Bosch 06008B1071 Electric Leaf Blower and Vacuum
Bosch 06008B1071 Electric Leaf Blower and Vacuum UniversalGardenTidy 3000 (3000 W, collection bag 50 l, variable speed, for blowing, vacuuming and shredding leaves, in carton packaging)
Easy uncloggingLarger volute design makes clearing blockages easy and safe
” data-position=”triggerHorizontal” />Easy and clean bag removalQuick-release collection bag features moisture-repellent dirt deflectors
” data-position=”triggerHorizontal” />Easy mode change with release screwSimply and quickly switch between modes, tool-free, with quick-release mechanism
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Flexible 3-in-1 garden clearing
The UniversalGardenTidy is the 3-in-1 garden vacuum for efficient clearing garden debris. The tool can be used for blowing, vacuuming and shreddingleaves.
Fully variable speed
Conveniently adjust the speed in both blow and vacuum mode.
Durable metal fan to easily unclog debris
A 12:1 reduction in waste and with space around the fan to clean when needed.
Quick and easy emptying
Simple to collect leaves from your garden and easy to remove the collection bag when it’s time to empty it.
UniversalGardenTidy 3000 Technical Details
| Power input | 1600-3000 W |
| Blower Airflow speed | 165-285 km/h |
| Vacuum Vol flow rate max | 160 l/s |
| Shredding ratio | 12:1 |
| Noise | 99 dB(A) (GSPL) |
| Collection bag | 50 litres |
| Weight (Blow / Vac) | 3.4 / 4.7 Kg |
Is it possible to adjust the suction strength?
Yes, The airflow speed can be adjusted to the desired speed via the control dial, in either blow or suction mode.
What happens when acorns are sucked in?
Acorns are lifted by the shredding fan and collected in the collection bag. Usually acorns are reduced in size by the shredding fan, but this is not always the case.
Can I use the tool for vacuuming without the shredder option?
No, the metal fan is fixed to the motor.
Are you able to dismantle the vacuum tube?
No, the sections are designed to be kept intact once assembled.
What are the tool dimensions?
Vacuum Mode Max Measurements – 230x1150x670mm
Blower Mode Max Measurements – 230x330x800mm
| Weight: | 6.5 kg |
| Dimensions: | 50 x 28.5 x 36 cm; 6.5 Kilograms |
| Model: | 06008B1071 |
| Part: | 06008B1071 |
| Colour: | Green |
| Pack Quantity: | 1 |
| Batteries Required: | No |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | Bosch |
| Dimensions: | 50 x 28.5 x 36 cm; 6.5 Kilograms |
| Quantity: | 1 |
Brilliant leaf hoover/blowe
I originally had one of the Bosch leaf hoover/blower machines, and it was fantastic. I then opted for a different brand which was battery operated. What a massive mistake that was. The cordless models all seem to las, at very best, 10 minutes run time!!! I needless to say, sent it straight back and re purchased this Bosch model again, as it was unbelievably good in the first place. My friend thinks so as well as he got my original one and loves it. It is super easy to use, and has a zip on the bag to empty any leaf particles when you have finished. You simply turn the red switch to operate the machine, and this same switch also increases and decreases the power of suction, therefore allowing leaves to be easily hoovered up even whilst on small decorative stones etc, without sucking up any stones.
Decent mains powered vacuum and blowe
A decent mains powered leaf vacuum and blower powered via mains electricity through a 15 metre cable..
We have purchased this item solely for the vacuum function to collect leaves as we already possess a petrol leaf blower which can be used independent of mains power anywhere in our larger garden. The Bosch item is well built, is powerful and it hass demonstrated that it can collect leaves and particularly in our garden, acorns from the lawns, patio and flower beds. Assembly is simple as is changing the function from vacuum to blow.
