Customer Reviews

Troy-Bilt TB310QS Mulchinator 31cc 2-Cycle Gas-Powered 165 MPH Blower/Vacuum

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I had an electric blower/vac (Black and Decker) for years. Worked fine, but it was always a pain to switch it from blowing to vac mode. Yes, the tubes just clicked on, but you had to carry them around to make the switch.

This is a perfect solution to that problem. You can blow the leaves (or whatever) into a pile, then just flip a lever and vac them up. Simple, easy, fast. Perfect for clearing out a patio, garage, driveway, flower beds, or average size lawns.

There are several pluses to this model. First of all, it starts very easily. Be sure to prime it 10 times as instructed, and it will fire up with one or two pulls. Secondly, it is very clog resistant - I've vac'd up wet leaves with no problems. Other pluses are the patio cleaning attachment (wonderful!), good construction and a good manual. While the 10:1 reduction is a bit optimistic, it does reduce the pile by a decent amount.

Some downsides as well, however. It is heavy. It's not unbearable, but you'll notice the weight if you're used to an electric model. It's on the loud side, but not more so than other 2 cycle engines. The bag is on the small side, but to be honest, anything larger would be too bulky when full. While it is very clog resistant, if it does clog you need to take off the tubes (need a torx screwdriver to do so) to unclog it. I'm not sure how well the plastic impeller will hold up - seems good so far, but the plastic impeller on my electric one took a beating. A metal one would have been a nice touch. The power is adequate - it's not the strongest blower out there, but it gets the job done. These issues knock the rating down to 4 stars (probably 4.5 stars would be more accurate, but you can't choose something in between).

But, those problems are quite livable due to the ease of switching from blower to vac, and the ease of starting. Wish I had bought this years ago!

UPDATE: Been using this weekly for the past four months, and still am very pleased. Works like a charm, and starts very easily. Can't understand some of the negative reviews - this has been a joy to use!

Update: August 2009 -- It's been two years, and still works great. The plastic impeller is showing signs of wear since I sometimes vac up a big chunk of bark mulch or a rock, but it still vacs up everything without a problem. Starts quickly, which I credit to using both Stabil and Seafoam in the gas (I know it's overkill to use both of them, but I have been for years and all my 2-cycle engines run great). There are better ones out there from Husky or Stihl, but for the price, this is an excellent performer.

Update August 2010 -- Three years, and still working well. The impeller wear has not affected operation to any noticable extent. The bag zipper did wear out on me so I replaced it (couple of bucks at a fabric store for a heavy-duty jacket zipper. My sewing skills are very poor, but it works fine despite it looking somewhat ragged. I cut off the teeth of the old zipper and fastened the new one on top of the old). Fires up with no more than two pulls. Only maintenance has been to replace the spark plug after two years, and clean out the air filter 2-3 times a year. My Stihl out-blows this by a wide margin, but for jobs when you need a blower and a vac, you can't beat the ease of switching from each mode with the Troybilt.

Update Oct 2011 -- Four years and working well. Starting to show its age due to the amount of use it gets, such as a sometimes sticky lever to switch from vac to blowing. WD-40 solves the problem, but I have to reapply every so often. Engine continues to be a solid performer.

Most blowers throw in the vacuum option as an afterthought. The TB310Q's first priority is to vacuum and then secondly to act as a blower. Overall, very solid quality and starts extremely easy once you have broken it in. The switch from blower to vac is effortless. I like the fact that you can empty the bag without removing it. My only 'cons' would be that it is heavier/bulkier than most and the engine runs louder than average.

I bought the Troy Built this summer as a replacement for a Weed Eater model. I was most interested in the vaccum function for leaves. Well the blower and vaccum are both adequate. It has a spring assisted pull start which makes it easier to pull. The unit is big and bulky and somewhat heavy compared to the 21cc unit it replaced. The "cruise control" seemed like a good selling point, but the unit vibrates so badly that the cruise control doesn't hold under full throttle. I purchased this unit from Lowes and I'm glad I did. The unit wouldn't start after 2 months of around the house use. I always see to it the oil:gas is correct and treat these 2 cycle engines with fuel stabilizer so I'm not sure why it failed. Thank goodness Lowes exchanged it for a new one with no questions asked. Hopefully I'll have better luck with the second one. In summary: heavy, bulky, adequate blower and vac for around the house, worthless throttle control, and questionable build quality and reliability.

