Electric Leaf Mulcher

Product Description

Turn 11 bags of leaves and debris into 1 with the 13.0 Amp Electric Leaf Mulcher. A whole afternoon’s worth of work can be chopped down into a manageable load, instead of dragging a dozen+ bags to the curb. This tool features a clean air motor cooling system, enabling it to run at peak efficiency, and keep mulching up to 53 gallons of leaves per minute. Its 13” cutting diameter is supported by an easy to change string system, so you’ll always have sharp line. Easy to use, easy to maintain, easy to store, it’s lawn clearing made easy.

Features

• 53 GALLONS/MIN: That’s right, the 13.0 Amp motor mulches up to 53 Gallons of leaves per minute.
• RIGHT INTO THE BAG: Disposes of leaves and debris into a bag you can attach beneath (bag not included).
• 11:1 MULCH RATIO: That’s 11 bags chopped down into 1, all due to the innovative blade-less Flex-a-Line mulching system.
• STURDY YET PORTABLE: At 20 lbs., this tool is substantial and stays in place during use, but isn’t so heavy that you can’t move it around the yard easily.
• DO IT YOURSELF. DO IT BETTER. DO IT WITH WORX: WORX tools are engineered with cutting-edge technology, and above modern efficiency standards, so you can build a cost-effective tool collection that’s been designed to last.
• EASY ASSEMBLY: Putting it together is a snap and requires no tools. And it’s designed that way so you can just as easily disassemble it for storage.
• INCLUDES: 13 Amp Leaf Mulcher, Cutting Line, Bag Support Ring.

Top Reviews

The trimmer string could be heavier, but that problem is easily solved.
by Eugene D. Brooks III (4 out of 5 stars)
July 30, 2017

I bought the WORX leaf mulcher to reduce the volume of dry leaves and weeds for disposal. The supplied line is small (and short) and is quickly consumed. I used a #41 drill bit (0.096 inch) to ream the string holes from each side by hand to allow using 0.095 inch trimmer string in the mulcher. You can find this drill bit size at your local hardware store. The 0.095 inch trimmer string is a little more stout, used in professional trimmers, and can be bought in bulk rolls for a reasonable cost. The WORX does produce a bit of a tornado of leaves and dust. I use a plastic bag to collect from the bottom, so dust does not escape there, and I use a 5 gallon bucket to load the mulcher, holding the bucket down in the top, so leaves and dust are not thrown out at me. You can tell when the mulcher is done processing the load, and then lift the bucket. In spite of this measure, you will get dusted with fine leaf mulch. Without the measure, you might as well be rolling in it. The volume reduction is substantial, reducing the number of trips to dispose of the resulting mulch.
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Shreds!
by Jon (5 out of 5 stars)
November 4, 2017

It really shreds! Shredded about 7 homedepot bags of leaves and grass down to less than 1. This thing has plenty of power to cut through wet grass and leaves. Mulched almost all of my flower beds with the finely shredded product. Nice to never have to buy homedepot bags and lug them to the street again. I wish I discovered this product earlier. I think the ratio they claim is accuarate. Looking forward to use it again next weekend.
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WORKX versus Flowtron vs McCulloch Chipper/Shredder
by Kate (3 out of 5 stars)
December 8, 2009

I am a huge believer in creating compost and living in Oregon with an abundance of trees and leaves has led me to try a number of different products that mulch. I have purchased many combination blower-mulchers as well as stand-alone leaf eater (leaf shredder) electricity-driven products. I would like to share with you my review of the WORKX WG430 & compare it to the Flowtron LE-900 and to the McCulloch 14-AMP Electric Chipper/Shredder- MCS2001.

Pros:

All 3 pieces of equipment shred leaves sufficient to allow for mulching and ultimately composting. The WORKX is easily put together and this is so simple that the instructions are not needed. The assembled unit is stable despite some other reviews that it may not be so. The assembled unit is easily disassembled for better cleaning, for storage and to facilitate putting in new leaf-eater line. The Flowtron assembly is a little more involved but easily done. The assembled unit does not feel as sturdy as the WORKX but it is durable and the first Flowtron unit that I bought in 2007 lasted two years; it was the electric motor that died, and not any other part of the unit. I still have the McCulloch chipper-shredder. It has lasted over 5 years and shows no signs of impending demise. Therefore, I do not think that the construction, stability or assembly/disassembly of these units plays a major role in my choice of what the best unit is.

