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 notion of blowing leaves into one pile,
thereupon vacuuming that pile up, and chewing 12 bags of leaves into one
bag of mulch.

I never had luck with blower/vacuum combos considering,
inevitably, the blower always works better than the vacuum. that blower
forced

out air at somewhere amoung 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 instance, 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. whether any readers have
used a blower/vacuum combo that takes on both jobs with equal aplomb
(or a affordable lawn vacuum) let us take in 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.

Orginal post by Sal Vaglica