The Flowtron LE-900 Electric Leaf Shredder features a thermally protected 8 Amp motor with a circuit breaker and reset button for overload protection. It is designed to shred and mulch leaves, pine needles, grass clippings, and paper with its double heavy-duty cutting lines. The high density polyethylene funnel hopper is 21 inches in diameter, has a capacity of one bushel, and can be positioned at any angle for flexibility while loading. A sliding control lever allows for adjustable shredding sizes from coarse (8:1) to fine (30:1).
The Flowtron LE-900 comes with steel legs and can be placed on top of a standard garbage can, or attached to a leaf bag for collection of shredded material. The unit weighs 17 pounds and has built in handles for portability. A built-in storage compartment can house gloves, extra cutting lines, and safety glasses. The LE-900 comes with 36 extra cutting lines, and is covered by a 1-year warranty.
Flowtron LE-900 Leaf Mulcher Product Specs
- 8 Amp electric motor with overload protection
- Control lever to adjust shredding size
- 21 inch, 1-bushel capacity polyethylene funnel hopper
- Can sit on top of a garbage can, leaf bag, or be free-standing
- Built-in storage
- Weighs 17 pounds
- 1-year warranty
What the reviewers said…
Assembly
The Flowtron LE-900 Leaf Shredder assembles fairly easy, and consists of attaching the steel legs, and hopper funnel to the main housing. The instructions can be a bit vague in places and it helps to have another person to assist with holding some of the parts while tightening, but overall it’s a pretty straightforward assembly.
Mulch Collection Flexibility
The LE-900 is very flexible in the different ways it can be set up. It can be free-standing on the steel base, sat on top of a standard plastic garbage can, or it can be attached directly to a leaf bag using a bungee strap. For shorter people, the sitting atop a garbage can method, may make the unit a bit too tall to reach, but plastic tubs or even a small kiddie pool can be used under the mulcher to make collection easy and almost as efficient.
Features and Portability
The Flowtron LE-900 does a good job of turning giants piles of leaves into a fine mulch, and the motor seems to have a good amount of power for its size. The entire unit is lightweight (only 17 pounds) and includes built-in handles that make bringing the unit to wherever you need it in the yard, very easy. The shredding size control lever is a nice added feature that comes in handy when mulching a variety of materials, and is very easy to use.
The shredding system consists of dual strings that are easily replaced. The cutting strings work really well at shredding leaves. Those holes you see in the bottom of the leaf shredder are adjustable. That adjustability gives more control of how fine of a mulch is produced.
Dual cutting strings and an adjustable output.
Quality Mulch and Leaf Reduction
The shredded mulch that this unit produces is perfect for gardens, flowerbeds, and composting. The smaller size really helps to reduce the time it takes for the material to breakdown into compost, and provides good insulation/water retention around plants. The mulched material is also a big plus for people who put bags of leaves on the street to be hauled away. The Flowtron can turn a huge pile of leaves into just a few handfuls of mulch, greatly reducing the number of bags needed to clean up the yard.
It Won’t Shred Everything
The LE-900 does a good job of mulching leaves and other soft material, but it is not able to handle branches, pine cones, or any other hard material that may find its way into the leaf piles. Hard material getting into the shredder will sometimes cause the cutting strings to break. Replacing the strings is an easy process (only takes a couple of minutes) and 36 extra ones are included with the unit, but be prepared for the occasional rouge stick that you might miss in your leaf piles.
Best Way to Load Material into the Flowtron LE-900
The Flowtron LE-900 works best if the leaves or other material is poured in slow and loosely. The motor has a hard time handling the load if the material is too compacted. The overload protection feature prevents damage to the motor if a jam happens. To fix a jam all you have to do is clear out the hopper, and hit the reset button to get it back going. It takes some time to master how much you can load up at one time. Once you do master the loading process, the Flowtron shreds through material very quickly. The adjustment lever works well to set up the LE-900 for shredding different material more efficiently.
Adjustment lever improves shredding performance on a variety of materials.
Its a Dirty Job, but Somebody’s Gotta Do It
The Flowtron is very dusty when mulching dry material, and can be quite loud. With that in mind you’ll probably need the required safety gear such as goggles, earplugs, and a dust mask. The built in storage compartment makes it really convenient to store all of your safety gear as well as the extra cutting strings for easy access while working.
THE GOOD
- Shreds leaves very well
- Reduces piles of leaves into useful mulch
- Lightweight design makes it easy to move and store
- Cutting strings are easy to replace
- Overload protection and reset button protect motor if a jam occurs
THE BAD
- Cutting strings are easy to break
- Dusty/Noisy
- Motor struggles when material is packed too tightly in the hopper
BOTTOM LINE
The Flowtron LE-900 Leaf Shredder/Mulcher is easy to use, and works very well to reduce large piles of leaves into a fine mulch. You can go through a lot of cutting strings if you don’t sort through leaf piles. The work area can get quite dusty, but overall it is a good, portable choice for creating great quality mulch for your garden, or reducing the footprint of fall clean up.
Have you used or already own the Flowtron LE-900 Leaf Shredder? Let us know about your experience with this product by leaving a comment below.
| Best Price on Flowtron LE900 Leaf Shredder | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  | Flowtron LE-900 The Ultimate Mulcher Electric Leaf Shredder | $163.67 |  |
|  | Flowtron LE-800 Leaf-Eater Electric Leaf Shredder | | |
 | Flowtron Leaf Eater Shredder | $179.95 | | |
 |  | Flowtron LE-800 Leaf-Eater Electric Leaf Shredder | $272.71 | |
 |  | Flowtron LE-900 The Ultimate Mulcher Electric Leaf Shredder | $239.58 | |