Lawn and Garden Reviews

What an amzingly simple idea. Utilizing an adjustable circular track that varies the angle of the sprinkler head, which in turn controls the distance of the water stream. Genius. Why did this take so long to invent? It's great for any lawn pattern, and prevents wasting of water on the driveway or sidewalk.

There are several problems with the design, however, that have forced me to stop using it.
1) Don't think of attaching this sprinkler to another in series. Despite the ability to connect this sprinkler in series with other sprinklers, it really needs all of the water pressure from your spigot initiate rotation. I connected it in series to run two sprinklers together (not the same type of sprinkler, one of the Gilmour silent motor sprinklers, but this happens with any sprinkler that uses even a minimal amount of water), and it would not start rotating, it just shot water in one direction. Even if I lowered the adjustable track, it would not start on its own. It only works if it is the only sprinkler attached to the spigot. By the way, my water pressure is fine.

2. Initiation of rotation is unreliable even if it is the only sprinkler attached to your hose, therefore it does not work well with a water timer. I came home once to find the sprinkler not rotating and shooting water in one direction only. I don't know if this relates to how steep you set the peaks and troughs on the height/distance adjustment collar. It might get stuck in one of the troughs and have difficulty initiating rotation. To solve this problem, Gilmour should have a small roller where the sprinkler head contacts the adjustable collar to reduce the friction.

Overall it's a great idea. But I can only recommend it if you intend to use it without other sprinklers in series and if you actually watch it start up every time (ie not use it with a timer)

I have owned 2 Gilmour 996D for over 2 years. Now that I need to replace them, one because I dropped it and the other because of my neighbors car, I am happy to see that someone still sells it. After traveling around the city looking for one and all of our home and improvement centers not having it I resorted to the net. Thank you Amazon.

I did not know what I was going to do without this amazing piece of technology. It is so easy to use and so versatile. No other sprinkler comes close to matching it.

I've been using this sprinkler for 2 years now, and I still love it. I'm back at Amazon to buy another sprinkler for a different part of my yard. It takes some experimenting to get it setup for perfect coverage, so you might want to buy a second or third sprinkler for your yard.

This is a fully functional sprinkler with water flow control and directional control. It does a good job of watering specified areas of the lawn. Good value for price.

If you've got to use a hose to do your lawn watering, the 1204 is a great sprinkler to have around. You have a lot better control of the water you use than other conventional spinklers.

I've used sprinklers like this before but this has some nice features.

There is a shut-off valve built into the sprikler. This is very convenient if you want to move the sprikler without getting soaked. You can also use this to adjust the water flow.

The pattern is easy to set with the adjustment clips on the side. The pattern is also easily adjusted.

Time will tell how well it holds up. I guess I won't know that for a while. As for now, it works great.

Purchased online after I couldn't find a decent one in a store. Not a bad sprinkler. Timer feature works good. Overall I am satisfied with the performance.

This is a solid oscillating sprinkler with 3 different spray areas. Directions for use could be a little clearer because they are printed all over the packaging with no separate direction sheet inside the package. I think they also have to better explain the function of the 'white clips' on the unit too.
You won't go wrong with this purchase.
Alexander

While more expensive than most consider that it is metal not plastic, has 3 choices of spray width, has variable control oscillating spray range, and very importantly-a shut off timer. I'm not sure the wheels add anything that runners can't.

This replaces a prior model which had the similar features but was mostly plastic.

I purchased this saw and a Fiskars 93626935 PowerTooth Folding Saw at the same time. While this is a larger saw, I still end up using the Fiskars more often. They are more portable (and safer because the blade folds away) and do as good of a job on anything less than 2-3." For anything larger than 3" a bow saw (poperly tensioned) can beat the nonsense out of a clipper in handcutting. But I will saw that a bowsaw is akward up IN a tree, and that therefore there is a nice place for clippers in tight pruning spots. Still given a choice, the Fiskars beat this any day.

If you order more than one of these saws, request that they be sent in one package. We ordered 12 saws and they arrived in 8 huge boxes, full on those plastic airbags. What a disgrace.
Debby

As far as I'm concerned this saw is great. It's sharp, it cuts well, I think the curve of the blade actually helps with cutting 2-4 inch hardwood trees. Maybe as a previous reviewer mentioned it is too thick but it works well for me. I can cut through a 3 inch cherry branch (I've done this numerous times now) while basically hanging in the tree and I'm done in less than 30 seconds. No I'm not exaggerating. Try doing that with your typical handsaw.

