BILLY GOAT BLOWER OR LITTLE WONDER

IS ANYBODY USING A NEW BILLYGOAT FORCE BLOWER? ? HOW DO YOU LIKE IT? IS IT POWERFULL? ?? COMPARE TO LITTLE WONDER, WHAT DO YOU THINK.. I AM THINKING OF GETTING ONE... ALWAYS RAN LITTLE WONDERS, BUT EVERYBODY TALKING UP THIS NEW FORCE BY BILLYGOAT... PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF ANYBODY USING ONE.. HOW YOU LIKE IT, THEY ARE ABOUT $1200.00 BUCKS AND HAVE A 9 HP SUBARU ENGINE.. EITHER BUYING BILLYGOAT THIS WEEK OR A NEW LIL WONDER 13 HP HONDA

I'd keep shopping, you should be able to find a 13hp FORCE close to the price of the LW...they may just be getting a premium for them since they are new.

My dealer (and I) definitely recommend the 13hp honda for commercial guys that will use the machine day in and day out. The robin engine has come along quite a ways, however its no honda. I pick up my new Force at the end of the month, I'm upgrading from a 10Hp LW

I was in a new Northern Tool store in Lewisville a few days ago. They had a discontinued 5HP off brand blower for sale. Retail was 459 but had a briggs motor. I was going to pass but the salesman said they were replacing the model with ones that had Honda motors and he'd sell it for $150. Couldn't pass it up. For that price it is almost disposable. I'll let you know if it works or how long until it fails to start. I wouldn't have been tempted but a piece of metal got into the turbine on one of the billy goats and sheard some of the blades. I didn't know the turbines on Billy Goats were plastic. I've always had problems with the handles coming loose from the frames (rubber grommets tearing). I'll be buying a Lil Wonder next time.

Little wonder does a great job. I purchased a 16 Horse vangaurd and to be honest I almost like my little wonder just as much. This is perhaps due to the snorkle. I have realized that BIG blowers can really move alot of air. But should be used in combination with smaller blowers on little lots with alot of cracks and dirt. Now if its a big parking area with litle debree then the big one is really fine. My only complaint like I said is that there is no snorkle on the big billy goat 16hp vanguard. Thats my 2 cents worth.

That's what the 16's are made for, 13 HP's are for the other stuff, 16 HP for moving when there's a lot to move on a big area. As far as Ken's comments that's one of the things that's supposed to be better on the new BG's is less handle vibration/wear, but we never have had problems with grommets tearing, just metal fatigue. Maybe your $150 model will hold up long enough for you to "shop" some at the Expo's. I'm wanting to get my hands on one of the FORCE blowers and actually blow something with it PS: The fans have always been a composite plastic (too much gyro-effect with metal) and I have balled up caution tape, string, all kinds of stuff in mine over the years but you really aren't supposed to suck up hard or metallic objects with any of the blowers And don't throw away the BG, the fans are easy to replace and not that expensive unless they have gone up or changed a lot (knew a guy that did the same thing as you once, just replaced the fan)

as mentioned in a previous post, i got some bad feedback on the new forces...(but did not get the details) basically friend who's uncle has a equipment place was checking on a price for me (uncle in pa and i am in md, so could not stop by) anyways friend got back to me and uncle said the forces are "pieces of crap", i had ask details, but he really could not elaborate, i ended up snagging a 13hp old style billygoat (year old) for $350...so i was happy, bottom line i have a 5hp billygoat(for 5 years now) a little wonder (8hp briggs, 2 years) and now the 13 hp goat....my 2 cents is u cant go wrong with either one/brand....but of course i would for sure sway towards the honda motor (bullet proof) and i think everyone knows that....that 13hp honda will start twice as easy as the briggs....the briggs is quite hard to pull, i thought the 13 hp would be too, but that is not the case....i would beware of the forces somewhat....like most things that are first year...sometimes they still have kinks to work out and not perfected yet totally sometimes etc...but on the other end it is a blower and they are not that complicated...and that's what warrantys are for....

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE INPUT GUYS, JUST TALKED ME INTO A BRAND NEW 13 HP LIL WONDER.. OOH YES IT HAS THE HONDA ENGINE PRETTY GOOD DEAL GOING ON RIGHT NOW ON TOOL KING.,GOT IT ORDERED UP TODAY SHOULD HAVE IT BY THE WEEKEND, JUST IN TIME TO BLOW THE NEIGHBORS LEAVES BACK IN HIS YARD.HATE THAT TIME OF YEAR.. I DONT EVEN HAVE A TREE,, SO IT GONNA HAVE A COUPLE OF WORK OUTS. IN THE FALL BRING IT HOME FOR LEAF BLOWING.... LOOK OUT NEIGHBORS THANKS AGAIN GUYS..

