Toro 51599 Ultra 12 Amp Variable Speed Electric Blower/Vacuum With Metal Impeller

Well I had debated about a leaf blower and I was in the midst of comparing this with the WorxGT. Then I began to see reviews about the GT that made me quickly change my mind. Well I just got through cleaning off the patio and I'm still in shock. I only had to put the Toro on the speed next to turning it off and it pratically blew the leaves off in one swing. I also didn't have to work hard in corners, etc. I was still skeptical about buying this because I saw alot of complaints about the mulching and the bag. But I'm happy I didn't let that deter me from buying this blower. Its perfect for my yard. I'm especially happy it came with a metal impeller because we have a couple of trees in our yard and we have small twigs everywhere sometimes. I mulched a decent pile of leaves and I thought I had filled the bag. I came to find out it was only halfway full. This leaf blower has very good suction to say it has to travel through such big tubes. I almost sucked up our outdoor area rug into it and it usually takes a act of Congress to get that thing to move. Also I'm blowing leaves not to long after it rained and I put the blower on about the 3rd click from off and it even moved wet leaves. Thanks Amazon!

Blower strength is probably to much. I'm using it on gravel and it blows gravel away on full strength. Only con is that it takes time to switch from vac to blower, and you have to have your vac/blower bits and pieces handy to do that.

I purchased this leaf blower/vacuum/mulcher about 3 or 4 years ago after I did a great deal of research into leaf blowers. I have a 50'x250' hill, full of trees, bushes and ground cover and an unbelievable amount of leaves in the fall that need to go somewhere. This blower makes it easy to vacuum and mulch the leaves in one quick process. I generally mulch the leaves a second time and spread them around my plants, thus eliminating having to drag them up the hill to dispose of them. My husband uses the blower function and can quickly clean out around the house. The mulcher is a bit ackward to use and the bag that fits over the sholder is bulky but manageable. I would definately puchase another one. I have had no problems with it and we use it a lot (2 houses, many trees).

With this tool it is a pleasure cleaning up the leaves and other debris in AND AROUND my garden hedges and flower beds. The variable speed allows you to "suck or blow" with appropriate power so you don't disturb the bedding material.

With a small amount of training and experience you are able to adjust the sholder strap and catch bag to allow access around (and through) your beds and hedges.

The mulcher really reduces the trips to the dumpster.
(BE CAREFUL NOT TO OVER FILL THE CATCH BAG.)

I was very excited about getting a leaf vac that would do gumballs. I emptied the bag 2 times. on the third fill of the bag the motor died. Apparently it does not like gumballs. too late to return. I'll have to check the manufactors warranty. very dissapointing

I know it's not built for this, but I cleared two acres of leaves blowing them into the next zip code with this model. The last one lasted five years after succumbing to my abuse and I expect to get another five years out of this one. Considering my delivered price was $59 I figure I can go Green for far less than forking over a grand for a gas hog.

This is my 1st blower so I have little to compare it to. It is quiter than most of my neighbors! It does a good job blowing leaves and dirt off the driveway pavers which is the reason I purchases it. Having a cord is a pain, but that is what you get when you want less noise and inexpensive. ! am very pleases with it.

Lots of power and lightweight. Perfect for picking up leaves and debris in desert landscaping (doesn't vacuum up stones).

I bought this at my local home improvement store since it was exactly the same price as Amazon and I could get it immediately.

Once I got it home, I discovered it had been opened - e.g., it was missing the manual and the internal protective wrapping - but I gave it a try and it works great.

I especially love the leaf mulching feature. It even handles small twigs.

The machine is fairly quiet, even on high, so that I didn't feel that I needed ear protection.

The blower is extremely powerful. It gets my leaves corraled in the corner in 20 mins, and then it's another 15 to mulch them up and get rid of them. Although I am not sure it actually gets the 16:1 mulching ratio that it claims.

My only complain is the bag does not sit easily, so I sometimes end up dragging it around on the ground. But this is probably because I am fairly short (5'0").

Like several other reviewers, I purchased this tool primarily for the blower and the vacuum/mulcher function was secondary to me. However, on its maiden voyage I used all the features and I found this unit works extremely well -- I am very pleased. (This model also received Consumer Reports highest rating in its class.)

