Hitachi RB24EA Blower — Now the Metabo HPT RB24EAP
A 23.9cc handheld two-stroke blower that moves a serious amount of air for its size. The brand changed, not the tool.
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First, the naming, because it causes confusion. Hitachi’s power tool business was sold and rebranded: Metabo HPT in North America, HiKOKI elsewhere. The RB24EA and its RB24EAP revision carried across unchanged in all but the badge. Parts and manuals appear under all three names.
CFM is the number that matters
Blower marketing leads with MPH — air speed at the nozzle — because it is the bigger number. Air speed matters for lifting a stuck leaf off wet concrete.
For actually moving a pile of debris, CFM is the figure: the volume of air the machine moves. A high-speed, low-volume blower cuts a narrow channel through leaves; a high-volume one pushes the whole pile.
At 441 CFM from 23.9 cc, this one is unusually strong on volume for its class, which is why it has stayed in the range through a brand change.
Two-stroke discipline
The engine runs on a petrol and oil mix, typically 50:1 with a quality two-stroke oil. Two things kill these engines.
Straight petrol. No oil means no lubrication, and the engine seizes — usually within minutes, always permanently.
Stale fuel. Modern petrol with ethanol degrades in weeks and absorbs water, which gums carburettors. Either drain it before storage or use pre-mixed fuel, which stores for years and costs more than it looks like it should.
The cordless question
For a workshop, this has genuinely changed. A cordless blower on a battery platform you already own starts instantly, makes no fumes indoors, and has enough runtime to clear a shop floor.
Petrol still wins on sustained power for yard work — a driveway of wet autumn leaves is beyond most cordless blowers. If the blower is for the shop, buy cordless; if it is for the property, this class of tool is still the answer.
What works
- At 441 CFM it moves far more air than the engine size suggests, and air volume rather than speed is what actually shifts wet leaves and sawdust
- Light enough to hold one-handed for a full clean-down, which is rare in a petrol blower
- A two-stroke engine with a well-earned reputation for starting after a winter in the shed
What doesn't
- Two-stroke means mixing fuel, and running it on straight petrol destroys the engine quickly and permanently
- It is loud in the way all petrol blowers are, and that limits when you can use it without annoying neighbours
- Cordless blowers have closed much of the gap for shop and yard clean-down, without the fuel or the noise