Customer Reviews

Makita BBX7600CA Commercial Grade 4-Stroke 75.6cc Backpack Blower (CARB Compliant)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After considerable research, I decided to buy the Makita BBX7600. I live in S. Florida on an acre with lots of trees and a good backpack blower is a must. I looked at Echo, Husquavarna, Redmax, Tanaka, etc. This blower is actually made by Robin Outdoor power equipment ([...]) under a private label arrangement with Makita. You may not have heard of them but they actually cater to the commercial market and their engines are made by Subaru. Subaru makes some of the finest small engines on the market. I've only used this blower a few times so far but it is powerful, smooth and quiet. I love the fact that you don't have to worry about two stroke oil and this baby starts on the first pull every time. It is slightly heavier than I thought, but not much different than other blowers with this size. I think the components on this unit have a slightly higher quality feel than what you'll find at your local big box retailer. It may just be the placebo effect but that's my observation.

There are not many reviews on this blower out there and one individual completely trashes the product and manufacturer. I would simply suggest you read ALL the reviews on other products posted by that individual and take that into consideration on your decision. This (so far) is a great product. I ordered this Tuesday night and it arrived Thursday - free shipping with amazon Prime. At $399 with free shipping, I am very satisfied with my purchase.

I have used this backpack blower commercially (on a daily basis) for about two years now having replaced our two 2-stroke blowers that were noxious to the user. Skeptical of the "green" hybrid 2-stroke/4-stroke technology being touted by many major manufacturers, I researched true 4-stroke backpack blowers for about a month until I stumbled across this particular blower that had the look and build of a commercial backpack blower.

Overall I am very pleased with our two BBX7600CA's.

Pros:
*It has ample power and the velocity of air produced is on par or slightly below that of a comparable 2-stroke model.
*It runs on straight gasoline so there's no mixing required.
*The oil is very easy to change (2 minutes or less).
*The blower is much more fuel efficient than our previous 2-stroke models.
*The 4-stroke EPA Phase II, CARB III engine is much friendlier to the environment (and the user) - more complete engine combustion.
Cons:
*The backpack is a tad heavier than a 2-stroke model, but not that noticeable.
*The back comfort pad tends to lose its fasteners causing it to fall off.
*The machine tends to lose 5% power after about a minute of use, then once you let go of the handle and re-squeeze the trigger, the user regains 100% power.
*We had 2/2 of our backpack blowers blow a carburetor gasket after about the same amount of use each. The gasket was VERY difficult to find via two companies. One company took three months to get me the gasket stating that it was the only one they could find in the U.S. - not good. Luckily, it's very easy to replace - simply remove the two screws holding the carburetor in place, and replace.

Everything said, my staff really enjoys using these blowers, so much so that we will be purchasing two more units in the spring. Just be sure to order an extra "insulator gasket" after purchasing this backpack.

I WAS very happy with this blower until I destroyed it by failing to check the oil frequently enough. As the other reviewers attest, it is quiet, powerful, and heavy. Squeeze the throttle hard and it twists on your back and shoves your arm up. At full throttle, you can tear up turf and excavate gravel with it, if you are not careful. I switched from a hand-held gas blower and this unit decreased the time it takes to blow leaves or clear the driveway by at least a factor of two. What a pleasure!

But this is not a lawnmower 4-stroke engine, where you could pretty much ignore the oil level for most of the season. The oil reservoir is SMALL and mine ran dry before I noticed. Irreparable engine damage--total loss. Okay, call me an idiot, I KNOW it's not a 2 stroke, but it still snuck up on me. So if you buy this, CHECK YOUR OIL LEVEL AFTER EVERY USE!

Me, I replaced this with a RedMax 2-stroke model (EBZ8050) that a friend of mine has been using in his landscaping business for more than 5 years. Similar performance, lighter, louder, smellier, but apparently indestructible. Take your pick.

I bought the Makita BBX7600CA about 6 weeks ago. I was looking for the most powerful 4 stroke backpack blower, and this one seemed to be it.
So far I used this blower for about 6hrs, and have not have any problem with it.

I am a home owner, have about 1/2 acre, lots of pine needles in the back, and some sticky leaves from a Bay Leaf tree in the front.

It is powerful, responsive, starts at the first or second pull: It is what I was looking for. It blows 10' pine needles out of 6" tall grass, handles sticky Bay leaf leaves in grass, and of course, cleans up the drive way with ease at idle speed.
It is reasonably light and quiet compared to the competition, I would still suggest using ear protection. And about the weight: Obviously, there are lighter blowers out there, but they don't deliver this power.
I would like to have a slightly bent end pipe, to make it easier to blow leaves out of left side corners.I will have to check with Makita or Dolmar (Manufacturer), to see, if they have anything available.

