Was catching up with a neighbor and his plans for the summer, etc., and somehow the conversation shifted to the heavy rains we had last week & subsequently his 2d floor gutters were giving him some grief as they were clogged with leaves and pine needles, especially where two roof valleys fed to the gutter. Well, needless to say, he was speaking my language and mentioned I had a possible immediate solution & headed to the house/garage to fetch my contraption.
Picked up the Stihl blower, the shop VAC hose, duct tape, wrench, and the two ABS DWV pipe sections. In his backyard, assembled the two pipe sections, securing the two together with the 2 inch screws/nuts.
Slid the 20 foot long 1/2 inch pipe up & along the corner of the house, using the downspout as a 'brace' and hung it off the 2d floor gutter. Attached the VAC hose to the pipe using duct tape & the other end to the Stihl blower, securing a tight fit of the blower nozzle also with duct tape.
Fired up the Stihl blower, locking it on high. Maneuvered the pipe along the gutter and leaves were blowing out of the gutter and trickling to the ground (forgot to bring my eye protection). Walked the pipe nozzle left and right of the gutter -- leaves being disturbed & cleared from the gutter.
Located the valley area where you could see pine needles clogging the gutter and moved the pipe left & right -- but nothing happening. No debris flying like with the leaves. After awhile we realized the pine needles, which have been there for sometime, are caked into the valley & gutter. The blower doesn't have the velocity to break it up; so, the old fashioned ladder & gloved hand method is required. Which we'll tacked Wednesday when I have access to a 32 foot ladder.
Again though, the contraption worked great on leaves and clearing out all the other areas. I'll still give it 5 of these
Bob