My final $.03 on the cyclone rake... it does actually chop leaves, but in combination with the mower blades doing their thing. Not sure how much chopping actually occurs in the CR itself, but some for sure.
I use the “estate hose” by itself to suck up piles and piles of leaves around my house and beds and it works great as a stand-alone leaf vac that way.
Most importantly to me tho is the engineering and design of the CR. Is it perfect? No. But, my wife is on notice that if it were ever to self-destruct or get stolen, I’m drop shipping another 1 in immediately!
That’s about as solid an endorsement I can give any piece of equipment. No, I am not affiliated in any way with cyclone rake, I just dig the thing.