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WORX WG430 13 amp Electric Leaf Mulcher/Shredder - Worx
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Black & Decker BV6600 High Performance Blower/Vac/Mulcher - Black & Decker

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Worx http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/414H-rlAL4L._SL160_.jpg
WORX WG430 13 amp Electric Leaf Mulcher/Shredder - Worx
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Black & Decker http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Qv0Nc2OqL._SL160_.jpg
Black & Decker BV6600 High Performance Blower/Vac/Mulcher - Black & Decker
Rating info
eComparisons Score
eComparisons ScoreThe "Comparison Score" Is calculated based on the average number of times this item was compared with other items in this category by our users
8.4
8
User Rating (Amazon)
User Rating (Amazon)

Five Star Reviews:

53%
Great product and worth the money
November 12, 2017
This replaced a Flowtron shredder that finally died after about 10 years. I made the decision on this item based upon reviews from users on Amazon and several online reviews from sites dealing with lawn & garden equipment. My concerns about the product were the inability to adjust the fineness of the shredding and what appeared to me to be a design bias toward using plastic bags.The adjustability proved to be an non-issue; the shredded results turn out to be just what I aimed for with my old shredder.Using paper bags was problematic. The bags are too tall to fit under the shredder and you can't fold the bags over the base so folding the bags as advised in the manual leads to torn bags and a lot of spilling. Not the end of the world but a pain to deal with.After thinking about the spilling problem I came up with a neat solution. I cut off about 6 inches from the bottom of a 33-gallon plastic bag and allowed that to drape into the paper bag after putting onto the base as you would normally. This completely eliminated the spilling!The height of the base problem was resolved by cutting some 1-inch PVC I had laying about into three 26.5 inch segments and sliding them over the legs of the base. I drilled a hole in each leg extension about 3/4-inch from the top and fed wire through the hole to wrap around the base so the extensions don't slip off. The added height sets the top of the open paper bag about 1.5 inches below the bottom of the shredder with no need to fold the top of the bag. I can't take credit for this idea since I saw references to the general idea in a couple of discussions on the web.I've only used the item twice shredding 5 bags of leaves which is about half of what my trees usually produce each fall. The cutter filament is holding up much better than the 0.080" line I used in my old Flowtron. The Worx cutters still look good whereas the old unit would have required replacing the line about every 2-3 bags.The big unknown is how long the motor will last and time will tell. I was pleased with the active cooling design. I was able to keep my hand on the motor casing at the end of the first day's use with no discomfort. The casing was cool to the touch, a very good sign.So far I have to say great product and worth the money.
Really nice mulcher!!
November 5, 2017
I did read most of the reviews of this product before I bought mine. Some said that it did not mulch leaves at all or not well. I completely disagree!! Totally surprised by how well the leaves are mulched. Really well. Much better that a mulching mower! Much easier to use that any gas powered thing!! Easy to re[place the mulching 'trim' line! I bought leaf bags made of durable 'woven' plastic that I now use as the leaf tote and then the mulcher cover when not in use! A 2fer! I keep a 50 ' outdoor extension rolled up and it lays in the 'well' of the top of the mulcher! So all is covered and ready to be used wherever I want. A great product. So easy to use! So glad I bought this one!
Shreds!
November 4, 2017
 It really shreds! Shredded about 7 homedepot bags of leaves and grass down to less than 1. This thing has plenty of power to cut through wet grass and leaves. Mulched almost all of my flower beds with the finely shredded product. Nice to never have to buy homedepot bags and lug them to the street again. I wish I discovered this product earlier. I think the ratio they claim is accuarate. Looking forward to use it again next weekend.
Happy with this product
April 21, 2017
I have only used this for about 4 hours. I cleared this area in that time. Not rushing just a steady pace. I have over 50 trees and needed to use a shredder. It worked well. I scooped up the leaves w a rake, and dropped them a little slow. I also stepped back as I put them in the hopper. Any kick back was small amounts I would buy this again.
... this to use this fall and it worked just great. I read the reviews and was prepared for ...
January 24, 2017
We purchased this to use this fall and it worked just great. I read the reviews and was prepared for "issues" as I tried to make sure no sticks went into the hopper. I set the mulcher up in the middle of an 8x10 tarp and just kept feeding the leaves through until we had a big pile of shredded leaves that we then hauled to another location on the property. I used the machine for over 6 hours straight the very first day, only turning off to re-position or to haul off leaves. It worked great with no issues. We continued to use it the next two days for several hours each day. Our home sits in the middle of an oak forest. This is a great machine if you are using it for a small area or a large area. We are excited to have used it this past fall and look forward to using it again this coming fall. Now that we have it, we will be able to use it periodically as the leaves build up versus all at once at the end of the season. Regardless, it's a work horse for sure!
Year 2 of use....still going strong!
October 31, 2016