The supplied 50 litre bag is more than sufficient and I doubt if if will ever fill it as the weight and bulk of that quantity of shredded damp leaves will render the vacuum difficult to use. Despite the fact that this item is ideally used to collect dry leaves, invariably users will collect damp vegetation in a normal UK garden and this does reduce the shredding performance and increase the weight of the debris collected, so be warned.
Overall a decent mains powered blower and vacuum ideal for use in a small garden or larger garden if you have sufficient power outlets.
Good quality and functionality
Easy to assemble, although I can’t get main tubes apart again so maybe slid on not quite right. Good functions, full control on adaptable suction so can pick up dry garden debris without fully sucking up stones/chippings. Good strap to support weight while in use. Sturdy large zip on big bag to make emptying easy. Very long cable – can reach whole garden. This will be useful throughout the year as each season we seem to have all sorts blow into the garden!
The garden tool I didn't know I needed until I got i
Just to be clear the review question for this asks for stars for drying power (I put 4 stars as not sure what they mean as this doesn’t dry anything). However for blowing leaves and small debris and then hoovering them up it is 5* all the way. The blower is very useful in that you can lower and raise the power as required (which can be very useful when getting leaves from corners and gravel). Great for blowing leaves off gravel without blowing gravel everywhere. As a vacuum it works great, but suggest don’t use when ground is wet as it will suck up mud that will clog the pipe and mechanism (but won’t stop it ,it just makes a funny noise and then you dismantle it and clear the mud from the area around the shredder and from the suction pipe. Shredder works great (proper metal shredder) and really reduces the volume of the leaves hugely. Also, unlike some other similar machines I have read about, the bag appears very robust and I’ve had no problem with the zipper (good old Bosch). One final thing, some reviews have said it is a faff to remove the screw when switching between suction and blowing. This is true, but this makes the machine appear robust and is very good for safety as you can hear a click when the current cut-out engages and disengages when you screw it in all the way. If you are in the market for one of these for a small to medium size garden then this is pretty much perfect.
I would give this product 5 stars for its blower performance. It moved large piles of damp leaves very effectively.
However, I would only give it 3 stars for vacuuming performance, which was relatively disappointing. Whilst it works well enough for a thin scattering of small leaves (around 2 or 3″ across), it really struggled with bigger leaves. I have a walnut tree in my garden which drops dinner plate sized leaves with long (around 12″) stalks, and it was almost incapable of vacuuming these large leaves. It also got regularly blocked – it stripped the stalks from the leaves, and the stalks then blocked the fan/shredder mechanism. In the end I gave up with vacuuming these large leaves and instead used the blower to move the leaves into piles and picked them up manually.
As many other reviewers have noted, swapping from blower to vacuum mode is made inconvenient by having to unscrew a fitting, which requires around 50 turns of the holding screw, which is also not that easy to get your fingers around.
On the plus side, it completely shredded smaller leaves, almost into dust, so 5 stars for composting performance! It also seems to be a well made product, and whilst the initial assembly was a bit tricky (primarily assembling the vacuuming tube which is supplied in three parts), you only have to do it once.
Overall, my rating is 4 stars.
Wow and I mean wow very impressed
There are so many leaves vacuum and blowers to chose from,this one is far the best one, really is good on suction is amazing,plus different setting blow for when changing it over to leaf blower,and that really easy to swop over,one thing I like about this no lever to keep pressed in just a knob to turn well impressed, bought one on black Friday for 60 pounds but recon 100 pound it’s worth it.
This is the best one i have got, enjoyed blowing leaf and then vacuum them. Its has a speed controller for both blower and vac which is the best feature, i have lot of pebbles in my garden and it only sucked leaf.
Assemble is very easy, ignore the dump people (no offence) saying they can not assemble it.
Pro
Great power for both suction and blow
Great build quality
speed controller
lengthy cord
Con
A bit heavy
Easy to assemble, bag is roomy and securely held in place even when full of stuff, and it sucks seriously well. The metal cutter makes good work of chopping reasonably dry leaves into small bits. The bag has a large opening when unzipped and is easy to empty. It inevitably has a build up of gunge around the cutter chamber, especially if leaves are not bone dry, but it is easy to clean out. No leaf sucker will deal with wet leaves, so don’t even try.
