tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post8794520808325274849..comments2024-03-29T03:05:05.850-05:00Comments on Althouse: "When it comes to really bad ideas, the leafblower ranks right up there with adding lead to gasoline and using CFCs in aerosols."Ann Althousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-51042113862199993042017-04-24T08:08:28.752-05:002017-04-24T08:08:28.752-05:00John @ 6:14
easier to maintain and therefore cheap...John @ 6:14<br />easier to maintain and therefore cheaper to run.<br />Google "Jumo 202"Rustyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00938263272237104128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-29371818134177896142017-04-24T06:14:39.618-05:002017-04-24T06:14:39.618-05:00O_O,
I stand, partially, corrected on Detroit Die...O_O,<br /><br />I stand, partially, corrected on Detroit Diesel. They do make mostly 4 strokes after having historically made only 2 stroke diesels. <br /><br />But, they still make new 2 strokes for the US government. Recently (in the past 5-10 years) built a whole new plant for 2 strokes. <br /><br />It is not clear from their website if civilians can buy these or not. <br /><br />They also still offer remanufactured 2 stroke engines to the civilian market.<br /><br />So there still seems to be a demand for 2 strokes. They have some advantages that lead the US govt to insist on them. <br /><br />But we mere mortals can't have them. <br /><br />Another case of govt "Do as we say, not as we do"<br /><br />John HenryJohn henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13529920006532904660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-55953675694020934282017-04-23T21:34:43.046-05:002017-04-23T21:34:43.046-05:00Argh, I forgot who Dr. Weil was.
Debating him or ...Argh, I forgot who Dr. Weil was.<br /><br />Debating him or his ideas is as useful as fighting the tar baby.0_0https://www.blogger.com/profile/00086088624785365469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-79038783453980437692017-04-23T20:30:38.100-05:002017-04-23T20:30:38.100-05:00"Every Tuesday, the landscapers arrive at 8 a..."Every Tuesday, the landscapers arrive at 8 a.m. For the next seven hours, they move from one house to the next, filling her home with cacophony.<br /><br />At times, the noise is so loud she has to retreat to the basement to take work calls, and she is unable to watch the films she needs to review. “We were basically trapped in our home with this deafening noise and this disgusting smell,” she said. “It’s far beyond an annoyance.”<br /><br />If someone had mentioned this earlier, I would never comment this late. This quote left me going WTF. First of all, one day a week? I'd say great! Second, house to house? Are they all equidistant from the lady's house that they all produce the same deafening noise and disgusting smell? Really? Finally, retreating to take work calls. Hey lady, is your home zoned commercial or residential? I'd like to think that this woman had been baited by the reporter to vent about her "problems" because I'd hate to think this was top of mind.CWJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03598487232861475833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-26408167284554516972017-04-23T17:45:39.251-05:002017-04-23T17:45:39.251-05:00I have a battery powered leaf blower. It makes noi...I have a battery powered leaf blower. It makes noise, but not as much noise as the 2 stroke kine.<br />I also have a battery powered vacuum cleaner I bought from amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Hoover-BH50140-Cordless-Bagless-Upright/dp/B00IT5L49E). It still makes noise, but it's much quieter than the plug-in kine. We vacuum around the cat now. She wakes up, but she doesn't run outside like she did when we used the ol' plug-in vacuum.Lewis Wetzelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01200232293505119133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-3195384075365745102017-04-23T17:23:28.514-05:002017-04-23T17:23:28.514-05:00And vacuum cleaners. Get a broom!And vacuum cleaners. Get a broom!n.nhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04252447117532342957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-66351696783858373322017-04-23T16:57:35.348-05:002017-04-23T16:57:35.348-05:00"Imagine the role play"
You mean like t..."Imagine the role play"<br /><br />You mean like the warden's wife and the escapee from the prison garden crew?exhelodrvr1https://www.blogger.com/profile/15874052265934108903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-80597023118046199032017-04-23T16:34:07.358-05:002017-04-23T16:34:07.358-05:00In the same family, one of the worst inventions ev...In the same family, one of the worst inventions ever is the electric hand dryer one finds in public restrooms. tcrossehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13861315905142017219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-51372259929875352302017-04-23T16:28:01.400-05:002017-04-23T16:28:01.400-05:00No wonder Althouse married a gardner. She's g...No wonder Althouse married a gardner. She's got a fetish for yard tools. Imagine the role play going on around that house. bagoh20https://www.blogger.com/profile/10915174575358413637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-26841373129369612812017-04-23T15:53:36.405-05:002017-04-23T15:53:36.405-05:00I wonder how small Wankel (rotary) motors would ma...I wonder how small Wankel (rotary) motors would match up to small 2 stroke cylinder motors. Automotive Wankels are almost good enough to meet current automotive pollution standards, yet have power to weight ratios comparable to two-stroke motors.<br /><br />We have a battery powered blower, for the limited use we make of it, it usually has enough energy to finish a cleanup, but not always. It definitely is a lot quieter than gas powered blowers.Sam's Hideouthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17861031623526621055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-24243164697160051252017-04-23T15:44:28.405-05:002017-04-23T15:44:28.405-05:00Yet another First World problem.