This is the 2nd year of use for making leaf mulch and leaf compost, and this thing is working like a BOSS! Last fall, I went to the local leaf collection area, and I was the person putting leaves INTO trash cans to take home, mulch down and use on my garden beds and for compost. I have no idea how many packed cans I took home, but I think it was in the area of maybe 45-50 trash cans in one season. (Leaves break down into barely anything) I'd grab the piles of leaves and throw them very ungently into the WORX shredder, and it did a fabulous job at making the pieces very small. I put a smaller trash can underneath of it rather than a bag or use the stand. The 13 amp motor was the best bet because of the amount of mulch I wanted. I also packed several cans of shredded leaves to use in the compost pile during the year whenever I added green kitchen waste, and chicken manure. I used the compost we made last year which included all these shredded leaves, which broke down SO much faster than whole leaves, and the compost was much darker and richer looking than in the past. Shredding is key to good compost! I replaced the strings when they were worn, but still had some leftover for this year. Rather than buy more precut strings, I purchased a roll of string used for regular weedwhackers, and I will cut it to length when I need it. Very happy with this shredder. It's lightweight, shreds leaves nicely, and has a strong motor.
49%
I can easily crash the leaves into a couple bags and move ...
November 2, 2017
Have a lot of trees around the house. Big headache to blow them from back yard to front yard. Now with the 16:1 powerful vacuum and mulch, I can easily crash the leaves into a couple bags and move them easily. Very happy now.
This is a great blower for the average DIY homeowner
August 29, 2017
This is a great blower for the average DIY homeowner. I use it primarily to clean off my roof several times a year, clear my deck off, and move leaves into a general pile. I never have to go above the lowest setting to meet my needs. A few months after having it, my mom bought one (she is not a yard working person or DIY person) and raved about how easy it was to use. The only disadvantage is that when in reverse to pick up debris, the debris goes through a fan/blade - this is not ideal if you have tiny rocks that might accidentally picked up.
BEST PRODUCT ON THE MARKET!
May 12, 2017
this tool has changed our lives! I can't believe they finally developed this! I've been wishing for this forever! Believe it or not, we used to drag our shop vac around the yard to suck the leaves out of the shrubs because instead of mulch we use pine straw and it is impossible to blow the leaves out of the shrubs and away from the shrubs without having the pine straw just fly up in the air everywhere. Mulch is way too heavy and time consuming to use over a large area however, not so easy to get leaves out of. Fall/spring clean up every year was a nightmare and we couldn't even hire anyone to do it because nobody would deal with it. So, we literally used to have to drag the shop vac around and empty the damn thing every 5 minutes and it would clog and was a nightmare. This came in yesterday and my husband did the entire yard in 8 hours (versus multiple weekends) the unit never clogged once and although he did have to empty the bag, it is very easy and fast. We did also purchase the attachment hose for the trash can but that was a disaster. Not sure who did the R&D for that component but I seriously question if they actually even used it in real life because that was a joke unfortunately. Regardless, of the fact that we wish the bag were somehow capable of holding more, it is adequate and the tool is quite powerful and appears to be well made and well thought out and certainly worth the price!
This is a great yard tool
February 8, 2017
Oh Yeah!!!! This is a great yard tool!! Works like it says. I had to wait until my husband was done playing with it so I could try it out. I wish I had this earlier when the leaves first started falling!!
Big Fan
September 11, 2016
I haven't always trusted B&D products as they always seem CHEAP and they lack power. This blower is amazing. Does everything I need and then some. I have rocks in my front yard and you can regulate the strength of the vacuum to pull up leaves but not rocks. Very powerful if you need it to be. Great buy
Can't Decide? This is the one to buy.
August 16, 2016
Can’t decide Toro or Black and Decker. Easy BLACK AND DECKER with the bag bar instead of zipper.
I am becoming an expert on Vacuum/Blowers. #1 Black&Decker(BD) lasted maybe 10 years. It was small, light and not very powerful. The on/of switch wore out on it. I repaired it myself several times and is was a Rube Goldberg of turning the machine on and off. A simple task designed in a complex manner. BD #2 LH5000, ooh what an improvement in the power department. I have pink clover ground cover and need to suck the tree leaves out of it. This would pickup stuff like hibiscus buds that fell off, that the old one would not. Just terrific, but it only lasted 3 years. I had sewn up the bag several times where it connects to the machine, put duct tape around it for added support. But in the end it was the on/off was the issue. There is a tiny slot that either the vacuum or blower pieces need to push it to allow it to go on. A safety switch Not too much in and not too little in though. Became a fidgety machine with a leaking bag, so I replaced it with a Toro.
Huge mistake, not only is the same rated wind power Toro not able to pick up what the Black and Decker could do, but the bags last weeks, not YEARS. I am talking bag one lasted maybe 10 uses, but was tearing after 2 uses. The zipper gave way and became useless. The next bag lasted 3 uses and the zipper broke. Toro is absolute JUNK. Thin bags with zippers from light spring jackets.
So the Toro lasted 8 months and is now permanently the blower and the new BD is the vacuum, so I don’t have to change the tooling. So get the BD and get the one with the bar on the bag instead of the zipper, because it will not break. Also, if you are dragging the bag on the ground it is the hard plastic instead of the cloth and zipper that take the abuse. You have to get the bag bar. The downside is after a few hours in the miserable heat the last thing you do is empty the bag, and it takes some strength sometimes to get the bar to slide off. Its okay to say FORGET IT. Go take your shower and empty the bag tomorrow. Mostly it is fine though. Its powerful and well designed.