I gave up trying to use the muclhing feature. The machine does not have enough power to effectively vacuum my large oak leaves leaves. However, It does work on small amounts of little and very dry leaves.

As an electric leaf blower, it operates as described. The convience of electric means trading messy gas motors for a cord that trails. It is more powerful than the price would suggest, yet it is not a proffessional grade blower.

The bottom line is that it is convienent for blowing leaves from decks and porches, and it can vacuum up 'easy' leaves in small areas like window wells.

I use the Toro Rake & Vac primarily for vacuming leaves on the lawn and grass clippings on the walks and driveway. So far (after 3 uses) I find this product very helpful and a time saver. The zipper on the bag has not detached as had occurred on other vacs I had previously used.

After cutting our lawn, we'd always have grass clippings lying over our front porch, sidewalk, and driveway. I got so tired of always getting out there with a broom - which only cleared about half of the mess - that I decided to buy a blower. When I saw the difference in price between a blower and a blower/vac/mulcher was very little, I decided to give the Toro 51573 a try.

After cutting the lawn again, I was anxious to try out my new toy. The first time I turned it on I literally elevated on to my toes... That's how much power this thing has. It was so liberating to watch our grass leftovers be COMPLETELY cleared from every area in less than ten miutes. I also blew all of the little pebbles off of our driveway, and I plan on tackling all the dirt and debris that's found a resting spot on our garage floor. Of course, when using the blower you have to be careful where you aim. Once I accidently let the blowing stream get too close to my mulch and had to go patch that spot later - LOL.

I can actually say that I'm looking forward to fall when all the leaves drop so I can try out the vac/mulching capabilities. My father - who is near 60 - has two giant trees in his front yard and three in his back yard. Every year he has to rake around 30 bags of leaves, and I'd like to give him a break. After the Toro 51573 and I have a go at his yard later this year, I'll update my review with the results...

I bought this last spring and was disappointed. First, it arrived with 1 shelf and one pole piece missing. It took almost 4 weeks to get replacement parts. The shelves were light and flimsy so don't count on loading lots of heavy containers on them, though very suitable for lightweight containers. Made the mistake of temporarily sitting it outdoors last fall, staking it to the ground, and the first night a thunderstorm destroyed the zippered cover. STILL haven't been able to get a replacement cover.

I ordered 2 of these last fall in order to get a head start on the 2004 seed starting season. Very simple to put together, and actually much larger than I expected; perfect in front of a large window or sliding glass door. good quality and good value for your dollar!

Recieved quickly. Had small tear in vinyl that I could have taped, but I called Astonica to get a replacement. Having read some of the bad reviews I didn't know what to expect - but I was impressed. They replaced the WHOLE unit, and I was able to keep the other unit! 10 stars not 5!

The lights were easy to put together and install. I allowed them to charge for two full days in the bright Florida sunshine before turning them on. The light they emit is a faint blue, hardly useful at all if you're really trying to illuminate something.

Then, I discovered that someone else liked them more than me. A couple of months after I put them in the ground, someone walked off with five of them. Easy to install, you bet. Easy to uninstall, even more so ;-)

I live in Seattle Washington so mine don't get the charge sunny places get, but they are so pretty, every night... low light, but a little light is all I asked for... : )

Anyone in the market for "solar" lights will love this product. Obviously, the gentleman who complained about the brightness should have done a little research before purchasing solar lights and gone with low voltage. However, for solar lights, these are the brightest I've seen. They emit a wonderful blue-white light and are wonderful for marking out a path. I have mine on either side of my front walkway. I have neighbors who have solar lights and mine are much brighter. I shopped around extensively before purchasing these and they are a great deal! I'm also getting a couple lanterns and hope they will be just as nice.

After doing my research, I decided to give Coleman's New Mosquito Deleto 2500 a try. I first considered the Mosquito Magnet Liberty Plus. But, after reading numerous reviews detailing all of the quality control issues and/or quirky problems people have getting that unit to start and stay lit, I decided that the street price for the Liberty Plus was just too high for a product that didn't seem very reliable or serviceable by the consumer. I also work with 4 people who own either the Liberty or the Liberty Plus and it turns out that 3 of the 4 people have gone through one or more of the well documented non-recoverable problems with these units. I also found a CBS News link that did an excellent test on both the Coleman 2500, the Liberty Plus, and third mosquito trap called the Skeeter Vac - and based on reading that article, I decided to get the Coleman unit.

