Troy-Bilt CSV070B 163cc Self-Propelled Chipper Shredder Vacuum

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I love the Chipper Shredder Vacuum machine for my fall leaves. It's takes half the time to do them now than using my blower and a large tarp. I wish the speed was faster for the self-propelled version and it's sometimes hard to pull start it, but other than these two improvements, I love it.

This leaf vac used to have two speeds, but for some reason it’s single-speed now. And that speed is painfully slow. It literally crawls along. Takes forever to vac my lawn. That’s the main thing. One other problem is the bag is made of porous felt, and clouds of leaf dust come out everywhere. Have to wear a mask when using.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Where is the kill switch? I have an older model which has an on-off switch to kill the engine. The only way I can kill the engine on this new model is to remove the bag which trips a safety switch. Seems like a huge safety issue to not have a way to quickly kill the engine. Otherwise I love the vacuum.

This product doesn’t compare to the quality craftsmanship of legacy Troy-Bilt or Craftsman power equipment. Instead, it’s a low-end MTD build—reminiscent of a K-Mart Blue Light Special. Aside from the Briggs & Stratton engine, the overall build quality and workmanship are disappointing and fall short of what once defined American-made standards. In contrast, my Toro TimeMaster lawn mower far exceeds this unit in both construction quality and vacuum performance. At best, this product might be acceptable at half its current price. Unfortunately, aside from the outrageously priced Billy Goat models, the more affordable MTD options remain the main alternative. For the most part, it eventually gets the job done—but it struggles significantly with Honey Locust leaves. The vacuum head must be kept very close to the ground to be effective, which often results in tearing up the sod after multiple passes. The collection bag functions adequately but performs poorly when transferring debris into a 55-gallon plastic bag. It’s designed simply to dump material onto the ground—a frustrating and inefficient setup compared to the thoughtful bag design on Toro mowers. In short, it works—but it’s far from a well-engineered or quality-built product.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Works well, I like it. Easy to use and worked as expected.