Four Star Reviews:

27%
The trimmer string could be heavier, but that problem is easily solved.
July 30, 2017
I bought the WORX leaf mulcher to reduce the volume of dry leaves and weeds for disposal. The supplied line is small (and short) and is quickly consumed. I used a #41 drill bit (0.096 inch) to ream the string holes from each side by hand to allow using 0.095 inch trimmer string in the mulcher. You can find this drill bit size at your local hardware store. The 0.095 inch trimmer string is a little more stout, used in professional trimmers, and can be bought in bulk rolls for a reasonable cost. The WORX does produce a bit of a tornado of leaves and dust. I use a plastic bag to collect from the bottom, so dust does not escape there, and I use a 5 gallon bucket to load the mulcher, holding the bucket down in the top, so leaves and dust are not thrown out at me. You can tell when the mulcher is done processing the load, and then lift the bucket. In spite of this measure, you will get dusted with fine leaf mulch. Without the measure, you might as well be rolling in it. The volume reduction is substantial, reducing the number of trips to dispose of the resulting mulch.
This thing is a beast.
June 18, 2017
It turns leaves into dust. The only thing better than this is a couple passes over the leaves with a riding mower. I don't have the money for that. The string it comes with is pretty bad. You are better off using cooked spaghetti. Get some good string trimmer line, and put that inside it. Just cut them to the same length as the ones it comes with. I had some .095 laying around. It's a little tight squeezing it into the hole, but it does fit. Probably be better to get a slightly smaller line. There is a little line cutter thing inside the bowl. Its attached with a couple screws. I took it out, the leaves kept getting backed up against it.Keep sticks out of it. They break the string and get stuck in the bottom holes preventing leaves from falling through. What i do is dump the leaves some ways away from the mulcher, and then blow the leaves to it. All the sticks and heavy stuff get left behind, and the leaves move forward.I am using this to make my compost pile. I mixed DRY leaves and DRY fresh cut grass clippings together. Then I slowly dumped them into the blender. Filled up my 5ft x 3ft x 4ft bin to the top, spraying water every foot or so. The next day, the pile was all ready climbing past 100. Since the leaves are well mulched up, I usually add in equal parts grass clippings if not more.I was using a push mower to mulch the leaves. I ended up tired and had a good caked on layer of dust and dirt on my arms. The st augustine grass was starting to get thinned out from the constant walking, raking, and extra mulch everywhere sucking up the nitrogen. With the worx mulcher I am less tired and the grass doesnt get abused as much.I just have to wait and see how much abuse this machine can take.
Very limited to what it can actually mulch
June 4, 2017
See my edited review after getting some nice dry crunchy fall leaves. It’s still worthless for wet leaves.Worthless, unless your leaves are small and completely dry, and you have no sticks in themIf they're wet, this thing clumps upIf there are sticks, it will destroy the weak string that's includedA good price, but the hassle of operating the machine outweighs it's usefulnessEDIT - I’ve changed my review. It really does a great job on dry leaves. If you keep the sticks to a minimum and stay on top of the leaf work, then this thing does a great job. My only complaint is that the string is very weak and tends to wear down too quickly.
We're getting a lot of good out of this... hope it holds up!
December 21, 2016
The ratio of 11 bags ground into one isn't accurate... but this does grind them down for rapid composting. The ratio actually depends on the type of leaves to be ground. We pick up bags of leaves to compost from neighbors who put their leaves out for municipal pick-up. I found that leaves like silver maples are generally very well squished into the brown bags, and probably only grind to a 3 or 4 bags into one bag ratio. However, stiffer leaves -- like oak -- can't be as compressed by the typical dad/teen raker duo and therefore grind to something like a 5 to 8 bags to 1 ratio. Pretty good either way for my purposes, which is simply to reduce the bulk and hold them until next summer when we pick up neighbor's bags of grass clippings to mix with the leaves and get our compost pile steamy. And gee: our grinding of leaves in November kept the compost steaming until a couple of days ago (about Dec 15) here in Maryland. So kudos to grinding leaves.The machine itself is a bit awkward, and I found that the adapter for the brown bags was impossible to actually deploy. I ended up making a torn up brown bag skirt on the stand, with the skirt a maxi where I stood and a mini in the direction I wanted the ground up leaves to go. The instructions say that leaves may be added to the hopper by "double handfuls" unless they are wet, in which case single handfuls is required. Given the slow going with wet stuff, I'm not going to try to grind anything wet anymore -- it is just not worth the effort. Trying to grind up hosta leaves stopped the machine completely. The cutting strands do wear down quickly, especially if there are any twigs in the batches or if tougher leaves are being ground (oak!).
Doesn't really take the paper bags well, but still worth the money.
November 14, 2016
3.5 stars, but I rounded up. I have to say the unit itself works great, shreds the leaves, no problems. Although, I do not believe the 1/11th ratio. It's probably closer to 1/3 or 1/4 if you have already smaller leaves. Probably approaches that with the bigger leaf trees, though.The reason for the lower rating is because this thing in no way is set up for paper bags that you buy at Lowes, Home Depot, Costco, etc. The ring is too big and the unit is too short. Notice how every promo video the camera cuts to the paper bag in place? Yeah, that's because the bags don't fit and you have to rip them and bend them to get them to fit on, and it really makes it difficult to do the job.So, my tips are: buy a reusable yard bag, or get some PVC stilts like others described. Also, I have .095" square string trimmer line for my Weedeater. That line annihilates the leaves and lasts longer than what they give you. It's a tight fit to get it in the holes, but works great.
Does the job
August 3, 2016
I've used this mulcher for a year now, and it has performed well. It handles leaves and twigs pretty easily. When the leaves are reasonably dry, I can fill a garbage can with leaves and then dump them into the mulcher until it's full. Then I just shake it lightly for a few seconds untill everything feeds through...easy. It works fast enough that the job doesn't get too tedious. Depending on how twiggy the mix is, I've been getting 3-4 large bags of mulch per set of trimmer lines, and they're really easy to change.
26%
Black & Decker BV6600 High Performance vacuum & blower (outdoor)
February 19, 2017
Works as advertised, a bit heavy. Amazon sent me a recall notice from Black & Decker for a shield problem. I contacted B&D and they sent a replacement part in just a few days, very good service by Amazon and B&D ....Thanks
Wrong component in package
June 23, 2016
Am giving it one star momentarily because the package contained the wrong type VAC TUBE ASSEMBLY. After a lengthy call to Black & Decker's customer service, I was promised shipment of the correct component. It was left up to me to monitor the actual shipping from the B&S warehouse in ten days. I feel that this is not a businesslike treatment of a customer inasmuch as it's pretty close to the 30-day return policy at which time I would be faced with asking for an RMA. This is in no way a criticism of Amazon since they have no control over how the sellers handle their quality control.

