Lawn and Garden Reviews

I have owned one of these for about three years and find the conversion from blower to mulcher to be awkward. It requires a tool to open the bottom hatch and the suction tubing is both hard to attach and remove. The tubing sections also have a tendency to separate. Suctioning debris requires one to stoop and the collection bag tends to sag or fall off of your shoulder. It works well as a blower and I particularly like the optional gutter attachment. When used as a mulcher, it compacts the material very well but I think the comfort and convenience could use some redesign. The Black & Decker product line looks better to me although I have not used one.

I think dollar to dollar this product can be the best value . Great blowing power and easy to follow directions and use. Only drawback istead of a triger for adjustable speed you have one button with two settings ( hi-lo ) .

I have been using two Rat Zappers for a few months now, with mixed results. They seem to work most reliably when the batteries are absolutely fresh. In particular, ordinary alkaline batteries seem to be good for one or two kills only. The recommended (and considerably more expensive) lithium batteries last a little longer, but the claim of "3 months or 15 rodent kills" seems to be marketing hype. Even with the optional "Rat Pack," the lethality diminishes rapidly after a few kills. Without absolutely new batteries, I often find the kill light will be flashing but nothing will be in the trap, suggesting that a rat received a non-lethal shock. That is a rodent that has now been trained to never set foot in such a trap again.

What this product desperately needs is an AC adapter, so it can deliver consistently lethal shocks where an outlet is available. Alternatively, some better mechanism for determining when it's time to replace the batteries besides trying to judge spark length or the relative brightness of the LED indicator.

I have found traditional snap traps to be more consistently effective for rat control, though I still use the Rat Zappers in areas where snap traps would be a danger to pets or children. Just be prepared to spend a fortune on batteries.

I have to admit that when I first spotted this little gizmo at the local hardward store I laughed. It seemed like one of those late night TV specials: but wait there's more! How could something like this ever work? And the price is so much higher than traditional wire traps.

Then we got the rats. Our neighborhood is infested. Oh, we foamed all the possible entrances and used an exterminator service. No luck (or, rather, the exterminator had plenty of "luck" but we still had rats coming into the house, foraging in the kitchen and making noise in the attic at night)

We have children, so poison and traditional traps and glue coated paper all pose concerns. It's one thing for the exterminator to place traps in the attic or crawl space, but you don't want these in your kitchen (and poison gets you dead rodents under the house). All bad choices.

I got the Rat Zapper 2000.

Bait it with peanut butter or avocado (or even the rat bait blocks--they're not sticky or messy and, duh, rats and mice go for them) and it seems to vacuum up the rodents, luring them in, one-by-one, to a clean but perfectly lethal dining experience. There is nothing like coming downstairs to the kitchen in the morning to a little red flashing light. In a week: all gone. And you never have to touch them. And there is no blood and gore. The big 'uns tails may hang out the back, but otherwise all you do is pick up the trap and empty it into the trash.

An amazing product. If you have rodents, this is the best method of eliminating them I've found.

Unless it is user error, I really don't feel that this product does anything. I tried it several times and did not see a difference in the weed control. I really feel that pulling the weeds out by the root or using a spray when they get out of control is the BEST way to go.

I have used this product for 3 years, in by veggie garden. In three years I have had a total of 4 weeds. Well worth the money, highly recommened.

I've tried to use these kneepads for washing floors and weeding gardens. However if I stand up or even attempt to crawl forward, the kneepads slip. I'm soon wearing them down around my calves.

It doesn't matter how much I tighten the two straps, the kneepads won't stay in the proper position. The only thing I haven't tried is sewing them to an old pair of jeans. Even if I did that, the kneepads are so heavy, they'd probably pull the jeans down.

Lord help a really slender person who tries to wear this product.

