Fall yard cleanup is three jobs stacked on top of each other: moving a season of leaves, clearing the branches the first windstorms bring down, and getting the gutters, the garage and the tools squared away before the ground freezes. These 11 picks cover all three, from EGO's 880 CFM blower and a 15-amp electric chipper to a 23-foot Gorilla ladder for the gutters and a pair of waterproof wool gloves for the cold, damp mornings in between.
Four of the picks on this list run on lithium batteries, and the way you store those packs for three or four cold months decides how much runtime is left next April. This is the fall half of our spring yard cleanup gear guide, and the thinking is the same: buy tools that cover more than one job, and keep the number of battery types down. Three of the picks below run on the same EGO 56V ARC Lithium batteries, which matters more in October than it did in May, because the blower, the leaf vacuum and the chainsaw all want a charged pack on the same Saturday. Promoted by FlowAds Wet leaves matted into the grass are what stall most blowers, and EGO built the LB8803-2 kit for that job. Turbo mode pushes up to 880 CFM at air speeds up to 200 MPH, and the variable speed cruise control dials in anything from 270 to 700 CFM when you are working around the flower beds. The kit ships with two 4.0Ah batteries rated for up to 90 minutes of runtime, plus a digital display that shows speed and battery charge as you work. Shop now on EGO or buy it on Amazon. Where a blower only moves leaves around, the LV5005 picks them up. It pulls leaves through six metal tines that mulch them at a 16:1 ratio, and the wide metal-tipped tube is built to resist clogging. The bag comes off without tools and empties through a dual zipper. It converts to a 500 CFM blower without tools, runs up to 90 minutes on low and about 15 on high with the included 6.0Ah battery, and carries an IPX5 weather rating for rainy days. The mulched leaves go into the flower beds or the compost pile instead of a row of paper yard bags at the curb. Shop now on EGO. The VEVOR push sweeper runs on nothing but your legs. It covers a 26-inch path, and its spinning brushes flick leaves and grass clippings into a 7 cubic foot hopper as you walk, which makes it the quiet option for an early Sunday morning. The brush height adjusts across 10 levels, so you can run it low on a smooth lawn and raise it for rougher ground. There is nothing to charge or fuel when you pull it back out next fall. Shop now on VEVOR or buy it on Amazon. Promoted by FlowAds The first big wind of the season often brings down a limb or two. EGO rates the CS1815 as the equal of a 50cc gas saw, with a 2500W brushless motor, an 18-inch bar and chain, and more than 300 cuts on a 4x4 from the included 6.0Ah battery. Chain tension adjusts with a dial instead of a wrench, and an LED work light helps when the cleanup runs past dusk, which comes early in November. There is no pull cord and no fuel mix going stale in the garage over the winter. Shop now on EGO or buy it on Amazon. Fall is when a lot of guys clear deadwood and cut back the shrubs that got away from them over the summer, and doing it with a hand pruner wears out your grip fast. Wild Badger's 20V shears drive an SK5 high-carbon steel blade with a 300W brushless motor through branches up to 1.06 inches thick. The cutting opening adjusts to 0.59, 0.79 or 1.06 inches to match the branch, the tool weighs 1.83 pounds, and the kit includes a 2Ah battery and charger. Wild Badger backs it with a three-year warranty. Shop now on Wild Badger Power. Promoted by FlowAds The LawnMaster FD1504 turns what the chainsaw and the shears take down into mulch. It feeds branches up to 1.8 inches thick past a two-sided blade spinning at 3,700 RPM and drops the result into a 12-gallon collection bin at a 16:1 reduction ratio. The housing is dent-resistant polypropylene, 7-inch wheels roll it out to the pile, and the axle comes off to cut its storage footprint roughly in half. It is a 15-amp tool, so give it a heavy-gauge cord. Shop now on LawnMaster or buy it on Amazon. The GCY-100 is a two-wheel poly cart with a 10 cubic foot bed and a 600-pound hauling capacity, and the bed tips forward so you can dump a load of leaves, mulch or firewood instead of unloading it by hand. The 13-inch molded tires are flat-free, so a cart that sits in the shed all winter is ready to roll in spring, and the handle works for pushing or pulling. It weighs 28.1 pounds empty. Shop now on Gorilla Carts. Clogged gutters are the fall job everybody puts off until the first freeze. The GLMPXT-23 is an aluminum multi-position ladder with a 23-foot reach, a Type IAA rating for 375 pounds, and a top cap and platform that hold your tools while you work. It sets up as a stepladder, extension ladder, stairway ladder, 90-degree wall ladder or scaffold, so