If that part arrives and fits as promised, I'll add the other stars since I was impressed with the quality and heft of the BLOWER head and the force of the air jet. Without the vac tubing and bag, the unit weighs 7 lbs, 12 ounces. After 10 minutes of use that weight might be a problem for the elderly.

The only important con is lack of an on/off trigger forcing use of the other hand to control the power dialing knob inconveniently placed on the body of the unit rather than on the handle. During that short moment one does not have full control of the direction of the nozzle.

The instructions are sophomoric with more thought attached to legalese than a user's needs.

Finally, more importance should be given to warnings NOT to use a long, weak extension cord. A 16 gauge cable of any length should be discouraged while a 14 gauge, maximum one hundred footer should not overload the motor.

***************************************

EDIT:
JULY 3, 2016

As promised, here is my upgraded review. After receiving the proper part, I was able to use the vacuum feature and was impressed by its suction power. The top speed picked up the carpet on our deck and I had to reduce it and vary the angle of the intake tube. I deducted one star due to the inconvenient placement of the above mentioned speed control and utter lack of clarity of the instructions. The conversion from blower to vacuum is not intuitive and the scant drawings, apparently made by enthusiastic Kindergartners, are of little help. That said, I can recommend this well-made product to friends and family.
and it does a very good job. The leaves need to be dry
March 7, 2016
This unit is a really handy tool. I bought it strictly for suction of leaves, and it does a very good job. The leaves need to be dry, for wet leaves/dirt will wind up clogging the intake. I did have to unscrew the blade a couple time to completely clean that area out inside the machine. Only downside...the instructions were absolutely terrible. Black and Decker uses pictures (which I like) but there wasn't enough information on the page to see what they were trying to convey.

With about 10-15 min...I was honestly able to lay the pieces on the ground and piece it together no problem. I would buy this again in a heartbeat. I would also purchase another black back for that will be a failure point at some point. I will mention the black back used a slider part which when unslid...opens the entire bottom of the bag...allowing the contents to be dumped anywhere, and completely, and quickly. Very genious method guaranteeing closure of the bag.
Pretty good mulcher and blower
December 15, 2014
Has definitely made it easier to tackle the leaves this year. I have use it numerous times to blow and mulch the leaves. It does a decent job of sucking in leaves and spitting out small pieces. Overall I would buy it again.

Pros-
-Nice blower force
-Easy turn dial for blower speed
-Attachments are quick to change
-Lots of straps to make holding it easier

Cons-
-Leaves can get stuck if you go too fast or if slightly wet
-Collection bag frays inside easily and clogs up- I've cut them multiple times and it still frays
worked great
February 9, 2014
blower and vac worked great,plenty of power.even mulched sweetgum balls and small twigs. only thing needed is padding for shoulder strap as bag gets heavy when mulching.

Three Star Reviews:

