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I live in a condo complex which employs a professional landscaping service to take care of garden area around the house. They all use equipment that is powered by two-stroke engines: leaf blowers, chain saws, hedge trimmers, lawnmowers, lawn edge trimmers.

With the leaf blowers and lawn edge trimmers they constantly play with the throttle, going between maximum and idle. I don't understand this really, is it impossible to hold them at half throttle?

The sound of the two-stroke engine itself is annoying, but the change in the throttle makes the sound really hard to ignore. What is the motivation for using those devices this way?

Martin Ueding
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  • Heavier sticks and leaves need more wind to move. Plus it is *fun* to get things to go exactly where you want them. – Wayfaring Stranger Jul 29 '16 at 14:17
  • Idle usually means they're moving along slightly, and opening up the throttle when they get to the next patch or stretch of whatever it is they're doing. No point wasting fuel by keeping it at half throttle if its not actually doing anything for a minute or two, then the throttle is opened up when it is doing something. – Bamboo Jul 29 '16 at 15:53

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Because it is how one should use the blowers.

When there is something to blow, one should full throttle, but when moving (e.g. to change the direction or flow, or to start from an other edge), it is better to have less air as possible, not to more dirt in the wrong direction.

Note: also chain saws should be used only full throttle, when sawing, and then idle, and this is repeated for every trunk and branches.

Giacomo Catenazzi
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