I purchased this machine along with a Craftsman LT2000 mower. I am pleased with their tandem performance. As indicated by others, the assembly on the Yard Vac will take a good 4-5 hours if you are taking your time and expect to get good results. Assembly reaches a standstill once you get to the cover...review »
Amazingly, my first negative review never showed up here. I'll try again.
When working, this product is terrific. I have over 1 acre of wooded property and it does a great job. The assembly is every bit as difficult as everyone else here has said. The instructions when you get to the cover are worse...review »
nada1975 maryland
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Craftsman 8.25 Torque Rating (206cc) Monster... Ratings and Reviews
I picked this up on a closeout. Great price. I think this was a good value purchase but only time will tell. I will echo the same build time I have read in the other reviews. I had only one assembly problem in the alignment of the holes on the cart bed. It was easy work with a drill to make it work. I fit this to an older Ariens GT18 tractor.
I think I may make an easier way of removing the deck attachment. It really adds a lot of width to the deck making storage an issue. I think the bracket could be mounted with a better arrangement for easier removal. I'm working on that part, this will also...review »
I have over two acres with many BIG old oak, Hickory, and pecan trees. This machine can do the whole yard in a day while it took several days of raking and tarp dragging before. So the bottom line is that it works pretty well but there are a few tricks. The main thing is don't overfill it. I now stop often and dismount to check if it is full. If you overfill it to the hose gets plugged and you have to disassemble it to unplug it. It trails well and backs well behind my 42 in Sears mower but you need to be careful with tight turns around trees, etc. or the trailer will hit the tree. It works best...review »
Assembly - Don't expect to assemble this thing in less than four hours unless you've done it before. Assembly is straightforward until you get to the fabric collection bag and the deck adapter. The bag will take at least an hour and the deck adapter about the same. Both will test your "patience". You must cut the plastic deck adapter to fit your mower deck. You only get one chance to get it right. The deck adapter templates are not perfect (not even for my Craftsmen mower), so I recommend cutting a cardboard box as a test first, then cut the real thing. Think of it like a haircut. You can...review »
I purchased this equipment late summer 07 in preparation for the fall leaves...i have less then an acre, but my yard is a magnet for my leaves as well as everyone elses...assembly of the machine is long and cumbersome...the cart was easy to put together, but the soft top was a challenge, since the instructions are not the best...i didn't like the construction of the cart's axle, it's construction appeared to me that it wouldnt withstand heavy loads in addition to the plastic wheels...i spent a lot of time cutting the deck adapter, the templates provided in the kit was accurate, which helped...as...review »
I am very happy with my decision to buy this yard vac. It's like they say "You get what you pay for." The only other vac's I could fine were in the $1000+ price range which is more than I was willing/wanting to spend. With shipping this thing cost me just under $800. Like others have said assembly is a little time consuming, but not anything overwhelming. I just took my time, read the instructions, studied the pictures, and got it together without any problems in about three nights, a couple of hours each night when I got home after work. After putting in oil and gas it started on the first pull....review »
Before purchasing the MONSTER Yard Vac, I researched the concept thoroughly, as I knew there would be alot of different products on the market. Like you, I read the reviews of this product, and watched the video several times. Having been satisfied overall with Sears/Craftsman products for over 30 years, I took the plunge, and was I glad I did!
90% assembly was done by my Salesman. He didn't mess with the template, and I didn't expect him to. I had my own theory that since I had a bagger system for my tractor, it ALREADY had a factory adapter for the deck! NO template to cut out and no drill holes...review »
Read the other reviews and picked this little beauty up. It was one of my best purchases to date. This unit works great. It would be nice if it was a little bigger but then it would not be so easy to haul behind the mower. I have a 42" Craftsman mower (YS4500) and it pulls this thing around no problem. I had the grass catcher attachment with the mower so like one of the other reviewers I attached this unit to the chute that came with the grass catcher instead of cutting out the adaptor. I used a 6" clay pipe to 6" PVC pipe rubber adapter with band seals. The only problem I've had is when I run...review »
I bought this Vac October 2008 and I will highly recommend it for any home owner with 1+ acres and lots of trees. It use to take me a few weekends to completely clean my 1.25 acre every year. with this Vac it only took me a less than 2 hours.
Having the mowers blade ON will help shred the leafs before they get into Vac blades and your lawn will look way much cleaner than using the Vac by it self, also it will hold much more.
Be aware that it dose not come with engine oil. make sure to buy some before you go home or you will have to make another trip to the store.
Assembling the cover was somewhat...review »
Takes some hours to assemble, read instructions slow and thorough. Adaptor template layout cut to fit snug to the mower deck allows for efficiency.
Have 3 acres of patchy lawn with heavily wooded oaks and pines. What would take at least a week of raking bagging & burning took 7 hours to yard vac the yard to golf course clean. Result is several cubic yards of mulch. Of course I'll have to do it a couple of times before spring.
The yard vac is noisy, wider than the mower deck (discharge hose), must operate mower at slow speeds if leaves and pine straw are thick and frequent stopping to dump and...review »
I picked this up in October as the leaves were beginning to fall. My previous 4 in 1 Yard Vac had blown its engine, so I was a bit hesitant about another Craftsman product, but I'm glad I did. After about 4.5 hours of assembly, I was ready to try my new "toy". Cutting the mower deck template can really try your patience and test your nerve because you only get one chance. Also, you really need another set of hands during assembly. I have about an acre+, with oak trees on three sides as well as in the yard (lottsa leaves). The unit does a good job abd holds a lot of mulched leaves. Very noisy (louder...review »
I wanted a yard vac for the last 4 or 5 years so I went ahead and got one. I kept putting it off because I did'nt think that they would work very good. I had a bagger and all I had was trouble with it being stopped up all the time and thougt the vac would do the same. I read the reviews before I order it and seen that it was hard to put together. I did'nt think that it was all that hard. I had it up and running in around 3 hours or less. I think if you lay out all of your nuts and bolts in order it will go faster. When I used it the first time I was quit pleased with the way it worked. If I would...review »
Because this product is generic it needs to be configured to your particular tractor. It would be very difficult to assemble if you have little mechanical ability. You really need a helper when putting the cart together because nothing lines up. I work on cars for a living and this was challenging on a Friday night after a couple beers. However, once it was running after changing a fouled spark plug????? it ran well. It picked up most of the lawn debris and the suction is very good. It is large enough to hold substantail amounts of mulched leaves but compact enough to fit through lawn obstacles....review »
got this vac had problem immediately as it started and quite sears came out used it for a few weeks, it does a great job on cleaning up the yard, than engine blew it took sears 7 weeks to get a new engine as they ordered the wrong one 3 times finally got the engine installed worked for one hour now we have to wait 3 weeks for sears to come out and look at it, so we have spent the summer without the vac very disappointed in sears service, we purchased this from sears figuring sears is great our mistake service not good
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The Craftsman Monster Yard Vac makes clean up fast and easy pulling leaves, grass, pine needles, acorns, pine cones or other debris from the mower deckinto the collector with the powerful 80 MPH vacuum. You'll get done faster with fewer stops with a capacity 3 times larger than a 3 bin bagger. The Monster Vac has a unique retractable top creating a wide opening for unloading. The retractable top is great to be able to use the cart for hauling purposes too.