Side by Side Comparison of: Snow Joe vs GardenMate

I gave this 5 stars keeping price in mind. This product is consumer grade for sure, it would not hold up to commercial use but I'm sure I will get years of use out of it. It works VERY well, even consumes relatively small sticks and branches. It did arrive with an issue with one of the legs. It caused a bit of extra work using it but I was able to get through the job. I checked with Amazon and all I could do was return or replace. Way overkill given it only needs a replacement leg. I called Snow Joe and explained the issue and my problem with Amazon solutions. They cheerfully sent me a new leg. Snow Joe is the type of people I want to deal with.

Did not get to use it for weeks because of the rain we were having but when we used it today----WOW! We have never been able to mulch oak leaves because they take so long to breakdown. Today they are are covering our newly planted flower garden, Even the wet leaves were chopped.This is the first time we have loved a leaf mulched.Bought one years ago that didn't work for 30 min and jammed up and we took it bak.SunJoe Shredder is as advertised and we could not be more pleased!!!

I contacted the company and they were amazing. I was contacted the next morning and they found my order and I only had about 3 days left on the warranty....no problem. They sent me a new machine and it works great. Evidently I just got a lemon and I know that happens. I received it late Friday evening and we put it together this afternoon (Sunday) and I've been shredding leaves for my front flower beds. The medium setting is perfect for mulching. So I've changed my review from a two star to a five star mainly because of the company. For the price I think this is a great little machine....I can move it around where needed.I purchased this last year and after one bag of dry leaves, it quit. Fortunately, my neighbor was shredding leaves and let me use his machine. This product went back in the box in the garage and we forgot about it. I got it out a couple of days ago and it continually quits after a few handful of leaves....wet or dry. It really is the most unreliable piece of gardening equipment I have ever owned.

It worked right out of the box. For men 60 year old this is like a second set of hands all I gotta do is gather them up and you know throw them in the device. You know the rest you're done.Well I've had at six months now. Its not the great for branches device because today was the fall day in Michigan. Leaves every where the is not device is not durable enough. I'm shock that it stop working the shaft doesn't propelled the nylon string. I'm going to open it and check it out. I purchase this and didn't get the warranty. Wanted see how it would work under pressure it didnt last continually. I'm going update the post so stay tune. Ok here you go. I've a working musician I don't have a lot of time. It's a year and a half later. I just called Sun Joe and they told it had two warranty on purchase you can call them to confirm this. I sent them the barcode of the device. Nicole was very cool awesome sauce kind of person. Told me they'll send me a new one. I have to drop off the old to UPS. "Who Ya Gonna Call" Sun Joe Support Nicole is awesome.

This shredder has done all I have asked of it. It really wasn't that bad to put together and was reasonably well packaged. I have ran it for four hours almost non-stop (except to change bags) on two separate days without any sign of a problem. I have been feeding it oak and other hardwood leaves and so far the strings hold up for about two hours at a time. I use leaf scoops to push the leaves side to side in the hopper and that seems to increase the feed rate. Sometimes a tossing motion also helps. Be sure to use a dustmask and earplugs while using it. The hopper/guard does a really good job of preventing debris from flying back out but it still happened once or twice to me. Safety glasses would also be a good idea for that reason.One minor problem is that there is a lot of dust escape from the slot that the shred size selector sits in making it harder to stand upwind from the dust. I will probably try taping that over since I will only be doing fine shred in the future. Also, It doesn't tell you how to attach bags in the directions. There is a piece of bungee that loops around the unit. I've found that pulling the bag through the three sections that loop up/over the plastic only works best. If you pull far enough it snugs the bag up against the in between sections.I used the shredder on my leaf blower last year which made twice as many bags as this year so 16:1 reduction is fairly accurate.

After some online research looking at Flowtron and WORX, I concluded that Flowtron burns out motors too fast, and WORX does not have an adjustment for how finely or coarsely it shreds the leaves, and the gauge of the trimmer line it uses is too small. Since the first problem with the WORX was not that big a problem for me, and there was a simple modification described to retrofit the WORX to use a heaver line, and I have a WORX blower/vac combination that has worked well for several years, I decided to order the WORX. As I was in the process of placing the order, an add for the Snow Joe shredder popped up. I was not previously aware of it's existence, but I bought a Snow Joe electric chain saw last year and was very impressed with both the quality of the saw and the service from the company. Looking into the Snow Joe, I found that it used the heavier gauge shredding line, and had an adjustment for fine/coarse shredding. I changed my order to the Snow Joe. With Amazon Prime it came in two days. It was well packaged, assembled easily (10 minutes), and ran for about 6 hours over 2 days producing about 10 large trash bags of finely mulched oak leaves. It handled twigs in the leaves up to about a quarter of an inch in diameter with no problem. Adding bigger twigs forces you to change out the shredding lines more frequently. I replaced the mulching lines 3 times during the entire shredding process. Line replacement is simple (5 minutes) and does not require any tools. Overall the shredder worked very well. It shredded levees about as fast as I could bend down and pick them up out of a pile and load them in the shredder. My experience is with dry oak leaves, and for those, the shredder worked great. When I was done, I found that the shredder disassembles easily and packs into a very small volume for storage.

