WORX12 Amp Trivac 3-in-1 Electric Leaf Blower/Mulcher/Yard Vacuum - WG512

PROS- Easy to start, speed up, or speed down- Mulches leaves (not twigs) well, as claimed- Great power for a corded device- Weighs less than 10 pounds, so easy to maneuver- Easy to clean out if needed (just pop out the orange grill near the trigger)- Intuitively designed, so easy to dive into workCONS- It’s a corded device, so I wouldn’t recommend this for properties greater than 0.25 acres (unless you have plug-ins scattered about).BOTTOM LINE- This is a great value for the money. I recommend getting the universal collection system as it will help keep leaf dust off of you and also not have you stopping every few minutes to empty the bag. As you can see in my photos, it helps to secure the hose with a bungee cable.

I bought this Worx Trivac blower/vac/mulcher mainly to vacuum up & mulch leaves around the edges of beds around our cabin. It did a fantastic job, and I was so excited. I noticed it would even vacuum up mulch that had washed into the river rock in the parking area. I worked for about an hour, then a stick got stuck in the impeller. I couldn't get it out, couldn't get the tube off. Finally I read that lubricant helps to remove the tube when it's stuck, so I sprayed WD-40 & finally with my husband's help, it came off. Still couldn't get the stick out. THEN I read that you have to turn to BLOWER mode so that the back portion rotates & the impeller becomes accessible under the handle, after you remove the plastic grate cover. Duh! I hadn't used the blower function, so I didn't realize the machine rotated like that. Got the machine back together & the blower worked fine, but the vacuum function wouldn't work at all. Duh, again. Realized it won't work without the collection bag attached. Makes sense. All in all, this is a great tool, just lots of operator malfunction in my case. The leaves mulch into tiny pieces, about 1/4" - almost a powder. I mixed some in with gardening soil, and used the rest as mulch in my flower beds. I am very happy with this tool!

THE PROBLEMI have a large yard that normally costs me a couple of thousand dollars each year to clear off leaves, pinecones, and almond nut shells, so rather than pay for a below-average job (at an effective rate of $80/hour!), I decided to have a go myself now that I am on a "fixed income";-).I looked at several options including battery-powered (my goto brand is Ryobi One). I chose this version due to its power and positive reviews albeit not battery-powered.THE GOOD THINGSThe good news is that it works well - sticks up to maybe 1/4 inch diameter are no issues, even wet leaves were picked up and mulched.The blower option is easy to select (and you need to remove the collecting bag!) - and powerful!There is a collection bag made of decent material and quite large (it gets heavy!)There is an orange cord holder to stop the power cord falling off (this didn't happen once!)No power cutouts due to over heating.THE NOT SO GOODIt struggled with sticks that are cigar width and 2 inches or so in length as there is a tendency for them to get jammed in the cutter blades - I needed to open the orange blade cover (easy after ensuring the power cable was disconnected!) and use an oscillating saw to get a couple of them out but that was across about 6 hours of usage.Pine cones and solid nuts that had not opened also caused issues but were sorted by turning off the machine and letting them fall out in a pile for collection later.The collector bag has a large zipper that makes it easy enough to empty - although, in my opinion, the zip could be larger (ie make it go around the corners of the bag to make emptying easier as devris gets caught in the corners and stops the mulch from falling out).The strap does not have a padded sleeve which would have been very helpful.It could be useful to have a longer hose (10 feet?) and a larger collector bag that could be left on the floor to save time and energy.1 star deducted for these itemsTHE OUTCOMESI used it to collect about 50 black bags full of waste - the machine reduced this to about 3 bags so maybe a 1:15 ratio.It took me about 6 hours to mulch the yard, another hour or so to take the sticks to the recycling center and 30 minutes to spread the mulch around other areas of the garden. So about 8 hours of work versus $2000 ( quite a good rate per hour).I spent about $200 on ALL the equipment (see tips below for additional items) and got some exercise and fresh air so a 10x return for one cleanup!The mulch is fine enough to be used in your garden on a no 2 setting. (I ended up double mulching the slightly wet pile of mulch produced by the no 1 setting which I did first).TIPS AND RECOMMENDED PURCHASES TO MAKE THE JOB EASIER1) keep the mouth about an inch above the ground on power setting 2 as this seemed optimal to pick up leaves and small diameter sticks and leave the larger debris behind2) get a long power cord (I needed 100 feet and had to move it to another receptacle after doing half the yard)3) I used these bags (3) which worked well for my entire yard https://www.amazon.com/Kailund-Reusable-Reinforced-Foldable-Collector/dp/B0CSK33SCQ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?4) I used two of these for sticks and stones https://www.amazon.com/DURASACK-48-Gallon-Polypropylene-Reinforced-Self-Standing/dp/B0B59ZZP8F5) These were handy for the off-hand whilst using the device https://www.amazon.com/RMS-Grabber-Reacher-Rotating-Gripper/dp/B07PHL4DKP/ref=sr_1_4?6) REMEMBER TO ZIP THE BAG!7) Sticks about a foot long tend to get stuck across the mouth of the tube and block the tube with other debris that is caught on the stick so I ended up standing on them whilst the suction was still going to create a pile to be picked up later8) Use the strap cross-body - and use the doubled section of strap (ideally get a padded sleeve)9) REMEMBER TO ZIP THE BAG! (This is repeated as early on I forgot and sprayed mulch all over the place!)10) I found the fastest way to do this was to use the blower and a leaf rake to get the debris into a pile about 6 feet across and make these piles across the yard, pick up any obvious sticks, pine cones or nuts and then use the suction option on level 2. Whilst collecting the debris I used my off hand to grab larger sticks with the grabber and drop them into a waste bag. Each pile took about 5 minutes to make and 10 minutes to mulch into the bag (typically 2 bags per pile).