New Venting Sucker.........

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SidecarFlip

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Feb 7, 2010
5,273
S.E. Michigan
Mine getting old and getting tired leaf vacuum is needing to be retired and so I'm wondering what everyone else is using and how good they are. Has to be corded of course. One thing I am noticing about my old 'Weed Eater' leaf blower / vacuum is that the plastic impeller is getting pretty ragged and it's not sucking like it used to when new, so pro's and cons and what is the best one. Don't much care about price, more concerned with 'suck power'

Looked at the 'Toro' online and it appears to have a metal impeller which I believe would be better than plastic but the CFM isn't tops and CFM is everything in as much as my venting is so tall (18 feet vertical).

Opinions, likes and dislikes please.
 
Ive got a Worx that is years old. Im sure I did not pay much for it. I did just buy a 3"x4" galv duct fitting and a 4"x5" . The 4" fils nicely in the suction side of blower tube and the 3" fits nicely inside 3" pellet vent and the 5" is cone shaped so it goes over the 4" pellet vent and seals nicely with just a little pressure. All these years I have just been just using duct tape.
 
The one I have (Weed Eater) I think, don't fit tightly over the bottom of the Tee either so I use a rag to take up the space, which is kind of a PITA. It wasn't much but looking at it, the impeller is getting a bit worse for wear, but it is old. If it came out of the side of the house it would be a non issue but it comes out the side of the house on the back deck so the clearance between the bottom of the increaser Tee and the deck is somewhat limited, plus I'm guaranteed to get sooty as well, holding it in place when it does it's thing. All it does, I don't blow leaves, the wind blows them down the road....lol
 
I was looking for parts for the 2 St Croix that I am rehabbing and saw on one of the parts sites that they had a leaf blower kit listed for $99. basically a Toro blower with a reducer coupling for black corrugated drain tile. Just thought it was interesting to see it on a pellet stove parts site.
 
Thanks Rick, I just ordered one. Far as I can tell, only the Toro has a metal impeller, the rest are plastic and that is an excellent price, especially with free shipping. Lowes wants 70 bucks for the same thing without the adapter. Good find... Like I said, don't 'blow leaves', just fly ash and soot.

My impeller has serious abrasion grooves in it.
 
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Must have gotten the last one.... I'm not usually that lucky.
 
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I got a craftsman from lowes 12amp 450cfm 79.99
 
I got a craftsman from lowes 12amp 450cfm 79.99
We all know where that was made at, not that they all aren't....
 
Thanks Rick, I just ordered one. Far as I can tell, only the Toro has a metal impeller, the rest are plastic and that is an excellent price, especially with free shipping. Lowes wants 70 bucks for the same thing without the adapter. Good find... Like I said, don't 'blow leaves', just fly ash and soot.

My impeller has serious abrasion grooves in it.
Nice! I dont have any leaves to blow, just fly ash ==c . I bought the 80v cordless Kobalt blower only for work. We use it to blow pool decks off at opening. The battery power tools have come a long way. I get 2 plus days out of a battery. And it has quite a bit of power.