Garden machinery deals and reviews

Oleo-Mac BV270 Pro leaf blower

The Oleo-Mac BV270, is a European built, high quality, hand-held, commercial level leaf blower / shredder-vac with a homeowner-orientated price tag. This unit is professional enough to clear at speed, with it’s powerful 30.5cc 2-stroke motor producing an air-jet of 234km/h but with reduced noise, so quiet enough to use in residential areas.

Perfect for tidying and clearing large volumes of leaves, pine cones, twigs and other organic detritus easily and quickly in blow mode it is very lightweight, making it easy to carry and manipulate, and has remarkably low vibrations, reducing user fatigue.

Read more: Oleo-Mac BV270 Pro leaf blower

Clearing leaves the easy way this autumn

We seem set for an Indian finale to the summer which means that leaves will cling on to the trees for much longer.

Lack of hard frosts and strong winds will mean a slow but steady fall - it suits some regular gardeners because it means that they can sweep, rake and mow at a pace that suits them. For others, getting it over and done with with one big dump is preferred.

What ever your preference, having the right tool for the job can save you an awful lot of time and energy meaning you can do more of the things you enjoy.

Snapper ride-on mower rotary mower

It won't be long before the grass cutting season starts to mingle with leaf clearance. In fact, many of you will probably already have noticed that the horse chestnut trees have started to lose their leaves?

If you have a big garden you might already own, or be considering to buy, a dedicated leaf clearing machine. For some it can make sense but it is a bit of a luxury too. Just think, a grass cutting machine that might have cost a couple of grand and a leaf vac of the same value.

MowDIRECT clearance sale - some great deals

I believe in good preparation and what better than to prepare early for the leaf clearing season even before the grass cutting season takes off.

What's more, this Billy Goat MV650-H Multi Vac has been reduced by over £600.00 - it is in the Mowdirect clearance sale so don't expect it to last long.

Visit the Mowdirect clearance sale page.

MTD Yardman petrol shredder - chipper - vacuum with hose kit

MTD Yardman petrol shredder - chipper - vacuum with hose kit

The new MTD-Yardman Shredder-Vac lets you give your garden a thorough clean-up in next to no time! Use it in vacuum mode to pick up and shred leaves, clippings and other light debris; its extra wide vacuum nozzle (560mm/22") and easy adjuster allow you to cover a lot of terrain, or use the chipper chute to turn branches and twigs into a fine mulch for use in flower beds and around trees.

Equipped with a powerful 4.5 hp Briggs & Stratton Quantum engine, an oversized 60 litre dust-free felt bag and a self-cleaning screen, the Yardman 060 will reduce branches up to 38mm in diameter by a ratio of 8:1.

Advice on buying a garden chipper / shredder for free compost and mulch

I am feeling chipper - please excuse the pun - because the whole world is getting really serious about sustainability, regeneration and sustainable products and services.

2008 has seen a massive rise in the sale of wood splitters, firewood sales, wood burning stoves and chainsaws because many households are turning to burning wood as opposed to expensive energy sources such as oil and gas.

Gardeners are also extremely concerned with putting something back into the soil and the environment.

Free trailer and strimmer with this Murray ride-on mower

One of the hardest things about investing in a new ride-on mower for your garden is the the bolt on extras that will inevitably increase the total cost of your bill.

More on this Murray ride-on and free trailer and strimmer.

Not only are manufacturers giving away some great deals price wise, they are also throwing in a host of extras to lure the buyers in.

This Murray ride-on represents fantastic value for money in itself but add on the Agri-Fab garden trailer and Ryobi strimmer and you will be ready to mow, move and strim.

Grass and leaf collection sack

Collecting and transporting of leaves, grass mowing's and hedge trimmings is all part of the gardeners work. It is all very well being able to cut the lawn efficiently but wasting time carting the waste to the compost heap can ruin your whole scheduling.

When I first started in domestic garden maintenance there was not the vast array of garden sundry type of accessories that you can buy today.

Moving waste around the garden involved a wheel barrow (even a heavy oak wheel barrow when I started as an apprentice greenkeeper) or a large square of hessian sack cloth.

MTD self-propelled shredder - chipper - vacuum

MTD self-propelled shredder - chipper - vacuum

You need never rake or sweep again with one of these chipper-vacs to help you around the yard and garden.

The powerful vacuum is generated by internal rotating blades which will suck-up and grind all kinds of garden debris including leaves, litter and even cans!

There's also an integral chipper chute which handles branches up to 2" in diameter.

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Tips on raking leaves

The title might give you the initial impression that there cannot possibly be a long list of things to consider when raking up leaves.

OK, you're right, there isn't a great deal but there are a couple of things a professional gardener might do to ease the workload and save time, after all, the autumn is busy enough without having to spend hours laboriously collecting trailer loads of leaves.

Little and often - if you have a great big lawn and a half decent rotary lawn mower then you do not need anything else. Leave the leaf rake in the shed for now and continue to traverse the lawn until all of the leaves are collected.