9%
... not cut the leaves as well as I would like. The string was not strong enough to mulch ...
April 23, 2017
The strings used in WORX does not cut the leaves as well as I would like. The string was not strong enough to mulch the leaves, they kept breaking and I had to replace them frequently.
A bit of a disappointment
December 14, 2016
I ordered the leaf Mulcher and at first loved that it was easy to setup and that it had such a large opening for debris. However I was very disappointed when the dry leaves did not get shredded small. There were too many large pieces left that basically made the unit worthless for my needs. I wanted to use the dry leaves for mulch in my garden bed . I ended up returning the unit and have not found anything yet to replace it with.
Sort of works
June 7, 2016
I had this for 2 years, kinda works, in the end I got rid of it and just used my lawn mower. The issue is if there ANY sticks in the leafs then the plastic line breaks. It breaks a lot for me, I would only get 1 -2 minutes of runtime before needing to replace line. It did do a nice job of mulching the leafs when it worked.
POTENTIAL 5 STAR WITH UPGRADES
November 22, 2015
This could be a 5 star with some upgrades:- LEGS. Thin legs, should have variable height settings for different size bags. Needs discs on bottom, since it sinks into soft ground.- DISCHARGE. I found that the paper bag support ring is useless. Perhaps there should be a collar extension with a ridge on it, and a type of bungee to hold it tight. Right now, a 42 gal. plastic contractor bag works very well, but the paper bags allow too much side discharge.- CUTTING LINES. When new, this machine works very well, but they wear very quickly. Though easily changed, I have to believe that there is something a bit stouter to stand up to the occasional twig that makes it into the leaf pile.- STIR THE POT. I found that there would be a buildup of fine leaf material around the inside of the funnel, especially as the string wore down. Using a stick, I would stir along the edges (so as to miss the string), and eventually the build up would go down into the collection bag.
these were all pretty large yards with oak and maple trees
November 5, 2014
We got this to prepare our family for the neighborhood fall jobs approaching. We did three yards, front and back and one front yard; these were all pretty large yards with oak and maple trees. What would have been 50+ bags turned into about 20. The only downside to this is that you would have to keep a stock of the replacement string, because it goes fast depending on how much you have to do. Not recommended for big chain lawn services, as this would be a precious waste of time setting up. Not everyone has an electrical outlet on the outside of their house if it is not a new construction or an old with modifications for outside power; with that in mind a portable generator was what we used to help power this thing. Also, keep in mind that even when you shred leaves, this thing does make a small mess around its perimeter due to the spinning action to chop up the leave. It can take twigs, but don't try to shred any larger than a half inch in diameter. We are satisfied with this, so it is a keeper for us.
WORKX versus Flowtron vs McCulloch Chipper/Shredder
December 8, 2009
I am a huge believer in creating compost and living in Oregon with an abundance of trees and leaves has led me to try a number of different products that mulch. I have purchased many combination blower-mulchers as well as stand-alone leaf eater (leaf shredder) electricity-driven products. I would like to share with you my review of the WORKX WG430 & compare it to the Flowtron LE-900 and to the McCulloch 14-AMP Electric Chipper/Shredder- MCS2001.Pros:All 3 pieces of equipment shred leaves sufficient to allow for mulching and ultimately composting. The WORKX is easily put together and this is so simple that the instructions are not needed. The assembled unit is stable despite some other reviews that it may not be so. The assembled unit is easily disassembled for better cleaning, for storage and to facilitate putting in new leaf-eater line. The Flowtron assembly is a little more involved but easily done. The assembled unit does not feel as sturdy as the WORKX but it is durable and the first Flowtron unit that I bought in 2007 lasted two years; it was the electric motor that died, and not any other part of the unit. I still have the McCulloch chipper-shredder. It has lasted over 5 years and shows no signs of impending demise. Therefore, I do not think that the construction, stability or assembly/disassembly of these units plays a major role in my choice of what the best unit is.Cons:The WORKX and Flowtron both generate a major amount of dust and the Flowtron is especially noisy. Definitely advise use of a face mask or some form of protection for the eyes and ideally the lungs (simple mask) when working with dry leaves. Ear protection is important as well. All units can emit (spit out) pieces of debris that could result in trauma to your eyes or any exposed soft tissue so safety should be a key issue when running these machines. Of the 3 units, the Flowtron is most offensive to the ears. Of the 3 units, the McCulloch emits the least amount of dust with the Flowtron and WORKX tied for a very distant second.Inability to handle even small twigs is a major downside for the Flowtron and WORKX since both use filament line to act as leaf eaters. This is the same kind of line used in weed wackers. If you intentionally or inadvertently toss in twigs or even small branches into either machine the filament length is whittled down quite quickly and you will be inserting new line often. This is not a super simple task for either Flowtron or WORKX. On the contrary, the McCulloch handles branches and of course twigs, pine cones, etc very well. No problem there. The major downside of the McCulloch is the need to hand feed the leaves, twigs, or anything else that you are chipping or shredding. The Flowtron and WORKX allows you to grab large handfuls of leaves and quickly toss them into the unit. Not so with the McCulloch. If the McCulloch had this ability there would be no issue as to which machine to select.The mulched product is the finest with the McCulloch, followed by the Flowtron with the WORKX the least impressive. The reason for this is that the WORKX has no way to adjust the opening for the shredded leaves; it is one size. The Flowtron has a sliding device that allows you to select a fine or coarse adjustment. Both the Flowtron and WORKX talk about the ability to shred moist leaves but I would tell you that although this is possible you end up after 5 minutes stopping the machine and scraping off a large amount of mushed leaf product and the trimmer line rapidly is eaten up as well. Same issue with the McCulloch but here you have not a problem with trimmer line but caking up of this mushy mulch on the inner walls of the machine that forces you to disassemble the McCulloch. The disassembly of the McCulloch is a time-consuming and not at all enjoyable procedure and if McCulloch could devise a quick release set up like the WORKX, this would be wonderful (assuming it to be safe).I do not like that the WORKX has a two-pronged plug. I feel better with a 3-prong which is seen with the Flowtron and McCulloch.Lastly, with the McCulloch you have 3 major working blades. These can be sharpened by the homeowner or new ones purchased online. These are not cheap but I have found it pretty easy to sharpen them myself so I do not consider this a major downside for this machine.I just purchased another Flowtron after trying the WORKX and today have returned the WORKX for the reasons listed. I did a side-by-side comparison of the quality of the shredding and it was clear that WORKX allowed to many fully intact leaves to pass through without shredding.Final conclusions: of the two leaf eaters, the Flowtron is clearly better. Of all three units, I would have to say that the McCulloch's ability to chip leaves, twigs, pine cones, seeds from cedars makes it my favorite. It just does not handle leaves as fast as the Flowtron. I have no connection in any way with any of these companies. Anyone that uses one or more of these products will find this review to be complete, clear and right on target. Lastly, I purchased and returned the WORKX via Amazon and purchased the FLowtron via Amazon on two separate occasions. I bought the McCulloch locally. I am very pleased with the delivery and return policy of Amazon.
13%
COULD LOVE IT!
April 9, 2017
love the idea but needs improvement.

Pros: 2 in1 tool, mulches leaves into a good size.

Cons: bag is hard to carry. I see why peoples bags rip so fast, it needs better support. It needs a shut off button. I sucked up a rock and it sounded like it was going to brake the inside of the machine. I wanted to quickly shut it off but I had turn the knob all the way down to do so. It needs better suction or a smaller hose attachment.it hard to suck up leaves inside pots and in tight areas. Its great if you make a pile and then suction them in.
Does what you expect, I don't like having to stick my hand in there so much, though.
April 30, 2016
Having a yard with a bunch of shrubs, I quickly got sick of trying to rake up tiny leaves - i needed a vac unit! Since this is a wired unit, the power is decent, but there are a couple cons that prevent this from getting a great review:

- The blade portion of the unit cannot be disassembled, and the plastic tube can quickly get clogged with anything viney (ivy) or damp (rotted leaf buildup). When clearing an area for the first time, I had to stop several times to try to clear out the matted up areas, which are too small for me to get my fingers into (after unplugging it -I'm not crazy!). The rotted leaves I could get, they were wet and became like mud inside there - however, it tangled up on some small branches (1/8 in diameter) from the shrubs I had trimmed. They were too long, I guess, and got tangled up inside the unit.
- There are three or four pieces you have to carry around to convert from a blower to a vac. There's nowhere to store these things, so you end up with a pile of plastic parts. Black & Decker should try to think of a spring-loaded cover that isn't removable, or some way to mount the pieces to the unit like a vacuum cleaner normally does.
- It does look a little too sci-fi-ey with the giant vacuum tube being shiny black and lines carved into it. I felt like I could paint it white and go trick-or-treating as the Flamethrower Stormtrooper from Star Wars: The Force Awakens in this thing.

