EAST DEVON COUNCIL CHANGE TO MAKITA’S “ALL-DAY” BLOWERS
Super-low vibration makes Makita’s blowers safest on market • High volume airflow; low noise • Continuous operation for 8-hours and more “We can use our new Makita back-pack blowers all day whereas our previous machines could only be used for 45 minutes because of the vibration levels,” reports Tim Harris, Technical Officer of the Streetscene Team at East Devon District Council.
In fact independent vibration tests carried out for the Council by Earlsmere Ltd prove that the Makita BBX7600 4-stroke blowers could be used continuously for 24 hours!
The East Devon Streetscene operations maintain parks, gardens and open spaces over more than 30 square miles as well as providing street cleansing services throughout the area that includes Sidmouth, the popular seaside holiday destination. The Makita backpack blowers are used for early morning litter cleansing along the promenade and beach as well as for traditional grounds maintenance operations.
“We tested a number of modern backpack blowers for performance, noise and vibration and chose the Makita BBX7600 machine for its best results. It is light in weight, which suits all our staff, starts easily and delivers a massive 19.5 cubic metres of air per minute. Our vibration tests show that this Makita blower has dramatically lower vibration ratings than other machines. Now the team can use them all day in safety,” says Mr Harris.
The Makita 4-stroke back pack blower weighs just 10.8kg, including the delivery pipes, has a comfortable full strap padded harness and useful 1.9 litre fuel tank capacity for the lead free fuel. Power comes from the 75.6cc Makita MM4 engine which has the lowest possible exhaust emissions, easily below the global emission regulations, including CARB Tier 3 and EPA Phase 2 for the USA and EU Stage 2 in Europe. Fuel consumption is 40% lower and total running costs are an impressive 60% more economical than the equivalent 2-stroke engine.