Some people push it and some people pull it - As for me I pull it towards me which seems to save my back, however one can indeed get pretty dusty & dirty.
(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/newsclips/pb080419.jpg)
I decided last Friday it was time to get the dirt off from the edge of my lawn near the road and I learned many years ago that there are a number of ways to do that, along with getting the crushed stone off your lawn from the winter's driveway plowing. The tool above which costs you about $46 for a day, or $36 for a half a day is kind of a miracle tool for a guy like me.
Don't know if you have ever tried to rake crushed stone off the lawn back in the driveway or not, but it is indeed no mean feat. The last year before I discovered the Power Broom, I was out there with my wet/dry vacuum vacuuming it up off the lawn. Got a few weird looks from passerbys as I was vacuuming the lawn, but it was better than the other way of using a rake. I did notice a guy, however, down in the village yesterday vacuuming his lawn with a wet/dry vac.
I called down to Franklin Rental Friday morning where I usually rent my power broom and was placed ninth on the list. Don't know just how many power brooms they have, but asked them to put me on the list. I called Milton Rental and they told me if I promised to bring it back before 5 p.m. that night that they would rent me one. Decided I would go ahead and do that and actually was able to get it picked up do the part of my lawn I needed to do and bring it back in less than 4 hours.
A person can't justify buying one of these, as the last time I checked they cost over $600, but you certainly can't justify not renting one, especially if you have a crushed stone driveway and the crushed stone gets plowed on your lawn during the winter.