Wow, I accidentally ordered the 72...and the 72 can hold A LOT. I originally planned to use these for grass clippings, but since I ordered it in the wrong size, I'm planning on using these to hold aluminium cans. I think they're great for storing/holding things. They seem sturdy, like they'll hold for a long time.One thing though, is that inserting the plastic piece into the rim to keep it open is tedious. You only have two holes next to each other, the beginning and the end. And then you also have to work around the handles and the crinkles in the bag which is hard to press through. I think it took me like 15 minutes just to get one in to standing.Overall, yes I would order it again, hopefully in the right size!

5 stars for GardenMate's service.They first sent me a confirmation email that my order was shipped. Then when I needed more of the black strips that get fed through the top that keeps the opening firm, they compensated me with a complete new order. LADIES.. you should order these 16 gallon bags, they aren't just for men! You will find them helpful for so many things. Like wet beach towels or sandy toys from a day at the beach; or keeping purchases contained in your trunk; like groceries that may produce condensation. Or place one right in your grocery cart. They have, as the picture shows, great handles and even side handles on the bottom. There are 3 sturdy green waxy coated bags that stand on their own. And they come in several sizes, and they are folded nicely and packaged in a nice gift giving "display" type bag for all those guys too on Father's day. In case you are wondering what size to get, I'd suggest the 16 gallon like I purchased(5'2"). Nice wide opening and won't be too heavy when full. My family are boaters and RV'ers....so they will be put to good use this summer.

These bags are deceptively huge, which is great for all the yard waste I have. They stand up and open on their own. I can sit on the ground and weed and they're just short enough to allow me to toss the waste in from sitting. The opening is really wide so that helps in my poor aim sometimes.I do drag full bags on my gravel driveway, and they've survived for now, but I shouldn't make a habit of that since they're not hard bottomed. I've been leaving them out in the elements and haven't noticed any degradation, though I've just been using these for maybe 2 months now in a Vermont summer.They are difficult to transport when full if you have a small hatchback, as a bag is about the height of the cabin. With my passenger seat down and rear seats removed I might be able to cram all 3 bags full in my Nissan Versa. Last time I brought one to the dump I found a tree frog stuck to the outside as I was dumping it out. The froggy then jumped off there so I hope he's OK in his new environment.I'm a cheapskate so I was hesitant to buy 3 bags for $20, but I'm glad I was a baller. Though I do see other sellers selling the exact same bags, and just one of them, for more than the cost of this 3 pack.Photo is for size comparison. I don't know how many gallons the red plastic barrel on the left is but I think a lot of people know it's a jumbo one that could fit an adult inside, and on the right is a big HD yard debris paper bag. I feel like the green bag wins though in how much it actually holds. I love that it's easily reusable, I can wash it out if it gets muddy, and the handles are super strong. They're also placed in really great places, as there's one near the bottom which makes it so much easier to empty.I plan on getting more for garbage and recyclables, and actually laundry would be helpful since I'm way backlogged with that. It's nice they can be all compacted down when not in use, just should take out the flexible plastic insert at the top.

What a relief that I now can handle my recycling containers when I need them. I have gotten rid of all of the tuff rubber containers and only open up my new reuseable containers one at a time. When I have emptied the recycling I refold the containers restoring the area to a nice looking space. Easy to use, sturdy, and well made. I am limited to lifting five pounds or less which is no problem for the heavy weight green containers which are far less than five pounds each. I also saved big bucks with these green containers. I gave away the expensive heavy grey tiff containers to those that felt the need to have the bulky garbage containers that crack in cold weather and often get over stuffed. Try the green --you won't be sorry.

Great leaf bags. Makes the job of getting rid of leaves easier. My wife pointed out they would be good for storing attic stuff in since they are easily written on to label the contents. Sturdy bag appears to be durable. The ring that holds the bag open is inserted in the top and you need to look closely to find the openings to insert the ring in. Well worth the money which is reasonable.

These bags are wonderful! They were easy to assemble and arrived quickly. The material is thick and durable. It is strong enough to drag around the yard and hold a significant amount of yard waste, but light enough to not be too heavy to carry. I anticipate that they will last me a long time. They stand nicely with the plastic piece in the top, making tossing waste inside easy.

