XBU07Z 18V LXT® Brushless Blower/Vacuum Mulcher, Tool Only

I bought this leaf vacuum and blower to use with my existing Makita 18 volt batteries. I've used the product several times now to help manage leaves and am very happy with the unit. It seems well designed. The fabric bag is made of sturdy cloth with a good zipper that allows the bag to be opened widely when dumping out leaves. The unit does indeed mulch up the leaves into a small size. When sucking up leaves constantly, I am able to get about 13 minutes of run time on high speed with a 6 amp battery. If I kept the speed down lower or was sucking up fewer leaves, it would run longer. You would not want to use this with a 2 or 3 amp battery, it would run out of power too quickly. I have plenty of batteries so am satisfied with that amount of run-time. I can generally fill up the leaf back in that amount of time so am ready to stop, dump the leaves out of the bag, and swap out batteries. The suction power is strong, I've used it to pick up a variety of leaves, it will even suck in leaves larger than the opening of the suction tube. You do need to be careful around mulch or rocks, it will suck up pieces of mulch or small rocks and it really makes a racket when it does so. A bigger piece could cause some damage, although mine has survived several smaller pieces of mulch without issue and a few pebbles. I wasn't too sure about the wheels on it, but they are helpful at times, mainly when pushing and pulling the unit straight back and forth like vacuuming a carpet. However, I'm often wandering around to pick up individual leaves in a non-straight line and thus holding the wheels off the ground. I would have liked to have an attachment nozzle that turned the round end of the tube into more of a typical wide vacuum nozzle, that would be handy when pushing it back and forth like a vacuum cleaner, but when going side to side, I could see that type of nozzle shape getting caught on the grass, so maybe that's why they don't provide it. The noise level on the unit is not bad, about like running my other Makita leaf blower on level 3 when running full power. You can run it at lower speeds but it won't pull up some leaves, and I generally lock the throttle speed to a higher setting. It's nice you don't have to hold the trigger constantly. It's very easy to move the lever and switch the unit from sucking to blowing. As a leaf blower, the unit is adequate but not as good as their dedicated 18v leaf blower, which I've had for a couple of years. The regular leaf blower has more power (two batteries vs one) and a wider range of air speeds,. It's also a little more ergonomic for leaf blowing, whereas this unit is designed more for suction so it's a bit heavier and not as easy to sweep it around for blowing. Fine for occasional blowing use, though. I blow leaves off my patio and then switch to the suction mode to gather them up. The leaf bag is easy to put on and take off, and overall the unit is very easy to use. The weight is reasonable. I definitely recommend this unit.

I had the Makita battery vacuum in a larger model. It was too heavy and awkward for my patio work. This machine is smaller and easy to maneuver. It takes only one battery, so the run time is about 15 minutes on higher settings. That is OK for me. I have a lot of Makita batteries for bigger jobs. The suction is pretty good. The mulcher grinds up leaves nicely. The wheels on the vac tube are nice for patio work and they come off easily for other jobs where you don't want wheels. This is perfect for cleaning up the leaves on my patio. And it is small enough to store in my patio shed without taking up a lot of space. I really like this little vac.

Great product! Looks to be constructed well and both the blower and vacuum works great! Suction is not crazy strong so it is easy to avoid picking up mulch when vacuuming out flower beds. Leaves are shredded into very small pieces allowing quite a bit to be held in the attached bag. Only reason I did not give 5 stars is the battery life. Batteries do not last very long (about 12 min) when running continuously. This is not a tool for long / extended use but it is perfect for leaf vacuuming or blowing small areas around your yard.

I've had this a little over a year now and I absolutely love it. I live in a townhouse so my patio space isn't too big. I am surrounded by trees though and this thing works like a champ. Plenty of power for both suction and blowing. The strap helps make it easier to handle. Takes care of all of the leaves while also mulching them. Keeps the patio and garage clean. I use the LXT 4.0Ah batteries and usually go through two of them. I have 4 batteries since I have other Makita tools so not that big of a deal for me. You can upgrade to the 5.0Ah or 6.0Ah to get more time if need be depending on the size of your area.

Edited: liked it a lot at first but after a couple hours of use it started loosing power and I started getting electrocuted when using it. At this point I would not recommend this item. First review: I was pleasantly surprised with how well it worked. I thought that the bag would have needed to be emptied a lot more often. With the way it shreds the leaves I was able to do my entire driveway and courtyard, drained a 9 amp hour battery and the bag was only about 2/3 full when I emptied it. Going to buy a second one for the office, this is way better than using a blower and sweeping up. It does that and shreds all at once.

This blower is light and easy to use BUT.... It uses battery energy worse than any Makita tool we own. Also, the suction is okay for small leaves but bigger leaves will get caught at the intake opening which then requires you to move the leaves manually to allow the vacuum to ingest the leaves. This vacuum does break up the leaves to compostable small pieces well.

Surprisingly light, this leaf blower / vacuum is also relatively quiet. It picks up a lot of leaves on a single battery charge for ten to fifteen minutes running at full power. It chops up the leaves and stores them in its bag effectively. Best practice demands you have a second battery ready to swap in so you can finish your job effectively. Running only on battery power, this blower / vacuum is not the best choice for big jobs, but you can knock of smaller jobs fast and with minimal hassle. It's great not to have to deal with a power cord while you get lots of leaves cleaned up.

If you set your expectations properly and understand, this tool is for lightweight jobs and not meant to hog tons of leaf yardage. You’ll be totally happy with this machine. Head shoulders above the Ryobi, and some of the other zombie brands offerings. Would highly recommend running a five amp or six amp hour battery. Update after a week of use: I would probably no longer recommend this leaf vacuum even with a six amp hour battery. We’re struggling to get more than 10 or 12 minutes of use and everything has to be exceptionally dry for it and think about picking it up. I’m changing this from a four star to a two star.

Didn't work at all.