Pros:
- it totally sucks. in a good way, usually (outside of the con above).
- the blower has a swivel attachment that really does help get matted up stuff off the ground.
- vacuum bag holds pretty well, easy to dump out the grinded up foliage. Reduces the room it takes up in the trash can quite a bit, so I can get more out of it.
better than raking but not an ideal maching
December 11, 2015
It is indeed heavy - especially after an hour or manoevering over the lawn. I did not find the blower to be very useful - it blew leaves in many directions -= only some in the direction I intended! But the vacuum feature is very good,. You can set the motor to a lower speed and vacuum over mulched beds or light pebbled pathways etc and only pick up leaves. I found this very useful. Also I found that raking a lawn often caused the wet soil to break and I ended up raking leaves with grass. With this device this does not happen. You can increase the motor to a loud and powerful setting and pick up leaves off garden without disturbing the turf at all. I wish it wasn't as heavy. I wish the bag that collects the leaves - black one - was sturdier as after only a week, I can see this thing is not going to survive two fall seasons and I wish the strap for the bag was padded and broader - it is a very thin nylon strap and is not appropriate for the weight of this device, cutting into your shoulder after a short while. I do love the fact that the sucked up leaves can be chopped into small pieces and makes it easier to dispose of this small leaf mulch than the bags and bags of leaves I had to collect before...
The dirt quickly turns to mud...
May 26, 2015
Alright, the thing eats leaves and twigs that are dry. It also loves dirt and bark, which is a problem if the leaves are wet.

The dirt quickly turns to mud and cakes around the impeller. The suction dies and you are tasked with unplugging it with a stick or a screwdriver.

I'd still buy it again, but I try and only use it when everything is dry.
Its heavy!
February 14, 2015
I only use it as a vacuum and mulch, sucking up leaves. I don't use the bag that came with it because I also bought the trash can attachment, blowing the leaves directly into the can. I gave this only 3 stars because I have cursed it a few times while using it. The vacuum tube dose not stay on very well, and when it falls off, your pile of leaves are blown all over the place. I am a 70 year old woman and this thing weighs a good 10 lbs. Imagine carrying around a 10 lb sack of potatoes, aiming it in a downward position! Gets heavy in a hurry. I secured my trash can to a dolly so I could move it around easier, but because of the size and weight of the blower, it is still pretty awkward.

It does do the job of sucking up and mulching your leaves. The mulching blade seems to be pretty solid and made of a metal material, not plastic. Over all, if mulching the leaves is your main desire and you are able to handle the weight, I would recommend this except for seniors.

Two Star Reviews:

