Craftsman 6.5 ft/lbs Torque Briggs & Stratton 4 in 1 Yard Vac System Reviews


www.sears.com


3.9 of 5
(by 51 reviewers)
Rating Summary | 84% of reviewers recommend (43 out of 51)

Most Helpful Favorable Review

Fantastic

Like some others have mentioned, I am kicking myself for not buying one of these years ago. I have a 1/3 acre lot, the back half of which is totally wooded and fenced. I have tried every method from the ol' rake and bag, the tarp and cart to the woods and the hand held blower/vac. I have dreaded every... read full review »
Posted on Jan 24, 2009
Most Helpful Critical Review

You will not be happy!

This is a yard cleanup vacuum for light duty only. The bag fills up very fast if you even a few inches of leaves so fast that you may only go 20-30 ft on a line and then have to empty the bag. my 1/2 acre lot has 3 trees on it and after 20 bags decided to start raking and piling on the tarp again. It... read full review »
Posted on Nov 29, 2008

Craftsman 6.5 ft/lbs Torque Briggs &... Reviews

Displaying reviews 1 - 14 of 51 in total

4 stars

Starting: I am a petite female and have no problem starting this machine on the first try weather it is hot or cold. Performance: The product works better for those of you who have an abundance amount of leaves. If you do not have a lot of leaves, I would not recommend this for you. I will say that the bag does fill up fast. You will have to go over the area at least twice. It does not pick up every leaf but it does pick up the majority of them. It also does not pick up acorns. Bag: The bag is somewhat difficult to empty by yourself. I have found that if you empty it into a large trashcan and... read full review »
Posted on Mar 28, 2009

I am disappointed

Overall, I am disappointed with this unit. I needed the help it proclaims to provide but I will go back to yard raking. The unit is heavy, vacuum function is almost poor(the most disappointing feature) and it is hard to start(one must pull the rope HARD to turn the engine over. Very dusty to work with when emptying the bag....a real health hazard. Sears, this unit is almost junk. I will stick with my hand rake. The most disappointing machine I have ever purchased. I was a sucker for this purchase. Win some, lose some....I lost on this deal big time.
Posted on Feb 08, 2009

Wish I bought this yrs ago.

I have used it 3 days since I purchased it. Each time for 3 hrs. The good: Great suction! The bad: Great suction. I sucked up branches which then have to be dug out of the inside. The same with small rocks. The worst thing was a tennis ball that was hidden in some leaves. The machine made an awful sound and died. After clearing the ball out the front (Anything stuck can be cleared with a stick stuck up inside the front), the machine started right up. The only real complaint I have is that some of the stitching on the bag is starting to come out. I used this with wet leaves so the full bag was really... read full review »
Posted on Dec 18, 2008

Yard Vac

I just purchased this vac about a month ago and it does a great job picking up leaves. It has enough suction to even pick up wet leaves at the bottom. The only draw back is emptying the bag which I feel could use a redesign. I strongly suggest wearing a dust mask as the bag is porous felt and a lot of dust comes through. The machine takes a good firm pull to start but I feel this is due to its high torque. I made the mistake of allowing the leaves to build up so much that the bag filled up after making two passes over the lawn. I was constantly turning the machine off to empty the bag and restarting... read full review »
Posted on Dec 14, 2008

Yes, Hard to Start

The other reviews are correct. This machine is extremely difficult to start. It should have been designed with a pump bulb. Also, after only a few uses, I can see that the bag has a limited number of uses before it will be destroyed. Also, the shredder is worthless but if you are like me, you really could care less about that feature anyway. The bottom line is I bought this machine to help with the leaves in my suburban home in the forest. I have many leaves and this machine has helped me cut the time of leave collection to 1/4 of the time it took raking. I think it could be better but for the... read full review »
Posted on Dec 09, 2008

Pretty good for the $

OK... it isn't perfect but as far as I am concerned, it works just fine. I purchased one from a hard up guy for $175 and got more than my money's worth. The only problems, that I see, are with Magnolia leaves and putting too much through the hose at one time (it will clog). The best thing it does is blow leaves with the blower nozzle. All in all, I would buy another one but self propelled.
Posted on Nov 24, 2008

