Echo gas leaf blower and vacuum

[Donald]

So I have this piece of OPE. The oak trees have dropped a zillion acorns in my yard, more than the squirrels will find and store away.

If I convert the Echo into vacuum mode will it pick up and push the acorns into the vacuum.

Or are acorns too heavy and/or will the acorns shred the fan blade as they are much more dense than an leaf.

 

[Brian123]

I guess you can give Echo a call, is there anything in the Owners Manual that warns against picking up Acorns?

 

[Tman220]

Not enough suction to pick up acorns. Even if you could, the impeller would not take that kind of continuous abuse.

Bust out the rake and shovel, still the best way to pick up acorns.

 

[FT92]

don't do it , i have another brand of leaf blower/vacuum and the acorns destroyed the fan .so now the deer /squirrels have all they can eat

 

[Barkleymut]

I hate acorns. Some years my oaks don't drop many acorns, this year they decided to drop half a zillion.

With all of the nice weather we have enjoyed, I usually take my dog out (primarily an inside dog) and sit on the grass and just pick them up. Takes about 5 minutes before I have to get up and move 3 feet and start in another spot. I would rake them, but I have some new grass that a rake would destroy.

 

[Warlord]

Just hold it up off the ground a bit so it doesn’t pick up the acorns. Just the leaves.

 

[Donald]

Just hold it up off the ground a bit so it doesn’t pick up the acorns. Just the leaves.

I don't care about the leaves, I will them mulch them with mower. I want the acorns gone from my lawn.

 

[mrsilv04]

Have you simply tried sucking up a small amount of the acorns? If it won't even pick up the acorns, then nothing else here really matters.

This is what the owner's manual of my Echo Blower/Vac unit has to say on the topic: "Avoid using vacuum in areas where rocks or other large, hard debris may be vacuumed into unit."

I don't consider acorns from an Oak to be "large, hard debris".

 

[Dave9]

It will wear the impeller. Whether you want to accept this and buy a new impeller is up to you. It's one option but I stopped using my leaf blower for a vac not just due to impeller wear but also how much of a mess it made getting dusty goop everywhere inside it (dry leaves make dust but acorn meat is damp/oily inside, combine them and it makes sludge), then a few years later the carb got gummed up, got a replacement generic carb but was defective, said screw it and got a cordless that doesn't have the vac feature.

I do have lots of acorns but only gather them up where they are too dense to just let the riding mower wheels mash them into the soil while still damp after a recent rain.

 

[FZ1]

I don't care about the leaves, I will them mulch them with mower. I want the acorns gone from my lawn.

OK. You gotta mechanize. Get a Pecan picker upper with a wire basket and roll it over the acorns.

 

[boraticus]

So I have this piece of OPE. The oak trees have dropped a zillion acorns in my yard, more than the squirrels will find and store away.

If I convert the Echo into vacuum mode will it pick up and push the acorns into the vacuum.

Or are acorns too heavy and/or will the acorns shred the fan blade as they are much more dense than an leaf.

I have an Echo Shred 'N Vac. It will pick up stones the size of pecans. Pretty sure it will do acorns. What I'd be concerned about is how well the shredder will handle the acorns. Jamming might be a problem.

 

[Donald]

I have an Echo Shred 'N Vac. It will pick up stones the size of pecans. Pretty sure it will do acorns. What I'd be concerned about is how well the shredder will handle the acorns. Jamming might be a problem.

The Echo CS-250?

And you do not think the fan or shredder piece will be damages by acorns?

 

[Donald]

I contacted Echo. My model is ES-250, not CS-250. They said to avoid rock, nuts or anything else hard.

 

[Donald]

Plan B: I also have BearCat push lawn vacuum. It does not shred or mulch too much just pushes leaves into the large bag. I am thinking it's more heavy duty that the Echo Shred/Vac and acorns should not be a problem. But have only used it with leaves.

 

[Brian123]

Plan B: I also have BearCat push lawn vacuum. It does not shred or mulch too much just pushes leaves into the large bag. I am thinking it's more heavy duty that the Echo Shred/Vac and acorns should not be a problem. But have only used it with leaves.

Donald, can you take a picture of what you are trying to accomplish with these acorns? I am guessing this is in your backyard?

 

[RyanY]

IMO it's better to leave the acorns than to pick them up. I have four large oaks that drop billions of them each fall. The squirrels scurry about, storing them away. If I clear them by mowing the grass short and blowing them into piles for removal, the squirrels will dig holes in search of the remaining nuts. I prefer to have acorns than holes. And the owls/hawks/coyotes/foxes like the squirrels.

 

[jeepman3071]

I wouldn't vacuum acorns with anything that has a plastic impeller. I've found most of the handheld vacs aren't strong enough to really vacuum them up anyway. You might get a few, but they really aren't powerful enough to get them all. You would be better off with a lawn vacuum or one of those giant vacs that attaches to a tractor. Those have metal impellers and are powerful enough to clean them up with one sweep.

 

[Warlord]

Perhaps something like this would work for you.

 

[Warlord]

Not particularly expensive.

 

[Slick3914]

Acorns will clog it every single time.