Any Recommendations For New Shop Vac?

[yankeerider]

My 16 gal. Sears shop vac is 29 years old. It still works well, but I think it's very loud compared to the newer ones. I'm thinking of purchasing a new one so I don't have to keep moving it between the basement woodshop and metalworking/maintenance shop in the separate building.

Anyone got any recommendations for which machine to buy? I tried a search on shop vac and got about 192 threads, but all were related to using a shop vac for some purpose, not any praise of a particular machine. (Except for one satisfied owner of a Ridgid 14 gal vac)

 

[kennyd]

I have had good luck with the Ridgid ones from Home Cheapot. They also have the "mufflers" that quiet them down quite a bit.

 

[rekees4300]

Go green

John Deere Home & Workshop Products: Wet/Dry Vacuums

 

[Dmace]

I second the recommendation of the Rigid shop vac's. My 12 gal 5.0hp Rigid from Home Depot is about 6 years old and still great! It's amazing how powerful it is and how well it sucks up water. :thumbsup:

 

[smstonypoint]

Another thumbs-up for Rigid -- I have two of their 12-gallon wet/dry vacs(one for my home garage and one for my farm shop). Good value for the money IMO.

Steve

 

[yankeerider]

Thanks all. I make way too many trips to the BORG, so it's good to know their machines are liked.

Rekees4300, I'd sure like to have agreen vaccum to share the space with the Gator and 755, but the price looks like it could be steep. Green paint don't come cheap!

 

[rekees4300]

Rekees4300, I'd sure like to have agreen vaccum to share the space with the Gator and 755, but the price looks like it could be steep. Green paint don't come cheap!

Yeah, there's a hefty premium to pay for the green paint. I don't have a JD vac either. Have an old Craftsman that has seen it's better days. Been a good vac but will consider Rigid the next time. Consumer Reports rates Rigid highly and I no longer shop at Sears since nowadays they seem to be more interested in selling credit cards than merchandise.

 

[Bird]

I have a 12 gallon Craftsman that's a little over 5 years old and I'm quite happy with it. However, I've also helped a son-in-law on a couple of projects so I've used his 16 gallon Ridgid, and like the others wouldn't hesitate at all to buy a Ridgid.

 

[smstonypoint]

Rekees4300, I'd sure like to have agreen vaccum to share the space with the Gator and 755, but the price looks like it could be steep. Green paint don't come cheap!

I'm not sure whether its green would clash with JD green, but you could spend really big$s and buy a Festool vac.

Dust Extractors - Festool

 

[troutsqueezer]

I bought the wall mount Bissell from Costco. It comes with a 30 ft. hose and reaches all around my machine shop and out the door quite some distance too. I forget what I paid, maybe around $120. Lots of suction power. Don't have to drag the unit over AC cords, mats, etc. Easy to empty the tank. Tells you when it's full. Sucks water, although I don't use it for that.

 

[tsteahr]

Stihl has a nice looking vac that they rate at 62db. I have not used it. If it is anything like the rest of their products it should be top quality:

Professional Vacuums - SE 122 Professional Vacuum Cleaners for Tough Cleaning | STIHL

 

[snorulz]

I also vote for Rigid, best cheap vac I have seen

 

[TRO]

Another vote for the Rigid. I have one and it works great.

 

[Window Geek]

I vote for the 16 gallon Rigid vac; the best I ever bought. It has a spigot for easy emptying of liquid and can be hooked to a small pump for continuous water removal. It picks up nails, screws, all the way to fine dust. It has plenty of flow to arrest sawdut from my table saw.

I purchased a 12 gallon Rigid Thanksgiving weekend 2009 for my pellet furnace. This one was a little louder, but was around $20.00. (Loss leader) It works fine for my needs, sucking up cold ash and soot, and cleaning up labrador retriever fuzz that otherwise gets everywhere.

 

[robs660]

Best shop vac out there is made by festool, but be ready to shell out $500.00. It has a duel hepa filter and sucks like nothing I have ever had. Lower cost I buy craftsman. They work great for me. I think I have 3 now. Not including my festool that is the first go to

 

[Scooby074]

How much you want to spend? As soon as my old sears noise maker dies im getting a new, quiet model.

Festool is a excellent vac, but im leaning strongly towards a Nilfisk Attix or Bosch as they have self cleaning filters.

Fein also is good but not self clean. Any of those 4 will be MUCH quieter then a traditional shopvac

 

[sixdogs]

Have owned different brands and my vote is the Craftsman from Sears. That is one product that really does the job, the filters are easy to find and it runs forever, Heck, yours was 29 years old.
Buy the biggest and most powerful you can. Plus, there should be some great Thanksgiving/Christmas deals coming. They use it as an incentive.

 

[boatyard]

Fein. Great Vac. Quiet! Not as expensive as the Festool. Long hose. Long cord. Nice attachments. Mine gets used several hours per week with sanders, routers and the biscuit joiner. Nice for cleaning up before finishing projects.

Not cheap, but a serious tool.

 

[EddieWalker]

I went with portable and easy to store everything. I liked the square, stackable, Rigid from Home Depot. I've had it for about 3 years now, and don't have any complaints. I use it for sheetrock, tile and dirt. With a clean filter, it will suck up just about anything!!!!!

What I really like, even more then all the power that it has, is how the hose, cord and attachements store in the sides of the vacuum. It's flat on top, so it stacks with my other tool boxes, and I can stack stuff on top of it.

I noticed that Lowes now has one with a similar design. I forget the brand name, but I was curious about it when I saw it.

I honestly don't know why anybody would need one with all that storage. I've never filled mine up on a job, and I've hauled it all over the place. I even leave it out in the back of my truck in the rain, and it just keeps on working.

Eddie

 

[petes]

I got a Rigid vac for Christmas 'cause I mentioned to my inlaws that my 15 or so year old Shop Vac Quiet Vac was in the process of losing it's bearings... refitting a couple boats and vaccuming up lots of saltwater over the years was rough on it.

The Rigid has plenty of suction when the filter is clean, and the pleated filter is easy to remove with a locking ring/disk on the filter is a real pain to clean, often making nearly as much of a mess trying to clean the clogged filter as I cleaned up with the vac on the last use.. It would have been much better if the air inlet came in at an angle so that the swirling air in the canister centrifugally separated some of the dirt/junk/dust rather than it pelting directly into the filter. It's low profile, which means it doesn't tip over, but also takes up quite a bit of floorspace. I'm going to try making a fabric cover for the pleated filter - less surface area but hopefully the caked dust will just fall off it when the vac isn't running. Also will try putting a PVC 45 in the canister off the hose inlet to get the air swirling... someday.