Most folks in ...Yet another First World problem. <br /><br />Most folks in my neighborhood mow their own lawns. My next door neighbor has a lawn service, but the crew is fast and efficient. They come mid-day on Thursdays when most everyone is at work. I'm retired and our house's triple-pane windows dampen the majority of the short lived noise. No problem for me.MAJMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02518049595313706775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-74969571784502401582017-04-23T14:42:25.572-05:002017-04-23T14:42:25.572-05:00Mike said...
The people who want to ban leaf blowe...<i>Mike said...<br />The people who want to ban leaf blowers do not do their own yard maintenance.<br /></i><br />How odd, that you wrote that after I posted on the size of the yard that I maintain. Admittedly, I think I'd be very cautious as a city councilman, on any leaf blower ordinance. Althouse might too, if she were in that position (I think she'd make a tremendous councilwoman.) I think her disapprobation of blowers is instinctual and aesthetic, as is mine. Yet we've already seen posts from people who use electric blowers as vacuum-mulchers. Who would want to ban that? Not me.<br /><br />Chuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07676108366725199186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-58209724985752884592017-04-23T14:36:53.157-05:002017-04-23T14:36:53.157-05:00The people who want to ban leaf blowers do not do ...The people who want to ban leaf blowers do not do their own yard maintenance.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06759372903477579715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-63241099626328073482017-04-23T14:12:47.690-05:002017-04-23T14:12:47.690-05:000_0 said...
John Henry- yes, 2 stroke engines are ...<i>0_0 said...<br />John Henry- yes, 2 stroke engines are inherently dirty. Especially ones with the intake in the cylinder wall. Burning lube oil in your combustion chamber will do that.<br />No, Detroit Diesel doesn't make 2 strokes since 1995. Now it's 4 stroke.<br /><br />Automotive diesels are all 4 stroke; it might not be visible, but a 2 stroke will never pass today's emission controls.<br /><br />Inherently dirty 2 stroke outboards are banned on Lake Tahoe because the famously clear water was being occluded. Now we have heavier, more costly, but less dirty 4 stroke outboards.<br /><br />Seriously, everyone, the point of the article is leaf blowers add a LOT of pollution to our air. Carping about sloppy word choice doesn't fix that.<br /></i><br />You clearly know what you are talking about, and I think you're mostly right. And yeah, if Dr. Andrew Weil had been as knowledgeable as you, and more careful in his writing, he might have been able to make a case, for what it may be worth, that consumer tools with 2-stroke engines are dirty little things.<br /><br />But I don't know how much "pollution" is created by 2-strokes. You say "a LOT." I don't know. I do think that Althouse's initial objection to wide-scale use of gas blowers was societal and aesthetic. As is mine. She's probably having brunch right now at Bluephies with Meade and he is gently explaining to her how 2-stroke and 4-stroke engines work. And laughing at Dr. Andrew Weil.<br />Chuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07676108366725199186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-63345971294094394942017-04-23T14:02:00.437-05:002017-04-23T14:02:00.437-05:00So Tank answered my questions in an admirably stra...So Tank answered my questions in an admirably straight way. Really, the main point was not to put him on the spot personally, but rather to try to draw up a picture of when and how leaf blowers might get logically used. Tank writes:<br /><br /><i>A quiz LOL? The grass is about one sixth or fifth of a 15,000 sq ft lot. A walk behind Kobalt 20" 40V. I just blow it onto the grass, off the driveway, it's not that much, but impossible to sweep or rake (and looks like crap on my white driveway). I don't blow leaves. My property in NC (by the beach) has very few leaves and I just rake em or mulch em. </i><br /><br />It sounds a little like the Althouse lot. And I love the fact that for that particular lot, Meade cuts it with a beautifully crafted reel-blade push mower. (An old-fashioned version of what would get used today, to cut greens on a golf course.)<br /><br />And your use of a blower is to blow your rotary-cut grass clippings off your driveway and any walkways, or the street, etc., back onto your own lawn. There is utility in that, and even something of a social conscience, not leaving your clippings in a street, etc. And what you described, is fully 50% or more of how suburban lawn services use their leaf blowers. Through most of the summer, they are just blowing clippings off driveways, sidewalks and streets. It's marginally faster to do that, than to broom them off. But a broom would in fact work.<br /><br />I have a larger yard; almost a half an acre. I have a riding mower (4-stroke 16.5 hp engine) and a walk-behind trim mower (also 4-stroke). I have a 2-stroke snowblower. (Funny how snowblowers haven't gotten into this discussion.) Almost all of my neighbors have gas leaf blowers, and I find them mildy annoying. I don't have one. Haven't felt the need. And, I have always been suspicious of finicky little 2-stroke engines. Although my snowblower is a workhorse. For instance, my chain saw is electric (AC corded). My hedge trimmer, string trimmer and chain saw are all electric.<br /><br /><br />Chuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07676108366725199186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-84724597333891238012017-04-23T13:57:23.289-05:002017-04-23T13:57:23.289-05:00The issue of leaf blower noise and air pollution m...The issue of leaf blower noise and air pollution must be considered in the light of what we have learned about the far reaching effects of colonialism, neoliberalism, structural racism, and white privilege.<br />Nothing else is as important as colonialism, neoliberalism, structural racism and white privilege.<br />Nothing.<br />If you examine the problem correctly, you will discover that the problem is not leaf blower noise and air pollution, it is colonialism, neoliberalism, structural racism and white privilege.<br />Solve those problems first, and then we can talk about leaf blower noise and air pollution.Lewis Wetzelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01200232293505119133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-10852739950146812382017-04-23T13:11:33.599-05:002017-04-23T13:11:33.599-05:00Do these houses need insulation?Do these houses need insulation?Freeman Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16202310075717963694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-53655187290035092092017-04-23T12:37:31.437-05:002017-04-23T12:37:31.437-05:00This is how bad laws get written.