Previous leaf suckers have been Flymo and Lidl – this beats them both by a huge margin.
This unit has a powerful blower function, it takes a few moments to switch mode to suction since the nozzle needs to be swapped over. But it works very well when picking up soggy leaves as well.
I found when building the suction nozzle sections – they were quite hard to push together. But this only needs to be done once and it is easy to operate the unit and swap the nozzles.
The power cable was long enough to cover my medium sized garden area.
I bought this based on reviews indicating that other brands and battery based units were often disappointing. I recommend the Bosch Universal Garden Tidy 3000.
This garden vac is amazing. I was looking for something light weight and easy to use. Having previously tried a battery powered model from another manufacturer where the running time quoted in the manual as 15 minutes was 10 minutes at best and with really poor suction I defaulted to my go to manufacturer, Bosch. They really are the best. The garden tidy 3000 does the job perfectly, it’s powerful, the fact that it’s corded rather than cordless is no problem at all, very easy to operate and does to job perfectly. Would recommend this machine 100%
Very, very pleased with this purchase. Great design. Clever Bosch technology. Sound reliability, with variable speed options. Low noise (despite what others say!!!) Easy bag handling from attachment to emptying, with clever bag flaps on either side to prevent spillage from whatever receptacle you’re emptying into. I love that you can change it from a leaf hoover to a leaf blower – but you can’t have both at the same time. Just two things to bear in mind …
1. DO NOT attempt to hoover up wet leaves with it – it will jam all of the time and you’ll spend an age freeing it off and, eventually, it will simply burn out the motor. They are really not meant to be used in the wet. Trust me on this!
2. DO NOT turn it on and simply try to run it for half an hour or more, without giving it (and you!) a bit of a rest. It isn’t built or designed to do that. Treat it gently and use it carefully and I am certain that it will give you many years of contented service.
Lovely packaging, excellent design and quality craftsmanship – it is a very valuable addition to my gardening arsenal and I am delighted with it.
Glad I went for this one
I’d read so many reviews and even this had good and bad but glad I went for bosch. Not the best instructions and the fitting of the parts doesn’t feel overly premium but the strap is comfy and the thing has so much power it makes short work of leaves.
4.0 out of 5 stars Powe
Bought this electric corded vac blower instead of a battery operated one because I have a bigger garden than a courtyard and so needed constant power for longer than the average bosche battery vac or blower. Quality seems good and it’s fairly big in size but was easy to assemble a bit noisy as you would expect but not deafening.if you have shrubs close together then it’s difficult to manure around with bag on for vac setting so it was easier to use the blower which is very powerful even on the low setting and blow them into a pile then vac.It was used on grass on high but I suggest using lower setting for gravel and bark as these can be easily sucked up into the shredding part of the machine which it cant process through the shredder part and you risk breaking the vac blower .Very pleased with this product and it made the job so much easier and quicker than a rake and a broom.Great value for money
5.0 out of 5 stars Bosch leaf blower and vacum
Excellent product for price. Bit tricky to put together as I put the suction funnel wrong way round. Went ahead without following written instruction first. Got sorted and would recommend this product highly.
his is a very good garden tool. The performance is excellent but as others have said the change from blower to vacuum is a bit tedious, you just have to organise your work to suit. Overall, worth the effort.
5.0 out of 5 stars Bosch has not blown it! (Sorry for the bad joke )
Very happy with this blower. It’s lighter and quieter than the one I’ve had for many years from another manufacturer. I cannot comment on its vac functions yet but can sympathise with those who’ve noted the lack of conversion ease. But, the fact that it has a shredder made of metal is a bonus for me. Other reviews indicate it’s probably better not to use it when the leaves are damp. Trouble is, that’s not always/often possible in the UK in autumn.
