This leaf blower is top dog on Amazon at the moment, and when you get going with it, it’s easy to see why – you get a whole lot of leaf blower for your money. Yes the construction feels a little cheap, but it performs exactly as it should, and that’s the most important thing when you’re working to a budget.
When you first get the blower out of its box and assembled (a simple case of connecting two parts of the tube to the orange motor and handle unit with 4 self tapping screws) you might be surprised at how bulky it is, but that’s pretty much standard across the board with leaf blowers. The most important thing is that it’s nice and light, and even if you do get tired, there’s a handy shoulder strap, although it must be said if you’re taller than average this is next to useless as it’s too short to be of any use.
The controls are basic but functional, the mode selection switch feels a little stiff though, and when you do push it from one side to another it doesn’t sound too healthy, again just a symptom of budget construction, in practice the mechanism is perfectly sound. The speed adjustment dial is close to the handles, which is ideal for changing speed mid way through use. If you like you can depress the power button before switching speed, or if you’re happy to do so you can just keep going and listen to the change in speed as you notch it up and down.
Like all blowers and garden vacs, this is a little on the noisy side, and the manufacturers quite rightly suggest using hearing and eye protection, although to be honest unless you’re working at the upper speeds the sound isn’t too unbearable.
On the subject of speed, for the most part you’ll be fine working at the lower speed settings, certainly when in blow mode, and in vacuum mode the lower speeds are fine for collecting up leaves, small twigs, and other light weight material. You only really need to turn up the power when collecting clumps of wet leaves.
As with all garden vacuums we’d recommend staying well away from stones and pebbles – although the fan is probably designed to take a certain amount of impact, if you were unfortunate enough to snap a blade as a result of a collision with a stone you’ll either be left with a useless blower/vac, or if you’re able to find spare parts (we wouldn’t hold your breath on that one) a blower/vac that’s at the very least in need of serious repair.
As metioned at the start, you get a lot of blower for your money with the VonHaus 15/012, even down to details such as the small pair of wheels on the end of the outlet/inlet tube. On this subject, and this isn’t a criticism of this product in particular as other models suffer from the same design flaw, the wheels are a great idea, but they’re pretty useless at assisting you blow or vacuum on anything other than a perfectly falt surface. The fact is they’re too small to anable you to move smoothly across a lawn or other bumpy terrain. It would be nice if a manufacturer would develop a leaf blower with larger wheels, even just double the size they are now, it would make all the difference.
Pros
- Great cost effective, lightweight design that offers the same great functionality as more expensive models
- Controls are easy and intuitive to use – there’s nothing to really get used to with this, just plug and play
- Ancilliary features such as shoulder strap and wheels are a nice touch, even if they aren’t perfect!
Cons
- Wheels would benefit from being larger, and shoulder strap should be capable of being made longer
- Cable would benefit from being longer
- Will struggle to pick up very large items, and can become clogged if you get too carried away collecting up lots of wet leaves
Conclusion
Again to reiterate, you can’t really go wrong with this blower, as a blower it’s more or less perfect, and as a vacuum it’s only beaten by the power of petrol blowers. Certainly one the best electric leaf blower/garden vacs on the market, with a lot of customer testomonials to prove it.
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