Best electric leaf vacuum mulchers [UK]: blowers and vacuums compared and reviewed

Specification: Warranty: 2 Years, Power Source: ‎‎Corded Electric, Rated Power: 3000W, Blow Speed: 310 km/hr, Suction capacity: 168 l/s, Power cord length: 10M, Collection Bag: 45L

As a first leaf vacuum blower the Flymo PowerVac 3000V is a good choice, offering up some decent power when needed, and being very user friendly, like most Flymo products.

As a blower, it works really well, reaching blow speeds of up to 310kmh, and air speeds of 86.11 m/s, thanks to the powerful 3000-watt motor. When all that power is needed, say for working in more delicate areas, the variable speed controls come into play, giving you the option to dial it down.

To change from blower to vacuum, you do have to change the nozzles, but thankfully, this isn’t a huge task and you can switch modes within minutes. It’s really only a case of twisting and clicking the attachments into place, and can be done by anyone.

I will say that when used as a vacuum, this product doesn’t work as well as it does a blower and there are a couple of reasons for this. The first one is that I found the vacuum attachment felt a little awkward to hold at the right angle, and secondly, larger twigs and thick, wet, leaves can cause the impeller to jam. The latter is a problem with pretty much all electric leaf vacuums to be honest, so I can’t really mark it down too much for that.

When used on dry leaves, the vacuum really performs how you’d expect, and there is a decent amount of suction power. When used on decking, you can have the power turned up, and clear it of leaves in no time at all. Damp leaves are fine too, but avoid wet ones.

As the leaves pass through the impeller, they are shredded into smaller pieces before being sent into the 45-litre collection bag. As they are shredded to a 16:1 ratio, it means you don’t have to empty the bag too often.

The Flymo 3000V, like most modern vacuum blowers, is pretty lightweight and you shouldn’t need a shoulder strap, although there is one included in the price, just in case. Despite its lack of weight, the tool is solidly built, and the casing and other components feel well-made.

This vacuum blower isn’t perfect, but it is one of the best you can get for the price, and as previously stated, it would suit someone with a small to medium sized garden, thanks to the 10 metre power cable.

Specification: Warranty: 2 Years, Power Source: ‎‎Corded Electric, Rated Power: 1800W, Air speed: 165-85 km/h , Suction capacity: 160 l/s, Power cord length: 10M, Collection Bag: 45L

If you’ve never used a leaf vacuum blower before, one thing that might surprise you is the noise. Granted, this problem is generally worse with petrol machines than electric ones, but even some electric leaf blowers can hurt the ears.

At around 89 decibels, this Bosch product is hardly what you would call quiet, but when compared to other electric leaf blowers in the same price range it isn’t too bad at all, and is roughly the same loudness as a motorcycle.

Like the Flymo 3000V, you will need to swap the attachments in order to switch from blower to vacuum, but again, this can all be done without tools and in very little time, so it doesn’t ever feel bothersome.

Although the 1800 watt motor in this tool is substantially smaller than the ones found in many of its competitors, it never really feels underpowered, and the alloy impeller does a much better job of shredding leaves without getting jammed than most.

One thing that can really annoy me with leaf vacuums, is that dirt and water can leak from the sides of the collection bag and end up all over you. With this product, Bosch has tried to address this issue by putting moisture-repellent deflectors on the bag, so that the water drips down to the ground. It actually works better than expected, and it was nice not to get soaked for a change.

Weight is about what you’d expect from these kinds of tools, which is roughly 5-6kg depending on which mode you are using it in. There is a shoulder strap included if you feel you need it, but I spent a while using this vacuum blower and didn’t require it.

Being a Bosch product, I wasn’t surprised that this leaf vacuum and blower was as well put together as it was. All the parts, from the attachment tubes to the collection bag are good quality and robust, but where the tubes connect to the main unit, the plastic doesn’t seem as strong for some reason.

Other than that small part, and a power cable that could have been better, I find it hard to say anything bad about the Bosch. It is a little more expensive than some of the other products featured on this page, but the quality is there for the extra money.

Specification: Warranty: 2 Years, Power Source: ‎‎Corded Electric, Rated Power: 3000W, Rated Frequency: 50Hz, Power cord length: 10M, Collection Bag: 35L

With its 3000-watt motor, the VonHaus 3 in 1 leaf blower vacuum is a powerful machine, but unfortunately, there have been some design designs that have stopped the tool from living up to its potential.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that this isn’t a good product, it’s just that there are a couple of things that could have been done better, and that would have made this vacuum blower rate higher, in my book at least.

The main issue I have with it, comes down to the vacuum function. While there is plenty of power to suck the leaves up, the end of the nozzle on the tube attachment just seems to get clogged easily if held too close to a pile of leaves.

As a blower, it is excellent, and the narrow nozzle creates a powerful jet of air that can shift damp leaves off hard surfaces with ease. You do have to be careful with it near delicate plants, but overall, it works great.