I bought this as a replacement for an old blower/ vac which also had dual fuction by moving a lever however this one has completely separate functions by using separate parts you have to put together yourself. I mainly use this in the vac position so not a major issue for me as I leave it already assembled ready to use like that. I can really understand the negative criticism of this product if you would regularly use both fuctions as it a bit of a chore to change over. The product itself is very powerful in both vac and blow but quite heavy to use hence the provided shoulder strap. I would say this is more suitable for the med/ large garden given the 50L collection bag. Overall it looks like it would be a very reliable product but could do with improvement in its design and weight.
Works well and the variable speed motor allows you to pick up leaves from pebble path. It is heavy and occasionally will block then you have to unscrew the bolt about fifty turns to get at the blockage but then it is easy to remove and restarts immediately.
Bag is large and the machine dices the leaves into small fragments to significantly reduce their bulk, -great for composting. Looking forward to the autumn, need long extension cord but more powerful than battery device and less noisy or smelly than petrol.
4.0 out of 5 stars Good value
This picks up the leaves and garden waste very well and is very powerful be careful careful of sticks as they can get stuck in the tube and cause a blockage. The blower works well.
Bought to replace a Ryobi which finally gave up the ghost after 25 years service. That had seen off newer competitors along the way which proved to be not as good, so we were wary getting a new one. This Bosch seems to fit the bill perfectly though.
Specifically we like that it has no wheels, it is fairly light weight, powerful and has a very good sized bag. The strap is comfortable and provides enough support when the bag gets fuller. And it gets heavy because the vac chops up the leaves pretty fine, which is what we wanted. The rotor blade is metal which is brilliant.
We found changing from blower to vac pretty easy and the control knob is easy to use.
I would say though that there is a prong on the attachments that fits into the motor housing that looks fairly flimsy. I presume it engages a safety device, but in my opinion will be the first thing to break on the machine so changing attachments needs to be done with care. Other than that the whole thing seems to be pretty robust and surprisingly quiet in use.
5.0 out of 5 stars Domestic use and love i
Used it for over a year and think it is great, would recommend it as has great suction and blow. Metal fan, a large bag though does take up some room in the shed.
Incredible power from this unit and I was impressed from the first time it was switched on.
It’s not the lightest in the class, but there’s plenty of shoulder straps and carry handles to make it comfortable. Easy to assemble and move from blowing to sucking.
Makes light work of clearing leaves and turns it into mulch for popping straight into garden waste or compost bin.
Bring on the autumn – I’m ready for the deluge of leaves with this bad boy by my side.
Bish. Bash. Bosch every time
The wire allows it to hoover up leaves in our back garden. It’s long enough but not over long. Having a metal impellor is great for chewing up leaves. Recently resealed our drive and set to blow it removed the odd drops of water that were on there. Very pleased.
A beast of a machine
I’m so glad I chose the Bosch over a simarly priced non variable speed over brand!!! It took me a mo but on the fly I bought this one. At full power it was like something out of the Crystal maze but on minimum the blower was perfect, and that was on wet leaves!! Don’t get me wrong there would be a place for full power but for my needs the variability was a must. So I pushed all my leaves into a nice pile and then swapped over the attachment to hoover! I’m not sure why some say it’s fiddly as turning one screw is hardly rocket science. Just make sure you line up the part and away you go!! Again wet leaves and no issues and within no time I had a bag full of leaf confetti!! Perfect and with a 3 year guarantee to boot!!
great leaf vacuum
suction is very strong and even with wet leaves, quite light to handle and agile to use. The bag gets wet when hoovering up wet leaves and the channel can become blocked. Fairly easy to unblock but useful to know as the suction is affected.
It does the job well
This replaced a Bosch predecessor that died after many years of good service. I found the assembly awkward (I’m not good at that) but quite possible with patience. This model is an improvement with more (and variable) power, and an easier process to remove the bag. Switching between sucking and blowing is a little finicky, but it is very effective in both modes. A solid, effective, reliable tool.