BLOWER:
Very powerful. Almost too powerful until you get the hang of it. ;-)

VACUUM/MULCHER:
Amazingly effective for leaves. I blew the leaves into piles and then vacuum/mulched them - piece of cake. I was able to significantly reduce the volume and managed to get everything into my 90-gallon "green trash bin". Without the mulcher, this would not have been possible. I don't believe I got a full 16-to-1 reduction in leaf volume, but I really have no complaints. But, as other reviewers have noted, this vacuum will not pick up small needles/twigs. If your expectations are confined to leaves, you won't be disappointed.

NIT-PICKS:
The plastic latches are stiff and it is somewhat difficult to exchange the parts without a struggle -- particularly removing the vacuum bag to empty it. The vacuum/mulcher configuration (with expanding vacuum bag) makes it very difficult to use in tight spaces. I also found the vacuum tube too long, making the vacuum feature somewhat cumbersome and tiring. Toro would do well to design the vacuum tube with more flexibility for variable length. OVERALL though, none of these nitpicks prevent me from giving this 5 stars. DO use a dust mask as recommended -- I did not, but I certainly will next time.

The Toro leaf blower,vacuum & mulcher works great..I like the metal impeller alot..The only problem I found to be a nuisance is the leaf bag fills up too quick & your always removing it to empty it out...My suggestion is to get a 32-40 gal trash container & have it w/you when your picking up leaves for easy access & dumping...

I am very disappointed with this toro leaf blower/vacuum. I found the blower to be fine but the vacuum is disappointing. I was interested in composting my leaves and thought this vacuum would be just what I needed. It heats up and the motor stops working. Once it cools down it will start up again but that is not very efficent. I would not buy this if I had to do it over. Also, I am short 5'3" and find the blower to be very long for my height.

I bought this blower based upon reviews i read here and I couldn't be happier. I have only owned it for a few weeks now, so I can't speak to its longevity, but it is VERY powerful, quiet and lightweight.

I just recently purchased my first home and now have to maintain it. My yard was full of dead leaves due to the cold and I was getting sick and tired of cleaning up dead leaves with a rake and my hands. With this device I was able to centralize and then pick up about 80% of the dead leaves and my front yard looks a lot better. I have seen better blowers and vacuums but they are hundreds of dollars more. I would recommend this product for anyone witha medium sized yard.

Over the last 5 years I have owned 3 Toro blower vacs, and all had a chronic "zipper failure issue" on the bag. In the past, I just called the 800 number and got replacements under warranty, delivered within days. When they came out with the ULTRA version with the metal impeller, I thought they finally got everything right. I have lots for trees (58 to be exact) and needed a good vac with mulching capability. This seemed the answer.

Instead, what I discovered was the bag was un-improved, and while the metal impeller devoured all solids easily, the bag was even more fragile. The early reviews were pretty poor, and I chose to ignore them. I used my vac feature for under 3 hours and the zipper failed before the bag was even soiled.

HERE'S WHERE TORO FAILED.
There isn't a way to get telephone support on the 800 number for warranty. There isn't WEB BASED WARRANTY EITHER. They only refer you to dealers for repair. When I called 4 of 5 in my area, two were disconnected, one didn't answer and the fourth was very rude. He told me the "this Toro unit is a piece of junk, and you should return it for a refund". I asked if he did warranty work and he decilned to help me, directing me back to the retailer.

If all you need is a blower, buy almost any cheaper version, as the metal impeller only makes a difference if you are vacuuming leaves. Or buy a cheaper Sears unit. They have a number in the low $40 range that work great. I bought a pair years ago and they have outlasted the Toro units as blowers by YEARS and are still going strong. They too stink as vacs, are great blowers.

Today I will get a refund for the ULTRA 51599 and continue my search for a reasonably priced, non-clogging, effective electric leaf vacuum with better than 10:1 reduction capability. While this unit is certaily all the above, WITH the chronic bag issue and WITHOUT real warranty support, it's useless. They have chosen to ignore their customers, and probably should exit this part of the business entirely.

Incidentally, out of warranty the replacement bags with delivery, cost HALF the price of the COMPLETE units when discounted. Does this tell you something?