This performs the intended job but there are two additional purchases I would recommend to make the work substantially easier. Since this does not use a blade whose spinning suction would pull the leaves into it, once a bunch of leaves are placed into it hopper they will not be drawn down. I found my self constantly using some form of "plunger implement to the force the leaves down. If pushed too far into the hopper the spinning tines hit it and snap off. If the leaves are wet this issue is compounded. The solution I found is to purchase "Amazing Rake RK31010 17" Green 3-in-1 Ergonomic Pickup Rake with Telescopic Handle" sold by Amazon. It both is used to pick-up the leaves and when turned on its side to deposit the leaves in the hopper it end makes a perfect "leaf plunger" . Its end length is just short enough so as not to hit the spinning tines. Others have noted that wet leaves are a problem. Using this rake in its "plunger" mode allows wet or dry leaves to be shredded at almost the same rate. Second, as I understand, most people are placing a garbage can under the shredder. The problem is the space between the can and the shredder base allows a lot of the shredded leaves to blow back out of the can making a cloud of leaf dust. This gets into your lungs and requires one to use a mask to do the shredding. Additionally leaf dust builds up all around the shredder. My solution was to purchase "Large Laundry Bag with Adjustable Shoulder Strap, Commercial Grade 100% Nylon (30 X 40 Inches)", also supplied by Amazon. It fits around the bottom of the shredder and thus almost totally stops leaf dust from escaping. When the shredding is complete the bag is removed and has a shoulder strap to aid in carrying the leaf shreds to your mulch pile. The two items makes the leaf shredding significantly easier.

Really love how great it is for mulching leaves and the small storage footprint. But, the legs just don't stay extended. I was only able to get two of the three inserted with a 'click' and all three (even after being tightened with pliers) stay extended during use. That's my only complaint. Otherwise, I've gone from 12 paper lawn bags of leaves to none. I use the leaves to add to my compost and mulch my flowerbeds. Because of the smaller size, the bed leaves started breaking down in less than a week. Great unit.

Here's my take on the shredder. I'm reviewing it versus a gas-powered chipper/shredder I was using. It did exactly what I wanted. I am inundated with leaves and get overwhelmed by the time they all fall. I wanted to be able to rake the grass part of the yard every week or so and get rid of those leaves. I always had to have my husband around with the chipper/shredder to crank it first and help move it around or restart it if it quits (you know carburetors). I could handle this one by myself. I did wet leaves as it had rained and it did great! I followed directions and threw in a handful at a time. My husband had done some dry ones a week or so ago and said he had to have a "pusher" stick to get the leaves in. The wet ones went in fine. They did not create as much dust either. The shredder does NOT do twigs or acorns (which I also have a lot of). I picked out the biggest twigs and tossed them in a separate bucket. You definitely SHOULD WEAR EYE PROTECTION as the hopper is not closed and any twigs/acorns that do get in can be thrown back out at high speeds. It was much easier working with this than my old chipper/shredder.

So far so good. I use dry leaves and watch that no big twigs/sticks get in. The legs do come loose. We attach a plastic garage bag with the bungee cord provided and this works well. Wear ear and eye protectors. It is loud. I'm happy with the fineness of the mulch. This is important to me. I go fairly slow and don't push the motor.Update on 11/03/16. Well, we just got it out for this Fall's leaves and it worked for only a few minutes then stopped. We cleaned the filters and blew out dust etc. Looked at the motor--all the wires looked okay. Can not get it to run. So, will see what the company says. I'm disappointed because we treated it very carefully; never using it for long minutes at a time. Using only dry leaves, etc.

I have put about 6 hours on this unit, 2 hours a day whenever I could catch a "Non Windy Day!" here in Kansas!! Hard to shred when the wind is blowing 30 mph. As for the unit I have had no problems mechanically with it, in fact, I have shredded several full bags of leaves, yes I have a ton of leaves, and still have not replaced lines. I'm careful to remove or try and remove anything that will chew the lines up. It is a little slow, just because of the feed factor. You dump a load in the hopper then you have to tap them in with the rake or your hand. Other than that it gets with the program. It's light, which is another reason I don't even try to chip on a windy day, light as I can pick it up with one hand very easily, which makes it tippey. I would have given 5 stars but the legs have a tendency to slide back down, I solved this with Gorilla Tape, no sliding now!! Between me and my brother and a neighbor I should have enough mulch next year to rule the world, at least the garden. I think it's worth the money, assembly is a snap, you are up and running in about 15 minutes. Can't give a ruling on changing line, because I haven't had to.

This is our first leaf shredder product, bought based on its apparent simplicity and low price. We have generally not been disappointed. We have about 7 mature trees - maples, hemlocks, ash and pecan, plus several fruit trees, and it handles all of them, reducing their leaves surprisingly quickly to about 25 to 30 (not finished yet) 39 gal. bags, which are going on our garden. It handles pecan leaves with their tough stems with no problem, and very small twigs also. Yes, it is noisy but not outrageously so. The cutting lines are pretty easy to replace. The original lines go pretty quickly and seem to be only available from Snowjoe. .105 inch lines from MaxiEdge are my choice for substitutes - they have the advantage of price, improved cutting, and longer life.The hardware is, of course, cheap. The switch has already failed, after a couple of weeks of intermittent use. After hearing that they would send me a replacement switch "if the part is in stock" I thought "not likely" so I bypassed it and now use an external switch. This is probably not a good product for someone who is unable to take care of issues like this. if you buy it, save the box for shipping it back for warranty repairs!

