Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Toro 51621 UltraPlus Leaf Blower Vacuum, Variable-Speed (up to 250 mph) with Metal Impeller, 12 amp,Red

Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2024

This equipment has a metal impeller so it lasts a lot longer than the ones with a plastic impeller. They last about 3 years with heavy use. It is a powerful blower and variable speed lets you get in corners without shooting the debris in your face. Bags are a good size and easy to empty. When full, the bags are manageable - I wouldn't want them any larger. After three years of heavy use (1/2 acre property full of oak trees) the impeller is worn down but the vac still processes the leaves, just doesn't chew them up as much. Will use that one to blow leaves and purchased this new one for vac. I am 5' 6" and vac tube is just the right length for me to use all day without issue. My husband is 6'2" and he finds the tube to be a little short for him, making him bend over some to vac. The vac does not do well on very wet leaves or leaves full of larger sticks - I did not deduct for this as the commercial leaf sucker from the landscape company gets jammed on wet leaves and it's huge. Nothing on the market handles wet rotting leaves. I blow them out on the lawn to dry for a day then they are a breeze to pick up.
Took off one star because vac tube attachment is hard to get on and off to switch from blower to vac - I have arthritis, so I keep two of these set up for the two jobs.

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gbk4321

TORO Leaf Blowers With Vacuum Do A Very Good Job

Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2023

Style: Blower VacuumVerified Purchase

My 20+ year old Toro model 51599 had one of its bushings come loose and it wore out. You cannot purchase new bushings, so I purchased this Toro model 51621 UltraPlus Leaf Blower Vacuum. My new and old Toro leaf blowers are basically the same, except the new one has more power and some new features. Both of these blowers do a very good job on aiding with my leaf removal from 4 giant 30+ year old pin oaks and 2 giant 30+ year old maple trees. The Toro blowers do what they promise.

Here is the review ranking basis that I have adopted:
⭐️1 star - I don't recommend it at all, poor quality.
⭐️⭐️ 2 stars - I don't recommend it, it has multiple faults.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 stars - It's passable, It has some faults but the quality is ok for what it is.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars - Product quite acceptable, it does what it promises.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars - Product that I totally recommend.

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K

It works as expected...with a few design flaws...

Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2022

Style: Blower VacuumVerified Purchase

Definitely happy I got this.

Sorry no blower review here. Just vacuum.

It works as you would expect. I have only used it on small leaves from the type of trees that I have. I use a different blower to put them in the best pile that I can, so my review is only speaking to the vacuum of this tool.

First...before you plug it in make sure the dial for power is turned all the way down. There is NO on/off switch. So the thing will power right up and scare ya if you don't turn this knob down first.

Second, all the reviews about the cord being on the wrong side are sorta correct. It definitely is not in the "best" spot. But it is a tough call. For me, I just found the best way to let it hang and drag that I could. That meant tucking through the handle and it coming out the other way. Easy. Don't like the cord? Buy gas.

The overall size is MUCH smaller than you would have expected. Works great and has no trouble in the power department, but I sorta "thought you'd be bigger." I would not advise for a frequent user or a heavy leaf-laden area, or for a commercial application. Great for having around the house though and regular home use of a small property.

While I only picked up small leaves in my test, it mulched them to powder! You can see from my photo where I blew enough leaves into an area then went over them with the Toro to pick up. The bits that remain are actually rocks. I have a lot of pea gravel mixed in there. So the vacuum did a terrific job of pulling up the leaves and mulching them down.

I had trouble with leaves that were a few inches from the end of the tube. The ones that were in the cracks of my railroad ties did not pull up. The vacuum really does need a bit of a "seal" to create the proper suction. So you want to be able to put it right down on the leaves. This is important when reviewing because this is a key in what people don't expect. A lot of people think it should suck from across the yard.

One thing I definitely did not like about it was the bag. Love the bottom zipper! But the bag is not "lined." Literally the dust from the mulching just blows right through that fabric. You can expect a full shower and immediate dump of your clothes in the wash after a serious shakeout. Really...this is dramatic. UPDATE-I found the bag HAS to be breathable ot there would not be any actual vacuum. If it were plastic lined, it would be a balloon! So...nature of the beast.

A lot of folks complain that the thing is too short and you have to bend over. This is true IF you are tall! I am 6' and I had to hunch for the blower to reach the ground/leaves. This hurt my back after a while. But as a tall person, you know this is a thing. It would be nice if I could find a 8" extension somehow for the tube. But I expected this and it works as I would think for most people it should be fine.

