Products review – Bosch Universal 18v Leaf Blower and AXT Rapid 2200 Shredder

Is there a more arduous groundskeeping task than clearing up leaves and garden debris?

If you have a caravan park, campsite or holiday lets it’s got to be done as leaf fall can clog up gulleys, block gutters and damage grass – not to mention the unsightly look of rotting leaves around your grounds.

Sure, some satisfaction can be had from creating big piles of leaves, but if the wind picks up or a scurrilous child or pet is passing, all your hard work is undone.

So any means of easing the pain of leaf gathering must be welcomed – right?

The modern world is constantly inventing labour saving devices and the leaf blower isn’t a new thing.

But what is relatively new is the light weight battery powered leaf blower.

However, whether you’re a ‘Luddite’ or a fully fledged disciple of the battery revolution, the reality is there are certain things that cordless electric does well and others that old fashioned corded power or petrol power excel at.

Below we have tested two products from Bosch to find out if they’re up to the job.

The Bosch Universal 18v leaf blower – RRP £134 with battery & charger /  £67 tool only.

My first impression of the Bosch Universal 18v leaf blower is how small the package is.  

“How did they fit it in that tiny box?” I said to the bemused delivery man as he unloaded on my doorstep.

The item comes in a box no bigger than that of a household kettle.  

That’s because it is essentially no more than a small motor on a handle with two bits of plastic piping that join together (and a battery of course).

Putting it together takes literally five seconds and off you go – providing the battery is charged. A charger is included but a faster one and a bigger battery can be purchased separately

Small but mighty?

The main advantage of this leaf blower is it is so light – just 1.6kg. In comparison, a higher end

rival petrol blower is about 10kg.  A quick check of five or six battery powered rivals finds that none are lighter than the Bosch.  If you have ever spent some time doing repetitive outdoor tasks you’ll know the weight of the equipment usually starts to bother you sooner than you expected. But with this Bosch Universal leaf blower, it is so light weight that you could use it for hours with absolutely zero arm or shoulder strain.

Does small mean gutless? 

In a word – no! It has just about enough puff to start clearing the mix of wet and dry leaves stuck to my lawn and buried in the flower beds.

I’m not sure if I’ve fully got the knack of leaf blowing yet as it seems more like herding cats than the herding of sheep you’d expect it to feel like.  My point being, for every few leaves you manage to blow in the right direction it feels like a few blow the wrong way.  And one wrong swipe of the arm and you’ve blown them all over the place.

Anyway, I digress.  In terms of doing what it’s supposed to, this leaf blower hits the mark. Compared with my Ryobi garden vacuum, it is so much easier to use for extended periods without getting pains in your arms, shoulders and back.  The Ryobi vac has a carry-strap to mitigate this but I find it pretty useless as it slips off your shoulder very easily.  The only way to avoid this is to buy a backpack style leaf blower – which are typically at a higher price point and petrol powered.

The Bosch Universal leaf blower has two speeds. Neither is going to blow the local squirrels off their feet – but they are enough for the delicate herding operation referenced earlier.  Any more power and you’ll likely be blowing your leaves into your neighbours property, which might not go down well.

Fully charged

The only caveat to my good impression of the Bosch Universal leaf blower is battery life.  The supplied 2.5 amp hours battery lasts just 20 minutes leaving me to turn to a spare 4 amp battery I happened to have to finish the job, clearing a patch of approx 5m2.  However, as Bosch is part of the Power For All Alliance, sharing batteries with ten other brands, it is entirely possible that you’ll have that option too.

So overall the Bosch 18v Universal Leaf Blower is a decent option for small bouts of leaf collecting or for a medium sized task if you have a spare battery or two.  

Verdict 4/5

Bosch AXT Rapid 2200 shredder – RRP £297

Meanwhile – Bosch UK also loaned us its mid range garden shredder.

While Bosch does make a Universal 2x18v battery powered shredder its lesser power means it can only handle branches up to 25mm. 

The AXT Rapid is a corded electric shredder with a laser-cut blade capable of shredding challenging loads, including branches up to 40 mm thick. 

It has a large fast-feed hopper with a practical prodder that allows you to tip a handful of debris in the top and push it down without losing your fingers.

Unlike the vastly more expensive AXT 25 TC, it does not come with any kind of collection bin to catch the chippings.  It is designed to be towed onto a flower bed or compost area although you could place a small builders bag or bucket under it to catch the debris.

The unboxing

Much like the leaf blower, the AXT Rapid is very easy to assemble, arriving almost fully built.  All that is required is to screw the wheels on the trolley it rests on and then screw the trolley onto it.  It is easy to wheel about and turning it on is incredibly obvious thanks to the very large knob on the top.  

One always feels slightly nervous about operating any device with spinning blades and I must admit to being surprised, and slightly anxious, to find no ‘quick start guide’ on how to operate it safely.  

The only paperwork in the box was the entirely text based instructions in a tiny font that I doubt anyone reads.  

I feel something pictorial with a large clear font giving basic first step guidelines would probably be a good idea. Despite my concerns I had no issues and turning it on wasn’t as scary as I thought it might be.  Noise levels aren’t terrifying and vibrations are minimised by the steady trolley and large wheels.  If you have significant amounts of branches and green waste to break down, this bit of kit will do you nicely.

The verdict

To be honest, the AXT Rapid was probably overkill for the smaller branches that have been scattered around my garden from the recent storms.

I can confirm it had no issue at all munching several that I would guess were 10-15mm thick – or a couple of inches in old money.

The main shortcoming of a corded shredder is you must pick one place to shred and stick with it.  While it does have wheels for towing it around it’s not really practical to be moving it around your garden beds in a bid to avoid having to scoop up the chippings.

In my large garden, a cordless option would probably have been preferable but then you have to offset that convenience against the battery life issue and the lower power.  The battery powered model and the higher powered model are also significantly more expensive.

Verdict 3/5

Review by Nick Lavigueur.

The above tools were loaned to Caravan Industry & Park Operator by Bosch UK and have been returned.