I have these bags in about three different sizes. You could haul a couple of bodies into the woods in these. They are HUGE. I am moving and I have found these to be handy for all kinds of stuff. When I actually start hauling stuff between houses, these will be great for stuffing things like pillows and bedding into to transport.Funny thing... They work great for yard work, too. I do like the smaller ones for yard work, though, since it is too easy for me to overfill these and make them too heavy for me to maneuver around and into my truck.These are great bags. Really glad I bought them. Lots of ways to use them.

These bags are bigger than I expected and hold an amazing amount of yard waste. I volunteer doing beach and road side cleanups so I added a shoulder strap to one of these bags and it worked great. Much easier than using a 5 gallon bucket and a lot longer before I had to empty it. Only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is I am not sure how durable to the bottom will be but I am very hopeful. If it holds up well, I will come back and give fit upgrade my rating. Great quality, great value - I recommend these.

Bought these at the end of the summer last year for fall lawn clean-up. They are light-weight, work pretty well. I have used them quite a bit without much wear. But the nicest surprise I had was being able to put one over a half-barrel that I am using as my patio herb and veggie garden during a recent late freeze. It fit perfectly and my tender edibles were safe and intact.The only reason I took away a star is because sometimes when I begin using the bag, it doesn't stand up very well...makes work more challenging when it collapses just as I am about to place debris inside. Once it is about 1/3 full, it stands easily on its own. Overall, I am very pleased and would purchase them again, especially to use during a brief late freeze or frost.

These bags hold a lot. I emptied a large, outdoor, plastic trash bag full of leaves into it and was only about half full. I purchased these to replace my old green, recycling bag. With any bag like this, I think I will have to be a bit careful not to overfill it or punch a stick through. But they are sturdier than I expected (especially for the price.) The only thing I am not thrilled with is that they come with a black plastic piece that you need to thread through holes at the top. It holds the bags open at the top and is reasonably easy to thread . But I haven't figured out a good way to store the bags with the large hoops in them. And it would be annoying to take out the hoops all of the time. You could also leave the hoops off if you need to store them smaller. It would just make them a little more difficult to load. But still easier than a trash bag.

These bags are perfect for my needs but not really heavy duty as advertised. If Gardenmate would remove the words Heavy Duty from the description I would give this five stars. As others have pointed out the fabric is too flimsy to support the claim they are heavy duty. That said I was aware of this before I purchased and as I am using them for storage instead of lifting I felt comfortable buying them. If you use them to lift dry leaves and small branches you will be okay. Wet leaves may cause them to tear or at least wear out quickly.I had an issue with only receiving two bags instead of three. I reached out to Gardenmate and they promptly responded offering a 1/3rd cost refund. I am using this to buy another pack of bags.

I ordered the 3 pack of 16 gal. bags. Arrived yesterday, in use today. They are adequate--I am using them for weeding and leaves. Would not want to risk a rip by loading up completely with really heavy soil, rocks, etc., but some heavy materials should be OK. I like the way the top stays open. Handles made of sturdy webbing and are reinforced/stitched to bags. Will have to use them more to see if they hold up. They are OK, and I knew they were "lightweight" when I ordered them; they seem OK for my intended use, and better made than I expected..

Fairly easy to unpack and assemble. Telescoping legs must be tighted down hard, else they start to lose height. Could be taller so standard landscape recycling bags would fit underneath without crumpling up. Had to cut them down to size (argh!). The elastic band around the bottom which is supposed to seal the bag tight doesn't work well at all. Lots of leaf dust blowing out any open area that's not sealed up. Putting leaves into the hopper requires some pushing into the funnel area, especially if the leaves are large like mine. So it chops up the leaves into a pretty finely ground up mass, but blow back up thru the funnel is substantial. I was covered with fine dust during just a minute or two of use. Sealing the bottom bag is critical to reduce this. Make absolutely sure to wear safety glasses when using this thing.

It was very easy to put together out of the box.I like the concept and I think overall it works good but the string wears down pretty quickly. I've only used it one day for an hour or two so and I think the string that shreds the leaves (it uses thick nylon string like a weed whacker) needs changing already. I did have a lot of twigs mixed in with the leaves though. And the legs need to be adjusted and re-tightened as the vibration jars them loose. But over all I was able to shred a very large area of leaves down to one giant plastic bag.

it does a fair job of reducing leaves to mulch, needs consent force to feed into ridiculous small funnel opening leaves do not just fall in like they should. any input of dry leaves with wet leaves just clogs the cutting beyond belief. needs to be shut off and cleared by hand more then it's worth trying to mix any damp leaves into it.. beware if you do the whole 40 / 50 gallon bag and fill them, they will be heavier and your trash collector may not take them

Overall, an okay leaf mulcher. The motor is very strong and the included trimmer string is thick enough to easily chop up small sticks. There is a sliding knob on the side to adjust the mulch consistency for dry leaves, wet leaves, ect. but the vibrations of the motor running will move it on its own. I taped it down, not really a big issue. The legs are adjustable but, even tightened down hard, still slip occasionally when relocating the unit. Also, the bag is held in place with a bungee style cord around the bottom and it can be annoying to get the bag on all the way around. My neighbor has the Wox mulcher and I feel it is an easier to use system.