Brillia
A bit awkward to assemble but easy enough to follow instructions
Great suction power
As per probably every other similar unit – if you are sucking up large quantities of wet leaves, expect to have to constantly keep taking of the suction tube to unblock the fan casing/volute as the shredder blade will have turned some of the leaves to a mash that eventually blocks up the unit – bit annoying but think this what all units like this experience
Great vfm and highly recommended
Power Blower/Vac with a couple of annoyances
Overall I really like the suction and blower power of this tool but it has a couple of annoyances. Firstly, my previous machine had the ability to switch between blowing and vacuuming with the turn of a lever. To swap over on this unit requires you to unscrew a (long) thumbscrew and fit a different attachment. It means a tedious process if you just want to blow leaves into piles and then vacuum them up. The 50l bag, whilst being a large capacity, is very bulky and heavy when even two thirds full and when emptied still retains a lot of residue clinging to the inside walls due to the material it’s made of. Other than theses concerns, it is a good product to have in the garden.
Performance very similar to my old petrol one but simpler to use
Performance very similar to my old petrol one but no hassle starting like petrol but beware of trailing cable
Good machine for the price.
Typical bosch build quality. My only gripe is the complicated system of blowing or vacuuming where you have to change from one to the other.
Does what I bought it for, UniversalGardenTidy 3000
Used 6 times so far to gather leaves, suction mode, from gravel around the house, very satisfactory. Good value on a today’s deal. Much cheaper than branded battery and petrol models. More powerful than any battery model, so I compromised. The cable is a nuisance, loses flexibility in cold weather, but still manageable. I use close to the house, using a trailing socket, plugged into an external socet. The trailing socket allows much freer travel than a reel or drum.
Cheaper cabled makes, and the Flymo, allow lever switching between suction and blow modes. The Bosch requires a change of nozzle, a slowish, tooless, task but means the Bosch is dedicated, fully, to the chosen mode.
The bag seems well made, I was concerned that bags on cheap models might have weaker stitching and a flimsy zip. Bag gets quite heavy, especially if leaves are wet, so a good bag is essential. Wet leaves make a mess and have to be clawed off the inner bag surface and from around the fan/impeller.
Metal fan minces leaves effectively. I think the model below may have a plastic fan, less durable especially if small gravel is sucked in. I dump the minced leaves into compost bins, also use them as a mulch.
Good product, but expensive.
Heavy, even with strap, but with is robust, powerful and well- designed.
Variable Speed smashes it!
The headline says it all. Yes, you get the Bosch engineering pedigree and you’re probably paying a bit more for it. But if you’ve ever tried to corral a bunch of leaves using a blower with just a maximum setting, you’ll know how they blow all over the place. Similarly, sucking up the said leaves on full suction from a gravel drive can result in more than a few pebbles ending up in your compost bin. The variable speed on this gadget can be set sensitively enough for any application I’ve come across so far.
Just a small gripe at the ease of swapping from one mode to the other, but once you’ve done it, it’s like riding a bike. I wouldn’t get a non-variable blower again.
Blockage & cable
These blower vacs are a great tool to have. This one does everything I want, very powerful, I like the speed control function. Only downsides, it can block when small twigs are sucked up with the leaves, but easy to clear with a bit of wire with a hooked end. Also the electric cable is to stiff making it tangle, so not nice & easy to wrap..
Really pleased with the suction – it exceeded my expectations and had been great for clearing leaves this Autumn. This machine is also quiter than my previous machine which is a bonus.
This sucks! But then that’s what it was designed for. I find the suction easier to use than the blower and it’s fiddly to switch between the two. Access to the bag to empty is easy with the zip but the zip easily clogs with the finely shredded leaves. All in all though much better than my last Flymo.
