Blower/vac: Good blower, sucky sucker

Like many DIYers, I spend vacations not on a tropical beach with a pineapple-garnished drink, but diligently working on the house.

During "vacation" last week, my oak tree seemingly shuttered most of its leaves at once.

See how my Homelite Blower/Vac and I tried cleaning up after ol' Mother Nature by clicking the jump.

Typically, I'd armed myself with my usual leaf management gear: comfortable rake, large tarp, and an iPod. Trying to kill two birds with one stone, I employed a shortcut that has never really worked for me: the blower/vacuum combo.

I tested Homelite's new leaf blower/vacuum, which they say is the world's lightest (almost 9 pounds) handheld gas blower. I was lured in by the idea of blowing leaves into one pile, then vacuuming that pile up, and chewing 12 bags of leaves into one bag of mulch.

I never had luck with blower/vacuum combos because, inevitably, the blower always works better than the vacuum. This blower forced out air at somewhere between 170-200 mph, making short work of the leaves, stones, and hundreds of acorns covering my driveway.

The vacuum didn't work as well, and sucking leaves out of the flowerbed was difficult. It didn't suck up the flowers, don't get me wrong. It just didn't suck anything at all.

I didn't save much time, but the blower did save my rake's tines from being mangled on the driveway. Homelite's blower, model number UT08550 is part of the Mighty Lite line of products available at Home Depot for around $100.

It does a fine job as a blower. If any readers have used a blower/vacuum combo that takes on both jobs with equal aplomb (or a affordable lawn vacuum) let us hear about it.

More:

A broken blower, and another new one.

And a smart new rake.

And you can always hit the leaves with a broom.