I was apprehensive about buying this because I read reviews that said the shredder worked fine for a short while and then just quit. I bought it anyway, and sure enough, it quit working on the third day I was using it. I was intent of finishing the job and I happen to be an electrician, so I did a little troubleshooting. Provided the motor was functional, I assumed I could fix or replace a bad switch or circuit breaker; those are the only components. All three are exposed by removing the bottom cover. I was a little concerned to see how much dust and debris had collected inside in just a few days use; a lot had collected around the motor brushes. I cleaned it out with compressed air and quickly determined that the problem was the double pole on/off switch. However, only one side of the switch was bad, so for a quick fix I rewired it as a single pole switch. I used the shredder several more times without issues. Now that I'm done for the season, I removed the cover cleaned out the motor compartment - it was full of debris and dust - and removed the switch so I can get a replacement. I suspect the switch is the issue with other buyers who say the machine stops working. I might just a heavy duty toggle switch. Even if you don't have trouble with the switch, I recommend removing the bottom cover for cleaning. Another problem is the adjustment on the leg extensions. The locks don't hold very well. I used electrical tape to hold them in place.

Overall the thing works.I didn't have problems assembling the thing (unlike others). But I can confirm the extendable legs' fixtures may not hold well in place. You need to apply extra (not excessive, though) force to tighten them up.It can shred leaves (both dry and wet ones) pretty effectively. The 16:1 reduction rate is an overstatement, though. I could barely see about 3:1 (at most). I guess, this ratio represents the number of shredded bags of leaves I will get out of the original volume. No, nowhere close to that.12 gal/min shredding speed seems to be a little exaggerated, too. It took us about an hour to get through two 50 gal bags (and there were 2 of us working).Also, not sure about the shredding speed. You can get a 'continuous' shredding only if you put a handful of leaves in (literally), any more and you gotta wait until they're done.The whole body is plastic and the security cover is held in place by plastic pieces. It's not easy to get the cover off without braking those small plastic pieces. I already (after 3 uses) have one broke off.The overall process gets really messy. The dust will cover you head to toe, so make sure you wear your work clothes (I really mean that).And, of course safety glasses and gloves are a must. Sometimes small pieces fly back out, so safety first! Oh, and it makes perfect sense to get those dust masks (not to breath that dust which flies around).As it was mentioned, the protective cover of the on/off buttons is not too soft, so turning the thing on/off with your gloves on is a bit hard.The shredded is pretty noisy. Make sure you don't work too late.Now, the plastic line used to shredding is okay against plain leaves. If you start getting twigs, the line breaks pretty quickly. It gets shorter and shorter and you start getting leaves accumulating under the cover. Yes, it can handle thin twigs, but at a cost. And you have to replace the line more often.Basically, it's not a bad thing. But given the ratios above (and extra time to shred, and the cost of electricity) you better do you math if you need those savings or just want to have your leaves collected w/o shredding. By the way, you can't have a full 50 gal bag of shredded leaves, it's too heavy and most likely won't be picked up by your refuse service.I guess, if you only need to shred some leaves for your compost heap or to add to mulch it may make sense to get something cheaper.And if you're looking to save on leaf bags... not sure if this will deliver huge savings.

In the picture they look like they are free standing, but they are not.

This is a great size for a reusable bag, but the material seems cheap. About 4 times of use with occasionally dragging them around I now have several holes. They are nice but I would not buy them again

Great bags that come with plastic wire loop to hold them open (I didn't read that in the ad). Unfortunately, upon first pull of lower handle, it ripped right off one of them. I didn't pull on the other two. They served my purpose very well. The three filled with mulch equals one cubic yard of mulch.

Excellent product. Light weight, sturdy, good price. Works great as a yard maintenance bag. Handle at bottom helps dump it.This is an update to my prior review above. The bottom of these bags needs to be reinforced. Multiple holes appeared after about 12 months of limited use. Had to throw away. reduced rating from 5 to 3 stars because of this.

Bought 6 of them. Pros: easy to carry and light Cons: It does not last long, averaging 1 per month due to tear at 1/4 way from the top. It would be better if stronger material is used and the bag is 5 inches shorter.