5%
WORX WG430
May 13, 2014
The plastic piece that attaches to the motor broke with in 2 weeksthe two star rating is more for the unsatisfactory customer serviceI called waited on hold for a hour left a call back number, they call back a hour latertried to blame me for being to rough on it and if it my fault its not covered on the 3 year warrantyafter a little debate if it is covered they agreed to sent me a new part if I give them $19.40 for shippingI could forgive the broken piece things sometime happen. after all its not the most expensive tool out thereI am keeping my $19.40 and not buying WORX again. well a least I have a three legged leaf bag holder.
Waste of time and money
December 2, 2013
For once I was fooled by previous reviews....this product is exactly what you pay for. Wet leaves? Forget about it...this product becomes useless as it will clog up and not work. Here's the thing...for all the effort you put into compacting your leaves...is it really worth it? You can buy leaf bags at the Home Repair stores for very little and spend less time filling them. The stand that comes with this mulcher/shredder is too low to allow you to put the common leaf bag under it, meaning you have to buy cinder blocks or something compatible to raise it higher and make it work. That's a low price, yet still something they should have thought of.Next, you definitely need a filter mask to use this tool...the dust it makes is ridiculous.I feel like I wasted my money. The same energy used to put leaves into this mulcher can be applied to put leaves directly into a lawn bag. Sure...I don't get the same efficiency of space, but I do spend less time getting the job done for a few pennies more.
Not mulching as advertised
November 18, 2013
I'd like to know what leaves they used to compare their ratio of 11 bags to 1 from. I have elm, pine, maple, popular, oak, and a couple others in my yard so I am overwhelmed in leaves. I already had about 40 full bags of leaves that I needed to mulch, however my ratio was FAR lower than advertised. I used 33 gallon lawn bags with the mulcher. It took only 2 1/2 bags of dried leaves to run through the mulcher until the lawn bag was full. I may as well pay to have the bags hauled off instead of taking the time to mulch them. I think this machine is more for small yards with very few trees.Also this machine is pretty loud. It kicks out a lot of dust, dirt and debris from the funnel at the top. So not only do you need to wear a mask, safety glasses, and hearing protection, but also long sleeves and a baseball cap to help keep the dirt off.
Barely works
June 26, 2013
I purchased the Worx mulcher/shredder to shred my lawn waste for use in my compost bin. The description promised to shred leaves and small twigs which is all I need for my garden.The unit was easy to assemble and took no time at all and also required no tools, so I started with a positive. But it was all downhill from there. The shredding bin is much wider in diameter than the effective shredding diameter of the plastic shredding lines, plus it has huge gaping holes in the bottom. Combined with the wind generated by the spinning lines pushing most of what I tossed in out to the edges, roughly 75% of the leaves I threw in and nearly every single twig that went through came out entirely in tact. Even after repeatedly running the material through the shredder (which you really shouldn't have to do in the first place), I think I was able to shred maybe 50% of my leaves (and still none of the twigs) before giving up.It's too late for me to return it (entirely my fault), and now I'm even having trouble giving it away. Do not purchase this unit, it does not do its job.
Yes, it mulches leaves, but not really live oak leaves.
April 2, 2013
It needs several improvements to do an effective job.I bought it for mulching some live oak leaves. They all drop at the same time and I've got a dozen large trees. In a typical year I'd get 30-40 bags of leaves for the trash man. With a 10 to 1 ratio that would reduce the bag count from 40 to maybe 5.It was easy enough to set up, and use, but it's major flaws are:a) no way to adjust the opening in the unit to control the size of the mulch being produced. Live oak leaves are relatively small and tough. Most of the leaves just fall through the large openings unmulched. I was looking for a size between a dime and a nickel after mulching to allow me to use it for some mulch under my trees.b) the small flimsy plastic string is not strong enough to stand more than a couple of runs of leaves. And any twigs introduced only add the to problem. Which means you will be buying a lot of string. And they don't appear long enough to reach the far edge of the unit. Again leaves go unmulched.This unit might work well for large soft leaves like Maples, but it won't work for live oaks.Consider a mulching mower blade or another mulching unit altogether.I'm not sure I can get my money back but if not, I've got some ideas I can try to improve the results. If they work, I'll report them here.
Disappearing leaves
October 18, 2012
I put the machine together and got ready to test. I have some banana trees and the leaves fill a garbage can real quick. I put one leaf in and turned to get another. When I looked back the first leaf had disappeared. Where could it have gone. The adds say 11 to 1 compression. Not banana leaves, more like 100 to one. I have a lot of fruit trees and I use grass clipping, leaves and tree trimming for mulch and fertilzer. This works great. You should see the size and quanity of my fruit. I had a schreder and mulcher before but I put orange branches in it and that was the end of my Black and Decker schreder. Black and Decker did not support the repair. It broke the bearings and burned up the motor on my B&D unit. This machine goes thru stringer line kind of fast when used with branches. But Home Depot has new line rather cheap compared with buying that line that comes with the machine.I bought a garbage pail and put it under the machine. It collects my schreded stuff and allows me to spread it around the gardern.EDIT: After using it for a while I have found that this thing is usless for anything but small jobs with leafs only.. The slightest twig will break the leading strilng cutter. The training string cutter will just break itself immediately. The 13 inch string folds in two. See the illustration in the add for how it is assemble. I tried larger string (comes with .080 and I tried 0.095) and found no difference in performance. If you have much work to do you need to go to HomeDepot and by a large spool of string.EDIT 2: I called the company and asked for help. I asked it there was some way to add a steel blade. They said no. My leaf eater should be renamed string eater. I tried steel wire and it cut beautifully for 15 seconds and then the wires dissapeared like the string. The customer service at the company stated my leaves are to strenous for it. Or may it is not suitable for my work. I tried tying the string together where it comes out of the center disk and it helped a little but not much.
3%
Two Stars
August 23, 2017
the vacuum feature is not easy. much easier to use a shop vac
very difficult to open leaf bag. machine is extremely ...
January 5, 2017
very difficult to open leaf bag. machine is extremely heavy and after a few hours I had severe pain in elbows.
Product recall offered me a repacement part...but they never sent it. Apparently the blade attatchment falls off and has an risk of injury.
Won't mulch live oak leaves.... and just not very powerful.
March 17, 2016
I bought this based on all the good reviews, but it doesn't really mulch live oak leaves, and it's not powerful at all compared to my old blower that broke. :( I'm disappointed, but it's too late to return it and it does partially work -- just not as well as the reviews made it sound. I'll attach photos of the leaves before and after "mulching" them with this mulcher... No difference really between the "mulched" live oak leaves in the tub and the leaves still on the ground. :( I've concluded that it's actually easier just to scoop up the live oak leaves and not attempt to use the mulcher. This seemed to work better on leaves from my crepe myrtle trees, which aren't as tough as live oak leaves.
If you are considering this a a leaf vacuum, don't bother
January 9, 2016
If you are considering this a a leaf vacuum, don't bother. It simply does not have the power to handle more than the tiniest of jobs and you will be wasting your money. It clogs easily and can't handle small twigs and other common yard debris that you will typically will find mixed among the leaves. However as a blower it works quite well, but the on/off button is not ergonomically designed for quick shut off and requires a second hand.
Very poor quality bag - I would not buy this item ...
January 6, 2016
I've used the for the spring and fall season now in CT. I read a few reviews prior to purchase and noticed that one review mentioned that the bag does not last long. That is absolutely correct. The bag is torn just with normal use. Very poor quality bag - I would not buy this item again, though I am now stuck with it, and looking for a replacement bag...

