Gas Powered Leaf Blower Bans: What You Need To Know

The life and use of Gas Powered Leaf Blowers is coming to an end in many areas. Bans on gas powered leaf blowers have recently taken effect in Washington, D.C.; Miami Beach, Florida; and Evanston, Illinois. California will end the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers and string trimmers starting July 1, 2024.

More than 100 US cities have banned gas powered leaf blowers. And it’s a trend that will continue until electric / battery powered equipment is the industry standard.

If your landscape business is currently using gas powered leaf blowers or gas powered weed whackers – KEEP READING!

There’s 2 main driving forces behind the bans. 

1. 1) Environmental Pollution
2. 2) Noise Pollution

Some environmentalists claim that running a gas powered leaf blower produces the same amount of emissions as driving a car 1,000 miles or roughly the distance between New York and Florida. 

The other common gripe with gas powered leaf blowers is the noise they create while running. According to the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse [which is apparently, a thing] The average blower measures 70-75 dB at 50 feet according to a manufacturer’s lobbyist (2), thus louder at any closer distance. 70 decibels is as loud as a washing machine or a dishwasher. It is a moderate noise level, according to decibel pro.

Banning gas powered landscaping equipment isn’t an isolated incident. It’s going to be more and more common in 2024 and beyond. But, it’s also not anything new.

Some landscapers have been using electric equipment for years now. A good example of this being Madison Earth Care in Connecticut, featured in this Lawn & Landscape write up from 2018.

If you operate in an area with an existing or proposed ban, then the answer is yes. But there’s a major cost to replace all of your gas powered light equipment with eclectic equipment. Especially is you’re replacing hundreds or thousands of pieces of equipment. Although the ban is currently limited to leaf blowers, it’s expected to expand into other gas powered light equipment like push mowers and edgers. 

We created the Toolie to be the perfect addition to the “electrification” of your light equipment asset mix. The Toolie not only tracks location, it also tracks activity. 

• Inventory – Every landscape business stays organized differently. It’s common to have equipment assigned to the same truck or trailer. But it’s also common for equipment to be stored in a yard shed and shared between crews. No matter which system you use, the Toolie makes inventory easy. 

• Utilization – The lifespan of your electric leaf blowers and other electric equipment might be different from your gas powered equipment. With the Toolie, you can get accurate utilization data. You’ll know where the equipment was used, when the equipment was used and for how long. 

• Activity – Any time a piece of equipment is in use, the Toolie will tell you. Automatic activity reporting helps you understand your on-site efficiency by breaking down the difference between how long were your crews at the site vs how often equipment is actively running.

• Assignment – If a piece of eclectic equipment is assigned to a specific place in your yard shed or on a specific vehicle or trailer, you’ll be able to find it easily from the Momentum app.

• Responsibility – The Toolie automatically pairs with the Eagle One, so you’ll know who was responsible for the “last touch.” With the Toolie, any old check in/check out system is obsolete since Momentum tracks this automatically. 

You also want to ensure that your new electric equipment is giving you the same production rates as your gas-powered equipment. The Toolie will get you precise production rates and utilization data for every connected piece of equipment. 

Imagine this…you roll out an entirely electric asset mix. Then you notice that jobs are starting to take just a little longer (Momentum will track this for you automatically). All of a sudden you’re spending an extra 10 or 15 minutes at the job site. Multiple that across all of your jobs, and you’ve got a big problem. 

Momentum can solve this problem for you. And all you have to do is connect a Toolie to your new equipment.

How does the Toolie work? 

Every Toolie is Bluetooth enabled and comes with an internal accelerometer. The accelerometer gives precise activity data, even on electric equipment.

For example, if you’re using an electric leaf blower, the Toolie will know exactly when it’s in use. And when it’s not. 

Outright bans on the gas-powered machines have recently taken effect in Washington, D.C.; Miami Beach, Florida; and Evanston, Illinois. California will end the sale of gas-powered blowers as of July 1, 2024.

Portland and Seattle will both ban the use of gas powered blowers in the coming years, but specific dates have yet to be released. 

We will continue to update this post with more information as it becomes available. 

Learn more about the Momentum Toolie here and our other devices for vehicles, trailers, heavy equipment here. Momentum also eliminates the need for invasive and inaccurate mobile time tracking apps. We created the CrewID to be a privacy-first labor cost tracker that eliminates the need for data entry, personal or company issued devices. 

If you’re a landscaper, then you know how quickly new technology impacts your industry. When you run on Momentum, you’ll get a 100% accurate and automatic view of your financial and operational performance.