Like the ease of taking off the sucking tube. Clear out after each use and it works a treat. There is a double click on the screw you turn in to ensure that the power is on – so when it is unscrewed the power is automatically cut off the metal blades fan. Like the bag, it has covers on either side so wet leaves don’t soak you when you are using it. Like the weight, a lot lighter than my last one and used it for small pick up last weekend without the shoulder strap and it wasn’t a problem.
Only negative, and this is a minor one is that some twigs can get stick half way between the metal blades and the bag tube causing a quiet high pitched squeal, but just don’t pick up the twigs breather than 6/7mm across!
I brought the bosch leaf blower and vacuum to save my hands from the spiky horse chestnut tree at the bottom of my garden, this tree makes a lot of mess, it drops flowers, then followed by the spiky balls and then finally the leaves, each time it’s a mission to clean up and painful, but no more, the bosch sucks everything up and cuts it all up as it goes along. Everything goes into the bag and then you just unzip it and pour into the garden waste bin. It’s very easy to put together and take apart, it feels very well built and I’m hoping it will last me for many years.
Well-designed, well built piece of kit for the garde
This kit is really well designed for the purpose, from the positioning of the strap, down to the orientation of the bag for vacuum, the variable power, even the location of the zip when emptying the leaves out. I’d give it five stars but for the cable (the flex is far too inflexible so in cooler weather it sticks in loops and catches anything if you aren’t careful) and the intake is just a bit too easy to block. However, these are minor issues, and while some folks may complain about swapping the blower for the vac configuration (bit of practice it takes about 60 seconds), and the length of the cable, these are all really OK. The bag is easy enough to remove (although the trick is to lift the blower so the weight of the bag pulls it off, rather than try to pull the bag away), the bag is very large, the shredding action is excellent (the cutter is metal), the blower is nice and powerful. Used for four collections over the last couple of months so still looking to see how well the motor lasts and whether any parts fail too quickly through wear and tear but looks good so far.
This is a tremendous produc
This is an excellent product and very good value for the money. It easily deals with leaves and garden debris and will collect a large volume of stuff before you need to empty the bag.
I have only used the suction function, not the blower, but it is far better than comparable products that I have used in the past.
You can vary the suction power using a knob under the handle, but even on a moderate power setting, the suction is sufficient to lift pretty much anything as long as it is dry. On full power it almost sucks grass up by the roots, it’s that good.
Be aware that when the machine is delivered, it comes almost completely pre-assembled for the blower function, so if you want to use the suction function instead, you will have to remove the blower fan (this is easily done) and attach the suction cone and fan.
The cable is a good length but if you have a moderately-sized or large garden, you will probably require an extension lead.
The machine is relatively heavy, so if you intend to use it for more than a few minutes at a time I would recommend putting on the shoulder strap rather than simply holding it by the handles.
Overall this does exactly what it says on the box and I have no hesitation recommending it.
Bosch Universal garden tidy 2300, item no. ending 72.
I purchased this to remove leaves, buds and small stalks from paving and broken slate of approximately 1- 4 inches in size.
This is the less powerful of the 2 newest garden vac/ blowers( the other being the 3000). I was concerned that the lower powered vac would lack power and almost purchased the more powerful item.
I chose wisely as using the variable speed control I use it on minimum for vac duties even for thicker, leathery leaves otherwise thinner pieces of broken skate and small pebbles will be drawn into the vac.
The vac is quite easy to put together although the assembly instructions aren’t the best. A shoulder strap with soft pad is included and is needed as the vac is quite heavy but after a bit of practice it becomes easier to manoeuvre. There are two different nozzles supplied; the larger diameter one for vaccing and the smaller bore one for leaf blowing. There is a very solid cast cutting wheel inside which shreds leaves and small twigs and allows far more capacity in the bag. Also, It took me a few minutes to find the ideal gap to leave between the nozzle and the ground to vac up the leaves but leave the stones behind( a few small ones did go up but didn’t seem to damage the solid impeller/ cutter) the shreddings are great as mulch or composting.
The vac is reasonably quiet in use similar to an electric mower.
