The Toro Power Sweep comes from a household brand known for creating top notch tools for landscaping, lawn care, and other home equipment. Oh yeah, and the sales to back it up – including one from me who bought this a few years ago for my first house.
But does this budget conscious product live up to the powerhouse name?
The Toro Power Sweep boasts nearly 1,300 reviews on Home Depot with an average 4.7 out of 5 star rating. Not too shabby for a $60 blower. This is the main reason I bought it back when I was a lawn tool noob.
At first glance, this puppy seems like a great buy. Lots of reviews, high rating, low cost. What’s not to love?
This was the first blower I ever owned. When I was a new homeowner, not making a ton of money, and needed to purchase several tools on a budget, this was an easy decision. But that was nearly 6 years ago. So does it hold up?
Let’s get started:
- What to look for in a corded blower
- Power output
- Usability and reliability
- Cost and where to buy
- Our recommendation based on extreme use
Toro Power Sweep 160 MPH 155 CFM Review
You’re standing at Home Depot (or maybe shopping online) and want to figure out whether or not this thing is garbage. Well – its been sitting in my garage since 2017 and I still use it every week – so here are my thoughts.
CFMs and Power
CFM is basically the performance of the blower when combined with MPH. How efficiently does it move leaves and debris around?
I gotta be honest, while the Toro Power Sweep served its purpose for me when I was on a budget, it comes clocking in at only 155 CFM. For comparison sake, EGO has two blowers that boasts 765 CFM & 650 CFM. Nearly 5 times as powerful! And I’ve been using this thing for six years!
At 160 MPH, you’re still getting good speed but it’s in a concentrated, flat nozzle instead of a large, round nozzle. If you put a large, round nozzle on this blower it would basically be a hair dryer.
It’s a classic case of you get what you pay for.
Yes, it’s cheap and serves its purpose. But if you live in the Southeast like me, you spend a lot of time blowing leaves in the yard. You blow the yard, then turn around and it seems like there’s a fresh layer of leaves laid everywhere.
Looking back, I think I would have bit the bullet and spent more money to save time in the yard.
However, if you live in Texas, Arizona, or other areas where you don’t have a lot of trees and just need to blow grass clippings or debris out of your garage, this blower is still a great value.
Usability & Reliability
A big positive for the Toro Power Sweep Blower is that it’s very lightweight. It’s only 4.6lbs and since it’s not that powerful, it won’t have a lot of pressure pushing against your shoulder to keep it steady.
On the reliability side of things, like any other corded blower, as long as you have access to an outlet, you have power. However, if you have a large yard with a lot of acreage, you’ll need a very long extension cord to be able to cover your entire yard.
Not to mention, most people’s preference now is to cut the cord and go battery powered when it comes to electric tools. At this point in my life, there are few things more annoying than accidentally pulling the extension cord out of the wall and untangling the cord.
But then again – I’ve used it for six years and haven’t had any issues with reliability. It just won’t die. There’s also a great Toro Ultra 3-in-1 blower like this that is awesome.
Cost and where I bought this blower
This blower comes in at a whopping $59 from Home Depot which is hilarious. Much like the Costco hot dog, the price on this thing is somehow immune to inflation because that’s how much I paid for it back in 2017.
My Experience: Toro Power Sweep Review
Drum roll please….. It’s a strong maybe.
If you don’t have a lot of trees that drop leaves and don’t have a large yard, then this is a great buy and it’s super cheap.
BUT…
If you have a large yard or (not and) you live in an area where it’s raining leaves everyday in the fall, pass on this one and get something stronger, like the EGO 765 CFM Blower.
They’re more expensive, but you’re buying your time back.
And what’s the point of spending time working on your immaculate lawn if you don’t have enough time to sit back and enjoy it at the end of the day?
Why we created The Lawn Review
The reason we started the Lawn Review in the first place was because we had so much trouble trying to find reasonable, understandable, honest reviews for lawn equipment. And they aren’t cheap! After hours and hours of research, trying products and returning them, and messing up our yards – we started this site.
As people who had to learn the hard way, we want you to know exactly what you are signing up for before you purchase a piece of equipment. That’s why we are committed to providing honest, easy-to-understand reviews that mean something.
Toro and Innovation
Something that many of you may be scratching your head around is….what is Toro? They’ve been around since 1914 and started out by building the top engine for US farm tractors during the industrial revolution. ‘MERICA!!!
Shortly after, in 1922, they started specializing in golf course fairway care equipment, and fast forward 100 years, they naturally branched into home lawn care equipment.
Needless to say, Toro has been around quite a while, has established itself as a top seller in the marketplace, and has found a niche in electric lawn tools.
Check out our review of a popular battery powered Toro Mower here.
They offer low price, medium-to-high quality products that….work. Toro is super popular in some of the big box stores like Home Depot.
What to look for in an electric blower
Cordless blowers come in a bunch of shapes and sizes but there are two basic things you need to understand:
CFMs on blowers
Cubic feet per minute. This is a measure of air output on the blower. Higher CFM = more power, but not necessarily more miles per hour. High CFM with a wide nozzle = lower MPH. High CFM with a narrow nozzle = high miles per hour. Ideally, you want both a high CFM with a narrow to medium nozzle for most residential jobs.
Usability
What is the point of having a blower if it is hard to use? Have to get one that is lightweight, easy to start, and has some functions that make your life easier. One thing I look for here is how the weight is distributed. I also look for things like variable speed control, sound, and how easy it is to reach or change controls like cruise control.
Reliability
It’s important to have reliable equipment – hands down. For homeowners, having a blower that can easily start and requires minimal maintenance is key. The engine doesn’t get as much use as a professional landscaper, so hopefully doesn’t require the same maintenance schedule. For professional landscapers, you need to have a blower that starts quickly and isn’t a headache requiring frequent tinkering and minor replacements.
These are three things you need to pay attention to when looking through the specifications.