Update 10/9/2016: Unfortunately, I have to downgrade this product due to some quality issues. I purchased the 3-pack in July and used them once a week for about a month, then took a break. I picked up where I left off yesterday and noticed that the bag seemed to have some shredding towards the top. I figured I'd keep an eye on it but the situation quickly deteriorated. The bag developed an approximately 4 inch gash while I was using it. I see the same markings on another bag. While initially the product worked well, quality control seems to be an issue. The product should certainly last more than a couple of months. Disappointing...My backyard had been overrun with weeds and other living things that tend to take over when you're not paying attention. Using lawn & garden bags was an effort in futility so I decided to look for something much more useful.The GardenMate 3 pack Reusable Garden Leaf Waste bags are exactly what I needed! I knew I had a lot of yard waste but wasn't sure that I would actually need 3, 72 gallon bags. The price convinced me to take a chance. I'm so glad that I did!I have filled up each of the 3 bags that I have and could use even more. The wide opening has made the job so much faster and easier. Since I'm only using them to hold lightweight yard waste such as leaves and weeds, even when full, they have not been too heavy for me to carry. My backyard includes a small hill and I've been able to carry them downhill without a problem. They seem very well made, although I wouldn't test the limits by putting sharp objects such as nails in them.

I received it and assembled it. The first thing that I noticed was one of the support legs was missing a rubber cap on one end designed to keep soil out of the leg. Unlike the other two legs it also was jammed and I had to play with it for several minutes in order to free it. (Where's the QC department?) I started using the shredder and it worked fine - for about 45 minutes. Unfortunately it stopped working when I turned it on again (I suspect the switch). when it was working it did a very nice job on shredding dry leaves. Too bad it died because I probably would have given it 4 stars otherwise. I got it today and am returning it tomorrow.

The shredder did a good job of taking care of leaves but it stopped working after the second time it was used. Amazon sent a replacement. I'll wait to see how the new one pans out.

Easy to set up and use but only lased one . It made easy work of last autumn's dry leaves. 2 days of on off use then into garage until this past weekend. One load of slightly wet, slightly fibrous leaves this week and mid load it bound up, and stopped running. It didn't trip the GFI outlet it was plugged into and there doesn't appear to be any fuse or circuit breaker on the shredder. It looks like its shot and of course, despite only 2 days of use, its no longer on brand or Amazon warranty

At this writing I'd rather have the money it cost.I used it once for over an hour and it worked fine; but be prepared for leaf dust "everywhere". The 2nd time I set it up it seemed to work but I forgot my goggles so hit the very loose "Off" switch and could not get it started again even after waiting a while then hitting the "Reset" button, etc.I had a mechanic friend try it a few days later, and after dismantling it and using a "energy indicator" device decided it was toast, and I should return it. Unfortunately, the "Return Window" had just closed and I'm stuck with it. I would not recommend.A wiser purchase would be to buy something this costly from a "real" store so you can return the damn thing.

I have used this through the fall season and here are the results. First it does work but there are issues with this product. When you put the leaves in you usually have a pile in your hands and it doesn't just go in you have to push the leaves through and that means you need a stick or something. I had to be very very careful using this it can be very dangerous. The second issue is mounting this on a plastic garbage can to collect the mulched leaves. It was very hard to keep the two together without one falling over. I never got something that really worked. You can also hang an industrial strength plastic trash bag (Home Depot) under it but it just kept blowing off from the force of the shredder. It also talks about using it to shred sticks, they mean very small sticks. This product is not a rip off but it is very limited in what you can do with it.

It's loud, makes a mess and does what it's advertised to do....for a little while.I have 5 acres and this tool came in handy.Though this chore has to be the worst one here, it really reduces the leaves down to mulch.Make sure you wear eye, hearing, hand and respiratory protection.So far I've used it 3 times for a total of 4.5 hours and changed the cutting strings twice. Only because I accidentally dropped a pinecone in it and tried mulching pine needles. It does have a hard time with pine needles. Just stick a large garbage bag under it using the bungie straps and feed it.A complain about is the adjustable stands have to be really tight or it will start to slip down under its own weight. As far as the 16:1 ratio, I don't know. But what I do know is that HUGE pile of leaves is now gone.Edit: it only lasted 3 times. I went to use it this season. Kept it in the original box in the garage.Got all my gear on. Plugged it in and nothing.I'm handy so I took the motor cover off and saw the cheap Chinese motor.Both rotor and stator wires weren't crimped on the wires.Blew the dust off and it worked again for about 5 minutes before burning itself up.Took the cover off again to see one of the motor brushes completely destroyed in pieces.Really disappointed because it should have lasted longer and for over 100 bucks.

After 3 months of use, one completely tore apart upon trying to empty it at our transfer station. A second one is beginning to tear.Apparently, they only last 3-3months.

Handles tear too easy!! 😩

Great idea fabric to thin. Holes in bottom after one use. Save money and buy thicker fabric one from AM Leonard.

When I first started using these bags I thought they were great, but after a month of using them to store leaves, they are now starting to fall apart at the seems. If you happen to mix in some small twigs in there, expect small holes all over. I would not buy this product again, spend a few extra dollars and get something more heavy duty.

they stand up and hold a lot...problem: seem to rip vertically way too easy and keep ripping. So, good idea but too fragile

The bags are heavy duty and strong. The problem is that the material doesn't hold up to the sun. My plan was to leave a bag in the garden so I could collect trimmings for the mulch pile. Initially I was very happy with my purchase. However after only two months, the bag is falling apart from sun exposure. I was hoping to have something that would last longer and be more attractive than the big black bags I used to use. It is stronger and more attractive, but I think it falls apart even faster in the sun than the cheap plastic bags.