I haven’t used the blower as I just needed the vac function to remove the copious amount of leaves that my neighbours trees generously share !
I am very pleased with this blower which easily does what I required.
Overall, I am pleased with this Bosch product which incidentally I only use as a leaves vacuum. Contrary to what some reviewers have said I found it pretty straight forward to assemble. It is well designed and well made and is likely to last a long time if well looked after and maintained. The rotary on/off switch which also adjusts the amount of vacuum or blow is excellent as this relieves strain from holding a push switch down as on my previous vacuum. The adjustment of the vacuum also is great as I have small gravel stones beside my path which I’d rather not suck up when clearing leaves from them. Be aware that there are microswitches on assembly of the various parts, so if you don’t ensure everything tightly fixed the microswitches won’t switch and consequently no power. The bag is brilliant and again well designed to attach to the vacuum (with a microswitch as well!). Another point worth mentioning is that if you are vacuuming leaves from on top of the earth, the vacuum will pick this up as well, and eventually builds a layer of thick mud inside the macerator housing which you’ll need to scrape out occasionally as it does reduce the suction. On a hard surface such as a patio or block drive, it has no trouble whatsoever. The bag does get heavy if you get to fill it up, but the well designed shoulder strap helps tremendously.
My only gripe is the cheap plastic non-flexible cable. What are Bosch thinking!!!! I worked for an International Cable Manufacturer and there are plenty of low cost FLEXIBLE PVC cables on the market. It is intensely annoying trying to coil the cable to store the vac/blower away!!! I may have to cut off the cable and rewire with some seriously flexible cable. Ummmm, that will invalidate the guarantee! Maybe not.
This is a purchase that will be kept at my folks and ill be using it in the garden and on the drive for them, they have a tonne of seeds, leaves and all sorts of garden debris which annually cascades from the air onto the floor so requires a twice yearly clean up. I picked the Bosch product over a multitude of alternates based on what seem to be genuine reviews, it is dual function, it looks well built in the product pictures unlike some of the competitors, it has a variable speed and of course because its Bosch and i have never been let down by any Bosch products in the past.
The Good
* The unit comes in a fairly small box, to unpack, read the instructions and put together took me in total less than ten minutes. First impressions are that it is well built, the plastic is sturdy, i would imagine it would survive several drops to the floor, lots of scuffing, dust and rubbish with no issues. I did look at alternates and i wasn’t confident in the build quality, this feels very robust.
The bag that comes with the unit is similar to Cordura, not quite as thick but again having read reviews of other products bags seem to be a common failing point so this is important to me.
* As said putting together is very simple and took less than ten minutes to figure out. There are two setups, one for Vac one for Blow. The switch between the two is made by unscrewing a reasonable sized nut on the bottom of the unit, its easy to grip and takes less than 30 seconds, swapping the tubes and refitting. Very simple.
* The cable is another plus, i always wonder with wired garden equipment how likely is the wire to become punctured or torn into by a branch or becoming stuck on brick or concrete. In this instance not likely at all, i wouldn’t want to make a ropes swing out of it but its built to last!
* Whilst it is certainly robust it doesn’t feel overly heavy as i had feared, i used it initially for two hours and didn’t feel fatigued, it comes with a well padded shoulder strap which i used for vacuum however i didn’t feel the need to use when blowing, the attachment for blowing is much lighter.
* Switch on is super simple, there is one nob to control and it works very much the same as a light dimmer switch, you turn it on and it is already at the lowest setting, to increase the power you simply continue to turn till you reach the desired setting.
* Noise level is commensurate to the power setting, at low power i found it to be very quiet, i did think i would need ear defenders but that wasn’t the case, its a lot like using a slightly high powered standard house vac outside. Its not going to overly disturb the neighborhood!
* I was initially a little concerned about the power, it appears to have a less powerful motor than some competing products, i needn’t have worried. My first job was to clear a half built driveway of tree debris which was mixed among rocks, gravel and hardcore. You can see on the video that even on low setting it briskly moves along anything loose, when you ramp up the power it almost sends tennis ball lumps of concrete into the air, it is powerful!
