oh yes, I remember - they have one downtown Washington in the American History Museum - I think its in an exhibit called "Tools of the 20th Century".