My biggest complaint is the end nozzle for the vacuum. The shape of the opening has an angle on one side. Presumably so you can drag it across the leaves and it pulls them up. This works just fine. Sorta. The angle is to one side. So for the tube to not get caught on the ground or snag, you have only ONE CHOICE of direction to drag to pick up leaves. I had to drag right to left to get the leaves up. I honestly want to stand in front of the pile and be able to maneuver the vac how I need to...so the angle should be forward-facing, not to a side. This takes away a really key movement, for me at least. I literally am going to use a grinder to change the angle so it can pick up forward-facing and not dragging across.

The dragging motion is also likely why some are experiencing back pain with the hunching. This is just a simple ergonomic problem with their design.

Ups and downs in the review, but the end result is I love the vacuum and it works great for the small jobs that I have and the price point is fantastic. In the end, I wish I was not anxious about getting out shopping or I would have gone and found a good gas version. I really would rather have had that. But I am an introvert and have a thing about going places...so the Amazon route was great and this was the safest bet for the buck. I'm happy.

With the vacuum.

48 people found this helpful

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Todd Haskins

Powerful

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2023

Style: Blower VacuumVerified Purchase

I bought this Toro after trying one a relative has and it is so much more powerful than my old Toro. It is bigger and heavier but that is okay. The 3 handles are easy to grip. My wife used a dog leash as a shoulder strap and the blower worked well for her. I thought the fancy tip that is designed to disperse the wind power to save on the wrist side to side motion was a good idea but in actuality I think it creates a vibration in the machine that doesn't feel good. I took it off and back in the box it went. I do like the dial feature and hopefully it will last. The Toro my relative has, the dial stopped working so the blower is on full blast all the time with no off. She has had it for maybe 4 years? Toro does not make a replacement switch. Overall a very nice product that works well.

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Old Guy JJ

Better Than My Old Toro Ultra

Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2017

Style: Blower VacuumVerified Purchase

I've used several gas-powered blowers around my property (three acres with over 200 trees and bushes), but my overall go-to favorite over the past several years was my Toro Ultra 51599 for the area directly around my house--40+ trees and bushes all dropping leaves in my gutters, rock borders, deck and patio. That beast got some hard duty--cubic yard after cubic of leaves, dropped onto rocks and down window wells, used as a blower for bonfires--and never failed until the day I accidentally smacked it against one of my stone pillars on my porch and shorted out the motor. Dang! Now to find another one. Well, the 51599 is no longer around, but here's this 51621 UltraPlus. Well, you and I know that a new model does not necessarily mean a better model. A lot of times it just means built cheaper. Never fear. This 51621 is better than my old 51599, and I'm sure you can tell, I loved my old Ultra.
What I like in my new UltraPlus is that it still has a metal impeller--critical when you're vacuuming leaves out of 3/4" rock, like I do. However the vanes on the impeller are a different design, and it appears to me the both the blowing and the vacuuming functions are enhanced. You can really tell when using the variable speed control. The air movement is more precise throughout the range than it was in my Ultra.
The Shredz-All shred ring. Right. Just another gimmick. Wrong! It actually works. The vacuum tube fits tighter onto the power unit for a better vacuum, and that little blue toothed ring does shred leaves finer, so I can get more into the bag before I have to dump it. Speaking of dumping, the zipper is on the bottom, now, rather than in the back, so it's easier to dump, too. Wow!
Another feature I really, really appreciate is the new cord lock that's molded in as part of the power unit's body. We all overextend our reach, or get the power cord wrapped around a bush, or something. When that happened to my old 51599, the cord would come unplugged, no matter how I had the cord and unit knotted together. That doesn't happen with this cord lock. And it's big enough to fit a large diameter 14-gauge extension cord (which I highly recommend, so you can keep your 12 amps supplied out to a 100 feet).
I didn't use the oscillating nozzle, because I wasn't blowing leaves off a wide area (like my driveway) this Fall. I plan to use that next Summer, though, cleaning grass clipping and debris off my drive. I can't wait to see if it's a cool as the rest of this blower. I also didn't use the concentrator nozzle for my corners. It's a little time-consuming installing it (I think) for the few corners I have. All I did was adjust the speed control while using the regular blowing tube, and it worked just fine for not over-blowing the leaves. As a matter of fact, the control is precise enough, you can adjust for different sizes and shapes of corners.
One final note, the decorative rock I have around my house is mostly 3/4" Mountain Gravel. Mountain Gravel, looks great because of all the different shapes and textures, but the same thing that makes for great decoration makes it miserable to clean. Leaves and stuff really work their way into all those nooks and crannies. They vacuum works great on this. For the most part, full vacuum sucked out the debris without dislodging my rock. And in some of the few places where it was beginning to move the rock (3/4" also means 1/2" or less at times), all I needed to do was adjust the speed down a bit. Again, precise control.
I'm really happy with my UltraPlus and the improvements Toro made to their already excellent Ultra. They must have employed a legitimate focus group when they designed their changes.

