Good blower w/little use and wrong photo
The photo posted in this Amazon ad is the wrong one! The photo is of the Echo PB-500H which as a separate left hand throttle control grip while the PB-500T has the throttle grip on the blower tube handle with no handle/control on the left. The PB-500T makes a lot more sense since it leaves your left hand free.<br /><br />I've only broke in/used my PB-500T for a couple hours and seems to work well. Only time will tell and hope I don't have the long-term use problems others mentioned.<br /><br />The &#34;cruise control&#34; button for setting it on high seems to back off by itself which is a pain to keep moving it to the high setting again. Seems to have good power but doesn't have the anti-vibration you may get with a Stihil $500 backpack blower. But there again the vibration is mainly through the handle so a Stihl may be the same.<br /><br />It's a shame Echo doesn't offer a curved blower tube extension to lengthen the tube while blowing leaves/grass away instead of almost straight down. Even with new power tools I alter them to fit my needs and make them more comfortable. I took the 30 degree curved extension tube end off of my old Homelite backpack blower and taped it to the end of the Echo tube which works a whole lot better. I'll probably also use good black electrical tape (Scotch 33) to tape a piece of 3/4&#34; ID water pipe insulation foam to the handle to cut down on the vibration coming through the handle itself. I do this same foam install on my string-trimmers handles and don't need my nerves tingling or carpel tunnel.<br /><br />Since I live in the woods I blow tons of leaves. Used the Echo blower to blow the leaves off my 800' steep/curvy gravel drive and part of my yard. Nice to have the curved blower tube extension tip on the end since it doesn't blow the gravel off of the drive like a straight one would.<br /><br />I did use half a can of the TruFuel 50:1 mix and then used a good 50:1 2-cycle mix for topping the tank off. At about $20-$25/gal there is no way I'm going to use the TruFuel mix full time. Too bad I can't find any non-ethanol gas stations around here, E10 is bad enough, and don't ever use E15 fuel or you'll burn up the engine.<br /><br />I'll update this review with continued use of my Echo PB-500T backpack blower and good luck!
Rating: 4 stars