Flymo GardenVac 2700 - 4-in-1 Electric Vacuum / Blower / Shredder - 40L Collection Bag -Orange

This was bought as a replacement for a 750w Flymo Garden Vac Plus which had finally given up the ghost after what must be 40 years or so service. I used it mainly for collecting up leaves although it had plenty of other uses such as collecting hedge clippings or grass clippings when edging and it served its purpose for cleaning up after using a chain saw or shredding branches.Too many of the models available these days are just blowers which I don’t want – I have never understood the logic of blowing leaves on to the pavement or into the road – and machines that do also have a vacuum function are usually not that powerful when it comes to sucking.This new Flymo machine is basically the same machine, outwardly, as my 40 year old model but with a more powerful motor, 2700w, which makes it more powerful without much difference in weight – and this is not the lightest machine on the market at 5 kilos or so and, to be honest, it is fairly bulky.The collection bag is the same design as the original but the original, which is a bit battered these days, feels a more substantial affair but we, or at least my heirs, can judge that more accurately around 2060 or so. The same goes for the strap; the original is broader and has a shoulder pad, so has been transferred to the new machine.It is understandable in many ways to shave costs to keep prices down but a broader strap is much more comfortable.In operation the vac is a big improvement on the original model with more powerful suction and blowing. This machine, like the old machine, has three settings operated by a simple lever – blow, suck and then blow and suck combined, the last of which seems a bit of a contradiction – blowing and sucking at the same time?Blowing allows you to blow leaves off a lawn, out of flower beds or from among winter veg, suck is self-explanatory but blowing and sucking is brilliant for loosening and collecting wet leaves and sucking up leaves from behind pots in corners or against walls. The blowing loosens them but before they can fly off they are sucked up.The bag is 40 litres and the strimmer affair at the top of the suction tube breaks the leaves down on a 3:1 ratio which means they are finely shredded and will break down into valuable leaf mould much quicker. The nozzle has a wide opening and I have had no problem with any gravel being picked up from the drive, not that that would be a problem as there is no visible grille or inlet to the motor inside the machine so no damage would ensue.Indeed, the original was advertised as being able to pick up drink cans after parties, and, to be fair, I did try it and it could, so no doubt this later model can manage the same trick – if you just happen to have a problem with both fallen leaves and cans.It is not the lightest machine on the market, nor is it the sleekest or most modern looking, after all the design is old, but it is a design that has stood the test of time, a design which works and works well. It is also worth remembering that this was originally designed as a garden vac, not a leaf or snow blower, the blower feature just there to aid the vacuuming and, from memory, it was the first on the market.There is a newer, Flymo model, the 3000w PowerVac, but it does not have the same sucking power as the GardenVac, 168 litres per second against 250 l/s.So, if you are looking for essentially a garden vacuum to pick up and shred leaves efficiently, without fuss, and a blowing option when it is needed, this is a good choice. It is fairly heavy to use so the optional extra of a Flymo wheel that clips on the end might be useful to take some of the strain.

I've recently had to replace my old Flymo Garden Vac with a newer 2700 model. There is a newer 3000 model available but the vacuum chute seemed quite narrow and I thought it would be more susceptible to blockages. So I decided to buy a 2700 instead. This is not longer manufactured but I purchased new from one of Amazon's retailers.It took a bit of assembly, mainly because the diagrams were poor but eventually I got there. The collector bag hooks into a rim which then can be unclipped from the main body. The bag occasionally unhooks in places, causing leaves and waste to be expelled. It's a simple job to rehook this but the design isn't great. Once properly attached, the vacuum works well and I particularly like the shredder blade which rotates at high speed, making light work of the contents. Two of these shredder blades are provided. Unfortunately I am already on my second one and they don't seem to last long.I have to say that the construction of the vacuum isn't as sturdy as my old one and I think it would be quite easy to crack the case, especially if this was accidently dropped. So I'm fairly pleased, but just hope this lasts as long as my previous Flymo vac.Update (Nov 2022) - still going but Bag Frame has needed replacement and the bag itself is a poor fit on the frame and regularly became unhooked. I got round this by applying duct tape to keep it in place. Gets a lot of use and overall I'm pretty happy with it.

Had my old Flymo Vac for around ten years, it gave up the ghost finally when the trigger mechanism went floppy and stopped working. The new one is fine, seems a bit more powerful than the old one but just as effective. The downside was trying to fit the bag which still isn`t fitted properly. Took around half an hour to get it on and after use, it was starting to come away again. I`ve now fitted the old bag which was made as one unit and didn`t need assembly. I also kept the old wheel as the machine can get a bit heavy, should be standard really. The new bag has become damaged with the effort of fitting it, the slots that are meant to clip onto the clips inside the channel become stretched and loose. Lucky I kept the old bag, it doesn`t have the skirt but is still good after all this time. A couple of days later I contacted Flymo about the debris bag problem. They got back to me very quickly and reckoned the bag problem may have been caused by incorrect packaging. They`re sending a replacement bag. This was resolved very quickly without hassle, well done, Flymo.

Ok so this is the second one of these I have purchased. Same problem with both. Fixing the bag to the underneath of the machine is poorly designed. The bag comes off and lets the rest of the machine down. In the end I use both machines but just for blowing leaves and the bags for collecting the leaves went in the bin. The cables could be longer and a redesign of the attachment mechanisms would be improvements.

We bought the Flymo Garden Vac 2700 because it was the closest we could find to our previous Flymo leaf vac which finally gave up the ghost after many years great service. There are other leaf vacuum/blowers on the market which may do a better job but at a price. This one blows, vacuums and shreds, coping well each autumn and leaving us with great leaf mould. The vacuum/blow slider switch makes it easy to change modes. It does everything we need it to do.