Good deal on a lawn vac????

[jonnyGURU]

I was checking out the "closeout corner" at Troybilt.com and found a lawn vac for $599.

I have a BIG problem with leaves with the two VERY LARGE oak trees I have in the yard and felt that I should get a yard vac.

This one is 4 hp. The current model is 8 hp. Do I really need more than 4 hp?

They say this one was $1099 and the current model is $1399. Is the markdown because it's a recondition discontinued model enough?

The shipping is $85 and they don't even know where I live yet. Can this be accurate or are they profitting off me with freight in a big way?

Anyone have any OTHER recommendations for a QUALITY unit??

 

[jonnyGURU]

Yes. I agree.

 

[XFactor007]

lawn vac????

 

[jonnyGURU]

Yeah. Instead of raking up the leaves you can suck them up and have an on deck shredder chop them up.

 

[Ornery]

What is your goal here? If you want to get the job done in a hurry, get a REAL blower. A 4 cycle, walk behind blower. That's what lawn maintenance crews use for a reason. Time is money. Use a little 2 cycle blower like the awesome Stihl Model BG 75 to do your decks and gutters. Those Stihls are head and shoulders above Homelite. They cost 40% more but are 100% better. Then use big bertha to move em to a pile on a tarp. Not sure what you do with them from there. I just make a huge mulch pile at the rear of the property, about 6' wide, 3' high and 100' long. It disintegrates every year. Been doing it for 18 years now.

The blower I purchased is by "Little Wonder". It's got an 8HP Kohler engine. It's overkill! "Giant-Vac" has a good line and price range. Don't buy one of the wimpy Craftsman units. They barely blow as much as that hand held Stihl.

Don't bother with those Troy Built vacuums. Waste of money, time and they're noisy to boot. My father-in-law bought one. Takes him a day to do what I knock out in 45 minutes. Not lying!

 

[jonnyGURU]

I've got a blower to blow the sidewalks and driveway. I wouldn't think of spending that much money on something that's going to be used to remove leaves from a HARD SURFACE. That's not the problem. The lawn vac would be for the lawn. I have SO MANY LEAVES that raking is an all day job and when I do it, a week later I STILL have so many leaves on my lawn I can't see grass!!! :Q

Are you saying that you use the blower on the lawn and blow everything into a corner of the lawn? That'd be fine with me if it weren't for the leaves would stick to the grass once they hit the grass. Must be a Florida grass thing. I believe I have Augustine and they are very thck blades.

Now my air compressor.... That has enough power to blow leaves off the lawn, but the hose is only 12' and the "spray patter" is pretty narrow.

Your input is appreciated!

 

[Ornery]

I think you'll have to see a commercial leaf blower in action. I blow even wet leaves over the grass and everything else. Believe me, it's the right tool for the job. Watch when the lawn maintenance crews use one. You won't see them use one for long. They do the work so quickly, that they're stored back on the truck before you know it. Honestly, the hard part then is moving the leaves to wherever you want to dispose of them.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Hmmmmm.... So you have an 8hp and that's overkill.

Well, seeing how my mower is only 5hp, I'd agree.

What hp do yo think I should look at?

 

[Ornery]

First and foremost, it's got to move huge volumes of leaves quickly. It's up to the manufacturer what they bolt up to the fan. The fan on mine is able to suck leaves from the front and blast them elsewhere. The impeller has metal about 1/8" thick. They had no choice but to use an engine with 1" shaft. If you got one that only blew leaves, no shredding, no vacuuming and no chipping, it could probably be done with 5HP easily. Mine isn't 8HP for the sake of blowing. It has to be able to withstand force applied to the blade without bending the shaft. It's a heavy duty commercial model. Cost $640.00 back in 1983. Kohler is just big buck and heavy solid cast iron. It's built for a lifetime. It's also nice to have pneumatic tires, but that's a few more bucks.

Honda makes OHV aluminum engines. I bet a 5HP fastened to a huge blade would be fine. Anyway, doesn't matter. Get your hands on a few and see what the difference is. You have to fire them up and blow stuff with them though. I saw a beautiful one by a company called Parker. Nice sky blue shroud with chrome cage on the front. Just a well executed machine. Trouble is, it didn't move as much air as ones half it's price.