Dead leaves scattered all over your lawn can kill your precious lawn grass if left unattended over winter. Keeping grass lush and green requires time and muscle, especially when piling them up with a rake and disposing of them in a trash bag. Instead of just throwing away dead leaves, grass clippings, and hedge trimming into the landfill, why not grind it into a pulp that you can use to naturally fertilize your lawn and garden leaf mulchers are easy to use, make quick and effortless work of breaking leaves into small particles, and can help you save money in lawn-care supplies.
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Today, we’re going to compare two of the best-performing leaf mulchers on the market – the WORX WG430 and the Flowtron LE-900. They’re both electric leaf mulchers that are capable of pulverizing large quantities of dead organic matter in minutes. As corded-electric models, they’re not the most powerful leaf mulchers available, but for residential lawn-care purposes, they’ll work beautifully.
Motor Power and Speed
WORX WG430
For electric leaf mulchers, the amps rating indicates how much power the unit’s motor packs. The WORX comes with a powerful 13.0-amp motor that delivers up to an amazing 8,000 RPM. The plastic cutting lines used in this model slice and bashes leaves – both wet and dry – with ease, though, admittedly, wet leaves can easily clog the machine. You can use the sliding switch to select the size of the grind from fine to coarse.
Flowtron LE-900
Like the WORX, the Flowtron also uses a 13.0-amp motor. However, it has a maximum speed of around 4,050 RPM which works well against leaves, grass clippings, and even paper. In addition, there are three mulching modes to choose from – fine, medium, and coarse. It works well on both dry and wet leaves, and plants. There are also dedicated modes for grinding up pine needles and grass.
Conclusion
Both of these models work on the both dry and wet matter as well as feature a mulch-consistency adjustment system. What makes the WORX considerably better is the efficiency with which it spins its plastic cutting lines for delivering superior leaf-mulching capabilities.
Intake Capacity
WORX WG430 and Flowtron LE-900
The size of the hopper in combination with the speed of the blade will allow for quicker work. The intake capacity is measured in gallons per minute. Both the WORX and the Flowtron have an intake capacity of up to 53 gallons of dry leaves per minute. What’s surprising is that the WORX works at almost double the speed of the Flowtron, but they perform similarly in terms of how many dead leaves they can process every 60 seconds. The Flowtron is a lot more efficient at utilizing its 13.0-amp motor producing fine, medium, and coarse mulch.
Reduction Ratio
WORX WG430
If you’ve ever tried filling a plastic trash bag with dead leaves, then you should how much space in a full bag is being taken up by air. Using a leaf mulcher eliminates large pockets of air in a trash bag, reducing the total number of bags needed to get rid of piles of leaves. The WORX has a reduction ratio of up to 11:1.
Flowtron LE-900
As for the Flowtron, it has a maximum reduction ratio of up to 30:1. This means that instead of wasting 30 bags on taking your dead organic matter to the landfill, the Flowtron would reduce it down to a single bag for the same quantity of leaves.
Conclusion
The amount of space taken up by dead leaves, grass clippings, hedge trimmings, and dead plants in landfills every year is monumental. With a leaf mulcher, you can reduce the amount of waste with pre-shredding. The Flowtron can offer a super-fine grind of up to an amazing 30:1 of its original size.
Durability
WORX WG430
Most electric leaf mulchers are constructed mostly with plastic. This can be a problem since vibrations from the spinning cutting lines and expulsion of ground-up leaves. Surprisingly, there are very few vibrations when running at full capacity so there’s little risk of the hopper and chute jumping or falling off of the metal stands. There’s no overload protection, though, so you need to keep a watchful eye over the unit and ensure nothing more than its intake capacity enters the hopper at any given time.
Flowtron LE-900
One common problem that customers noticed when using the Flowtron is its inability to slice through even the thinnest twigs. The overload protection kicks in to prevent damage to the unit, but it occurs far too often. In addition, the plastic used to make this leaf mulcher feels “toyish,” and a slight fall can cause a large crack in the hopper.
Conclusion
In terms of durability, it’s clear that the WORX is designed much better than the Flowtron. There’s a reduced risk of slipping off of the stand due to reduced vibrations even when running at high-speed fine-grind mode.
Assembly
WORX WG430
The assembly process should only be considered if it can somehow ruin the overall performance of the leaf mulcher. Fortunately, there’s very little assembly required when setting up the WORX. You just need to snap the pieces together without the use of external tools and you’re ready to shred leaves.
Flowtron LE-900
The Flowtron is also quick to assemble, though you need a #2 Philips-head screwdriver to screw certain parts together. The most unfortunate thing about this kit is that the funnel comes in two halves. Even though driving screws and snapping pieces together can ensure a safe-to-use, durable funnel, the whole funnel still feels a little flimsy.
Conclusion
The assembly process for the WORX is easier to do since it can be done without hand tools. The Flowtron, on the other hand, is easy to put together, but the funnel arrives in two pieces. Sure, it’s to save storage space when shipping, but after assembly, the entire funnel feels frail.
WORX WG430 vs Flowtron LE-900: Bottom Line
In our humble opinion, we suggest getting the WORX WG430 over the Flowtron LE-900. It’s not that the Flowtron is bad, but there are several inconveniences about it – e.g. flimsy funnel, overall weak construction, and slower RPM-rating – that the WORX just shines a little bit brighter when put face-to-face with it.
What we like most about the FLUX is its rapid 8,000 RPM for beating leaves and other soft debris to a pulp (up to an 11:1 reduction ratio). It’s easy to put together and completely solid when running at full capacity. There’s no overload protection though so you need to monitor the unit closely and turn it off when it becomes clogged.
Electric Leaf Mulcher | Recommended
Last update on 2024-04-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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