Flowtron The Ultimate Mulcher 8 Amp Electric Leaf Shredder #LE-900 | 
| Brand: Flowtron
List Price: $199.99
Buy New: $149.99
You Save: $50.00 (25%)
New (5) from $149.99
Rating:  176 reviews
Sales Rank: 46
Media: Tools & Hardware
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 20.6
Dimensions (in): 23.2 x 19.6 x 19.3
MPN: LE-900
Model: LE-900
UPC: 026713099001
EAN: 0026713099018
ASIN: B00006XMTM
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | 1-bushel electric leaf shredder; special positions for grass, thatch, pine needles | | • | 8 amp motor, 21-inch hopper; reduces 11 bags of leaves to 1 bag | | • | Light, rugged polyethylene funnel and housing; some assembly required | | • | 36 heavy-duty cutting lines and legs included | | • | 17 pounds; limited one-year warranty |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The Ultimate Mulcher quickly recycles yard and garden waste into nutrient rich mulch, solving the disposal problem. It can reduce leaves, pine neddles, grass clippings and even paper, wet or dry, from 11 bags into only 1. The mulcher is constructed of steel and rugged high-density polythylene for long life and easy maintenance, has a powerful 8.0 amp thermally protected universal motor with overload protection, and runs on an ordinary household current. Please note, this mulcher is NOT designed for sticks, twigs or branches. Moderate assembly required. It features:
A. Coarse to Fine Shredding Adjustment- special settings for pine needles, thatch, and grass clippings
B. Convenient Built-in Storage Compartment- holds replacement cutting lines, gloves, safety glasses, etc.
C. Special Tilt Adjustment- rotates 180 degrees for compact storage
D. Elastic Bungee Cord- holds leaf-bag firmly in place
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Amazon.com
The wide 21-inch diameter funnel swallows leaves as fast as you can feed them, mincing them down to fine mulch. This little unit is surprisingly powerful, and at only 17 pounds it's so light you can mount it atop a trash can or bungee-cord a plastic bag to the outfeed and collect the waste. Out of the box, it goes together literally in minutes with just a screwdriver. The hopper tilts to 45 degrees to make loading easier, and the sliding control lever is easy to read, with settings for grass, thatch, wet leaves, dry leaves and pine needles. Double cutting lines are powered by an 8-amp motor on regular household current, and the motor intake filter comes out easily for cleaning. A built-in storage compartment keeps extra line at the ready, and changing cutter lines is easy. It's a great unit for the homeowner, reducing 11 bags of leaves to just one bag of mulch, ready for use in flower beds and vegetable gardens.--Kris Jensen-Van Heste
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| Customer Reviews: Read 171 more reviews...
 It Works! November 15, 2008
Thomas P. Mchugh (Chicago, Illinois USA)
I just received my Flowtrom LE-900 this week. Today I used the ubit to much leaves dropped by two oaks, two lindens and one tulip tree. The unit performed better that expected. It handles the large leaves from the oaks and tulip tree with no problem. The Flowtron did clog at times when stems and sticks accumulated, but this was more of a nuisance than a deficiency of the unit. After all, this is "weed wacker" type of device, not a machine with blades. It was great to be able to set the Flowtron on top of a standard garbage can without having to remove the stand. I mulched the leaves a second time to reduce the leaves further and I used this to mulch the garden area. Thumbs up on this unit! I figure that it would have taken 50 or more (at 50 cents each) of those large paper recycle bags to contain what I accomplished with 4 garbage cans. So I have a $25 return on investment with its first usage. I actually enjoyed raking the leaves today. That's a first!
 Good Performer But Compaction Claims Are Exaggerated November 2, 2008
J. Hershey
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
We've had a good experience with the Flowtron LE-900. The unit took about 25 minutes to assemble, not too long compared to other build-it-yourself products.
The unit works well as a light-duty shredder as long as you keep the sticks out, which we were able to do. Only two complaints: first, the unit burns through the plastic cutting strips pretty quickly. We had to replace the strips about every 4 bags of leaves. If you don't replace them, you have to shake the unit to make the leaves fall right into the ever-shrinking cutting zone. Second, we've only been able to achieve a 2-1 reduction in the volume of leaves after shredding - nowhere near the 11-1 reduction claimed in Amazon's ad or the 30-1 reduction claimed on the shipping box itself.
Otherwise, we like the unit and will continue to use it.
 Makes quick work of leaves October 24, 2008
T. Edwards (upstate NY United States)
I've used this item three times, and have yet to encounter a problem. I've used it to shred apple, red maple, and lilac leaves. I haven't had a problem with minor sticks, and have yet to change the strings. I've placed the unit over a plastic garbage can to build up my compost pile, and have also just left the shreddings where they fall. All in all, it's a useful tool for my fall lawn care.
