This is a somewhat difficult product to review. I think the rating is very dependent on the specific context and objective you have in using the leaf sweeper. I'll start by saying that if you have 1) a relatively small lot, 2) light leaf coverage (single-layer, not 100% covered) and 3) few twigs, this would probably warrant 4 stars. But then again, if that were the case, I'd probably just use a rake. My main review (and what I based my rating on) is going to be for the following situation: - Moderate-sized yard (about 70' x 80x) - Very heavy leaf coverage (complete blanket, 1-2” deep) - A lot of twigs and small branches Assembly There are not a lot of pieces to put together which is a plus. However, I found the instructions difficult to follow. I’ll take half the blame on that. I generally struggle with black and white line drawings in any type of assembly instructions. I had to play around quite bit with the legs and look at the picture on the front of the box (rather than the instructions) to figure out how they were supposed to attach. Once I did, the instructions made perfect sense. But the instructions themself did not help me orient the pieces. Again, this could be my spatial processing limitations with these types of directions. Construction In general, the entire sweeper feels flimsy. I keep thinking that the wheel is going to break off any time I bump into something. As I push it, I feel the frame wobble from side to side. There are two sets of plastic channels that don’t really hold their contents in place very well. The first is where the leaf catcher bag’s frame connects to the cross bar. The second is where the cross bar connects to the frame of the sweeper. Both pop off quite a bit. The crossbar is made to pop off since you must remove it to dump the leaves. However, it pops off even when I wasn’t trying to remove it. Similarly, the frame of the leaf catcher bag popped off the crossbar almost every time I removed it. This is despite having it “snapped” into place and aligned as per the instructions. I solved both problems with zip ties. However, that means I can no longer remove the leaf catcher bag from the sweeper. As it turns out, that’s not actually a bad thing (more about that later). The most frustrating thing in terms of materials was that the plastic piece that connected the two sides of the leaf catcher. It broke the first time I removed the catcher to dump the leaves. This is a part that is going to have to take a lot of pressure given its location and purpose. It doesn’t seem to be made well. Operation This is where I was most disappointed. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but the leaf sweeper really didn’t perform well. On the plus side, it’s very lightweight. So, it’s easy to push. The amount of effort varied between something like a walk-behind fertilizer spreader and a small gas mower. It’s easy to push. Also, compared to raking, I had much less stress on my arms, shoulders, and back. This was important for me. Due to a shoulder injury, I cannot rake for a long period of time. The leaf sweeper did not aggravate my shoulder in any way. However, there is a performance and productivity trade-off. The description says that it picks up 80% of the leaves in the first pass. This was only true in areas with very light leaf coverage. In my case, it took 3-4 one-way passes, on average, to clear a 70’ long strip. Additionally, the leaf catcher bag required me to empty it after every two passes. It was also very clunky to remove the leaf catcher bag. There are two small plastic pins that hold it in place. However, the pins extend to the very edge (perhaps a bit further) of the sweeper. When put the bag back in, I had to jockey it around to get it to sit properly. I wound up just zip tying the leaf bag catcher to the frame of the sweeper. This solved the earlier problem of pieces popping out of their channel. I also found that it was faster and easier to just lift the entire sweeper up and turn it over to dump it. Between the multiple passes and constant emptying, it took considerably longer than with a rake. Finally, the sweeper does not handle twigs well. This is less an indictment of this product. It’s true of any sweeper that uses a rotating brush. The brush is vulnerable to any twig that is longer than the radius of the sweeper brush. I had to stop quite often to pull twigs out. Overall, this product seems to be optimized for a very light workload. For me, that wasn’t sufficient. But for others, especially people who are looking for less strain on their neck, shoulders, and arms, it might help.