We received this so quickly we couldn't believe it. It assembles very easily, We took it out first as a blower. It performed way better than our expectations. Than we vacuumed and mulched some leafs. Again, great permormance. On high the noise level did not require us to wear ear protection, but we did anyway, along with eye protection.
In summation, a GREAT buy!

It works great to blow the leaves and also to grind them up. It takes some getting used to as it does get heavy. But a lot better then using a rake. I am glad that I got it.

This is my first blower-vac, so I share my observations as a newbie to help inform other folks considering purchasing their first.

To use a blower-vac, you first blow leaves into a pile (or a line), then vacuum them up or bag them with the lawnmower. The vacuuming part may take as long as raking the yard, but the result will be more compact than by the raking method. (My yard waste is collected on Friday, so I'd rather have it dense for convenient storage.) You can also use the vacuum to clean up leaves that get stuck in shrubs and other little plants.

A fair amount of leaves fit in the bag that comes with this thing. I have not measured, but it seems that 6 fillings of the bag will fill a 32 gallon trash can. You can crush the bag when it's full the first time to get it to about half-full again and thereby get some more leaves in the bag. I can clean up the leaves from my little yard (which takes about 25 minutes to mow) and put them in 2 trash cans.

The metal impeller is a necessity. The manual says not to vacuum up sticks or other hard things. Good luck with that! You can use this thing in your fern garden, then. My back yard has leaves from TREES which also drop sticks from time to time, and then there's the odd acorn and pine cone. This machine doesn't care for pine cones, but I haven't damaged it with them, either.

I would strongly consider a battery-operated model if I were doing it again. The blowing part of the operation goes fairly quickly, and I've seen blowers that advertise 12 minutes of run time. Just blow leaves onto the lawn then bag it with the lawnmower. How much time you'll want all at once depends on how much vacuuming of shrubs and other little plants you'll want to do to get those stuck leaves off. If you have an extra battery of the same sort, you'll be all set for the little yard to be sure.

This thing makes some noise, but it's not painfully loud, and certainly not as loud as the gas blowers I hear running all season. My ears were ringing after filling a single trash can with leaves (30 minutes or so). Best use some hearing protection.

I almost purchased a $579.00 gas operated machine and then read about this Toro 51599. My Sears gas model only lasted 3 years and the engine fell apart. I am real impressed with the strong blowing power and thought, even if this motor should burns out (read it could), I could buy another one at this low price and be way ahead of the game. My 100 foot cord serves my needs. I also sold my neighbor on it.

Bought this blower/vac 3 years ago and have used it each year to clean up mostly maple leaves. It works very well as a blower. The vacuum is a bit tricky to use and is time consuming, but the benefits for mulching and composting make it worth it, in my opinion. We can save more crushed leaves in a limited space than if the leaves were just raked and piled. And they break down quicker, making for a nice soil supplement. It helps to vacuum the leaves when they are dry and have been sitting on the ground a week or more. If they're wet, then it's important to move more slowly and pick up only a few at a time to avoid frequent jamming. All in all, a good lawn tool for the money.

Purchased this blower to replace another Toro blower. It is even better! The metal impeller makes short work of most anything, and it seems even more powerful. Toro even made improvements on the earlier model, like the way the two vacuum tubes lock together (in the older model, the two pieces were just pushed together). A great product by a great company (I also own a Toro snow blower).

Very powerful blower, cleared leaves, sand, and even small rocks off of my driveway in no time.

The vacumn function works quite well. Emptying the attached bag into a paper lawn waste bag can be tedious, but that is related more to trash pick up rules in my town than a design flaw in this product. If you have accessible power outlets around your yard this is a perfect tool for dealing with fall yardwork.

Very lightweight and the price was great! Really easy to use, turn knob adjusts the power; love that.

Only complaint, is I wish the vacuum was more powerful.

Other than that, awesome product =)

Pros: Blower Speed & changing over to the bag.
Cons: Weight & cord

This was my first electric blower and purchased after stellar reviews from consumer reports. I was VERY impressed with the blower speed verses the gas blower this unit replaced. I would highly recommend.

I was surprised the weight seems to be little improvement over the gas blower it replaced (thought it would weigh a lot less). It will take some getting used to, dragging an electrical cord around BUT I'll have less stains on my driveway as I constantly over filled the gas in my previous gas blower.

