Troy-Bilt TB125QS Mulchinator 12 amp 157 mph Electric Blower/Vacuum
by Troy-Bilt
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List Price: Category: Lawn & Patio See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Troy-Bilt TB125QS Mulchinator 12 amp 157 mph Electric Blower/Vacuum
Customer Review: Great vacuum, medium blower
Summary: 4 Stars
We get a small "drift" of live oak leaves (small and heavy) along our sidewalk and driveway and bought this vacuum to pick up those leaves before we mow. It works perfect for that. It also works good for picking up the leaves off the gravel/rocks in the flower bed. It is very handy to be able to switch from vacuum to blower just by moving the lever. Very convenient for blowing leaves into a pile then vacuuming them up. But if we are going to blow the sidewalks and driveway after mowing, we reach for our Toro 51585 Power Sweep 7 amp 2-Speed Electric Blower, which is much lighter, much smaller, more powerful, and generally just a lot better blower. Use the right tool for the job, I guess. But for vacuuming, I think the TB125QS will be hard to beat. It has great suction, easily picking up our "row" of leaves in one quick pass. It would be nice if it were a little quieter, but it is not really what I would call loud. It would be really nice if it were weighed a little less (the manual says operating weight is 10lb/4.5kg), but with the strap even my wife can maneuver it around with no problem. The bag does not dump very easy -- unzip and nothing happens, you have to shake, bend, and generally argue with the bag to get the leaves to fall out. The fuller the bag, the hard it is to empty. But overall this is a high-quality piece of gear that works well and we are happy with the purchase.Customer Review: Easy to use Blower/Vac
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a 5 star product for use in smaller places where you want to clean up leaves etc. I have a patio which is almost totally surrounded by a 28" double brick wall containing plants. This blower/vac makes it a very simple operation to blow all the leaves in one corner then with a turn of a lever, vacuum them into the supplied zipper bag. The vacuum operation grinds the leaves so finely that I believe the 10:1 reduction claim made by the manufacturer. The unit is relatively powerful while being light and easy to handle and the simple lever switch from blower to vacuum is a big time saver. I do not recommend this blower/vac for larger lawns because it is not as convenient as a gas powered blower due to the restrictions of the electric cord.
Update: August 2009
After quite a bit of use, the zipper broke on the pickup bag. I contacted the manufacturer and they promptly send me a new bag. However this bag was sigificantly smaller than the one I had. Obviously, the smaller bag held less than the larger one and resulted in more time spent emptying bags than before. I think the smaller bag essentially makes the tool less functional. I do not know what bag they are shipping with the current model but what ever bag it is, I suggest you be very carefull about over filling the bag as it will place undo stress on the zipper.
Customer Review: Sucked the shoes off my feet
Summary: 5 Stars
I tend to over-research everything I purchase. I also tend to trust the opinions of major consumer testing groups such as Consumer Reports. The top rated blower is a model from Toro. The Toro requires you switch tubes when going from vac to blow. I owned this model for 4 months but became so frustrated with it I'm giving it away. It just didn't blow and it didn't vac. I instead tried to find a model similar to my old Ryobi which is no longer made. I found this Troy-Bilt and thought I would give it a try. I spent the day in the yard today and could not believe how well this Troy-Bilt works. It just about sucked the shoes off my feet. I've never seen suction like this on a blower. Using it in blow mode required a simple switch of a lever. It even comes with a fantastic attachment making it a breeze (pun intended) to vacuum flat surfaces. You will not be disappointed with this model. For those of you missing the old Ryobi, the zipper on the bag of the Troy-Bilt has been redesigned so it will not split open like the Ryobi tended to do. The blades are made of a dense plastic. The blades are short and thick. I use this on vac once a week. Many an odd object has been sucked up without even placing a discernable nick on the blades. I could not be happier with the Troy-bilt and will be a bit more cautious with Consumer Reports in the future.Customer Review: Ease of operation
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the 2nd of these units that I've puchased. I purchased the 1st unit when it was made by Ryobi, and I used it quite frequently. I was extremely disappointed when that unit was no longer operational. Needless to say I was happy to see that Troy-Bilt took over the production of this unit. This blower/vac is by far the best of all of the blower/vacs out on the market. The ease in which you can flip from blower to vacuum mode is awesome. Also, the size of the blower/vac tube is of a larger diameter then the others, which makes it a lot easier to vacuum up leaves. People have complained about the zipper on the bag of the old ryobi's, and I also had my share of zipper problems. When the zipper on my original bag didn't work, I like others order a replacement bag, which the material was of an inferior quality than the original, as well as having the same zipper problem. To fix this problem I basically, went to a upholstery shop in my area, and purchased a heavy duty zipper, and replaced the zipper on my original bag with this new zipper. Since then, I have had no problems. Matter of fact, I am still using my old Ryobi modified zipper bag with the new Troy-bilt unit that I recently purchased.Customer Review: A good option to discontinued Ryobi RSV1300
Summary: 4 Stars
I was disappointed when my Ryobi RSV1300 blower/vac died and found that the model had been discontinued. Most of these blower/vac combinations require partial disassembly and attachment of another part to change from one mode to the other. The Ryobi merely required the moving of a lever, as this model Troy-Bilt does. A search on the web discovered this model. I had seen Troy-Bilt yard equipment at Lowe's, but had never owner their product. I ordered it online and was pleaseantly surprised when it arrived and I was able to take it for a test drive. I use the vacuum mostly to pick up light leaves and other debris from our pool deck, walkways, driveway, and from amongst the decorative rock in our planters. And the blower is used in the same areas. The unit has two speeds. Low and high. The low setting is perfect for picking up leaves out of the rock without picking up the rock. I find the high setting in both vacuum and blow modes to be more than adequate for moving small to medium sized debris. Large, wet leaves might require more power, but I have not found the need for more. I would recommend this unit to any homeowner with needs similar to mine.