The Coleman Mosquito Deleto 2500 unit I bought appears to be a re-engineered version of the Mosquito Magnet Liberty Plus, at half the cost, about $330. (Do not confuse the Coleman 2500 which uses a vaccum with the earlier Coleman mosquito trap which uses sticky paper to trap the bugs. Many reviews of that Coleman sticky trap unit show that it doesn't catch many bugs. - so I decided to stay away from that one also.)

After installing the unit in my back yard, I can tell you that it catches lots of mosquitoes and tiny no-see-ums, and it makes a big difference in getting bitten in my yard. I live adjacent to my town forest, so I placed the unit at the edge of the woods, thinking the bugs will get attracted to the unit before flying around my back yard and biting me and my family. I had a camp fire out back a couple of nights ago, and I was actually able to sit there in shorts without taking a DEET bath! The unit started up easily (low tech, just like a gas hot water heater pilot or a gas fireplace pilot) and I like the fact that Coleman uses a simple battery pack which consists of 3-AA NiCad batteries which can be purchased cheaply virtually anywhere when they finally run out of juice. (Try replacing the "power module" on the Liberty Plus -HA!!! Good luck and empty your wallet!)

I do have to say that ALL of these propane driven mosquito traps have an inherent problem which potential buyers should be aware of. They use propane at an extremely SLOW rate. A 20 lb. bottle of gas is suppose to last about thee weeks - while running continuously. Because of this, the fuel nozzle opening is VERY tiny and is virtually guaranteed to eventually get clogged - don't be fooled, I believe that the majority of these type of mosquito traps will fail to work because of partial or total clogging of the fuel nozzle! In fact, my Deleto 2500 got clogged and stopped working after a while. What I like once again is Coleman's simple and practical solution to this problem. First of all - the gas nozzle is a $3 part and they give you an extra one. Secondly, it is easily removable by the use of a hand tool that is mounted on the trap so you don't loose the tool. Since you can remove the nozzle, unclogging it is accomplished by simply removing the tip from the nozzle - and cleaning it with a solvent like carburetor cleaner and blowing it out with a can of compressed air. The solvent does an excellent job of clearing out a totally clogged tip and you don't have to shell out $$$ for CO2 cartridges every month to clear out the fuel system like the Liberty. Plus, CO2 alone doesn't clean out the tiny tip as effectively as a solvent - never can, never will!!! You will never be able to clean out the Liberty fuel tip with solvent because, guess what... it is NOT serviceable by the owner. What where they thinking when they designed that thing!!! Personally, I think this is why there are so many problems with the Liberty units during the second season of use. Coleman's approach to this problem is simple, practical, and cheep! I hope I continue to feel this way next year... only time will tell. Because of this, I think the Coleman Mosquito Deleto 2500 is the way to go, but don't forget, you will have to occasionally clean the tip out to keep it running(or replace it for $3 if you don't want to deal with cleaning it). Good luck - Marc

I bought this instead of the replacement mosquito magnet that they wanted to sell me at the discounted price of $695 after my two mosquito magnet kept failing every year (I will never buy from them again.)

It just works. This year I had to replace a clogged gas valve, otherwise it's totally trouble free.

This year I bought a second machine, a megacatch premier, which outcaught my deleto but keeps clogging every 2 days (it is going back and being replaced with a second mosquito deleto 2500. )

We researched for a few months all kinds of mosquito programs. Everything from a full installed system to the 8.00 cutter yard spray, which by the way works really well. We finally purchased the Coleman Mosquito Deleto and we couldn't be HAPPIER. WE noticed a big difference by the 3rd day! We also used the table top mosquito inhibitor. We have a very small yard, 1/4 acre, the system is in our backyard in the corner. I check it about twice a week to make sure it's running, ie. the propane isn't empty. The propane tank lasts about one month. I can't recommend this system enough. We live in humid,mosquito inhabited south Texas. Now we are able to sit on our deck and enjoy watching the kids play without slappin' the fire out of our legs and arms......
FYI, we purchased our Deleto at Lowes, cheaper than the price posted on Amazon :o)

While this is a good tool on the whole -- and not too expensive either -- it still isn't for every gardener nor for every purpose in the garden. To remove all doubt, perhaps it should not go without saying that this is not a tool for making hills for melons, squash, or zukes. It will not help you with transplants such as tomatoes, nor will it handle seed potatoes. No, this seeder is for rows of things like beans and corn, and in these cases it shines. I still think, however, that you have to be planting a pretty big garden to make it worth your time to set-up the Earthway seeder, learn to use it, store it, and maintain it.