Cons:

The WORKX and Flowtron both generate a major amount of dust and the Flowtron is especially noisy. Definitely advise use of a face mask or some form of protection for the eyes and ideally the lungs (simple mask) when working with dry leaves. Ear protection is important as well. All units can emit (spit out) pieces of debris that could result in trauma to your eyes or any exposed soft tissue so safety should be a key issue when running these machines. Of the 3 units, the Flowtron is most offensive to the ears. Of the 3 units, the McCulloch emits the least amount of dust with the Flowtron and WORKX tied for a very distant second.

Inability to handle even small twigs is a major downside for the Flowtron and WORKX since both use filament line to act as leaf eaters. This is the same kind of line used in weed wackers. If you intentionally or inadvertently toss in twigs or even small branches into either machine the filament length is whittled down quite quickly and you will be inserting new line often. This is not a super simple task for either Flowtron or WORKX. On the contrary, the McCulloch handles branches and of course twigs, pine cones, etc very well. No problem there. The major downside of the McCulloch is the need to hand feed the leaves, twigs, or anything else that you are chipping or shredding. The Flowtron and WORKX allows you to grab large handfuls of leaves and quickly toss them into the unit. Not so with the McCulloch. If the McCulloch had this ability there would be no issue as to which machine to select.

The mulched product is the finest with the McCulloch, followed by the Flowtron with the WORKX the least impressive. The reason for this is that the WORKX has no way to adjust the opening for the shredded leaves; it is one size. The Flowtron has a sliding device that allows you to select a fine or coarse adjustment. Both the Flowtron and WORKX talk about the ability to shred moist leaves but I would tell you that although this is possible you end up after 5 minutes stopping the machine and scraping off a large amount of mushed leaf product and the trimmer line rapidly is eaten up as well. Same issue with the McCulloch but here you have not a problem with trimmer line but caking up of this mushy mulch on the inner walls of the machine that forces you to disassemble the McCulloch. The disassembly of the McCulloch is a time-consuming and not at all enjoyable procedure and if McCulloch could devise a quick release set up like the WORKX, this would be wonderful (assuming it to be safe).

I do not like that the WORKX has a two-pronged plug. I feel better with a 3-prong which is seen with the Flowtron and McCulloch.

Lastly, with the McCulloch you have 3 major working blades. These can be sharpened by the homeowner or new ones purchased online. These are not cheap but I have found it pretty easy to sharpen them myself so I do not consider this a major downside for this machine.

I just purchased another Flowtron after trying the WORKX and today have returned the WORKX for the reasons listed. I did a side-by-side comparison of the quality of the shredding and it was clear that WORKX allowed to many fully intact leaves to pass through without shredding.

Final conclusions: of the two leaf eaters, the Flowtron is clearly better. Of all three units, I would have to say that the McCulloch's ability to chip leaves, twigs, pine cones, seeds from cedars makes it my favorite. It just does not handle leaves as fast as the Flowtron. I have no connection in any way with any of these companies. Anyone that uses one or more of these products will find this review to be complete, clear and right on target. Lastly, I purchased and returned the WORKX via Amazon and purchased the FLowtron via Amazon on two separate occasions. I bought the McCulloch locally. I am very pleased with the delivery and return policy of Amazon.
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Add .095 line, 7" of PVC leg extension (for paper bags) makes a great tool for fighting leaves!
by cfcubed (4 out of 5 stars)
November 12, 2012

UPDATE: Found this useful as a high-power PAPER SHREDDER too:) Perhaps not for your most sensitive info BUT it sure munches paper up, no worries about staples, etc either - it eats it all. If you've mounds of secondary paper shredding queued up its something to consider.

First season using this & pleased with the results. Would say it reduces our yard clean up time by 1/2 or so and use about 1/4 the number of paper bags (our county requires them, ugh). Stuffing the bags, compressing leaves with board, was always the worst part of the job. This tool virtually eliminates that (though we do press down its leaf mulch once per bag to fit more in). Note though that using this tool will take this activity from peaceful & quiet to noisy & dusty, but there are costs/benefits to everything.

Immediately switched to cut segments of .095 trimmer line & this thing handles mixed in twigs, say up to pencil thickness, pretty well. Though the twigs may mean you're changing line every 3 or 4 bags (once per hr?) & clearing the hopper more its worth it to me not to separate twigs. I just try to avoid feeding in sticks when I see 'em & have a thick stick to stir in stuff if hopper clogs.