18 people found this helpful

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Redwolf

Leaf Collection Solved

Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2019

Style: Blower VacuumVerified Purchase

Last year I had to pay someone $350 to collect the leaves in my yard. This was in December when they were eager for work, and after heavy negotiating. This year I wanted to find a more sustainable solution. I decided to use a blower/vac in combination with the LeafPro by Worx. Question was, which blower/vac and can I actually get this system to work? After a lot of research and video watching, it became clear the Toro UltraPlus was the best option. The CFM and MPH balance was best of available blower/vacs. I was very concerned there would be enough suction to collect all the leaves easily, but that needed to be balanced with the blowing aspect. The trivacs have higher CFM but the MPH are low. So would it blow well enough at a distance? The Sunjoe had slightly better CFM than the Toro but much worse MPH. The Toro impeller design looked way better than the Sunjoe too at grinding. I was thinking about the Worx Turbine Fusion but people said the impeller grinded too much and the dust was terrible. The other issue was connecting this thing to the LeafPro. I read the "universal adapter" could slip off and I should try to get the older version which had plastic connections specifically for other brand models (which turned out to be totally unavailable). Maybe it was just better to get a Worx blower instead? In the end, the reviews of the Toro were all so strong I decided to go for it and risk the LeafPro not working with it. Thankfully, the connection worked perfectly and was really tight with no real risk of coming off! The next issue was what to use on the other end to collect the leaf mulch. Most people were connecting the LeafPro to a garbage can. I didn't have one right sized for use with 55 gallon trash bags and didn't want to buy one unnecessarily. I saw someone had used this system with a Leafmate paper bag funnel and it worked for them, so I decided to try with the Leafmate designed for varying sized plastic trash bags. It also worked brilliantly! I was able to keep it on its side at first to collect the mulch and then after it was nearly full I turned it upright to collect the rest. The Leafmate just slides up the bag to hold the opening and connection to the LeafPro. This system was able to reduce a 20-30 bag job to less than 5, and what took 3 people half a day of tiring work took me 1.5hrs of blowing and 2 hours of vacuuming and I was not tired at all. These three items cost me $140... a total win!

Tips:
-Dont try to suck up too much, the vac will clog
-The Toro can handle sticks and other non-leaf debris you may encounter (see photo), but it's better to remove them from the pile by hand as they can create clogs
-When you do get a clog, try turning off the vac and just tap the tube against the ground the dislodge whatever is in there. Turn it back on and half the time it'll be able to suck whatever was in there out
-Point the exit hose of the LeafPro away from you and downwind. A moderate amount of dust comes out of the mesh cover.
-The weak point in the system if the LeafPro mesh cover. It will stay on the Leafmate pretty well because it has a good rim it can wrap itself around, but mulch will collect in the mesh around the rim and it can get pulled off. Collect your leaves close enough to the bag and you won't pull it off by mistake (happened to me on the last bag, luckily it's easy to just revacuum up the debris).

42 people found this helpful

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David Bump

Great leaf vac; worked on large catalpa leaves

Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2023

Style: Blower VacuumVerified Purchase

I'm pleasantly surprised by how well it handles large leaves; I was expecting to only be able to use this with normal sized leaves, but it sucks our dinner-plate sized catalpa leaves right up and turns them into a fine powder. Vacuum end for scale with some of the catalpa leaves and the resulting powder in a garbage bag. It's a massive reduction in volume of bagged leaves, and I think you could just re-use the powder in your yard, though maybe just before or during precipitation, given how fine it is, otherwise a light breeze is going to coat your fence/house/neighbor/dog in concentrated allergens. I was also happy with the length of the vacuum tube; I'm 6'2" with a 34" inseam, and it seemed like a fine height, though I was not using the shoulder strap on the bag (and emptying it when it got heavy, around half full). The other nice surprise was that while it picked up leaves and even most of the catalpa pods, it did not pick up dried dog poop (from a small dog) hidden under the leaves. I don't really want to turn that into a fine powder, so that was a win. I briefly tried the blower, and it's incredibly powerful, but I don't want to move leaves to a different spot in my yard, I want them in a bag, and the denser the better. However, it was reasonable for getting them out of some crevices around landscape timbers and window wells for later pickup by the vacuum. I do plan to use it to clear gutters with Toro's gutter kit, and the power is quite promising for that use.

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JB

good enough but takes time

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2024

Style: Blower VacuumVerified Purchase

This needs more power but the job gets done within an extra patience, and it has a nice handle grip and grab. carefully adjusting plastic add-ons, too. Be on the look out, most of the time.

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Studio Orange

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2015

Style: Blower VacuumVerified Purchase

Only some will understand the title of this review.