The target is t...This is how bad laws get written.<br /><br />The target is the noise and pollution, not the leaf blower.<br />Etiennehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02463542962653770911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-58956195919230245562017-04-23T12:34:05.275-05:002017-04-23T12:34:05.275-05:00John Henry- yes, 2 stroke engines are inherently d...John Henry- yes, 2 stroke engines are inherently dirty. Especially ones with the intake in the cylinder wall. Burning lube oil in your combustion chamber will do that.<br />No, Detroit Diesel doesn't make 2 strokes since 1995. Now it's 4 stroke.<br /><br />Automotive diesels are all 4 stroke; it might not be visible, but a 2 stroke will never pass today's emission controls.<br /><br />Inherently dirty 2 stroke outboards are banned on Lake Tahoe because the famously clear water was being occluded. Now we have heavier, more costly, but less dirty 4 stroke outboards.<br /><br />Seriously, everyone, the point of the article is leaf blowers add a LOT of pollution to our air. Carping about sloppy word choice doesn't fix that.0_0https://www.blogger.com/profile/00086088624785365469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-54036126242783246122017-04-23T12:13:02.725-05:002017-04-23T12:13:02.725-05:00"Oh, lord the time we wasted looking at ice c..."Oh, lord the time we wasted looking at ice cubes."<br /><br />It was nothing compared to the time wasted raking leaves instead of blowing them.jaydubhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02114209278374751401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-67792178009974579662017-04-23T12:08:52.146-05:002017-04-23T12:08:52.146-05:00There's nothing like liberals getting in touch...There's nothing like liberals getting in touch with their inner Stalin for our own collective good.frenchiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10349570672271574098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-70325161853569206272017-04-23T11:55:09.828-05:002017-04-23T11:55:09.828-05:00Blogger Jack Wayne said...
If a leaf blower i... Blogger Jack Wayne said...<br /><br /> If a leaf blower is a phallic object, then is a leaf mulcher a vaginic object?<br /><br />Now there's something that I even want to think about. A vagina mulching my dick. <br /><br />Vagina dentatus mulctus?<br /><br />Thank's Jack. What's this, filling in for Lazlo?<br /><br />John HenryJohn henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13529920006532904660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-71692182890265027822017-04-23T11:54:57.166-05:002017-04-23T11:54:57.166-05:00"Blogger Andrew Koenig said...
I have encount..."Blogger Andrew Koenig said...<br />I have encountered generators powered by gasoline engines that are so quiet that you can't hear them from more than a few feet away on a city street. I can't imagine that similarly quiet engines cannot be built in leaf-blower size.<br /><br />Municipalities that care about such things can pass noise ordinances and let the market take care of solving the technical problems."<br /> <br />Generator designers don't have to worry very much about weight or size. Engineers who design human-carried machines like gas powered leaf blowers care very much about weight. Battery-powered leaf blowers are fine for a typical homeowner but inadequate for someone who is doing a larger job. Two-cycle engines usually have a better power to weight ratio than four cycle engines. There is little you can do about that. Making a four cycle engine that's quiet, has low emissions, is powerful enough, and is light enough for people to carry for hours is rather difficult. If it were easy, someone would have done that already. Larry Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07005320430740976182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-19901847303249397322017-04-23T11:53:46.235-05:002017-04-23T11:53:46.235-05:00DBQ, did you ever see the naked lady in/on the cam...DBQ, did you ever see the naked lady in/on the camel on a pack of Camel cigarettes? (1964ish)ceowenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04760030312024870382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-70279200829158504382017-04-23T11:52:09.475-05:002017-04-23T11:52:09.475-05:00Re two-stroke or two cycle engines:
Detroit Diese...Re two-stroke or two cycle engines:<br /><br />Detroit Diesel (originally part of GM) engines have always been two-stroke and still are today. May be running the buses in Madison for all I know. <br /><br />A lot of trucks and trains are powered by two cycle engines. They are not inherently dirty. <br /><br />Not sure if car diesels are 2 or 4 stroke. Anyone know?<br /><br />John HenryJohn henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13529920006532904660noreply@blogger.com