I purchased this unit primarily for the vacuum/mulching feature. I have a fair amount of leaves and being able to mulch them reduced their volume by a factor of three (this meant a lot fewer trips to the city compost site).

There was some assembly required (the nozzle needs to be connected to the engine). Some of the plastic holes didn't line up very well, but it was no big deal.

The machine always started easily. It wasn't as loud as I had feared, but I still used ear protection. The vacuum/mulching worked well, but I found it was a lot quicker to first blow the leaves into a pile (or onto a sidewalk) and then vacuum them rather than trying to vacuum them directly off the lawn.

The bag fills up pretty quickly and at first I was wishing for a larger bag, but the machine is on the heavy side and it gets heavier still as the bag fills up. I didn't notice it so much at the time but I did feel it the next day. ;)

Overall I'm happy, as it is a lot less work than raking.

I've never had a tool like this, and boy was I missing out. Sure, sucking up leaves and having them mulched is great, but there are other uses too. Like blowing out the garage, or my favorite cleaning up the trimmings from bushes, plants, etc. It used to be such a pain in the butt to clean up leaves and branches out of river rock but this TB just sucks 'em right out.

Pros: Works very well, changing from vacuum (oh yah... it comes with a "floor vacuum" attachment for the garage) to blower could not be easier, pretty easy start (usually 2-3rd pull, never more than 3 pulls).

Cons: It is heavy. But, there are a number of different ways to position your hands so by no means are you limited to a certain position. And it's pretty loud. Not deafening, but louder than I expected.

I have never used a vacuum/mulcher/blower before, so I can't compare this tool to others. It's fun... I love it.

I have been using the Ryobi Blower/Vac for 5 years or more and love the convenience of not having to switch out attachments. This Troy-bilt is the exact same as the Ryobi. The only issue is the zipper on the bag is plastic, it use to be metal, and if it gets dragged on the ground, it damages it. The replacement bags are $40 with shipping. Kinda steep for a bag, so I decided to buy the whole setup again and bought the Troy-Bilt. One thing I do like about this one over the Ryobi, is that it has a spring-loaded start. When you pull on the cord to start, the spring mechanism does most of the work. But, even without the spring assistance, it has always been easy to start. It does get kinda heavy when the bag gets full, but the convenience and the easy of emptying is worth it. This is a great machine and not as loud as my Ryobi.

I purchased a Troy-Bilt TB320BV blower / vacuum in June of 2006 and am disposing of it in July 2009. It has always been difficult to start, but now it will not start at all - it seems to have lost compression based on how easy it is to pull the starter cord. Troy-Bilt oill was always used in the specified ratio. The unit was used perhaps 45 times to blow grass clipping off walks. The vacuum function worked but was not very practical due to the small bag size. Had to use a small bungee to keep the vibration from closing the speed control. Biggest complaint was the hard starting. I am a mechanical engineer and most all of my equipment works well and lasts for years. I goofed when I bought this one.

This is a good item for around the yard. By no means a "pro" model but easy starter & the vaccum is integrated into the design, not just an add on.
After a few months the zipper on the mulching collection bag blew out. (It should use a heavier zipper)I called Troy-Bilt and they quickly shipped me a new bag, no questions asked and it showed up at my door a couple days later. Nice to know that they at least stand behind their product.

I purchased this blower/vacuum to replace my old Craftsman blower. This unit works very well but the big problem is that it is big and heavy. I would have preferred a smaller unit.

Easy to start, Easy to switch from blower to vac, not as powerfull as I thought it would be. Otherwise I believe it will be a good unit.