Like another reviewer said the tool needs 7" of leg extension to sit above common leaf paper bags, I used cheap/easy 3/4" PVC cut into 26 1/4" lengths fixed w/duct tape (for easy removal for end of season storage). Posted a customer image of this (<<< Ugh! Thank Amazon for disabling customer pics & all their associated helpful important info!).

Also be sure to check / clear motor air intake often & blow out every hour or so, I used canned air/dust-off from Radio Shack for portability. And of course use eye & ear protection & dust mask (if prone to allergies, etc).

Wife & I find this a great tool given the tweaks above, 4 stars though because a) should come with thicker line, b) requires 7" leg extensions for common paper bags, c) manual should be more clear about air intake filter cleaning importance & methods.

Note: As always use tweaks/recommendations in this review at your own risk.
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This thing is a beast.
by Josh (4 out of 5 stars)
June 18, 2017

It turns leaves into dust. The only thing better than this is a couple passes over the leaves with a riding mower. I don't have the money for that. The string it comes with is pretty bad. You are better off using cooked spaghetti. Get some good string trimmer line, and put that inside it. Just cut them to the same length as the ones it comes with. I had some .095 laying around. It's a little tight squeezing it into the hole, but it does fit. Probably be better to get a slightly smaller line. There is a little line cutter thing inside the bowl. Its attached with a couple screws. I took it out, the leaves kept getting backed up against it.

Keep sticks out of it. They break the string and get stuck in the bottom holes preventing leaves from falling through. What i do is dump the leaves some ways away from the mulcher, and then blow the leaves to it. All the sticks and heavy stuff get left behind, and the leaves move forward.

I am using this to make my compost pile. I mixed DRY leaves and DRY fresh cut grass clippings together. Then I slowly dumped them into the blender. Filled up my 5ft x 3ft x 4ft bin to the top, spraying water every foot or so. The next day, the pile was all ready climbing past 100. Since the leaves are well mulched up, I usually add in equal parts grass clippings if not more.

I was using a push mower to mulch the leaves. I ended up tired and had a good caked on layer of dust and dirt on my arms. The st augustine grass was starting to get thinned out from the constant walking, raking, and extra mulch everywhere sucking up the nitrogen. With the worx mulcher I am less tired and the grass doesnt get abused as much.

I just have to wait and see how much abuse this machine can take.
*edit. 6 months later, the shredder is still going strong. The only problem I'm seeing now, is that it cant shred pine needles. They are too light to fall down towards the string. I also cleaned out the air filter on it. Real easy. Flip the top part over, and unscrew the six screws holding it motor case together. Should see a little soft sponge near the intake. I gave it a good rinse and dried it well. Also blew all of the dust out from around the electrical stuff, wasnt much there. It took me about 5 minutes total.
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Stopped working in 10 minutes
by The Defuser (1 out of 5 stars)
March 26, 2016

I assembled my WORX WG430 leaf shredder this after noon. Easy enough assembly. No tools required. I read the instructions for use very carefully. Didn't "stuff" the machine with leaves, etc. The first 10 minutes of operation went very well. Leaves shredded nicely. Me, whistling a happy tune. Sun nice and bright. After ten minutes of use, the machine stopped functioning. More precisely, the shredder's electric motor lost 90 percent of its speed and, thusly, its power to shred leaves--which was the whole point of the purchase, wasn't it? At the present time, it won 't shred the wings on a moth. Luckily moths are not a current problem on my property. So now I can grab the rotating portion of the motor and stop it from rotating using my thumb and one finger. Easy. So there we have it. Monday, I shall call WORX's customer service and see what they say, how to ship it back, get all the right numbers on the return address, and figure out another way how to clean up the leaves in my yard. In other words, it will be a big pain in the butt to get this purchase rectified and get my money back. And that's how I spent my Saturday. How about you?
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We have been using a neighbors unit and we liked it so well we bought our own
by DanangDoc (1 out of 5 stars)
November 21, 2015

The shredder actually works fairly well. It's simple - not offering many options - but shreds well. We have been using a neighbors unit and we liked it so well we bought our own. The borrowed unit stopped working, I opened it up and found the motor brushes had worn out; an expected occurrence with any extensively used motor. Otherwise, the unit was like new. Went to Worx website, chatted with customer service, and was informed that they do not supply repair parts for anything they make. So this otherwise functioning unit becomes garbage because of a known consumable part. This is not the type of company I will deal with. I would have returned the new unit but it has been used already. PS: The brushes are available from Eurton Electric, part number 2220889. A bit wide; easily adjustable with fine sandpaper on a hard, flat surface.
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This leaf shredder does the job well and is super easy to use and setup: A good buy.
by Steve Boyer (4 out of 5 stars)
December 31, 2016