Good Vacuum, Does Make Clean Up Easier

I bought this at the beginning of this fall to clean up leaves at two corner lot houses with many good size trees, and since we have to bag all yard waste (and pay by the bag), I wanted to cut down on the number of bags used. This yard vac does reduce the number of bags, but the published 8:1 ratio is a stretch at best. Don't get me wrong, it is still a better reduction than a mulching mower (which we used to use), but it isn't an 8:1. I think that it gets the closest to this ratio when vacuuming leaves off of cement/pavement for some reason. Like others have said, it takes a strong pull on the... read full review »
Posted on Nov 24, 2008

Works like a charm

Pros: Perfect for sucking up leaves of all shapes and sizes. Works better then advertised as it's almost ready to run right out of the box. For the price you won't find a better piece of equipment on the market. Cons: Be careful using the built in chipper as it tends to shoot small parts of the tree limbs back up the shoot at you. Make sure to wear the goggles provided when using this. Also the bag tends to fill up fast, but for the price these are small issues I can live with. Overall I'm very pleased with this unit.
Posted on Nov 11, 2008

Satisfied Customer

Assembled the yard vac in about ten minutes, added the oil and gas and the engine started on the first pull. We have a tree with small leaves that in the past took several hours to rake and bag but with this unit I was done in 15 minutes. Only three bags full of leaves instead of the usual 10. Others have made comments about the bag, after I got the hang of it, I think it is an excellently designed collector. I wish I had purchased this type of yard machine years ago.
Posted on Oct 24, 2008

5 stars

I wish I would have bought this years ago..it is the perfect combo with a leaf blower...get a big pile and suck them up..the only problem that i have had is the button on the bag (to release leaves) broke within an hour of use..it still closes but i took it to sears and they said they had to send it out..so i will wait till the winter to replace it..also check on line for discounts before you go to the store..i saved $90 buying it on line
Posted on Oct 23, 2008

Too many leaves?

This tool is worth the money if you have a yard like mine. I have so many leaves it literally takes 2-3 days to rake the 0.5 acre lot. It's a bit noisy so ear protection is a good idea. The compaction ratio is great - what was 20-30 "brown paper leaf bags" is now 8-10. It takes a lot less time than raking and stuffing into the bags. The chipper feature is not very useful but that's not why I bought it. I'm sure the engineers could come up with an easier way to transfer the leaves from the collector into the "brown paper leaf bags," but no complaints here and glad to have my Sunday back for watching... read full review »
Posted on Oct 19, 2008

5 stars

I have 1 acre full of trees. I have spent entire weekends raking leaves only to have them all back down the next day. This vac is great. Really helps get control without getting overwhelmed. I wish I had bought it years ago. Sure saves time. Choke it, start it, push and empty. All there is to it. Love it. Highly recommend.
Posted on Oct 17, 2008

Very Good

I have wanted one of these for a long time. But the price wasn't right until now. So I picked one up this weekend (12/2008) and I love it. I hate raking leaves. Before I would use my Craftsman bag mower to mulch and bag the leaves. That worked ok but I didn't like cutting the grass late in the year. Well, this is the ticket. It works like a champ. I would recommend reading the instructions before beginning. Everything worked as planned. Suction is very good. You just have to pay attention to wheel height. I adjusted mine a couple of times during use. My only complaints would be two. One, it... read full review »
Posted on Dec 08, 2008

leaf hater 101

House is surrounded by large oak trees that drop enormous leaves throughout the fall, so much in fact that the yard is entirely covered and you can't see one blade of grass. Purchased the yard vac at the beginning of fall and have used it about 5 times. Overall, I am very pleased. It has great suction and has saved us a good amount of time and effort. The only drawbacks are that it is not self-propelled and, with so many leaves to pick up, the bag fills up very quickly. Definetly do not regret the purchase and would recommend to others.
Posted on Jan 03, 2009

Reviews of Craftsman 6.5 ft/lbs Torque Briggs & Stratton 4 in 1 Yard Vac System