Very Comfortable. Actually knelt on gravel for 3 hours and my knees were the only part of my body that wasn't sore at the end of my car repair ordeal.

got the sprayer for small size jobs/ patio/ parrot cages/ etc. First time we plugged it in it stopped working in about 15 minutes. packed it back up, got on-line with Truely Awsome Amazon dot com. the next day UPS came and got the sprayer, the day after that UPS came with a new sprayer that WORKS FINE!.
thank you Amazon!

Works great for what it was made for but I do wish that I had bought one with more power. I have a cedar fence and it was looking grey and it took quite awhile to wash off the junk and get it back to new looking. A more powerful washer would have worked faster but this one did get the job done. I saw another review that said the plastic fittings leak some and mine did at first, then I took off the part that leaked and carefully put it back on again and it did not leak anymore. I believe I did not have the threads lined up correctly the first time. Perhaps that was thier problem too. It's not always the machines fault.

An easy-to-store, capable power washer for small jobs around the house. I used this washer the evening I received it to power wash the mold from between bricks in my paver patio, and to clean up some patio wood furniture. It worked fabulously-- no issues. It also scrubbed algae and stains from the patio bricks with ease. I am very pleased. It set up quickly, no messing around with gasoline. Just connect the hoses, plug in the washer, and go. It is the best 90 bucks I have spent in a while.

We [bought] this product...It didn't repel any insects at all. Instead, we were constantly seeing roaches and roach droppings *around* the unit. It actually attracted them instead of repelling them!!! DO NOT BUY!!!

Since I have installed, I've never seen any kind of pest in my house (except me). It worked since the first minute. I'm very happy, my family also.

I am living in a fairly small apartment (less than a thousand square feet) and the device works nicely. I set it at high frequency in the first place. But I could still see a few roaches crawling around after one week. Then I tried the low frequency setting, and then in a few days the number of roaches was greatly reduced. In around two-week time all the roaches vanished. Now my place is free of the annoying roaches. I am very pleased.

the pressure cleaner which I received was in good condition with all parts accounted for. Unfortunately it hasn't worked since I received it. instead of shipping it back I called the manufacturer who directed me to a local shop to fix the unit, which is under warranty, and at no cost. I would stay away from this item.

This was definitely a good buy. All parts and instructions were included and the unit worked as advertised by the manufacturer. My first project was to remove flaking paint from some galvanized steel downspouts. While conventional wisdom said that this unit would not be powerful enough for the task, I think it did a remarkable job, saving me a lot of hard and tedious work with a wire brush. All the paint was not removed but all loose and peeling areas came off effortlessly. I hope it works as well for future projects.

I received the reconditioned unit in great shape and in a timely manner. Can't tell it from new. These are rated highly by Consumer Reports and I'm glad to be using electricity and not a gas one anymore.

Gophers have been ravaging my lawn. I bought the sonic molechaser as a last resort item since poison, traps, flooding, road flares, gopher gassers etc. have done nothing to eliminate the rodents. Two days after inserting the stake into the affected area, the gophers were back enjoying their daily diet of fescue. Perhaps my soil is affecting the unit's effectiveness as I don't have clay in my region - it's all aggregate. Next technique - explosives.

We live in a wooded area of East Hampton, New York. While we don't have a lawn as such, we do have flagstones with moss between them, and a perennial garden, which over the years have both proved to be irresistable to what we think are voles. They not only make bulging tunnels, but make frequent access-to-the-surface holes (which have in turn become hornet or wasp nests), and occasionally kill plants. We tried everything -- tamping the tunnels down, flooding the tunnels with water, poisons (a matter of desperation, with a very short-lived effect), poundind pieces of reinforcing steel in tje tunnels, blocking the access holes with stones, etc. I gambled on one of these from Amazon, and it actually works. In what seemed to be a matter of days, the (presumed) voles disappeared. The batteries ran out in about 6 months, and sure enough, a tunnel reappeared. New batteries solved the problem. I'm buying a few more for around the pool.