On the pro side, for instance, I used my new Earthway seeder to plant more than 700 row-feet of popcorn. Wow! The Earthway seeder practically paid for itself that day, since it allowed me to plant the entire plot in less than 45 minutes and with no bending over! I also used it to plant plots of field corn, beans, and beets.

Here are my notes, for what they're worth:

1.) Have freshly tilled, fine, debris-free soil. It is difficult to push the seeder through crusted soil or anything with too many lumps in it, and you won't get those perfectly straight rows if you're struggling just to move forward. Also, too much surface trash will be a problem for the little chain that drags behind and covers the seed. Hint: do "dry runs" with the seeder at the proper depth, but without seed in the bin. This will give you a sense of how well it's going to work before you commit your seed, and it helps to mark your rows in advance too.

2.) Have enough seed, and watch the seed plate closely as it turns. If the seed bin gets low, the pockets in the seed plates will often fail to scoop up the seeds in a regular fashion. You'll end up with a lot of skips. Of course, if you're not buying your seed at least ¼ pound at a time, I'm not sure why you'd want this tool anyhow.

3.) Select your seed plate carefully, and if needed test it with the seed before use. (Attach a plastic bag under the seeder or something.) For example, I had a limited quantity of small soup beans. I popped in the bean plate and made two rows. Before the end of the second row, however, I was out of seed, which should not have been the case. I didn't figure this out till after the seeds sprouted: that seed plate scooped up those small beans two at a time and double-planted the first row, leaving insufficient seed for the second row.

4.) If you are considering the Fert-A-Ply attachment for the seeder, re-think that. I did not realize till the attachment arrived that I could not use it at the same time as I planted -- meaning that it took re-configuring the seeder and another full set of passes to apply an amendment to my rows. Also, the construction and the few moving parts of the attachment are extremely chintzy. I could not get mine adjusted well and used quite a bit more expensive material than I intended.

5.) The assumption for the Earthway seeder is that your seed is dry. If you like to soak your seeds before planting, or if you want to wet-innoculate things like green beans before planting, I don't think this is the tool for those cases.

6.) I have not tried the seeder with pelleted seeds of any kind, but I bet it would work well for that. Again, pick your seed plate carefully.

7.) Of course, straight rows are an advantage for mechanized cultivation equipment in your garden or even for zipping through the rows with a wheel hoe or high-wheel cultivator. Even if you're not obsessive about straight rows, however, this seeder still can be a time- and back-saver.

I hope this helps you to make a more informed choice.

I'm extremely pleased with this product. 10 minutes to assemble - handlebar to machine, put on a wheel, and put on the marker.
The difference between walking upright in the garden, spacing seeds in a logical way vs. the sprinkle while stooped over and knowing they will need to be thinned and there will be gaps.
This thing even puts them at the depth you set and covers them for you. It took less than a 1\4 of the time I'm used to and my back didn't hurt afterward.

First of all, I'm a gardener from way back. I helped my mom weed her flowers when I was still in the womb. I love garden gadgets and all things bliss-enhancing. When I was a teenager my grandfather bought the first incarnation of the Earthway Precision Garden Seeder and it was love at first shove. Not only does it plow the furrow, it plants the seeds at a precise depth and covers them up, it also marks the next row for you so that your garden doesn't sprout into a psychadelic homage to 1970's acid waves. I love, love, love this little jigger! It clogs from time to time, but if you're watching every perfect little seed get tucked away neatly into it's new earthly bed, you'll catch it before you have to re-plant the entire garden. What took my father and me 2 hours last year to do by hand, we did in under 15 mintues using this little gem. An entire garden planted in 15 minutes! And not only that, but we hand-sowed a 1/4 acre plot of corn in under 25 mintues, stopping to pass off and admire the absolute fantastical spectacle of it all as it was happening. LOVE this thing!

Saw this. Checked it out. I don't EVEN want to know who the h@ll invented it or how they thought of the concept.

CIA torture device?
Cosmetic necessity?
Joke?

Holy nipple-twister, Batman!

okay you pervies - it's a plumbing device for removing the bits of pipes that connect 2 pipes, particularly of different sizes.
too funny!!

I grew up without nipples. I knew that one day, they would descend, and that would be the day when I could proudly call myself a woman. But I was growing worried. By the time I was 17, I still had no nipples. At 21, I was beginning to panic. When I turned 27, I finally found these nipple extractors, and they saved my self-esteem.

With two simple twists of the wrist, I flowered. Now I could proudly disrobe at the local topless beach, where before I'd been shamed.

I've just been debating whether or not I should attempt to locate superfluous nipples elsewhere on my body.