Leaf Blower CFM, MPH and Newtons: Gas and Cordless for Large Yards

The spec on the front of the box decides less than you think

Across these five, published air volume runs from 800 CFM to 1,110 CFM. That range is real and it matters: the Echo PB-9010T’s 1,110 CFM is 39% more air than the 800 CFM Greenworks and Husqvarna publish. If your problem is acres of dry leaves and daylight running out, that is the number to follow.

Air speed is published separately from air volume. The published spread on speed is narrower than on volume: 220 MPH for both gas backpacks, 200 MPH for the Greenworks and the Husqvarna 350iB, 180 MPH for the Ryobi.

The Greenworks 80V dual-port and the handheld Husqvarna 350iB publish an identical headline pair — 800 CFM, 200 MPH. Husqvarna also publishes 23.5 N. Greenworks publishes no Newton figure at all. And that 23.5 N is exactly half the 47 N Husqvarna publishes for its own 580BTS, and just under half the Echo’s 48 N.

The two gas backpacks sit within one Newton of each other, 48 N and 47 N. That is a rounding-scale difference, and neither should be chosen over the other on force alone.

Ask where the number was measured

Air volume can be quoted at the nozzle or measured in the blower housing, and the two are not directly comparable. Almost no spec sheet flags which one you are reading. Husqvarna records it for the 580BTS: 1,000 cfm, stated as maximum air flow at the round nozzle. Echo, Ryobi, Greenworks and the 350iB each publish a CFM figure with no measurement point attached.

The practical consequence is that a 50 CFM gap between two brands is not evidence of much. Between the Ryobi’s 850 CFM and the Greenworks’ 800 CFM, treat them as close and decide on something else.

Whether one charge actually covers your yard

Every battery runtime figure here is quoted at a stated configuration, and the three configurations are different from one another.

Ryobi’s longest published figure is quoted with both included batteries fitted on the low variable-speed setting. Husqvarna publishes about 45 minutes in normal mode for the 350iB on its single 7.7Ah BLi30 pack. Comparing those figures as if they described the same thing would be wrong: different cell counts, different voltages, and in one case a stated low-power setting.

Two things do transfer directly. First, the Ryobi and Greenworks kits both include two batteries, so their published times already account for the spare — you are not reading a figure that assumes a purchase you have not made. The 350iB kit includes one battery, so its 45 minutes is the whole session unless you add a pack. Second, Greenworks is the only maker here that publishes a charge time: a 75-minute recharge on the dual-port charger.

The gas models publish nothing comparable. Echo lists an 83.8 fl oz tank and Husqvarna a 2.6 L (87.92 fl oz) tank — a difference of about 4 fl oz — and neither publishes a runtime in minutes. You can compare their capacities to each other and no further.

What you carry is not always what is published

Weight figures in this category are quoted inconsistently, and the inconsistency runs in the direction that flatters the heavier tools. Echo publishes 26.7 lb as a dry weight. Husqvarna publishes 26.8 lb without fuel. Those two are within a tenth of a pound of each other, and both exclude several dozen fluid ounces of mix that you will be carrying by the time you start.

The Home Depot listing gives both figures rather than Ryobi’s own spec table: 13.2 lb bare and 21.4 lb with both batteries installed. That with-batteries number lands about 5 lb below either gas backpack before either has been fueled.

No operating weight for the Greenworks could be confirmed from the documents retrieved for this model. On a tool you wear for an hour across a wooded lot, that is the most consequential gap in this set’s documentation, and it is worth weighing against the runtime and charge-time figures the same brand does publish well.

The sound figures do not line up either

Four of the five publish something about noise, and only two publish it in a form you can compare. Husqvarna gives 106 dB(A) at the operator’s ear for the 580BTS, with 113 dB(A) measured and 115 dB(A) guaranteed sound power, and 79.4 dB(A) at the ear with 97 dB(A) sound power for the 350iB. Echo publishes 80 dB(A) for the PB-9010T without stating where it was taken, so setting it beside Husqvarna’s at-the-ear figure is not a fair comparison. Ryobi publishes no decibel figure on the manufacturer page, only its own Whisper Series claim of being 83% quieter than a comparable gas blower. Greenworks publishes none.

Across brands, the published data does not support a ranking.

When the lighter tool is genuinely enough

The case for the 350iB is stronger than its 23.5 N suggests, provided you match it to the job. It publishes the same 800 CFM and 200 MPH as the Greenworks backpack, with a scraper tip built into the nozzle and a Boost Mode that Husqvarna describes as delivering 100% additional power on demand. For beds, borders, hard surfaces and shorter passes, those are the published figures that matter, and it is the only cordless model here that publishes a force rating at all.

The case against it comes off the same page: about 45 minutes, one battery in the kit, and half the blowing force of the 580BTS. Deep, rain-soaked leaf mats across an acre-plus cleared in one session is the situation those three figures argue against.

What the paperwork covers

Three of the five publish warranty terms. Echo publishes 5-year consumer and 2-year commercial coverage on the PB-9010T. Ryobi publishes a 5-year limited tool warranty with 3 years on the battery — the only battery coverage stated in this set. Greenworks publishes a 4-year limited tool warranty. No warranty term appears in the Husqvarna specifications retrieved for either the 580BTS or the 350iB.

Alongside that, both gas models document their filtration specifically: Echo a top-mounted pleated paper main filter with a foam prefilter, Husqvarna a commercial-grade 2-stage system. Those details do not appear in any CFM comparison, and they are the reason to open the specification sheet rather than the marketing page — they describe what the tool is built from, which no headline airflow figure will tell you.