Finally, changing from blower to vacuum & back again was very easy vs. my gas blower.

RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX, WITH MINIMUM TIME SPENT READING THE INSTRUCTIONS THIS LEAF BLOWER WENT TO WORK CLEARING LARGE AREAS OF LEAVES WITH LIGHTING -LIKE SPEED. THE DIAL ADJUSTABLE BLOWER SPEED CONTROL IS EASY TO USE AND THE MAXIMUM BLOWER SPEED WILL MOVE THE LEAVES GREAT DISTANCES WITH EASE. A GREAT PRODUCT.!
THIS WAS MY SECOND PURCHASE OF THE SIMILAR PRODUCT FROM TORO. THE FIRST ONE DIED IN ITS FOUTH YEAR.....THERE ARE NO REPAIR FACILITIES OFFERED BY TORO FOR THIS PRODUCT. AT THE PRICE HOWEVER ,I CONSIDER THIS ITEM A GOOD VALUE FOR A DISPOSABLE PRODUCT THAT MET ALL MY EXPECTATIONS, FOUR YEARS FROM NOW I WILL BUY ANOTHER, I GUESS THAT IS TORO'S PLAN.

I purchased this leaf blower/vac after considerable research and based upon the overwhelmingly favorable customer reviews at amazon.com. This was my second Toro leaf blower/vac, having previously owned a Toro "Rake And Vac Superblower" Model 51553.

This new Toro 51599 was a big disappointment :

- Heavy (!)
- Annoying high frequency vibration that is transmitted to the handle
- Very high noise level

In regard to the high frequency vibration this appears to be a design problem, i.e. hard mount of electric motor instead of isolation rubber mounts. In regard to high noise level, Toro fails to include any warning in the operator's manual and on the leaf blower itself. If you value your hearing, definitely wear some form of ear protection !
My wife refuses to use this leaf blower because of the high frequency vibration that makes her hands go numb within about five minutes. Well padded gloves help some, but the vibrations are still noticeable.

While blowing and sucking performance is good, these deficiencies overshadow the performance advantages. My old Toro 51553 was a better overall product

I bought this product to replace an older Toro model, which had a plastic impeller, and I love this new product. First, the metal impeller really shreds the leaves in vacuum mode; unlike the plastic impeller model, which sucked up whole leaves and filled the bag very quickly. It is also truly the most powerful blower/leaf vacuum I have ever used. If you put the vacuum tube to the ground the vacuum will seal itself like a suction cup. At the price, this can't be beat!

The cons are the vacuum tube is quite long and for someone like me (5'7" tall) it's awkward to hold the unit in vacuum mode. Also, the older model used to have a mechanism to lock the extension cord in place so it wouldn't pull out of the unit. This newer unit has a dangling cord that your extension cord plugs into and the first thing I noticed is that the cord pulls loose all the time. This was easy to fix by simply tying my extension cord in a loose knot around the plastic loop of the Toro before plugging it into the Toro's cord.

I just vacuumed up an entire yard full of wet leaves and this worked great! My advice, is to rake the leaves into shallow strips or piles and then use the Toro to vacuum and shred the leaves. This saved my back by not having to bend over to pick up the leaves and also fit all the leaves in my yard into four contractor bags (where raking alone would take up at least ten to fifteen contractor bags).

Works good for blowing grass off the driveway, leaves get stuck in the grass, and it's very limited by the cord. It's ok for light duty. If you have landscape around the house and need to blow debri off it, make sure you have a longggggg extension cord. If I were to do it again, would go with a gas one for the mobility.

My old gas blower would have problems starting and then the gas lines started leaking and the exhaust always blew on my clothes making me smell and cough... This is a real work horse for an electric machine. The best price and not tax from Amazon and no worry about gas fumes!

Love this blower!! It is my first one ever. Can't believe I used a broom for vast areas.

Don't like it as a vacuum. Vacuum = girly. I like to blow everything into a pile and scoop it up - fast and easy.

Also, fantastic to blow the water off your car when done washing.

Buy it!