I just called to get a replacement fan.....gulp! They wanted $450. I think not. Lil Wonder next!

^^ geez...that seems way high and did not realize they were that much....i will for sure watch objects getting in mine a bit closer(knock on wood)....them rubber things that u mention stripes is the only complaint i have also on the goats, and i am not sure what they cost from billygoat (i would think not too much) but my local hardware stores has them (not sure what they are for and for sure not for blowers,but basically the same thing and works) and it was like $2, basically it is a rubber bushing of some sorts with a hole thru center

That is what they look like but they aren't. The bolt and rubber bushngs are made as one unit. They won't separate unless they fail by tearing apart.

^^ mmmmm??, on my 5 hp one (that is 5 years old had one bust) and my memory must not be serving me well, but it seemed i got the bushing doo hickey without a bolt thru it, but maybe it was(like 2 years ago), bottom line what ever i got at the hardware store worked, i never thought it would but stumbled on it at store when getting something else and thought yeah that may fix my goat....tried it and looks like it was made for it and quick fix remedy

BG rubber thingies can be purchased from Grainger catalog, called vibration isolators, sell for about 2.00 ea., they are actually made in the USA!

STRIPES, just got a lil wonder,13 horse honda, man this thing moves pretty much everything in its way.. tool king. com has em on sale now , good price,i have been looking for a while. shopping for price..my vote for a blower is also the LIL WONDER... thanks for input oohhh almost foregot they ship almost any where $7.99 yea thats right, seven dollars 99 cents... wow..... you want power this is it

Thanks!

alleghenypaving wrote on Oct 1, 2006:Go to #14

STRIPES, just got a lil wonder,13 horse honda, man this thing moves pretty much everything in its way.. tool king. com has em on sale now , good price,i have been looking for a while. shopping for price..my vote for a blower is also the LIL WONDER... thanks for input oohhh almost foregot they ship almost any where $7.99 yea thats right, seven dollars 99 cents... wow..... you want power this is it

ive got two of the 13 hp honda's........ gotta love them little wonders... specially with them there Hondas

We do not like the new design, the plastic housing is cheap and breaks much easier. The units are also harder to maneuver. We will be switching brands next year.

Asphaltman wrote on Oct 3, 2006:Go to #17

We do not like the new design, the plastic housing is cheap and breaks much easier. The units are also harder to maneuver. We will be switching brands next year.

Instead of a generic please give us the details...what model, what broke, what were you doing when it broke, why is it harder to maneuver etc. Just a blanket statement is kind of like saying "brand X sucks, buy brand Y" with no reasons... I have talked to several people who have just raved about the new FORCE goats compared to the old models and I never thought the Wonders were as good as my old goats so it would be interesting to know, you are the only one I heard saying stuff about them breaking or handling bad etc... PS: If anybody can tear ANYTHING up it's \\\STRIPES/// he only has one mode of operation...hard & fast I also bet that fan was a lack of a good source. Can't imagine a fan costing that much except at full-retail. I don't have it anymore but I got set-up as a goat distributor one time so I had all the price lists, they weren't near that much for parts... problem was nobody bought them from me and you have to sell a minimum # per year to keep it and I never sold even one ... I figured if I sold 'em cheaper than everybody else & just shipped them in the factory crate people would love it...but alas...wrong again (that was about 5-6 years ago) I was offering the 13 HP at $300 less than most places but couldn't do any ads in Pavement or anything with that little mark-up so...

Just curious as to why more people don't go with the backpack blowers........

You cant get the power out of a back back compared to the large push blowers. We have the 13 HP Force. I don't personally know about the maneuverability, but my guys complain frequently and prefer to use our aging Goats over the new one, claiming the new one is heavier and harder to push. Our plastic housing cracked, and I will say it was part our fault, so I cant blame BG for that, however if the same incident would have happend with our older steel ones, it would have made a small dent, if that, not a crack that requires a new housing. I have heard of similar complaints from our dealer, I guess they have had contractor concerns with just about everyone they have sold. I know Billy Goats have previously made the best blowers in the industry, and I don't know if that has changed, or if these are just bugs to be worked out, as with anything new in design.