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Black & Decker LH4500 12 Amp 2-Speed Electric Leaf Hog Blower / Vacuum With Leaf Bag
Powerful 12A electric motor with a blowing speed of up to 240 mph allows more power for removing matted leaves and blowing large piles of leaves. 385 cfm air volume for maximum vacuuming and mulching. Metal mulching impeller has a 16:1 mulching ratio and
Black & Decker LH4500 12 Amp 2-Speed Electric Leaf Hog Blower / Vacuum With Leaf Bag Accessories
 Black & Decker Blower/Vacuum Leaf Collection System #BV-006
Toro 43-Gallon Gardening Spring Bucket #29210
Campbell Hausfeld MP5200 25-Piece Accessory Kit with Case
Black & Decker LH4500 12 Amp 2-Speed Electric Leaf Hog Blower / Vacuum With Leaf Bag Reviews
I find I use it only on the highest speed. All, in all, I am happy with the product, but time will tell if the quality is there. As usual, the manual for the product sucks, but once it is assembled, it is easy to use. The leaf bag while initially very confusing is really a great design that allows you to quickly empty the bag and to reseal it. Pros: Does what it says.
Also, silicon spray makes it a lot easier to remove/assemble the leaf bag from the engine and also to remove/assemble the vacuum or blower parts. Easy to use extension cord retainer. I use it both to pick up piles of leaves and to suck leaves from the tops of my junipers where they are a pain to rake. Also the bag closure while easy to use requires a lot of hand/arm strength to remove it. Very powerful leaf vac and very powerful leaf blower. It is really powerful and has no problem sucking up and munching both leaves and twigs. This may be a small matter when you are 20, but bending over gets more difficult once you pass 60. It would have been nice if there was a way to put it down so it was easy to pick up again.
It really sucks up and shreds the leaves. I was initially very suspicious of this Black & Decker product having been bitten by poor quality in other products, but my rating of this product is excellent. The shoulder strap for the bag is too narrow and cuts into my neck. I found that spraying it with silicon spray made it easier to slide the plastic over the bag. Annoyances: There is no way to put the Leaf Hog down without it falling over completely making it difficult to pick up again.
Easy to empty bag. It is now Jan 2009 and I hope the leaves are finally all down. Until you have done it a few times, it is very confusing and the manual is no help at all. The variable speed control works well, but is a bit of an overkill.
Cons: Difficult to switch between vacuuming and blowing. I purchased the Black & Decker LH4500 Leaf Hog back in September of 2008 when the leaves began to fall.
I nearly threw away the bag closure when I assembled the unit because I could not figure out what it was for. Notes: Because the blower and vacuum parts are separate pieces it is easy to lose track of where you have stored them. I hardly ever switch it from vacuum to blow, but that is just me.
I certainly hope to get many years of use out of it. For many years I have longed for and dreaded fall, having had two different homes with heavily-leaved trees. I finally found the cure. I design products professionally and this one has met my high standards so far. Out of the box and working in 5 minutes and reduced hours and hours of raking and bagging to 45 minutes of vacuuming and dumping leaves, pine needles, twigs, and one unfortunate dog toy (soft, mind you).
I also bought the BV-006 attachment for this but it does not fit it. The attachment will be included in future boxes of the LH 4500.
This is by far well worth the purchase. Chops up small twigs too.
Used this twice and let me tell you this thing is strong and tough. I never got my leaves done so fast and it handles wet leaves with out a problem.
I contacted B&D and they are shipping an attachment for the LH4500 to me asap.
I bought the Toro 43 gallon collapsable bin which works great.
The unit handles small sticks and whatnot easily as well. I was working with damp leaves that were kind of wet on the bottom of the piles, so it was a little slow-going, but the unit did not clog much at all. Obviously that is a little overstated, but it definitely did a good job. I shredded 13 large bags of leaves. It works well as a blower, and I was particularly impressed with its performance as a vacuum. I just purchased this unit today and used it for about 3 hours.
I must say I am impressed. A great buy for the price. Clogs were easily remedied by popping the pick up tube off (no tools required) and pulling out the debris. If the math is to be believed (16 to 1 reduction ratio) that would mean that I would have had to bag 208 bags of leaves.
I was a bit apprehensive in my decision to buy another B&D, but it was on sale and with the warranty I felt comfortable. This thing really blows the leaves and vacuums them up really well. Bought this leaf blower to replace a B&D that went up in smoke the second time it was used. I recommend this product to those who want a blower / vac that is powerful and appears to be designed well. It even destroys small twigs in the process. Boy did I do the right thing.
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