DR Equipment Country Home Products 8 HP Lawn and Leaf Vac - A very inferior product Vergennes, Vermont

DR Equipment 8 HP Lawn and Leaf Vac

I have had many issues with this purchase.  The first machine that was eventually returned for free replacement kept tearing away the rubber breakaway coupler regardless of whether the engine was experiencing a clog on the blade end it must
have had something to do with the alignment but regardless I received a new machine after approximately 10 couplers and an initial frustrating season with the product.

The biggest issue with this product is that it clogs VERY easily with a very small twig (singular) because the twig gets wedged in the flex hose right before entering the box/blade area.  I believe there are two reasons for this 1)
the flex hose is ribbed inside and tends to lodge or grab the twigs and 2) the end of the flex hose is fitted with a coupler that tends to warp outward (inside the flex tube) over time into the path of the flying debris and therefore tends
to grab the twigs and lodge them in allowing leaves to accumulate behind and thus clogging the unit.  I am talking
about very small twigs maybe 6 to 10 inches and no wider than a pencil.  Larger sticks you will want to pick up by
hand first to save yourself the hassle of them being chopped up by the mower and clogging the flex tube.

In my experience, I was getting of my tractor every 20 feet to free clogs using a wrench at the rear of the motor just at the entrance to the blade this was very dangerous to say the least but I could not see turning the unit off and on at each clog so I risk being so close to the danger area.

Other problems have included multiple times where the oil fill stick has shaken loose spewing oil everywhere.  Luckily, I have caught it and now I watch for it.  Be careful to make sure you have a long enough flex hose  - if you dont
turns are restricted and you can damage your tractor.  Have a screwdriver and pliers handy to work
out clogs because the thumb knobs on both ends of the flex tubes will break off after about 10 uses.  When it is only
slightly wet, the universal deck adaptor acts like glue to accumulate wet clippings and leaves and clogs the chute at the beginning near your deck.  Twice I have replaced the bolts that hold the units frame to its hitch mechanism I finally seemed to have purchased bolts strong enough to prevent them shearing. 
The unit is very difficult to empty when full, you will need a very strong person to dump the box and push up and down on it repeatedly to remove clippings that might be heavy you may need two people one to pull tractor slightly forward while you dump from behind (suggest caution here for sure).

Make sure your leaves are dry and twig free when purchasing this product.

When I threatened legal action to get a refund for the product I was told by the customer service rep that 'love a good fight'