I shrank 20 baggage of fall leaves down to 1 with a device I’d ignored for years
My fall leaf routine on two and a half acres has at all times been easy. I blow the leaves out into the open garden and let my Exmark chop them up on the subsequent mow. That handles the grass, nevertheless it does nothing for the leaves that pack in round tree trunks, pile up alongside backyard beds, and drift into corners a zero-turn can’t attain.
Even although most of my yard already runs on Ryobi’s 40V platform, I’d by no means given leaf vacuums a re-assessment. This fall, I lastly spent a dry afternoon with the Ryobi 40V HP Brushless Blower/Mulcher/Vacuum, and it cleaned up each spot my mower can’t contact.
One dial turns the blower right into a shredder
The identical tube blows, vacuums, and mulches
Plenty of blower and vacuum combos make you swap tubes or connect a separate hose package earlier than they’ll decide up a single leaf. Ryobi’s blower/mulcher doesn’t hassle with any of that. One tube handles each jobs, and turning a dial on the housing flips between them. Once you swap the pace tip for the broader vacuum tip and hook up the bag, the 600 CFM of airflow that was blowing leaves away a minute in the past begins dragging them in.
Everything it sucks up passes by means of a steel impeller earlier than touchdown within the bag. In blower mode, the included pace tip pushes air as much as 100 MPH, and the cruise management dial holds a gradual pace so your finger isn’t pinned to the set off. Ryobi’s product names get lengthy, however the “HP” and “Brushless” in this one aren’t filler on a device that has to maneuver this a lot air.
Shredded leaves take up a fraction of the house
Ryobi charges the impeller at 16 baggage down to 1
Ryobi charges the blower/mulcher at a 16:1 mulch ratio. Put merely, leaves that might fill 16 baggage entire ought to match into one bag after the impeller chops them up. I didn’t rake, bag, and rely a whole season of leaves simply to test that quantity, since it might have piled hours of additional work onto a job the device is meant to shorten.
The shredded output proved extra helpful than any bag rely. I unfold most of it across the bases of my timber and added the remainder to the backyard compost. Shredding provides soil microbes extra edges to work on, so the items rot down nicely earlier than spring, whereas entire leaves are inclined to mat right into a moist layer that smothers no matter sits beneath. I left a number of inches of naked floor round every trunk, since mulch piled towards bark holds moisture proper the place you don’t need it. Towns that decide up yard waste in paper baggage make the mathematics even higher, since you’d set out a fraction of the standard pile.
Plan across the weight and the battery
A harness and two 4Ah packs carried the job
With a battery put in, it weighs 15.2 kilos. That’s heavy for a handheld device you’ll level on the floor for a protracted stretch. I wore the included shoulder harness, which shifts a great share of that weight off your forearm and onto your shoulder.
The device runs on one 40V pack at a time. The package ships with two 4Ah batteries, and Ryobi charges the pair for over 25 minutes of mixed runtime on the low setting. I labored by means of each packs that afternoon. Since that ranking assumes low pace, anticipate much less time at full energy. Any Ryobi 40V battery matches, so should you’ve already built up a shelf of 40V packs, the naked device makes extra sense than the package.
Dry leaves hold the impeller clear
My solely clog got here from a single stick
It was a dry day, and the leaves fed by means of with out bother. The one clog I hit all afternoon got here from a stick that rode in with a pile of leaves. Clearing it means eradicating the battery first, then working the particles unfastened by hand. Had I glanced over the pile for twigs, acorns, and stones, I most likely wouldn’t have stopped in any respect.
Rain adjustments issues. Soaked leaves get heavy, stick collectively, and choke a vacuum consumption much more typically than dry ones, so give the yard a day or two to dry out when the forecast permits. I’d additionally collect leaves into piles in blower mode earlier than switching over. A pile disappears in a number of passes, whereas chasing unfastened leaves across the garden burns battery for little acquire. Brushless motors give Ryobi’s 40V yard tools plenty of muscle, however a bit prep nonetheless stretches every battery additional.
- Color
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Green
- Tool Type
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Blower/Mulcher
The mower retains the garden, and the vacuum takes the corners
My Exmark nonetheless takes care of the open grass, and that received’t change. The leaf vacuum/mulcher earns its place the place a mower can’t match: tree bases, mattress edges, and the corners the place leaves accumulate each October. Better but, the leaves it collects find yourself feeding my timber and backyard somewhat than filling baggage for pickup. Anyone with a number of Ryobi 40V packs on the shelf can skip the package and purchase the naked device for much less. It’s now close to the highest of my purchasing record, and I received’t be ignoring it for one more fall.
