Don't know if you have Orchard Supply Hardware back there. My local OSH had Featherlite 25cc blowers for $25 a while back. I got three. I have not converted one yet so I can't comment on if they are any good. Check for refurbished stuff and then haggle with the manager. I got them down to $50 on an echo wacker a while back. I really should have bought it on general principle. Then again I have so much of this stuff.

I have found that saw shops are a bust anymore. I hear the factory reps are warning the owners that they are liable for someone misusing, ie converting, anything they sell.