I own and operate a professional lawn care and landscaping company. There is nothing more I hate than a mole/vole. I have tried mechanical traps, piercing tools, flooding, and tried killing the grubs/earthworms. In fact, the thought of using explosives like Bill Murray in Caddyshack has crossed my mind (on SEVERAL occasions). Since it is very hard to convince my customers in installing a pet fencing system, getting a cat, and training the 'mouser' cat to catch moles...these things suffice. I install mine using a bulb auger, check their operation quarterly, and they seem to work well (in hard, compacted clay)...If you have a lawn care/landscaping business, these are wonderful devices to sell your customers on (although they do make a funky vibe noise)...

The first year the SonicWeb worked great - it is a much needed purchase, as we have a child allergic to mosquitos! However, we are at the start of the summer in year 2, and the machine is not working at all. I called the company, and I am out of warranty (1 yr warranty), and they could not provide me any other number or helpful information to assist with repairing this broken machine. Definitley would NOT recommend to anyone.

i have owned the sonic web for 3 years. it still works good. i have had it in the weather for the full 3 years. replacement papers are expensive, but the mosquitos in my area are unbearable without it. it's not a cure-all, but it sure helps.

the woods of florida

The best is that is runs off electric and you don't have to worry about changing that propane all the time. I was nervous at first, but after a week I had to change the trap due to dead bug overflow. My wife didn't even know we add this thing and commented on how she did not see as many bugs lately.

After purchasing this to help battle a cockroach infestation, I learned that insects do not "hear" the ultrasonic frequency emitted by this device. Nevertheless, I plugged in two in my kitchen and my roach problem was not helped. I understand that it may help with rodents, however.

This little device is a complete hoax for insect problems.

This device is very good, I didn't had roaches, spiders in my apartment since 1997. However, after the black out on 2003 in new york city, my 2 pest contro devices stopped working appropiately. Therefore I am forced to buy 2 new pest contro's.

After reading previous comments about the products, I guess it depends where you live. I happen to live in a 30 floor building and it works fine for me, the only problem I had was after the blackout and the devices started making a twitching sound. Probably due to the power failure, the pest contros were no longer in use. From that point my kitchen has small roaches and about 3 adult roaches by my kitchen table. I bought a newer version called "pest patrol" after the black out and that one didn't do a thing.

I`ll take a shot with the original pest contro, and I rather use this product than the newer ones that seem to have dissapointed a lot of consumers here at amazon.

I bought this product from a TV infomercial five years ago during the summer. Because we did have a recurring problem with various pests and we didn't want to deal with the expense of a monthly pest control company fee, I decided to take a chance on what was considered pretty radical technology then-using ultrasonic and magnetic sound to drive away pests in your home. Plus I liked the idea of not using toxic fumes. I got the product, actually read the instructions, and plugged it in using an extension cord (doesn't slow down it's effectiveness) so I could position it correctly under our dining table with an unobstructed view. The rest of that year, I saw some improvement, but not a lot-it slowed down the march of spiders coming in from the fall rains, and kept most of the mice from coming in to watch TV in the winter (we live near a wooded area, so pests are unavoidable), but there was nothing to get really excited about. The next spring brought some surprises though...the mean green flying machine did not take over our home as usual. By that I mean the flies, bees, mosquitos, gnats, etc. They would come in, and after awhile, you could actually see them frantically trying to get back out...if they didn't, you'd find them RIP'd on your windowsill the next time you dusted. The next thing we noticed that our dog stopped having problems with fleas-to the point that we were able to stop buying extra flea control for him. He's not stupid either-whenever our poodle has had a visit with another unprotected dog, he would come in and lie down right in the line of sight of PestContro :) That summer marked a real slowdown in spider population, and we only got one rodent visitor that winter. Since then, except for an occasional dusting of its casing, I haven't touched or moved our PestContro from under the dining table. Also, our lives have been pretty much pestfree. No, we are not totally 'free' of pests, but I didn't expect PestContro to do that-I just wanted to slow down the 'colony' and to keep them from taking up residence-In my opinion, PestContro delivered on that promise.