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Leaf blower and vacuum

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d0nkeyk0ng
d0nkeyk0ng Posts: 873 Forumite
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in Gardening
I was considering buying a leaf blower-and-vacuum device to help make tidying the driveway and back garden easier. Ideally electric (our garden tools are electric so using an extension plug isn't much hassle). I looked at Bosch and there's good and bad reviews.



What do other people have and would (or would not) recommend?
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  • Davesnave
    Davesnave Posts: 34,741 Forumite
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    I use the wind. There's no need to plug it in and it's very reliable, though not quite so good now we have shelter belts. Also, it's free at the point of use and most of what it carries away ends up 200m down the field at our unpleasant neighbour's place.

    What's not to like? :D
  • d0nkeyk0ng
    d0nkeyk0ng Posts: 873 Forumite
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    Well we have a tree-lined street and wide open driveway so all the leaves seem to end up in our driveway. Chasing them with the broom is PITA especially when the wind's blowing.
  • Kiran
    Kiran Posts: 1,368 Forumite
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    I have a Ryobi one which I bought from Gumtree. It gets limited use due to available time but when it does get used it does a fantastic job.
    Some people don't exaggerate........... They just remember big!
  • Davesnave
    Davesnave Posts: 34,741 Forumite
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    I made light, but I know it's a problem in some places in town. I can only suggest looking at the reviews on Amazon and similar. I know a number are fake, but I write very critical ones sometimes and Amazon do publish them, even the one last week where I recommended people buy elsewhere....
  • DaftyDuck
    DaftyDuck Posts: 4,609 Forumite
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    Being the resident cheapskate, I have an Aldi one, reduced price at that. Works very well, considering. Well, it did at the previous home, this one just has too many damn trees! On blow, you need to have somewhere sensible to blow them to. On suck, the bag takes a huge quantity of leaves, as it macerates at the same time. Just... be careful of the verges, if there are careless dog walkers in the area. Ugh!

    The leaves have to be dryish to blow easily. Wet leaves just won't get sucked up at all.

    Here, I now just unleash the goats. The trees pick up their roots and make a dash for it, but there is no escape!!!
  • TadleyBaggie
    TadleyBaggie Posts: 6,055 Forumite
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    I used to have a Ryobi one, it was very good. Unfortunately after using it I forgot to empty the cloth collection bag and by the next year it had rotted away. I replaced it with a Black and Decker which has been fine, probably not as powerful but does the job.
  • savemoney
    savemoney Posts: 18,127 Forumite
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    edited 25 October 2018 at 12:17PM
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    I got this a month ago was comparing it with Lidl one which was a little more and very similar a lot of these type of cheaper tools looks very similar probably rebadged from same factory.


    https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07F3M18PF


    or £29.99 https://www.domu.co.uk/vonhaus-leaf-blower



    I find it fine but only use it really on vacuum straight to compost bin. Chops leaves up fine but most models seem to have issue with wet leaves anyway as I am sure this one does to although only sucked up dry leaves
  • PDC
    PDC Posts: 805 Forumite
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    I use a leaf rake, takes me about five minutes to do our drive, two lawns and the road outside and cost me a tenner. No noise either.

    Can understand it for doing tennis courts or some such but for pavement/gardens in British winters they seem a really inefficient solution to me.
  • d0nkeyk0ng
    d0nkeyk0ng Posts: 873 Forumite
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    TadleyBaggie wrote: »
    I used to have a Ryobi one, it was very good. Unfortunately after using it I forgot to empty the cloth collection bag and by the next year it had rotted away. I replaced it with a Black and Decker which has been fine, probably not as powerful but does the job.


    Thanks for the info. I'll look at both Ryobi and B&D models.

    savemoney wrote: »
    I got this a month ago
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07F3M18PF

    or £29.99 https://www.domu.co.uk/vonhaus-leaf-blower
    Yup it's one of the ones I found on Amazon too. I didn't want to go to the hassle of buying and finding it's rubbish. Are the wheels useful? Is it heavy to lift and keep up for ages? I'm aware that wet leaves seem to be a problem for every electric model I've read about.

    PDC wrote: »
    I use a leaf rake, takes me about five minutes to do our drive, two lawns and the road outside and cost me a tenner. No noise either.
    Takes me longer than 10 minutes to sweep the driveway given the amount of leaves we get. I currently use an outdoor broom and a large leaf-pan. Because it takes so long, the leaves shift a lot with the wind blowing which makes it harder.
  • savemoney
    savemoney Posts: 18,127 Forumite
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    Wheels are useful as it gives the right angle for sucking when its attached to you with the strap. It isnt heavy at all
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