Do it yourself projects and home improvement articles

Years ago, I was given a Sears Craftsman gasoline powered blower/vac. I can’t argue with a gift, can I? I used it quite a bit when I first got it. But for some reason, I’ve let it sit in the shed for the last several years and opted for the rake instead.

In fact, my system used to be that I would rake my leaves onto a tarp, haul them back to a hidden corner of a yard, and pile them up there. This worked fine but it took most of the next summer for the leaves to rot. Now, I just try to mulch up as many of the leaves as I can with my lawnmower, but I still have to rake the flowerbeds and the mulched leaves still end up all over the driveway. So some manual labor with the rake is still involved.

This year, I got the itch to fire up the ol’ blower/vac. I wish I hadn’t. It sure seemed easy (at least in my imagination) to just magically suck those leaves up this year. The blower/vac reminded me of why I had let it sit in the shed for all those years.

1 - The Craftsman blower/vac is a pain in the arse to start. Granted it was pretty cold yesterday and it had been years since I’d used it. I did take the precaution to store it with a bone dry gas tank as recommended by the owner’s manual. Admittedly, I did not remove the spark plug and pour oil down the opening. Nor did I clean the air filter prior to storage. But I had only used it maybe a few times over two fall seasons. Nevertheless, cold starts are hell and warm starts are not much better. Basically, you need to full choke it whether it is cold or warm.

2 - The collection tube is just a few inches too short so that you are always slightly hunching over all day. This just kills your lower back. I can only guess what a pain this thing must be to taller guys.

3 - The blower/vac doesn’t burn the fuel/oil mixture cleanly so you are left smelling like that mixture after you are finished. (Maybe this is why I had trouble starting it (too rich) but I did use a 40:1 mixture as required.)

4 - I could never get the bag to line up easily with the plastic elbow. As your collection bag gets full, you have to make sure that the leaves have a straight shot into the bag. Otherwise, the bag will collapse on the feed tube and the unit will lose suction power. I finally just let the bag drag along the ground as this allowed for the straight shot into the bag from the tube.

5 - You have to wear earplugs. This thing is loud as all get out.

6 - Sucking up dry leaves is the easiest but wet leaves can cause some problems. If you get a big clump of wet leaves, they will choke this thing dead. And as I indicated above, it ain’t easy to start even when it is warm. Remember, put the choke on full even when it is warm. This thing will mulch up the leaves but some leaves seem mulch resistant. My magnolia’s leaves really didn’t mulch up well which resulted in numerous premature full bags of leaves.

If I had paid for this blower/vac, I would find it much harder to go shopping for a new one. But, as they say, easy come easy go, this won’t break my heart, don’t ya know.

I’ve had it with gas powered blower/vacs. I’m goin’ ‘lectric! I’m ordering the new Toro Ultra 12 Amp Electric Blower/Vacuum and hopefully never looking back. I’ll let you know how it performs soon enough. Anyone want my old Craftsman?!

01/21/08 follow up - Thanks for the link Elayne and I’ll try to remind you next fall to get a tarp and rake your leaves onto it. That still may be the best leaf gathering system that I’ve come up with. Actually, my mom may have come up with that one.

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