Garden vac/blower

[PLUMPUDDING]

I'm thinking about buying one of these with a shredding function and collection bag. I've seen various reviews, some saying they are the best thing ever and others saying they are useless.

I would be grateful for recommendations and comments please.

I would probably get an electric one rather than a petrol version unless I can be persuaded otherwise.

[John]

Hello PP
I've had a Viking BE600, which is an electric blower/vac, for about 5 years. I must say I've been very pleased with it - its light but powerful and touch wood has been reliable. It just gets used in the Autumn for leaf work and occasionally for blowing the dust and rubbish off our drive. Changing from blow to vac does means swapping nozzles and attaching the bag - these twist into position but have to be tightened up with a screwdriver. So I get all the blowing done in one go then change to vac.

There are loads of these machines out there and I choose Viking because it is part of Stihl which has an excellent reputation and because it's light and comfortable to use. If you want to compare machines judge them by air flow figures rather than wattage of the motor.

Some may come onto this thread and tell you to use a rotary mower to pick up and shred leaves. This is fine on a lawn but the blower is still needed to get the leaves out of borders and odd corners where the mower can't go.

Hope this helps.

John

PS None of these machines will work on wet leaves, so its a dry weather job. Couple of years ago when we had a wet and windy Autumn the leaves never did get picked up!

[arthur e]

Hi PP
I bought a Black and Decker one 2 years ago and it was great but when the bag was nearly full it kept falling off scattering everything. I persevered till the end of the season then took it back to B&Q and got my money back.
Arthur e

[Monika]

'Which? Gardening' September issue has a comprehensive test report on leaf blowers/vacs . I am not sure whether you can access their report unless you are a member, but the website is www.which.co.uk

Their "best buys" are the TORO Super Blower Vac 51593 (£99) and the RYOBI 220W Electric Blow Vac RBV-2200 for the electric ones. The top of the petrol-driven ones is the HOMELITE Petrol Blow Vac HBL26BV.

On the question, electric or petrol? they say 'Electric machines are quieter and easier to handle than petrol machines but their cable length means they're more suitable for smaller gardens. Petrol machines are noisier and tend to vibrate, but you can roam further in the garden with them.'

[PLUMPUDDING]

Thank you all very much for the info. It has given me more idea what to look for.

I had looked on the Which website, but must have been too early.

I've actually just bought one from Lidl. I'd just come back from looking round B & Q and one or two other DIY places and went to Lidl for some groceries and there they were. 2400 watts, easy flick of the switch from suck to blow, a handle for variable speed and a supposedly easy to remove bag. The shredder also is 12:1 so sounds very good. It has a 3 year guarantee and cost £44.99.

I'm just waiting for things to dry out so I can try it out.

[John]

Good luck PP
At that price and with a 3 yr guarantee, you can't really go wrong can you?

John

[Tel]

PP,
Good luck with your choice.
The advice with regard to dry leaves is GOOD ADVICE!
Tel.