One Star Reviews:

6%
Is it April Fool's Day? 'Cause this is a bad joke.
August 1, 2016
OMG. This seems like a bad joke. First off, the orange ring that's designed to hold the bag does not fit! On the largest hole, it's much too small. You have to toss it & use it without the ring. What the heck? Secondly & most important, the leaves are coming out about the same size as they went in. They are dry myoporum leaves about 3" long. Should just crumble. I can't believe this is even on the market. Now, I've got to package it up & return it which will be no easy chore. So disappointed. The ring won't fit & the leaves don't shred. Crazy!
Stopped working in 10 minutes
March 26, 2016
I assembled my WORX WG430 leaf shredder this after noon. Easy enough assembly. No tools required. I read the instructions for use very carefully. Didn't "stuff" the machine with leaves, etc. The first 10 minutes of operation went very well. Leaves shredded nicely. Me, whistling a happy tune. Sun nice and bright. After ten minutes of use, the machine stopped functioning. More precisely, the shredder's electric motor lost 90 percent of its speed and, thusly, its power to shred leaves--which was the whole point of the purchase, wasn't it? At the present time, it won 't shred the wings on a moth. Luckily moths are not a current problem on my property. So now I can grab the rotating portion of the motor and stop it from rotating using my thumb and one finger. Easy. So there we have it. Monday, I shall call WORX's customer service and see what they say, how to ship it back, get all the right numbers on the return address, and figure out another way how to clean up the leaves in my yard. In other words, it will be a big pain in the butt to get this purchase rectified and get my money back. And that's how I spent my Saturday. How about you?
Disappointment
November 16, 2015
Very slow because you cannot put very many leaves in at a time. Rather labor intensive and the nylon stands do not last very long. Had to replace them after just four bags full. Doesn't mulch the leaves as much a I thought they would, whole leaves get through quite frequently.
The concept is good but the execution is flawed
November 13, 2015
I can't believe the positive reviews posted here on Amazon. If you want one of these you're welcome to have mine. Otherwise this one's going to the trash!The concept is good but the execution is flawed. This shredder is fairly sturdy but it has a hard time shredding leaves and debris. especially if they are the least bit damp. If they're dry, it creates a dust storm of pollen so wear a mask if you're brave enough to try it. A complete waste of money.
Don't bother, does NOT mulch leaves
April 4, 2015
I purchased last month and just got to use today. Leaves just spin around the top due to the blower, and do NOT break down. I thought maybe I was using "girly" handfuls; no change when I used more or less. Trying to mulch oak leaves....picture shows how it actually "mulched". Returning if I can. What a waste.
Not worthwhile
October 21, 2013
The idea of shredding your leaves for faster compost is a good one....but this is not the solution. Its way too noisy and dusty to make it practical. Shredding just small amounts of leaves becomes a total nightmare with masses of dust, jams, and racket. I believe the only way to do this properly is to spend the big bucks on a proper commercial quality chipper/shredder....but for my residential backyard I've decided to just improve my composting technique by adding more nitrogen substance such as grass clippings, food scraps (vegetable), and water and I have found the non-shreded leafs are now composting just fine.
9%
Good price suckered me in
June 16, 2016
Tried for cleaning roof gutters, and even waited until leaves dried out. Good price suckered me in, but power of suction very disappointing. Finally went back to a 2.5 hp shop vac working off 10' stepladder using extension hoses to get the job done in this lifetime.
Black & Decker BV6600
May 5, 2016
Cheap made. Way too heavy. BAD
My experience.
Received damaged product, but I won't return the whole ...
March 16, 2016
Received damaged product, but I won't return the whole item as only one part was broken. I want a partial refund or a replacement part
worked great the first year than it just stopped
July 28, 2015
lasted one year stopped working at all not worth the money for one year
Worse than original model
April 25, 2014
Owned original and was basically satisfied, but vac bag wore through. Purchased this newer model which claimed to address bag problem. The new unit clogs constantly. The impeller is smaller than the original, and the shape of the housing is such that there is a 2 inch gap between the impeller and the housing. This size of this gap shrinks around the perimeter, I assume to increase air velocity. But in the gap, mulched leaves collect quickly, to the point where no more leaves can pass through. They cake up and then rub on the impeller slowing it down. Have to turn it off, unplug, remove the impeller cover, and flick out the caked mulch with a screwdriver, because a finger can't get in there. So annoying!! Also, motor is not as powerful as old one, and smaller impeller. More mph, yes (made by smaller aperture) , but less air volume, so a net loss in usefulness. Blower does not work as well as old. I have returned new model, and just purchased replacement bag for old unit.
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Pricing info
Old Price
Old Price
Price
Price
$169.99updated: Mar 19, 2020
$106.65updated: Mar 20, 2020
Features
Answered Questions
Answered Questions
Article Number
Article Number
7123290540360
0885911317313
Binding
Binding
Lawn & Patio
Lawn & Patio
Brand
Brand
Worx
Black & Decker
Currency
Currency
USD
USD
Formatted Price
Formatted Price
$169.99
$160.62
Manufacturer
Manufacturer
Positec/Worx - Lawn & Garden
Black & Decker Outdoor
Model
Model
WG430
BV6600
MPN
MPN
WG430
BV6600R
Number of Parts
Number of Parts
WG430
BV6600R
Product Group
Product Group
Lawn & Patio
Lawn & Patio
Product Type
Product Type
OUTDOOR_LIVING
OUTDOOR_LIVING
Publisher
Publisher
Positec/Worx - Lawn & Garden
Black & Decker Outdoor
Quantity
Quantity
1
1
Reviews
Reviews
Score
Score
8.4
8.6
Studio
Studio
Positec/Worx - Lawn & Garden
Black & Decker Outdoor
Warranty
Warranty
2 year warranty
2 year limited warranty
Feature
Feature

Flex-a-line bladeless mulching

High mulch efficiency - 53 gallons per minute

Tool free quick assembly, easy convenient storage

11:1 mulch ratio turns big piles into small ones

Tool-less cutting line replacement, uses .090-inch x 13-inch trimmer line

The 12 amp motor operates a 3-in-1 blower, vacuum and mulcher all in one

250 mph blower with variable speed selections

Disposable leaf bag system

Can grind up to 16 bags of mulch down to one

Tool-free changing between vacuum and blower

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