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Customer Reviews:- Good Value
This unit works great as a leaf blower, and ok for vacum mode. Just remember not to vacum any hard objects. I am not sure how long the plastic impellers will last, but I will give it a full test next fall.
The unit is somewhat awkward with the vacum bag attached....more info - Great Tool
I bought this to vacuum the leaves out of my window wells. From there I used it in the yard and gutters. It did a great job, and I used the mulched leaves to cozy flowers in for our long North Dakota winters. It became quite popular with the neighbors as well... In all I feel that it has already paid back the investment several times over. ...more info - Nice little blower
Light and powerful. Two minor gripes: There's no obvious easy way to hang it up, and changing from blower to vacuum takes a minute....more info - good overall machine
I don't expect much from multipurpose tools-this one was a pleasant surprise. Went together easily, appears to be well made. Blower does a good job, though not quite up to the bigger gas powered blowers. Vacuum was better than i expected. Sucked up everything except very wet leaves, and the bag holds a surprising amount of leaves, which are well mulched. The one problem was that the bag, which gets quite heavy, is difficult to move around. Carrying strap was awkward and I ended up dragging the bag, which means a duct tape repair in the future. Highly recommend good hearing protection. Very good unit for the price....more info - Power blower
It is very powerful.
At top speed, it blow things everywhere!
The Vaccuum function is good, but sometimes big leaves get stuck inside the tube....more info - does what it says
This item came very quickly and my husband is pleased with the purchase. The price was very good and even though we haven't used it much so far, it seems to do the job it is supposed to do....more info - Toro Rake & Vac 51574--less vibration, lighter vs Toro Ultra 51599
I needed an electric blower for a 9-unit apartment building, for sweeping the balcones, stairwells, patio and carports. I didn't need heavy lawn raking or mulching capability. I wanted one without exhaust fumes and as quiet as possible as I prefer not having tenants throw eggs at me, so gas blowers were right out. These Toros were top rated by Consumer Reports, and the local Home Depot had these two on display out-of-box. As a certifiable gadget-itis afflicted Star Trek fanatic, I was all set to get the fancier one... the red 51599 Ultra. The black 51574 was noticeably lighter though--6.5 vs 7.5 lbs. The Ultra had variable speed vs 2 fixed speeds....however the fixed speeds were not too far inside the extremes of the Ultra--roughly 5% above and 10% below...so it appeared I could trade off maximum quiet for maximum power roughly as well. I also didn't need the mulching capability of the metal impeller. Still, I decided to try them both.
For my application, the Rake & Vac had more than enough power even at the lower speed. Therefore the variable speed of the Ultra was cool, but not particularly useful. The vacuum function on both was fairly weak....I don't think I'd bother digging out and changing the attachments for vacuuming, manuevering this clunky configuration above the debris, unzipping the blower bag into the trash then storing the vacuum attachments then changing back to the blower attachment...it's faster just dustpanning blown debris into our wheeled trash bins. Both had approximately the same relatively tolerable whitish noise spectrum i.e. no irritating tones or whining, like some hairdryer-like blowers. It's a shame spectral diagrams of products' noise are not given by manufacturers...they make a big difference to users. They were also reasonably quiet, though I'd prefer quieter....the Toro website lists them at about 63dBA both at the lower speed...important for an apartment building. Additionally, hearing a blower speed vary is more noticeable than a constant speed...as anyone subjected to a gas leaf blower's operator constantly varying the speed can attest.
But the Rake & Vac's surprising smoothness clinched it for me. I vastly preferred using it...not only is it significantly lighter, but it had much less vibration. This gave it a quality, well balanced feel, vs the rough, buzzy, heavy feel of the Ultra. Looking at the Toro website, the 7.5 pound weight of the Ultra vs the 6.5 pounds of the Rake & Vac is mainly from the 12 amp vs 10.5 amp motor, with another 1 pound maybe from the metal vs. plastic impeller. I'm guessing the vibration could be a badly balanced metal impeller, or maybe just the larger motor.
As the Rake & Vac has more than enough power for my application, I might still try the lighter 4.6 pound Toro Power Sweep 51585, but I suspect it will have a whiny noise spectrum that might be quieter in the dBA sense but more annoying...
If you need that metal impeller or variable speed, you might prefer the Ultra...otherwise you'll probably prefer the lighter, smoother, cheaper Rake & Vac....more info - don't overload it
I have had the unit for about 2+ years. It is a very good 'blower'. For the first time in the 2 years I've owned it I decided to vacuum some leaves. There must have been a clump of wet ones that got sucked up into it. Within seconds the motor began to burn up. I noticed one of the blades had broken too. With the broken blade it caused it to be unbalanced and consequently did not function well. Conclusion: good blower but be wary of using it as a vacuum....more info - Plenty of Power for a Small Yard
I live in Phoenix where the yards are small. I use the vacuum more then the blower and it works fine for sucking up dead leaves and flowers....more info - Blower
This blower is wonderful. I did have to get used to the power; it really blows. The vacuum (mulcher) is great, I have really cleaned up the moldy leaves that have accumulated over time....more info - Good blower, not a great vacuum
This is a decent product. Blower works very well, especially on high. The vacuum is a little suspect as the suction power is a little weak. It will also clog up quickly and you have to reach in the intake port to clear the clog frequently. The bag is very awkward to hold. The bag strap continually falls off my shoulder and I end up just letting the bag hang there while I vacuum leaves....more info - SO EASY!!!!
This blower had to be, by far, the easiest thing I've put together in years. I had it out of the box, assembled and my 3 car garage and driveway were clean in less than an hour total. I used it on the lowest speed and the blower completely cleaned all the debris out of my garage with ease. The blower is not too loud and was, of course, fumelss while I was working. I haven't used the mulcher yet but it appears to be simple enough just by reading the instructions. This has been a great investment for me! And a great surprise for my husband who came home and found a spotless garage. ...more info
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