This is a great tool and works well. Some people think you need a gas powered unit, but why? Granted, if I was a landscaper, I might need that kind of mobility, but for around the house, electric is just fine. Remember, you only really use this mulcher/blower four or five weekends a year. Do you really need to spend more money on something that is going to stay in your shed for 11 months out of the year? The only thing I noticed is that the bag may not have a very long life based on recent experiences. Also, their claim of 16:1 for the mulch bag ratio does not appear to be correct, but it still does a great job grinding them up. If you hate raking, picking up dirty leaves and putting them in recycling bags, this is the unit for you. I bought this unit after my son went to college and I said, "How the heck am I going to get all this done by myself?" This is the Fall tool of the year.

This item is a combo 5-star blower and 1-star bagging vacuum.

Comes in very handy to blow leaves, twigs, acorns, dust, etc. off a driveway, carport, porch, patio, walkway, etc.

Is pretty much useless as a vacuum for sucking up and mulching leaves. Suction tube CONSTANTLY plugs at the narrowest point mid-tube, so much so that you'll end up preferring to rake leaves up the old fashioned way. Conceptually, sucking up and mulching leaves is appealing notion. Practically, raking is more efficient and preferable, since the tube plugs, and messing with the bag is time consuming and cumbersome. Even if this thing didn't constantly plug up, I doubt I'd use it as a leaf vac. Just too much hassle. I threw out the tube and bag. Blower still going strong 2 years now.

Buy a blower only, and take the money you save and buy a good rake.

Expensive. The price went up at least 20% since I bought it in
2008. But it is the best one avaialable under $100.
Have to test if it can suck up leaves but not the pine nuggers/mulch.

Unless the leaves are wet
This blows leaves and clears the path in 30 seconds even if you
have lots of leaves in front of your front door and walking path

I was skeptical of an electric blower at first, but this bad boy far exceeded my expectations. I've only used it 3 or 4 times so far, but absolutely no complaints other than having to do my own yard work!

This leaf blower cannot be repaired. When the brushes in the motor wear out that's it no one has brushes for this blower, not even Toro. The blower will last for about 2 seasons.

Overall very happy, it has variable speed, much quieter than my gas blower. The extension cord is a nuisance but I knew that prior to buying. I would recomend it much more reliable than the gas blowers.

I've used this model blower (and its replacement) to blow debris out from under bushes and clear out the garage about once every two to three months or so... essentially light use. Both units began to run rough, emite smoke with a burning electrical smell... and then they die. It's probably the brushes burning up on these very high rpm motors.

A great blower before it dies... but I've had 2 die under warrenty.

This is a very powerful blower. Vac is less powerful. Work as advertised.

I purchased this blower/vac with metal impeller to help deal with way too many ficus leaves in the yard. As long as the leaves aren't too wet or densely packed, this machine makes easy work of cleaning up the yard. A quick sweep or rake will get the leaves ready to go, and the end result is well worth the cash.

I bought this two weeks ago and have used it twice. It's light, powerful, and the variable speed is perfect. The vacuum is so powerful I had to use less than maximum suction to keep it from sticking to my porch floor.

Bought this product based on reviews. Thought only gas blowers could do the job the way you wanted it to be done. Well I was so wrong. This Toro blows air up to 230 miles per hour and it does what is say's. Great investment for the price. You won't go wrong with this product.

Everything advertized about the Toro Blower is absolutely "spot on"! It is very powerful and efficient in the blower mode, and the vacuum part is a welcome bonus. If there is a drawback, its that it is electric ----you have to use an extension cord, which can be challenging. However, for the price it is worth every penny.

It is as good as you would want a blower to be. I can think of no defects in its performance. The price was very reasonable. I am very happy with it. What else is there to say?

only downside is since it's electric, it needs a cord. Greatly reduces ease of use as compared to a gas blower. Otherwise, amazing power, easy to use dose everything it claims.

I bought one of these a few years ago as a replacement for a really old B&D Blower/Vac based on its consistently high CR ratings. Used it one year before the poorly designed safety switch for the vac attachment developed too much clearance and the unit would constantly cut out while trying to vacuum up leaves or whatever. I tried numerous jury-rig fixes to eliminate the problem without totally defeating the safety function. All to no avail.

