Raking leaves up in your garden is one of those thankless tasks that never seems to end! You can spend hours raking all the leaves in, to then blink and see that your garden is full of them again! Luckily, there are now clever machines that have been invented to make this task a million times easier – the leaf blower and the leaf vacuum. However, trying to choose which is the best product for you can be rather difficult, as both have many pros and cons to consider!
This article will provide information on both products to try and help you decide what is going to be right for you and your leaf collection needs!
- ➤【Upgraded Axial Fan Design】- Compared to the traditional model, the axial fan design has fully optimized in terms of air output，wind speed, cleaning efficiency and noise, which is more effective to clear away leaves and debris in the garden
- ➤【High Performance for Versatile Use】 - The capacity air volume is up to 606m³/h and the air speed is up to 54m/s, which is ideal for clearing yards, driveways, sidewalks, decks, garages and other hard surfaces of leaves, grass clippings, and other lawn debris
- ➤ 【Double Speed Design】- Variable speed trigger and speed lock give the user full power control. 2-speed selection (1900 & 16500rpm) gives you greater versatility. It’s powerful enough for flower beds and for matted leaves
- ➤【28V Lithium ion Battery】- The 28V MAX Lithium Ion 4Ah battery could offer more power and a longer run time, you could operate during 35min without pause. This eco-friendly garden tool could also help you reduce carbon footprint
- ➤【Lightweight & Ergonomic】- Ergonomic and extremely lightweight design (3kg), the blower is easy to control and minimizes stress on the arm. Besides, you can expect exceptional balance for use on a small clean up or larger yard work with less user fatigue
Last update on 2024-12-13 / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API / As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
What Is The Difference Between The Two?
The difference between leaf blowers and leaf vacuums is really in the two names. A leaf blower will BLOW the leaves in your garden into one place (or multiple places if you should direct them in this way) so that they can then be picked up and disposed of easier. Whereas, a leaf vacuum will suck up the leaves into a bag that you can then empty.
Both will massively reduce the time and effort that goes into leaf removal in your garden, but in different ways – we have considered these below…
Leaf Blowers – The Pros and Cons
Here we aim to discuss the different pros and cons of leaf blowers to help you decide if they are going to be right for you.
Pros
Leaf blowers are relatively light tools, and come in various different sizes. So you will be able to find a model to suit your needs and your garden, whether you need a very small model or have a large garden and need something that can handle this.
We also love how easy they are to use, as this means that they will almost always be ready to just pick up and go. After a couple of minutes you will have the hang of how to control the leaf blower to blow the leaves in the direction that you want and will be able to get to work cleaning up your garden.
As a general rule, there will be less things that can go wrong with a leaf blower, as you will not be at risk of picking up things that could damage the machine (such as stones or sticks) as these will just stay on the floor to be picked up by hand later!
Cons
As much as we love the simplicity of leaf blowers they aren’t perfect. The main criticism that we have with leaf blowers is that you still have to collect the leaves at the end of the job – unless you are happy for them to pile and decompose in one part of the garden but this can be unsightly. This can be incredibly frustrating as once you have the leaves in a pile you then have the backbreaking task of shovelling them into your bin/compost heap.
Another slight bug bearer that we have is how difficult it is to get rid of ALL of the leaves in the garden. No matter how much practice you have with leaf blowing there will always be some leaves with a mind of their own that blow in a completely random direction, or leaves that are too heavy to be moved by the blower if damp. This means you have to either accept a less than perfect job, or go over with a rake anyway!
- 3 tools in 1: blower, mulcher and vacuum
- Now designed with a metal impeller providing a more robust machine
- Compact and lightweight
- Mulching system reduces leaves 16: 1
- 7 speed settings for ultimate control
Last update on 2024-12-13 / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API / As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
Leaf Vacuums – The Pros and Cons
All the most important factors that you need to consider about leaf vacuums.
Pros
The main benefit that we find with a leaf vacuum is the fact that they take control of the whole job, so you don’t have to still pick up all the leaves afterwards – simply empty the bag. We found that this greatly reduced the amount of time that we had to spend completing the job.
You will also tend to find that leaf vacuums are more powerful, so will be able to work with more debris than leaf blowers (many can even collect damp or rotting leaves – providing you purchase a model strong enough).
Cons
There are some issues with leaf vacuums however …in our opinion the main one is the fact that they are heavier – especially when they are full of leaves. This means that they can put a strain on your back after a while, and will reduce the amount of time that you will be able to work with them. But remember, at least you are not having to pick up the leaves in piles at the end! It’s more a case of which is the lesser of two evils!
It can also be time consuming having to keep emptying the bag – particularly if the machine that you purchase only offers a small bag. But, this can be avoided if you choose a model with an appropriate bag size for the amount of leaves that are likely to fall in your garden, although you will still have to empty it a few times, you won’t be stopping every couple of minutes to do so!
As the mechanisms and machine is more complex in a leaf vacuum, they can be more expensive than a leaf blower and there are also more things can go wrong – such as sucking up the wrong thing, blockages with leaves and overheating.
Our Opinion – Leaf Blower or Leaf Vacuum
Overall, we would say that it really depends on the size of your garden and the amount of trees that you have in your garden as to which is going to be best for you.
If you have a relatively small garden with less leaves then a leaf blower will probably be sufficient, and you have the benefit of them being easier to use and lighter. Yes, you will have to pick the leaves up at the end but this shouldn’t be too time consuming in a small garden.
If you have a larger garden or a considerable amount of leaf debris in your garden, then we would definitely say it is worth investing in a leaf vacuum for your garden. They will greatly reduce the amount of time that it will take you to complete the job and saves you from having to transport the leaves from one side of the garden to the other at the end of the job!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it worth purchasing a leaf blower and a leaf vacuum combined?
This really depends on the size of your garden, the number of leaves that you have in your garden and also your budget. A leaf blower and vacuum combined will normally be more expensive than individual models but they do offer you much more flexibility in the jobs that you are completing. If you have a larger garden with leaves that are spread over a much bigger space then we would say it is worth investing in this type of product, if you have the budget to do so!
Will a leaf blower or a leaf vacuum offer more power?
A leaf vacuum will usually have more power compared to a leaf blower, but they will need this to be able to lift the leaves into the bag. The fact that they need more power will tend to mean that cordless models have shorter battery lives, or you will need to be paying out more!
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