So let me spell it out: A combination leaf blower / mulcher is like a cheat code for life.

Raking my back yard typically goes something like this...

I go out and buy leaf bags. I'll generally buy three packs, for a total of 15 bags. I assume that I'm over-estimating because my back yard isn't really that big. How could I possibly need more?

Spend an entire afternoon raking leaves. Arms feel like rubber, but I'm really only half way done. Now to start bagging. I tell the neighbor he is welcome to use any of my left over bags.

By bag 12 I realize the error of my ways.

Cursing the universe for the invention of Fall, I go back to the store for more bags. Of course they are sold out. So now I'm faced with the real moral dilemma of either going store-to-store to try to find more bags, or giving up, leaving the remaining piles of leaves to the whims of fate, and going inside for a glass of whiskey.

Either way, I'm thinking I could just solve all of my problems if I get a chainsaw and go on a tree assassination mission throughout the neighborhood so I don't have to deal with this next year.

After a friend brought over his gas-powered blower so I could clear off my driveway and patio, I realized where my life had gone wrong and how I could remedy it.

I decided to opt for this corded blower. It claims to reduce the amount of bags you'll need dramatically. "Ok, little guy, you keep telling yourself that," I'm thinking condescendingly as I go ahead and buy three packs of lawn bags. I figure as long as it saves me the task of raking, I'll consider myself ahead of the game.

I make 4 large piles of leaves in the yard. It takes all of about 15 minutes. Already this thing is my hero. And now it's the moment of truth. I switch over to the vacuum / mulcher.

Now, you might think that what I'm about to tell you is an exaggeration. I must be lying. But I am not. I consider this year's leaf bombardment to be at least typical, and had I gone the traditional route of cursing and tears, I fully expect that it would have again taken three or more packs of bags.

This thing mulched my entire yard down into THREE BAGS. Not packs. BAGS.

Even as I was closing up the final (third) bag of leaves, I couldn't believe what had just happened. My neighbor was already 6 bags into his yard and had barely put a dent into his piles. That used to be me, pal. That used to be me.

I had just Konami coded my yard.

Ok, so if you've read this far, things to know:

1. I'm happy with this unit overall so far, but I've deducted a star because it *is* a tad bit clunky to use. Switching out between the blower tools and the mulching tools is slightly awkward. Also, the cord management isn't the best. There is a "hook" you can wrap the cord around, but because of the smooth plastic and the way it's angled, the cord still likes to slip out and if you're not careful you can unplug yourself -- not the end of the world, but annoying.

2. One thing I *DO* like about this is how much quieter it is that the gas powered units I've been around. Don't get me wrong, this thing is still like holding a mini-jet engine in terms of noise...If you've spent your life attending concerts, this may not be that big of a deal to you. Otherwise, I wouldn't consider you some sort of weirdo if you wanted to use ear protection with this thing.

3. Sort of like my German Shepherd, this thing can eat too fast if you don't keep an eye on it. You'll know when the mulcher takes too large of a bite. The suction will stop and it'll start whining like you just took away its favorite toy. Just detach and unclog the tube and don't be so impatient. You'll be fine.

One final thought: I've really only tackled my yard once. It's doubtful I'll have need to use it again this year (but I'll likely let some friends use it on their yards). So I can't really speak yet as to the longevity /reliability of this unit.

Update: It's been two years. You know, when that honeymoon phase is supposed to have faded and now you're actually willing to express your annoyance when the dishwasher isn't loaded the way you like (e.g., the efficient way)? Well, forget the fear that the luster will have faded. This unit is still going strong. Even scored some bonus points helping out the neighbor across the street. He had a similar unit, different brand, and marveled at how much better this one functioned. And let's face it, who doesn't like scoring some one-up points in the neighborhood? It's the little victories that count.

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Amazon Customer

Makes effective use of my effort

Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2024

Style: Blower VacuumVerified Purchase

I have several live oak trees in/near my FL yard. These leaves are the bane of my existence. I spent hours raking and scooping until I was too sore to continue, and the yard still looked like I hadn't done anything. With this tool, it still takes me a fair amount of physical effort but a lot less total time, and in the end my yard is actually clean. I'm 5'2 and petite. The effort for me is managing the weight of the vac and leaf bag, but watching those leaves disappear makes it completely worth it. I filled 5 and a half tall leaf bags today in about 5 hours (mulched so each bag holds 2 or 3 times as much) . I think for someone 4-6 inches taller it would be significantly easier to use. I'd still recommend it for anyone regardless of height, just want you to know what to expect. It picks up the leaves and small twigs, not the landscape rocks, even at full power. Definitely use the hook to secure the plug or it will drive you crazy unplugging itself.

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