After significant research on gas and electric leaf shredders I settled on this one. I realized that with the amount and large-sized leaves that I have from all my trees a handheld leaf sucker was not going to do the job. I also did not want to have copious amounts of trash bags for the garbage men. I have purchased two other WORX products before, the yard trimmer and a hand held blower. They are battery powered and work well going on about a year now. This unit setup and broke down for storage very easily and cleans just as easily. My father-in-law and I tried out the leaf shredder for the first time last week and it performed above our expectations. It was easy to use and made short work of all my leaves. I am primarily dealing with very large leaves, think twice as big as an adult's hand (American Sycamore perhaps), and lots of them from a very old and large tree. It lists a 11:1 bag ratio but I found that with the largish nature of my leaves and the volume we finished the job with 4 large contractor trash bags of nicely shredded leaves. The shredder spit out little nickel or smaller sized leave bits; very nice for composting if you do that. It does take wet leaves as I had a number of them on the bottom layers of the leave piles in the yard which they say helps with the shredding/mulching process. I found it helpful to have smaller piles of the wet leaves while feeding the "beast". It makes even shorter work with dry leaves and you can feed it a slightly bigger pile. Occasionally, we would have to stop shredding (always turn-off and unplug) and just give a quick wipe around inside the shredding area for the finely shredded leaves (much like you would do for a yard trimmer). Even less so would be to stop shredding and push down the shred (depending how deep and wide the bag you use for collection) with the handle of a rake or similar. I found that after raking all the leaves into one giant towering pile then setting up shop with the shredder in the middle was the best way to do the job. Would definitely recommend this shredder to others.
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Worx vs McCulloch (With String Option Comment)
by R. M. Mayhew (4 out of 5 stars)
November 20, 2012

First I bought the McCulloch MCS2001 14 amp Electric Chipper/Shredder. It worked ok on sticks and twigs, but feeding leaves in was a time consuming chore. We wanted something where you could scoop up a big handful of leaves and just drop them into the mulcher. The Worx model does that. Essentially it is a weed-eater and uses the same plastic line to cut up the leaves.

We use the Toro 29210 43-Gallon Gardening Spring Bucket (also purchased on Amazon) to catch the leaves. We spread ours out for mulching, so we don't use a plastic bag for curbside disposal. As long as the leaves are dry, this unit works quite well. The McCulloch unit was very heavy and hard to maneuver and store. The Worx unit breaks down nicely for easy storage and is easy to move around. I would buy the Worx again.

String Option: We needed new mulcher string and I noticed the Worx uses .090 string. You can buy specific Worx replacement string online for more than I prefer to pay. Most trimmer string is smaller or larger so I purchased the .095 string and it fits, snugly, for about 1/3 of the price. You have to cut it yourself, but that's not a problem.
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Does spin and make loud noises. Does not shred leaves if they are even remotely wet or even a little
by Person (1 out of 5 stars)
March 24, 2018

Best used on less than paper-thin leaves, bone-dry or drier. If you have paper-thin, bone dry leaves, this will do a reasonable job of pulverizing them into pieces that will fly down about 90% of the time while the other 10% of the leaves fly up into the air in a cloud.

Unfortunately for me, I live in the Pacific Northwest, where leaves are not always bone dry, and the tree that deposits most of its leaves in my backyard is a Black Walnut, which tends to drop leaves with stems. As a result, every time I put a handful of leaves into this mulcher, it pulverizes just a few leaves, and then starts mushing the rest up into this substance that looks like a ball of hair recently pulled out from a shower drain. Not really shredded, but maybe more shredded than it started?

Out of denial that I wasted my money on this thing, I've spent all winter trying to get my pile of leaves to actually flow through. First, I shift my remaining pile of leaves on my deck so that I can get more parts on the outside to have a chance at drying to the required level, then I wait a week, then I change the wire trimmer line and drop my driest leaves in tiny handfuls through this "mulcher" and wait until it clogs up (usually about 3 handfuls), then I turn it off, clean everything out, manually move all of the shower-gunk-looking-remains into my bag, and repeat. At this rate, I am hoping to possible be done shredding my leave pile by the end of next fall.

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