This is seriously a piece of garbage. After 15 minutes of use , I determined it was a complete waste of money . It's a weed wacker , inverted .it can't handle small twigs . I read all the reviews and now I'm sure the reviews were bought and paid for. ( yes I have been contacted several time through email for favorable reviews on Amazon) . It was a cheaply made and the performance is worse . Do not buy this, when you do, feel free to reply to my review and say I should have listened to you!

Fast shipping but assembly was a nightmare, was only able to setup one leg. So decided to just rest over the pail. When I tried to attach the funnel it was too large and did not fit. Had to return and go back to the old method. I was holding off on mulching the leaves waiting for this to arrive. The snow arrived before this did, when the snow melted and I tried to put it together it was a no go.

If you have more than one tree in your yard, don't bother. In fact, if you have one tree, you're better off investing in a blower/vac with a metal impeller. This is basically a weed whacker on legs. You feed the leaves through the shoot and they fall through the spinning nylon line and get shredded. That sounds good, but the nylon line only lasts for a few minutes and then you have to turn it off, remove the feed shoot and replace the line. It's not an automatic feed like a whacker. The little plastic guard over the power switch immediately fell off and was lost and so the leaf dust gets into the switch housing and makes it difficult to switch on and off. I had to break out the screw driver and canned air to open it out and blow out the dust just to be able to turn it on again. And the legs don't stay in position. Tighten them all you want, they will still fall down at different rates. I used this one afternoon and will never use it again. What a waste of money.

*My individual model was not defective. I received a replacement model and it was just as bad and within a few hours of use the engine just died completely. Yes, died.Where to start, where to start. Let me get the very worst out of the way first. There's not much good to say at all but varying degrees of horror dealing with this disaster of a product. After 2 days of use, which was ultimately maybe 10 minutes of the product actually working as near expected and hours of cleaning, repositioning, rechecking the manual, adjusting settings, dealing with the horrible locking feature on the legs, replacing the weed whacker plastic strips after about every 4 handfuls of leaves, the thing died. Completely died.1. Leg locking features is awful. For a product this expensive they could've had the push button and adjust to height locking system you see on a variety of products unfortunately there is a twist locking system which continued to come unlocked during use and nearly caused the system to collapse with the motor running. I checked the locks many times before use, nothing was moving, they were locked in place following exact steps of manual. Unloosening the locks and adjusting to the desired height is a tiresome ongoing process as after you adjust to a certain height you then just see small measurements painted on to go off. Good luck wasting time if you want to even adjust the leg slightly.2. Not sure who this product is for. I have a significant amount of leaves in my yard. I'm seeding in the spring and rather than buy straw I'd prefer to have the shredded leaves over the seed to keep it wet while adding a layer of protection against birds. If you have a small amount of leaves then don't even consider this. Its not worth the time or money. Like everyone else my leaves fall from the branches of trees. Sometimes branches or pieces of branches fall onto the ground as well and unless you are going to handpick every tiny branch out of massive leaf piles you've bought yourself a disastrous product. This thing becomes jammed so easily its mindboggling how this product got approved for wide release manufacture and distribution. I did small handfuls of leaves as the manual states and even this resulted in constant clogging. After about every 5 handfuls I had to make sure it was turned off and reach in and clean out. Don't bother taking the plastic top off because it is not shaped exactly as needed to align easily and when removing as well as attempting to put this back on the experience was 10 times more difficult because the legs kept unlocking.3. You are given a bag of the weed whacker type ties that are used to shred. In the manual it states you should only buy their specially manufactured ties for this product. How nice of them, you think when you realize you've been given 20 extra replacement lines included in your purchase. HA! Small twigs and wet leaves destroy these things easily. Had to replace the ties about every 10 small handfuls. Once again don't bother taking off the plastic tub. Unplug the product and have a screwdriver or small knife handy to remove the ties and replace them. Get used to this process which will waste about 5 mins each time (if you're lucky and the legs don't unlock and adjust while you are attempting to do so.4. The manual says the product requires minimal maintenance. There are several settings, one especially for wet leaves. Only put in 1 handful of wet leaves at a time vs the two handfuls at a time for dry leaves. Even following these instructions it constantly clogged. Unplug the machine, reach your gloved hand in and remove all the dirt, mud and other residue that has built up and once again rendered your machine worthless in a matter of minutes. This debris builds up quickly because for reasons unbeknownst to logic the bottom of this machine doesn't have large openings for material to fall through into the bag. There are four small openings within the plastic piece which cause residue to build up quickly, more easily breaks the plastic ties and takes far longer for the machine to clear and have the leaves placed in the bag. After about 4 attempts of the bag filling up slightly, rubbing the plastic legs and causing them to unlock and add about 10 more minutes off maintenance I said no more bags thinking things would work far better. After not having a bag there you will also realize rather quickly that it doesn't shred the leaves very finely. This would've required me doing about 3 runs of processing on each handful of leaves. More wasted time.5. How valuable is your time??? As said before you probably only need this if you have a lot of leaves. I had cleared about 20 contractor bags of leaves out of the yard before I said, no more trips to the landfill and theres still probably 15-20 contractor bags worth left over. The irony here is if you have minimal leaves you don't need this and if you have a lot of leaves, well this machine is not well built enough, reliable or powerful enough to get the job done. If you have a small amount then just rake them into a bag lined trash can, tie it up and call it a day or mow them and shred in a matter of minutes. You'd even be better off buying a large tub or bucket, dropping the leaves by hand in there and then placing a weed whacker in it . Then repeat that process. That would save you a tremendous amount of time and effort. Oh yeah put in headphones or earplugs because this piece of work is incredibly loud, which was hilarious given how ineffective it was at doing its job and the lack of power it seemed to have. Loud bark and no bite and your neighbors will despise you quickly. The vacuum feature to suck the leaves downward to shred is not as strong as you would think given how loud this baby is and so when you feed leaves be prepared to put your gloved hand or the end of a rake, shovel etc to move the leaves to feed it. This wastes even more time of an already bad process. So the process is this. You'd already need to have leaves raked into piles or maybe in a garbage can. You really cant dump the can into the machine because it will clog. So after you've got your pile ready now you need to grab a handful or two at a time. Wait to see that each handful clears the machine completely and then drop your next handful or two into the plastic tub portion. Make sure that as you wait to drop the next handful you pick out any and all small twigs, debris, roots, etc otherwise its going to get jammed in a matter of minutes. Also, unless your yard is completely flat this is not a real mobile machine. It's light and easy to move but you'll need to go through the cumbersome process of adjusting and readjusting which means bring all your leaves to one large pile or separate into multiple piles throughout but prepare to deal with the adjustment process so the machine will avoid falling over while running.From a value perspective, assuming things worked near as expected this thing is overpriced $120-$150? Should be about $75 tops which you'll realize once you see and feel the material especially with the legs which are of bad material and undersized which makes this a top heavy machine. Expect to spend time and money replacing the shredder lines, prepare to be disappointed about its effectiveness, the waste of your time for a product that was supposed to save you time and be fully aware of your refund deadline.*I decided to let Amazon send a replacement shredder in and effort to determine if mine was defective. I have not used it yet since I received it in the evening however as I am putting it together I am noticing significant scuffs on the funnel/feeder cover portion as well as various yellow discolorations showing on the green plastic. This replacement has clearly been used and then sold and shipped as "New". I will update the review regarding its performance after I test it tomorrow but to have a shoddy product replaced by a refurbished/used model is such a low blow.