Works as advertised October 24, 2008
T. Ellmore
Reports of the difficulty of assembling this product have been grossly exaggerated. There are only 5 parts(the two halves of the "funnel", the two halves of the stand, and the main unit itself), plus a hardware packet containing a small handful of screws, bolts, and spacers, the rubber handle grips, and the leg clamps. Assembly instructions and illustrations are more than adequate to assemble without difficulty. It is NOT a two man operation. It took me around 30 minutes to assemble the unit, but only because I took time to make sure I understood the instructions. If I were to assemble a second one now, it could have easily been done in 10 minutes or less. A couple of points about the assembly that may prove helpful: pay attention to the NOTE at end of the first assembly instruction. The FLANGES that are being referred to are those beveled tabs along the edges of the funnel halves, and they go on the OUTSIDE of the other half of the funnel, as should be obvious if you carefully inspect the edges of each half. Also, the upper and lower leg clamps are CURVED, to follow the shape of the semi-circular base. This is NOT obvious from the illustration. Make sure the curves of both pieces match up. Assembly is easier if these two pieces are connected together FIRST, by inserting the bolts and turning onto the nuts just enough to hold, and THEN inserting onto the leg halves, and tightening. There is a stop flange inside the clamps, so the legs will stop when they hit this. Also, don't try to TWIST the rubber handles onto the arms of the stand. Simply PUSH them from the end, and they will easily slide on. The nylon bolt securing the spinner head has a rubber "O" ring which is supposed to be slightly compressed when properly tightened. Routine maintenance should include periodically checking to be sure this bolt is still snug and is not working loose from vibration. Others have complained that it should have been made of metal(a metal hex-head 5/16 X 3/4" bolt could be used in a pinch; just be sure to use the "O" ring), though you might be better advised to purchase a spare from the manufacturer. I suspect that there may be engineering considerations for why this "soft" nylon bolt was used. As to reports of parts not "fitting"; the funnel parts are cast plastic and should be identical from unit to unit. OPERATION: a little common sense is in order. do not over feed the unit, and watch out for twigs. With a little practice, you should be able to adjust the feed rate to avoid sudden drops in motor RPM. Slow and steady will extend the life of the cutting string and motor. The manufacturer does not recommend lines larger than .090. Buy line in bulk and cut into 12 3/4" pieces. Since my interest is in producing compost, rather that simply reducing leaf size for disposal, I used the medium setting. I am shredding dry maple leaves. Why would anyone even attempt to shred wet leaves? A bushel basket fits nicely under the stand. Using another bushel basket or laundry basket, scoop up a pile of leaves and rest it on the edge of the funnel. You can then easily rake the leaves into the hopper in a controlled manner, and also screen for any twigs. MAINTENANCE ALERT: After an hour or so of use, you should remove and "beat" the foam air filter to clean, but should also invert the entire unit with the filter removed and shake vigorously to remove accumulations of fine leaf particles. You will be removing debris from the slot at the bottom of the filter compartment, which presumably funnels cooling air to the motor. I was surprised at how much could be shook out. Failure to tend to this may account for reports of the motor circuit breaker having to be frequently reset; it may be overheating. With the possible exception of users who may have received a defective unit, you can safely discount reviews of 2 and below as coming from unobservant and impatient owners, or just folks with unrealistic expectations. While I agree with others that it's overpriced, there is no other electric leaf shredder manufacturer. You can take solace in the fact that it's a good old American company. It is what it is. I gave a score of 4 because of the price and the so-so support website, but it works as advertised. I would definitely buy this unit again, and expect years of good service. If you want to see it in action, here's a YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ublASrvrnk that some other reviewer mentioned.
 falsely advertised October 17, 2008
J. Walker
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This company makes two shredders. The one with three legs for 119.00 with a five amp motor or the supposed the U-shaped leg configuration (#le-900) for 179.00 with a an 8 amp motor.. You may as well buy the cheaper one because they are going to send you that machine anyway. First, the Le-900 has a five amp motor not an 8 amp and when you as a consumer are paying the extra money for that motor and you get something else it is misleading.There was another review that mentioned this. I thought it must have been a mistake, apparently not. Which would mean that they are intentionally selling a product that isn't what it says it is.
Second the leg stand is poorly designed anyway and you dont really need to use it because it just takes up more room where-ever you store it.
This machine is designed to shred leaves. It is not a mulcher like it says. It is literally a weed wacker built into a can. It is loud, and it throws debris around the area you are using it.
It does shread leaves, not at a 30 : 1 ratio. More like a 5 : 1 ratio, the mulch isnt that small.
Also if you do buy this machine you will want to buy a heavier guage string. The one they send is useless.
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