Skil Brings Strong Air and High Speeds to the PWRCore 40 Roster
Skil’s PWRCore 40 lineup is built around the homeowner, with its roster of battery-powered tools being particularly convenient for those with small- to medium-sized lawns. When it comes to leaf blowers, the brand now offers four 40V models. This includes the new BL0650C-15 blower, which is the strongest model in the lineup to date. I’m going over who this Skil 40V leaf blower is a good fit for and how it could benefit your lawn care routine.
Read:
Best Cordless Leaf Blower Head-to-Head Review
Skil 40V 650 CFM Leaf Blower: Overview
The cordless handheld blower market has expanded in recent years, with some models offering gas-like metrics nearing the 1000 CFM mark for professional clearing applications. However, Skil focuses on bringing medium-duty performance to the homeowner class. The BL0650C-15 leaf blower delivers up to 650 CFM of airflow and speeds of up to 170 MPH.
The more important measurement is Newton force, though. This blower produces up to 19 Newtons of blowing force. It wasn’t that long ago that only a couple of battery-powered handheld blowers exceeded 20 Newtons. Moreover, even professional-grade gas handheld blowers can only hit around 15 Newtons, so it really is a solid amount of blowing power, and makes it ideal for clearing wet leaves, grass clippings, and other lawn debris around your property.
However, that’s not where the applications end. The tube has a quick-release design that lets you quickly remove it to reveal the rubberized stubby nozzle, allowing you to use the blower in a much shorter configuration. That opens it up to jobs like clearing out small garages and sheds, blowing around tight corners, clearing sawdust off of workbenches, and drying vehicles after a car wash.
This tool also includes a tapered nozzle accessory that connects to the end of the blower tube for more concentrated blowing power.
Along with the nozzle upgrade, Skil implemented other design features we haven’t seen before in its other 40V brushless blowers. This includes an extra handle near the blower tube to improve control and distribute the tool’s weight during extended use.
Since this blower is intended for more than just blowing leaves across the ground, the extra handle is a good call for tasks like cleaning out gutters at height or maintaining control while drying off or blowing light snow off of your vehicle.
The Skil 40V BL0650C-15 leaf blower retains the variable speed trigger and turbo mode (Power Boost) we saw in previous brushless iterations. Cruise control is also present in the form of a lock-on switch to enable hands-free use and reduce hand fatigue on large clearing jobs.
How Does it Compare?
The BL0650C-15 is the strongest blower in Skil’s PWRCore 40 lineup, making it the brand’s most powerful cordless model to date. There are three other blowers on the roster, so let’s look at all of the specs side-by-side so you can compare the performance upgrades of the new model.
| Skil BL0650C-15 (this model) | Skil BL4713C-11 | Skil BL4713-10 | Skil BL0460C-11 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Airflow | 650 CFM | 530 CFM | 500 CFM | 460 CFM |
| Max Airspeed | 170 MPH | 140 MPH | 120 MPH | 120 MPH |
| Motor Type | Brushless | Brushless | Brushless | Brushed |
| Max Force | 19 N | Not Listed | Not Listed | 11.5 N |
| Weight | 5.3 lb | 6.4 lb | 4.6 lb | 3.6 lb |
| Price | $199 kit (w/ 6.0Ah battery) | $170 kit (w/ 2.5Ah battery) | $160 kit (w/ 2.5Ah battery) | $140 (w/ 2.0Ah battery) |
Battery Configurations and Runtime
Runtime is always a fair question with a bigger motor, and unfortunately, Skil doesn’t give any estimates for this model. When we reviewed the Skil 40V BL4713C-11 blower in 2023, that tool ran for 9 minutes and 38 seconds on high using the kitted 2.5Ah battery. I bring this up because the new model comes kitted with a 6.0Ah battery, which is substantially larger than the packs included with past iterations.
While this doesn’t specifically equate to better efficiency or longer runtimes, especially when you figure in the higher power draw, it does give the new model the advantage of a higher battery capacity right out of the box.
Skil 40V 650 CFM Leaf Blower Price
This blower retails for $199 as a kit, which includes a 6.0Ah battery and charger. There’s also a kit configuration that comes with a 4.0Ah battery and charger for $178 for those who don’t mind the runtime trade-offs. Skil backs your purchase with a 3-year warranty, extendable to 5 years if you register the tool within 30 days of purchase.
Should You Buy It?
Skil made some real improvements in performance with its latest PWRCore 40 leaf blower. It offers a substantial 120-CFM jump in airflow, upgraded (+30 MPH) airspeed, and several design changes that aren’t present in the rest of Skil’s 40V blower offerings.
If you’re on the PWRCore 40 system for the rest of your lawn care and you’ve been waiting for the right blower to add to your build, this is it. Not only is it the top-performing model on the platform, but it also costs only marginally more than Skil’s other, less powerful brushless blowers, especially when you consider the larger battery included with the kit.
For those who already own one of Skil’s other blower models, the higher performance may be worth the upgrade, especially if you’ve been struggling with things like wet leaves and larger debris. However, if your current model is serving your needs just fine, you’re probably okay sticking with what you have.
Specifications
- Model: Skil BL0650C-15
- Max air volume: 650 CFM
- Max air speed: 170 MPH
- Max force: 19N
- Motor type: Brushless
- Tool weight: 5.3 lb
- Warranty: 3 years (base); 5 years (with registration within 30 days)
- Price: $199 (6.0Ah kit); $178 (4.0Ah kit)