Switching from one mode to the other is as simple as flicking a switch. There’s no need to change attachments over like with a lot of these electric vacuum blowers, and this is a feature I’d like to see more of.

The 35 litre collection bag, and 10:1 shredding ratio, mean that you have to empty the leaves out more often when compared to the Flymo, but when you do need to, the zipped opening makes things easier. There is the common problem of grimy water dripping down the bag, but this wasn’t a surprise.

There are a couple of other little flaws and niggles with the VonHaus, such as the clip that holds the collection bag not being the greatest, and the bag itself would detach when it got full and heavy on the model that we used.

Still, I would have to say that you could fix these little flaws quite easily, and after all’s been said, it is quite a good leaf vacuum blower, especially when you consider the low price.

Specification: Warranty: 3 Years, Power Source: ‎‎Corded Electric, Rated Power: 3000W, Speed: 62-170mph, Power cord length: 12M, Collection Bag: 45L

The Hyundai 3 in 1 electric leaf blower, vacuum, and shredder, reminds me of the VonHaus product we just reviewed. The reason being, it has some really good features that should place it higher on our list, but there are just a couple of niggly things that let it down.

Let’s start with the motor. At 3000W, this tool should be impressing you with its power, both as a blower and a vacuum. But, for some reason, that power just didn’t seem to manifest as much as expected, in either mode. Maybe I had my hopes up high because of the Hyundai name, but that’s how I was left feeling. It was better in blower mode than vacuum, it has to be said, and anyone who is familiar with these combo machines will probably not be that surprised by that.

And this is a shame, because the machine is well-built, and things like the variable speed controls and telescopic chute are excellent features. I particularly liked the latter, as it gave you a lot of control over how high you had to hold the tool while working, something that is often missing in these products.

The 45 litre collection bag is a good size, and made from pretty durable materials too. The problem is, just like the VonHaus vacuum blower, the clip that holds the bag in place often fails at its job when the bag starts to get full. It could have just been that the model I tested was faulty, but it was still annoying.

The Hyundai 3-in-1 leaf vacuum blower is very lightweight when compared to some other products, and there are small wheels on the end of the chute. This makes using the tool very far from tiring, but if you need it, there is a padded shoulder strap. I tried the strap out and found that it slipped off the shoulder a few times, but apart from that it was comfortable to wear.

There is almost no assembly required with this tool. All you really need to do is clip a couple of pieces together and you’re ready to go. You don’t need any tools, and you don’t really need to look at the instructions either.

Compared to the Bosch leaf vacuum, it does seem nosier, but the vibration levels while under operation are low, certainly not as noticeable as some of the others we tried out.

Another good feature is the 12 metre power cable, which should stop you needing an extension lead unless you have a large garden, and being able to switch modes without swapping chutes is yet another tick in the positive column for me.

So, as you can see, it is not as if this Hyundai product is short of good features. It’s just a few annoying little things that are hard not to notice. I realise that these products are all trying to keep the prices down, and so there will inevitably be things like this, but the lack of power from the 3000W motor just had me stumped.

Specification: Warranty: 2 Years, Power Source: ‎‎Corded Electric, Rated Power: 3000W, Speed: 167mp/h (270km/h), Power cord length: 10M, Collection Bag: 35L

Terratek’s offering is yet another lightweight leaf vacuum and blower tool hoping to entice you with a list of practical sounding features. Does it deliver on those promises? I’d have to answer yes and no.

First off, the positives. The 3000W motor does a stellar job at producing strong airspeeds when the tool is in blower mode, and it really did a great job of shifting a mix of dry and damp leaves from the artificial grass we were testing it on, into a nice, tidy, pile in the corner.

Both the main chute, and the main unit that houses the motor, feel sturdy and durable for the price, and putting the tool together out of the box is really easy. The instructions were far from great, but I’m so used to that these days, I hardly feel like mentioning it.

Even with the chute attached, Terratek’s leaf vacuum feels lightweight and you really shouldn’t need the shoulder strap, especially as there are support wheels beneath the chute. The ergonomics of the tool feel pretty good too, and vibration isn’t too bad.

The problem I found with this product, and it is a common one for vacuum blowers, is that one mode works far better than the other. While working as a blower, it felt great, but when I tried vacuum mode, I was left feeling less than impressed.

I found that the tool would get jammed quite easily, not only at the impeller, but also where the unit connects to the collection bag. The collection bag itself is fine, and a decent size at 45 litres, but the part that connects to the vacuum is just too small. To be fair, it is very easy to unblock the machine, but I just found I was doing it more frequently that I wanted.

The Terratek also didn’t want to suck up damp leaves with any urgency, and sometimes not at all. I accept that wet leaves are a problem for most electric vacuums, but usually, damp leaves are not too much of a problem.

If you’re going to use this tool primarily as a blower, and only to suck up and shred dry leaves, it is a good pick. If you’re vacuuming leaves through Autumn though, you might find yourself unblocking the machine quite often.