Should You Use a Pro Paddle or a Pro Sweep Trimmer Attachment?

Hey, what's up everyone? I'm Mark Thomas. I'm one of the members of the ECHO User Advisory Group. You can find me at Mark Thomas Builder on many of the popular social media platforms. Today is the end of April 2020, and if you have a Pro Attachment Series, you might be wondering whether you should get a Pro Paddle or a Pro Sweep. Let me show you. In this video, I'm going to walk through the specs on both of these tools, and then I’ll show you video footage from the last four or five months—demonstrating how they work in snow, mulch, stones, and all kinds of other stuff. Let’s get started. In this video, I’m using the ECHO PAS-280, one I’ve had for about three years now. It’s got plenty of power, as you’ll see.

So right now, I just want to take about 30 seconds to go over the specs. Both tools have an MSRP of $299 and weigh 11.2 pounds. According to the ECHO website, both list a sweeping path of 22 inches—but be sure to check out my footage later in the video to see what I came up with. The Pro Sweep features individual nylon bristles in a concave design, which are great for getting dirt out of crevices and cracks, like sidewalks. It also features a heavy-duty gearbox. The Pro Paddle, on the other hand, uses durable rubber fins. I’ve had mine for a couple years—these are the original fins—and even after running it on parking lots, sidewalks, and gravel, it’s amazing how well they’ve held up. These are listed as 1.625" fins, and people also refer to this tool as the rock rake or rock sweeper. You may have seen it used to remove stones from lawns after snowplowing season—where a snowplow pushes gravel off a driveway. The Pro Paddle flings them right back into the driveway without damaging the lawn.

The first comparison test is clearing mulch off a parking lot or hard-surface driveway—like when mulch is delivered, shoveled off, and there’s that thin final layer left. First up: the Pro Paddle. I ran a one-time pass, then switched to the Pro Sweep to compare. Both sides looked pretty clean, and I measured about 23 ¼ inches of width—roughly two inches more than what the broom claims. Next up: landscape stones, about 2–3 inches in diameter, that roll into a parking lot from a landscape bed. First, the Pro Sweep—this is a very versatile cleanup tool. Bigger stones sometimes take a second pass, but you can see it really blasts out dirt and cleans things up. Here's a final shot of the curbing—nice and clean. Now the Pro Paddle—this thing’s a beast, just throwing everything around. Close-up, it seems to tackle bigger stones a little better.

We continued with curb cleaning, but this time used smaller stones, like pea gravel. Then, a top-and-bottom slow-mo comparison cleaning alongside a curb, featuring gravel and some mulch. There may have been a bit more dirt in the Pro Paddle's pass, but both tools handled it well. The Paddle seemed to throw a bit more material. Which one do you like better? Let us know in the comments down below.

Next is a great spring cleanup comparison—removing stones from the lawn and tossing them back into a gravel driveway after snow season. I placed the same number of stones, spaced them out evenly to keep things fair. First up: the Pro Paddle. Then finally, winter footage. I compiled several clips, some in slow-mo, comparing the tools in snow. We had a layer of snowfall in Michigan—this snow was a bit wet, and had been walked and driven on, so it was more compacted. The Pro Sweep got right down to the surface pretty well. Here's an area on my deck where the dog had walked—some drifted snow and compacted layers. You can see the Pro Paddle really throws more than the Pro Sweep. It does leave a tiny line between the two paddles, which you may notice in some clips, but overall, it does a really nice job. Ideal for snow up to 3–4 inches; anything deeper and it might bury itself.

So what do you think? Has this video helped you decide between the two? Please give the video a thumbs up and drop a comment below letting us know which one you prefer and why. I just want to say thanks for watching, and have a great day!