If you want to avoid purchasing a blower altogether, especially one with reversible operation (1), a bagged lawnmower works equally well. I have a SunJoe electric bagged mower and I just place it on top of the leaf pile and let it hoover up the leaves into its bag.<p>1: As I read your post more, it seems that your blower does not officially have a reverse - you just rig it that way. That is pretty cool though any bit of debris in the leaf pile might break up the impeller if the latter is plastic.