Makita 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.

Works great it will get jammed on the larger leaves . It will vacuum them up but if you get too many at one time it’ll jam I just push them in by hand and keep rolling

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.

Meets expectations. This does not replace my 120V Leaf vacuum. it is not intended for big jobs. I use this when I have a small amount of yard debris that I want to vacuum up without expending the time and effort to deploy and then put away a 50' extension cord. Runtime seems reasonable for operating off a small 18V battery. If you need a leaf vacuum for big jobs, get a 120V machine and an extension cord. As a 2nd vacuum for small jobs I find it very useful.

Not enough negative pressure to suck in Sycamore leaves - size of dinner plates in Los Angeles area. Won't pickup the small acorns from oak trees. OK for sucking in smaller leaves. OK for most of the debris that accumulates in the garden shed. So the fantasy of pushing it along, leaving a clean wide path, is not working out. Maybe I will mount it, turn it on, stuff raked leaves in so I get useable mulch for the garden later in the year. It does make nice mulch.So it is paying for some of its $200 cost, and I may be able to find other good uses.Mea Culpa, I did not do sufficient research of the competition before getting the Makita.

I bought this especially for cleaning out leaves and debris around my rose and hydrangea plants. Not easy with thorny stems. It works great! Cleans everything out quickly. It’s easy to handle and quick to empty the bag. I have other Makita outdoor tools which I love and battery time isn’t an issue. A quality tool from Makita

Extremely weak and drains batteries fast.Trust the reviews.I didn't and payed the price for not listening.

I have lots of Marita tools and love them all but this vacuum/mulcher is not my favorite. It seems to plug up if the leaves are too deep. It’s easy to unplug just step on the leaves and pull the vacuum up but you can’t rush the process or it won’t work. I’m usually not in any hurry so I can make it work for me but strongly would recommend a different make if you’re in a rush to get the job done.