Purchased due to the amount of leaves on my property and thought it would save me time. I spent more time trying to get the tripod legs to stop collapsing. The feed of leaves is slow at best. It mulched a total of 8 bags of leaves when the motor seized up, started smelling and just quit working. Very, Very disappointed in this product. Would not recommend to anyone.

Purchased October 31, 2014, received and used it for one-half an hour on November 3, 2014. Easy set-up, seemed to be of decent quality and it worked extremely well for one-half hour of Silver Maple Leaf leaf shredding (taking care not to overload the motor as our tree drops a ton of leaves when it decides it's time). After taking a break for about ten minutes went to restart it and nothing happened. Pushed in the breaker button several times, and still nada. Checked my extension cord and that had power to it. Banged the bottom of the motor with my hand and it sputtered a little and then again nothing. Decided to let it "rest" overnight, and today, ready to start again, I had to grab my rake which was not an epic fail like this..thing is. Returning it of course, and as such I might suggest looking another product if you are in the market Too bad, I had high hopes for this (as did my neighbors who love our tree in the summer but not so much in the fall when it sheds its foliage).

2 out of the 3 bags ripped at the seams during my first use. It was filled with lightweight loose hay. Not heavy at all. I would not recommend this product.

Not happy with this product. After just opening today and the plastic rings practically break in my hands. :-( used for this Summer and the bags ripped. Ugh.

Large enough but not at all like pictured. IT DOES NOT STAND ALONE AT ALL AND IS NO EASIER THAN PUTTING LEAVES DIRECTLY IN A LAWN & LEAF BAG. It comes with a flimsy plastic strap that you have to thread around the pocket on the inside of the top of the bag. There isn't anything provided to clamp the plastic strap so it will recede into the pocket after every use. You might as well just use the plastic leaf bags.

Actually I have been very disappointed with them. I have used them twice to pick up leaves and twigs that blew up onto my patio over the winter. They both have holes in the bottoms. I was expecting them to last a lot longer than this.

Unfortunately after only one use of collecting twigs in my yard the bag had holes in the bottom. It would have been great if made of stronger material. If you only put grass clippings or leaves it may have held up. Too bad as I now will return them.

After one use holding freshly clipped small twigs and branches, both bags I used had holes in the bottom. If I can figure out some way to reinforce the bottoms I may get adequate use from them.