Bought a B&D Leaf Hog while struggling with the Toro as my wife just wouldn't use the Toro because of the frustration of the power cut outs. The B&D leaf hog went 5 years before burn-out. Last year we decided that the Toro was just taking up space in the shed as neither of us would use it anymore. So into the trash it went, though with only a year's worth of real use on it. What a waste of money. What a crappy safety switch design. We decided we'd never buy another Toro blower/vacuum based on our money wasting experience with this unit.

I bought this to do vacuuming up of mango leaves. I have no desire to blow things around so I wont assess that. But for vacuuming, the suction isn't very impressive. Only small nearly dried out leaves get readily vacuumed in. Larger leaves or leaves still freshly green are too heavy to be sucked into the tube. So in the end, only about half to 2/3 of the leaves at any given time get sucked in. Unless you like the unfinished look of only half your leaves being picked up, the rest you will have to rake. What's the point of the machine if you still need to rake. I do enjoy its feature of chopping up the leaves into fine particles so it saves on bag disposal and for that I may use it upside down just to feed large amounts of leaves into it for waste processing. But otherwise, the motor seems too weak for massive suction. I realize the limitation on a 15amp circuit can only allow an electric motor so much power, but still this product seems way overrated to me.

The Toro #51599 Electric leaf blower/vacuum is perfect for for small jobs. It is not only light and easy to handle, but, very powerful for it's size. Our home is situated under pine trees which drop lots of needles onto the concrete drive. It works great for keeping the pine needles off the drive.

L.Oertel

Was sick of raking up the leaves twice every year from the live oaks in my front yard. Not only that, the trees shed leaves even in summer and in rain.

I was looking for a leaf blower near $50. But, found this to be a good one due to the metallic impeller. The blower works OK for the most part. I only wish that when I pick up the leaves (from grass) it would pick up all of it.

The bag is quite good.

I wish I had purchased one without wires and with battery.

Well i tried this unit at a neighbors house and all i can say is that it is pathetic. I am shocked that so many people would view it as powerful?? We have many oaks and maples around the neighborhood and of course this makes for a large cleanup. This unit would make the job take so long that i would consider just using a rake. When clearing out shrubs there is often considerable debris that the shrub covered up. This unit would not move the moist dirt and branches so it forced you to brake out the rake again. The unit can draw as much as 12 amps and at 150' that would require a 12 or perhaps a 10 gauge extension cord. These are heavy, awkward, time consuming and expensive. My opinion is nothing beats a high powered gas backpack. I now have two an Echo PB-413 which is available at home depot and does a good job of clearing the driveway and pushing leaves, however it is slow clearing shrub debris and has difficulty with frozen leaves. I then bought a Shindaiwa EB802RT, now this baby makes short work of everything as it can easily blow cobblestones down my driveway. This unit allows me to clear my driveway as fast as i can walk, blows wet and even frozen leaves off the driveway fast! The debris under shrubs including the moist compacted dirt doesn't stand a chance, it all blows away fast! Now the unit is loud so I wear protection, but it starts first or second pull every time, does not require a silly cord to follow around and get hung up and most importantly it allows me to finish jobs very quickly. Though an electric or a weak gas blower may be quieter they still make noise and it takes you more time to finish a job. A high power gas powered backpack blower will get the job done substantially faster exposing you and your neighbors to less noise in terms of the duration of noise. New 2 cycle engines are much cleaner than they have ever been and adding 2.6oz of a quality synthetic oil to 1 gallon of gas is much easier than lugging around and winding up cord every time; not to mention the restriction of motion from the cord. Maintaining a gas blower is very simple, change the plug,air filter, gas filter, every so many hours which amounts to years for most home owners. Plug change takes 3 minutes, air filter 2 minutes and fuel filter 2 minutes thats all there is to it. Honestly, the only situation i could see using an electric blower like this one is when you have a very small flat property in an Urban setting.

We were in the market for a yard blower. So as always i researched the Toro 51599 Electric Blower/Vacuum. The price was right and the reviews that i read were all positive for what was needed for my home. After receiving this machine and finally having a chance to operate it. I have nothing but positive remarks about this purchase. The equipment was delivered when promised. It is more than powerful enough for our yard/driveway. It is very user friendly. I can't wait to see what it does on the leaves in the fall. This is my first blower and from the looks of it. This will be the only one that i will ever own. Toro you have a client for life.