I would say based on the power that if you are going to vac leaves and debris then you may well be better off blowing into a pile to start if the ground beneath has many small stones or loose material so as not to suck everything up.
* As you can see from the before and after pictures it did a very decent job of getting general debris up off the floor so we can start to build the drive way again, oh joy!
I would caution that it will pick up small stones if you are not careful, i actually sucked up a rubble sack which quickly clogged the machine. I simply switch off as soon as it entered, unplugged the unit, removed the vac attachment as i would if changing to blow and removed it, it had become a little shredded but no damage was done to the unit as per pictures.
Unlike a lot of competitors this has a robust steel shredder/fan inside. It is thick steel and i doubt it will break easily, the stones that i did mistakenly pick up simply went through and into the bag very quickly.
* The collection bag is very good, easy to clip to the unit, tough and durable material, empties using a zip very easily into the bin.
* I have included a couple of before and after pictures of the jobs undertaken straight out of the box.
The could be better –
* A minor one but both the vacuum and the blowing attachment would i feel benefit from having a narrower attachment to go onto the end so as to focus the suction or the blowing. Its a minor quibble, it certainly isnt the widest aperture and i dont imagine ill be losing a foot into it anytime soon but if i had one thing to say could improve this that would be it.
Overall i expect this will last a good few years, my current Bosch lawn mower is over six years old, i have had Bosch power tools and also hand tools, all are reliable and well built, this comes with an extended three year warranty so if you do pick one up be sure to register it with the Bosch main website.
For blowing and sucking up leaves and general debris this is a very good purchase, its easy to assemble, easy to operate, not overly heavy and certainly not cumbersome. The variable power is a bonus, the noise level can be kept relatively low, it has a 3 year guarantee and its very green in colour, who wants to wander around the garden with a huge piece of orange plastic strapped to their torso!
Highly recommended.
Five Stars.
To replace an old Black and Decker garden vac and blower that lasted over 20 years, I bought this from Amazon for 89 a few days ago. It arrived by Prime the next day in good order. It was easy to assemble from the visual instructions. The tool is well thought out and generally of stout construction. The vacuum bag is sturdy and attaches simply and well. The impeller is sturdy alloy. The tubes are robust. To change the tool to a blower you need to detach the bag and its housing which docks with the body of the tool, over the impeller. You then replace the housing with another, but sealed, one, and attach the blower tube. I did not mind a vac/blower where you have to change the tube manually, as I was used to doing that anyway. The operation takes a bit longer, but less than a minute, and you have to store the blower tube and housing separately while the tool is rigged as a vacuum, and vice-versa.
I prefer not to have wheels on the vac nozzle (this machine does not have wheels) as I hover over flower beds to remove leaves or cut grass lawn edgings. In use the blower is effective and manageable. As a vacuum, suction is good, the tube length is right for a person of average height, and the weight is easily manageable especially with the substantial padded shoulder strap and adjustable front handle. It is a bit quieter than my old B&D, but still fairly noisy – the manual gives its sound pressure and volume as 82 to 89 decibels. I doubt if you could find a quieter one, though. It shreds leaves very well indeed. You need to take off the housing and clean the impeller afterwards if there is any moisture in the leaves you’re sucking up, as the interior around the impeller gets heavily caked with the broken leaf mass.
Four stars rather than five because first, the integrated power cable is the stiff plastic-coated kind that does not coil or uncoil well (as opposed to the lovely flexible rubberised cable I had with my old garden vac) and is none too long: I should prefer a stub connector on the machine and a separate flexible cable. Second, the one part that does not look as stout as the rest is the rectangular plastic locating lug on the vac and blower tube where the tube is inserted on to the blower/vacuum outlet. It’s not flimsy, but I can see myself having to take particular care not to break that off when attaching/detaching the tubes.