the same ladder cleans the gutters in October and hangs the holiday lights in December. It weighs 44 pounds and folds to 74 x 27 x 8.7 inches for storage. Shop now on Gorilla Ladders. Promoted by FlowAds I have used Vacmaster's 10-gallon Beast FLT+ to pull leaves and dust off the outdoor carpet and clean the carpet in the garage, and the 14-gallon Beast with a stainless steel tank is the bigger version of that idea. It runs a 6.5 peak HP motor with 82 inches of water lift, and it converts to a blower for clearing the patio or the driveway. Two things carry over from the FLT+. The 14-gallon also ships with a 7-foot hose, so plan on moving the vac around on bigger jobs, and never vacuum charcoal or wood ash with it, because ash can hold live embers long after it looks cold. In blower mode, with a mask and eye protection, the hose clears ash out of a grill instead. Shop now on Vacmaster or buy it on Amazon. Promoted by FlowAds Corded fall tools like the chipper and the shop vac need heavy-gauge cord. Giraffe's 50-foot reel uses 12-gauge cable rated for 15 amps and 1,875 watts, with a built-in circuit breaker and a lighted triple-tap outlet at the end. It mounts to a wall or ceiling on a 180-degree swivel bracket, locks at any length and rewinds slowly so the plug does not whip back into the case. Giraffe rates the cable to stay flexible down to -58°F. Shop now on Giraffe Tools or buy it on Amazon. Bagging leaves on a rainy morning soaks through ordinary work gloves in a hurry. Cross Point's Waterproof Pro Wool Gloves look like regular knit gloves, but they are built in three layers: a stretch knit outside, a breathable Artex3D waterproof membrane in the middle and a merino wool liner that stays warm when it gets damp. Silicone grip prints on the palms and fingers hold onto wet tool handles, the fingertips work on a phone screen, and they go in the washing machine on cold. Sizes run XS to XXL in Grey, Heather Black and Coyote. Shop now on Cross Point. Most guys do not need all eleven, and the right kit comes down to the size of your lot and how many trees are on it. These are the four calls I would make first. The EGO chainsaw, blower and leaf vacuum all share the same 56V ARC Lithium batteries, and the blower kit is the one that ships with two packs. Start there, then add the chainsaw and the LV5005 kits, which each bring a larger 6.0Ah pack. You will want the extra runtime, since the leaf vacuum runs only about 15 minutes on high. Keep one pack charging while another works. A small lot with a couple of maples is a sweeper-and-blower job. Once you are filling more than a few bags a week, the leaf vacuum's 16:1 mulching and the Gorilla cart cut down the trips to the curb. The LawnMaster chipper is a 15-amp tool and the Giraffe reel is rated for 15 amps, so the chipper alone uses the reel's full rating. Run the 11-amp shop vac off a different circuit while the chipper is going, and skip the thin cord left over from last year's holiday lights. A chainsaw, a chipper and an 880 CFM blower all throw debris and make plenty of noise, so safety glasses and hearing protection go on before anything starts. If a buddy is helping, one of you runs the saw while the other feeds the chipper, and nobody stands in front of the chute. With the yard done, plan a weekend with the guys in the White Mountains or another of these mountain fall guys trips.
EGO Power+ Cordless Electric Leaf Blower, 880 CFM, Two Batteries - LB8803-2
EGO POWER+ 880 CFM Leaf Blower: Moves Wet, Matted Leaves Off The Lawn
EGO POWER+ Leaf Vacuum And Mulcher: Turns 16 Bags Of Leaves Into One
VEVOR 26-Inch Push Lawn Sweeper: Leaf Pickup With No Battery Or Cord
EGO POWER+ 18-Inch Chainsaw: Storm Cleanup Without Mixing Gas
Wild Badger Power 20V Cordless Pruning Shears: Cuts Branches Up To 1.06 Inches
LawnMaster Electric Wood Chipper 1.8'' Cutting Diameter with Bin, FD1504 | 15 Amp, 16:1 Reduction
LawnMaster 15 Amp Electric Wood Chipper: Shrinks The Brush Pile Down To A Bin Of Mulch
Gorilla Carts GCY-100 Poly Yard Cart: Hauls 600 Pounds On Tires That Never Go Flat
Gorilla Ladders GLMPXT-23 Multi-Position Ladder: Reaches The Gutters And Roof Line From One Ladder
Vacmaster Beast 14-Gallon Wet/Dry Vac: Cleans Up The Garage After The Yard Is Done
Giraffe Tools Retractable Extension Cord Reel 50FT 12 Gauge SJTOW | Lighted Triple Tap, 180° Swivel Bracket, 15A/1875W Power Cord, Wall/Ceiling Mount, Circuit Breaker Protection
Giraffe Tools 50-Foot Retractable Cord Reel: Powers The Chipper Without A Tangle Of Cords
Cross Point Waterproof Pro Wool Gloves: Warm Hands When The Tool Handles Are Slick
How To Build A Fall Cleanup Kit That Gets The Yard Put Away Before The First Freeze
Start With The Blower Kit, Then Add The Other EGO Tools
Size The Leaf Plan To The Lot
Give The Chipper The Cord Reel To Itself
Put On Eye And Ear Protection Before The Saw Starts