Some tools are made exclusively for use outdoors. Depending on the tool, you might use it to tend to your garden, your lawn, or the exterior of your house. Here are Outdoor Power Tools List:
Table of Contents
Chain Saw
- What it does: This tool’s gas engine drives a sharpened chain around an oblong bar to cut down trees, cut up downed trees, and prune branches.
- What to buy: A 40-cc engine with a 16–18″ chain bar.
- Common accessories: Various replacement chains designed to cut either more or less aggressively.
Hedge Trimmer
- What it does: This tool has a notched, reciprocating blade driven either by a gas engine or an electric motor. It trims hedges in a fraction of the time that hand shears take.
- What to buy: A tool with a 20″ bar length, a 25-cc engine or 4-amp motor, and a branch-cutting capacity of 3/4″.
Garden Tractor
- What it does: This gas engine–powered vehicle accepts various attachments to mow grass, till soil, blow snow, and do other common landscaping jobs.
- What to buy: An 18- to 25-hp tractor with a hydrostatic (automatic) transmission and a PTO (power take off) for driving attachments on the front and back.
- Common accessories: Attachments such as a mowing deck, tiller, front blade, snowblower, and landscape rake.
Leaf Blower
- What it does: This handheld machine blows air up to 200 mph to clean walks and driveways of leaves and cut grass. Models with a vacuum attachment lift up leaves, mulch them, and deposit them into a collection bag.
- What to buy: A unit with a 25- to 30-cc engine, with variable-speed control, and an airflow in the 400–500 cfm (cubic feet per minute) range.
- Common accessories: Vacuum bags, support straps, and extension tubes.
Mini-Tiller
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- What it does: This tool has engine-driven rotary tines that turn up small sections of sod and soil to create planting beds and cultivate the growth of gardens.
- What to buy: A model with a 20-cc engine, reversible tines, and a cutting width of about 10″.
- Common accessories: An edging kit for trimming sod that’s close to walks and driveways.
Riding Mower
- What it does: This gasoline-powered vehicle is designed to mow grass on lawns bigger than 1/2 acre or so. A riding mower does not power separate attachments as garden tractors do, since it has no PTO (power take-off) for driving these implements.
- What to buy: A unit with a 16-hp engine and a 40″-wide mowing deck.
- Common accessories: Grass collection and mechanical dethatching systems.
Snowblower
- What it does: This machine has a front-mounted rotary auger that churns up snow from sidewalks and driveways and blows it to the side.
- What to buy: A self-propelled, walk-behind, 5-hp unit with a working width of 20–24″. Though it costs more, get a two-stage unit with a secondary powered impeller to move more snow through the machine faster.
String Trimmer
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- What it does: A basic string trimmer has an engine-driven rotary head that spins a plastic filament string to trim grass along walks and driveways and around trees and other obstructions.
- What to buy: Choose a 30-cc engine with either a curved shaft or a straight shaft, whichever feels more comfortable to you.
Walk-Behind Mower
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- What it does: This tool has an engine-driven rotary blade that spins parallel to the ground to cut grass at heights typically from 1–4″.
- What to buy: A 5-hp, operator-propelled, 21″- to 22″-wide, side-discharge mowing deck is good for flat yards. For hilly yards, chose a mower-propelled unit.
- Common accessories: Electric start kit and grass collection bag.