Best leaf vacuum?

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fortfun
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Best leaf vacuum?

Post by fortfun »

Anyone have a leaf vacuum they really love? I'd prefer electric plugin, as I'm tired of dealing with 2 cycle carburetor.

Seems like Toro and Black and Decker have pretty good ratings on Amazon. I just need it to vacuum the leaves in the flower beds each fall/spring.

Many thanks!
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Normchad
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Re: Best leaf vacuum?

Post by Normchad »

I’ve got a cheap black and decker blower that converts into a leaf vacuum. It works fine. Unusually just grab a take though.

One thing I noticed with it, it gets heavy after a while. If the thing weighs 5 pounds, and you suck up 5 pounds of leaves, then you’re carrying a 10 pound weight on your hand/shoulder.

Overall though, it’s fine. And it’s a good blower as well.
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hsmith
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Location: Upstate New York

Re: Best leaf vacuum?

Post by hsmith »

I have a Toro Ultra Model No. 51598, and am happy with it. It is a corded electric model. It functions both as a leaf vacuum and as a leaf blower. When used as a vacuum, it sucks up leaves and loose grass, etc., grinds it and sends it to a collection bag. This process, according to the Amazon ad, "can reduce 16 bags of leaves into 1." When the collection bag gets full, you unzip the bag to dump the ground-up leaves. Mine is an older model, and there are similar Toro models that are newer - Model No. 51619 seems very similar to mine:

https://www.amazon.com/Toro-51619-Ultra ... 207&sr=8-1
zlandar
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Re: Best leaf vacuum?

Post by zlandar »

I have a similar Toro electric model for 10+ years. I only use it to suck up leaves now. Keeps an area leaf-free a lot better than blowing.
ensign
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Re: Best leaf vacuum?

Post by ensign »

I’ve had a Ryobi for a few years. Great for small jobs such as removing leaves from a driveway. Raking and bagging is superior for bigger jobs.
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Helo80
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Re: Best leaf vacuum?

Post by Helo80 »

If I'm not mistaken, cubic feet of air moved per minute is the metric to look for. (There is some metric that you look for).
Thank God for Wall Street Bets.
Snapper
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Re: Best leaf vacuum?

Post by Snapper »

Toro as others have mentioned. Added benefit is the leaves vacuumed up are ground up very fine so you use very little can space compared to picking up the leaves and bagging them or placing in a can.
prd1982
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Re: Best leaf vacuum?

Post by prd1982 »

I don't find them useful at all. Leaves seem to get jammed into the chute, and I spend more time clearing/emptying the bag than I do vacuuming. I find a small adjustable rake works best. I also use a leaf chute (3-sided cardboard chute) to keep the paper bag open and upright.
Saving$
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Re: Best leaf vacuum?

Post by Saving$ »

I have all cordless tools except leaf vac. Nothing beats the Toro corded due to it's superior shredder.

For leaves on the lawn, I use a rechargeable mower and let the mower suck them into the bag. I've tried the mower in mulching mode first, then a second pass with the bag, but it works much better to do a single pass with the bag.
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fortfun
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Re: Best leaf vacuum?

Post by fortfun »

Thanks for the input everyone!
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fortfun
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Re: Best leaf vacuum?

Post by fortfun »

hsmith wrote: Sat Jan 16, 2021 11:50 pm I have a Toro Ultra Model No. 51598, and am happy with it. It is a corded electric model. It functions both as a leaf vacuum and as a leaf blower. When used as a vacuum, it sucks up leaves and loose grass, etc., grinds it and sends it to a collection bag. This process, according to the Amazon ad, "can reduce 16 bags of leaves into 1." When the collection bag gets full, you unzip the bag to dump the ground-up leaves. Mine is an older model, and there are similar Toro models that are newer - Model No. 51619 seems very similar to mine:

https://www.amazon.com/Toro-51619-Ultra ... 207&sr=8-1
Thanks hsmith. That's the one I had been looking at.
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