I could recommend this product to anyone, who is looking for a powerful backpack blower, and does not want to mix oil+ gas.

We rented one of these blowers and were so amazed at its power that we had to have our own. It's power is AMAZING!
We live in the woods and have LOTS of leaves that keep accumulating over the years. The plug-in type blower just can't do the job. The Makita gives me (a 50+ year old woman) the power of a lawn company! Its so exhilarating to strap it on my back and get the job DONE! The only downside is that I need a man's help to load me up and get it running. We're done with the electric blower! This is why guys love power!

While I have only used the blower twice since delivery, I can honestly say it was money well spent. I have used hand held 2 cycle blowers in the past, and they never seemed to have enough power to get the job done. This machine has some serious power, and it is surprisingly quiet!

This is my first backpack blower and I'm extremely pleased with the results from its first use. I was a little concerned that carrying the blower on my back would be a problem since I'm nearing seventy but it seemed light and well balanced. The Makita started easily on the first pull. With hearing protection the perceived engine noise was surprisingly low and there was little vibration. The engine speed and "cruise control" functions worked well although I was at full throttle most of the time. You do need to be careful with the Makita because it's powerful enough to tear up sod and blow away gravel. This was an end-of-season final clean up of both my front and rear lawns which took about an hour and a half. With my old equipment (see below) I was usually too tired after doing the front lawn to do the back lawn in the same day. I noticed that the Makita is really good at blowing stuck down leaves and sticks which my old equipment couldn't do. When I reached the edge of the lawn, I was able to blow the leaves well into the woods and even it all out quite easily. All-in-all it was a very satisfying result.

The Makita replaces a duo of machines consisting of a Sears walk-behind leaf blower/mulcher and a handheld electric blower. I would use the walk-behind to get the main group of leaves to the edge of the lawn and the handheld for detail work and getting the leaves into the woods. This approach worked OK for many years but was inefficient and tiring. When my walk-behind blower recently broke down, I discovered that a new Sears walk-behind blower/mulcher is $200 more than the Makita. Easy decision for me - I'm just sorry I didn't think of it sooner. Picking the make and model blower I wanted was pretty simple since I wanted a four-cycle engine and the Makita is one of the few I could find near this price point.

Assembly is straightforward and consists of putting together three sections of pipe and attaching the hand control. The pipe sections are a tight fit. If the sections don't want to mate, use some dishwashing liquid or liquid hand soap on the mating surfaces. Put on just enough to coat the female surface. After the pipes are mated they need to be turned to a locking position. Rubber gloves or plumber's strap wrenches can help here, if needed.

Conclusion: If you have a large enough area to clear of leaves that you're considering a mechanized solution and you have a place to easily sequester your leaves, a backpack leaf blower should be seriously considered because it makes leaf clearance a very efficient process and will save you time, effort and maybe a few dollars as well. If you should decide on the Makita, I think you will be well pleased with your investment.

After using our blower and getting nowhere with the leaves, we decided on the Makita 4stroke.
Boy what a difference!!! So much power and the clean up time is much shorter. So glad we changed

I have 5 acres, 4 acres of which are covered with trees, which deposit their leaves on the remaining acre of lawn, paths, house, etc. I recently purchased the Makita to help ride herd on these leaves and the unit has provided excellent performance so far.

The Makita needs minimal assembly out of the box - mostly just attaching the exhaust hoses and straps. The exhaust hose is made of heavy duty / durable plastic that is really hard to fit together on one section (where the accordion-style section attaches to the hard plastic), and pretty easily slips apart on the business end (I found the last two segments would fall off during use occasionally).

After adding oil and gas and priming the fuel, the unit fired right up. The output is excellent and can blow wet leaves even at mid-throttle. At idle it will move everything off paved areas. The unit stalled out on me once within an hour of initial usage; turns out I was leaning over at a pretty extreme angle and I guess the fuel starved out. Keep that in mind if you are trying to lean over under low hanging trees, etc. Once the unit was standing straight up again it fired right back up.

The Makita is fairly comfortable to wear; the weight distributes nicely and the padded straps did not cut into my shoulders or back. I used it for about 2 hours non-stop and never felt tired with it on my back. The engine is pretty quiet and runs very clean. I never felt like exhaust gases were hitting me in the face or that I was breathing them. Though the engine is quiet it is right next to your ears - use decent ear protection and wear safety glasses. The Makita can throw even moderately large gravel around so ricochets are possible.

I have had my Makita Backpack Blower now for two years and am completely satisfied with the blower. The only thing that I would love to see changed or added to the blower is something on the back rest to cushion the blower against your back. I love the blower, the quality, and price. I could not ask for a more powerful blower for the money I spent.