Binding: Tools & Hardware Brand: Flowtron Feature: 1-bushel electric leaf shredder; special positions for grass, thatch, pine needles Label: Flowtron Manufacturer: Flowtron Model: LE-900G Publisher: Flowtron Studio: Flowtron
Features
1-bushel electric leaf shredder; special positions for grass, thatch, pine needles 8 amp motor, 21-inch hopper; reduces 11 bags of leaves to 1 bag Light, rugged polyethylene funnel and housing; some assembly required 36 heavy-duty cutting lines and legs included 17 pounds; limited one-year warranty
Customer Rating: Summary: Make your own mulch! Comment: This shredder works very well, and did a great job reducing 3 trees worth of leaves into a few bags of mulch. One note on usage - it is a good idea to make sure you know how to change the plastic "blades" and have a few of these out on hand with you in the garden. These blades can be easily worn down by sticks, so a) be aware not to put giant sticks through this, and b) stop the machine and clear it out if it sounds like it is straining. Also, earplugs are a good idea if you're using it for a sustained period; it is quite loud. Overall though, learning the shredder's nuances only took an afternoon, and I used it for several weekends this season. For the price, be sure you're interested in the by-product - i.e. the shredded leaves; it is still easier just to bag these or rake them to the curb if your goal is to simply get the leaves out of your yard. Customer Rating: Summary: Great for Sycamore leaves. Hard to put together. Comment: I have several large sycamore trees. In the fall the leaves pile up like snow drifts. I live in the country and I would load the leaves in my pickup truck and unload them in a ravine on my property. Mulching takes about the same time, but now I have mulch for the garden. I put the mulcher on a 60 gal Rubbermaid garbage can. It fits rather well. After the container is full, I roll it to the garden and empty it.
I think that Flowtron needs the services of a good engineer to design an update. If I did not have a well stocked workshop, with a large woodworking vise, I would not have been able to assemble this unit without assistance. It's hard to describe, but you must hold the black pieces together, while inserting a bolt. Extremely difficult for one person.
Overall, I am satisfied with the mulcher. It does what I purchased it for. Customer Rating: Summary: What a time saver Comment: For the last 10 years, I have used a hang on shoulder vacuum mulcher. That was a very inefficient process. Now, I rake my leaves into a pile. Locate the lightweight Leaftron near the pile. Mulch the leaves. I now have extra time to finish up my other fall projects. Customer Rating: Summary: Good little machine Comment: This electric leaf shredder works very well, even with wet leaves. I intend on keeping the shreddings and using for mulch and so it is worth it to me. If you intend on bagging yours, I am not sure it is worth the money and extra effort/time to shred them. Shredder is not tall enough to attach a bag to its bottom. What I do is set the shredder up on a tarp and then feed leaves with a standard size flat snow shovel. You can't load too much at once because it gets blocked up, and you MUST remove all branches from your leaves - any thicker than a strand of yarn and it destroys the nylon shredder cords, and these cords are not cheap to buy. I will see if regular weed wacker cording will work. Customer Rating: Summary: Does the job Comment: This leaf shredder works as advertised. We tested all of the settings from coarse to fine and the leaves were reduced accordingly. Very easy to operate and maintain. It is very powerful, so it is noisy and dust flies everywhere - but it certainly does the job. Anything that enters the funnel that is too big or sturdy (twigs, pebbles, etc) that you might find in raked leaves is thrown to the side. Watch as you shred and you can see when to turn off the shredder and remove items that can't be shred. Very good product!
