Customer Reviews

Makita UB181DZ Commercial Grade 18-Volt Cordless Variable Speed 179 mph Handheld Blower

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this blower because I wanted to clean off my driveway without the hassle of plugging in my larger electric blower. I've owned it for about a year now.

The first thing that you notice about this blower is that it's much smaller than it looks in the photos. It's closer in size to your hand saw than it is to a standard leaf blower.

This has it's advantages and disadvantages. It's easy to set up, just twist the nozzle onto the front and plug the battery in the handle and you're ready to go. If you have a small outdoor job like blowing leaves or twigs off your front porch it works great. But being physically smaller in size than other blowers you don't move nearly the volume of air as a full size blower and sometimes you need to bend over and "push" the debris around with the air stream. The trigger style variable speed switch is great in that it allows you to dust off items that wouldn't survive a more powerful blast. It would be great for jobs like blowing sawdust out of your shop area as you could lightly dust the shelves and then sweep the floors full blast.

Even with an 18 volt battery the Makita doesn't have enough power to do the big jobs or work well on grassy surfaces. Even a large driveway would be a strain as it would require too much bending over and you would probably run out of power before you were done.

This blower is for hard surfaces and small jobs. In this role it is a mini powerhouse. It's build quality is high and it is light weight. It's designed for those "in between" size jobs.

It might even make a good blow dryer for a wet dog.

In summary, do NOT purchase this blower for regular yard work. Buy a full size.

DO purchase this blower for jobs of convenience and you will enjoy it. It is well built and nice to have when you're willing to start a five minute job but not a 20 minute one. :^)

Update: Dec 5, 2002 This morning I used the blower to blow off the powder snow that fell on my vehicle overnight. It took less than a minute and I didn't get my hands snowy just before I had to leave for work. Because you can whip this blower out quickly, there are a lot of different things that you can use it for that you might not think of otherwise.

I read the only previously written review before I purchased this blower and I almost didn't buy it. However, it seemed to be the best available alternative. I was very happy that I did.
I use it around the patio and pool and it works very well. You'll need a battery and charger. Hint: buy the factory reconditioned 18 volt 1/2 inch drill for only a few dollars more
than the battery and charger. You'll get the drill, a charger and two batteries.

This Makita blower is fantastic. It has a variable speed switch that sets the blower from low to high. Don't get me wrong, you can't blow a whole yard clean, etc...I would recommend the 18 volt because you will get about 12 minutes of full blower time with it before you have to re-charge the battery. The lower voltage models will give you less time before the battery runs out. It is rather expensive ..,, but it is worth every penny. I use it to blow the bed of my pick-up truck clean and to blow the debris out of our gardens. It also has a suction feature for quick vacuum jobs, etc..., and a bag to hold the debris in. Let's just say, it gets small jobs done fast !!! This little gem is environmentally friendly, not too noisy and there are no electric cords to worry about. It surpasses broom clean-up by 101% !!! Once again Makita proves to be the best !!!

I am a contractor who really needs a small cordless vacuum and blower. I already have many corded and cordless 18v Makita tools, so I was really looking forward to this arriving. There is a really aweful reason why you only ever see the photo of this set up in blower configuration. It's because that is all it is any good for. To convert it to a vacuum you have to put the dust bag on the front in place of the nozzle, then you put the nozzle on the side of the maching sticking out at 90 degrees from the handle!! Obviously, the machine is now such a weird shape it is now basically useless as a vacuum. It cannot be used to vacuum a van or car. It cannot be used to vacuum inside cabinets or anything else. I am not even sure how you could hold the trigger while holding the machine so the nozzle aims in front of you. You would probably have to use both hands. I can't believe anyone could be stupid enough to design this. They should sell it as just a blower or give a photo of it in both configurations to warn people.
I never even bothered to put a battery in it or turn it on. Five minutes after opening it and reading the instructions, it was back in its box and on its way to Amazon returns.
If you ONLY want a blower, then maybe it would be fine for you. If you want a cordless vacuum, then don't even consider this Frankenstein designed machine.

I do woodworking on the weekends and bought this blower to clean up my shop. The variable speed on the blower is very useful; I can use the blower with just enough force to blow sawdust off of my tools and work surfaces without creating a dust storm in my shop. The 18 volt battery lasts for several days when used in this mode. My only complaint is that the blower won't stand upright when set on a flat surface. I wish Makita had built the blower with the weight distributed such that it would stand up when set on a surface.

This item is great for what I need it for, mainly blowing porches and breezeway and carport free of debris. The batteries do not last very long but since I have two it gets the job done. The blower itself it fine. I like the fact that it has variable speeds so I can even blow the debris out of the garage. The nozzle could be a bit longer as you tend to hunch over even though you don't need to as it is powerful enough without a long nozzle. Just human nature, I guess. I would recommend it to a friend, and have done so!

This is a good tool for cleaning up the patio in the morning or blowing dry leaves etc. off of a hard surface. Its powerful enough!

For fall cleanup, work in the spring or in wet conditions get a bigger plug-in unit.

The vacuum works on smaller stuff.

Overall we are very pleased with the convenience it offers and it works well.

If this unit wears out, and it will we will get another one.

The blower portion works real well. The hose could be longer so as to not have to stoop at times. An extention wand would be great. The vacuum is useless since the impeller is blocked by a non-removable guard under the intake by a plastic cross. One small leaf blocked it immediately. I laughed at the size when I saw it but it works good for small quick jobs.

A joy to use! Much quieter than plug-in electrics, but a little less powerful. It really gets the job done easily. Instead of pulling out 100 ft of cord or gassing up the really loud gas blower--I can just pull this compact, light blower out and get the job done in 5 minutes instead of 20.
Battery usually lasts long enough to do several cleanups after mowing and trimming front and back yards. Should be available with charger and 18V battery included. I really like it!

To those who complained about it not being powerful enough....are you kidding? It's an 18 volt mini blower...not a Stihl back packer. It has more power than I was expecting and works great for blowing off tools, decks, etc. I use my gasoline monster for the heavy work, but for everything else the Makita does just fine.