My old 4 HP Shop vac has done well over the years but can not pull gravel all the way into the canister. It stops part way down the hose. We are installing a patio and there are small piles of #27 here and there. Small meaning handfuls.

I have seen the commercial machines but have no intention of spending in the high hundreds or more.

Since my 4 Hp almost gets it I was wondering if the 6.5 Home Improvement store models might work.

Thanks

 

I have a Shopvac 6.5 hp. It picks up bolts and crap I never thought it could

 

Craftsman vacs, hands down. When I did computer room service, we used them to pull Glycol out of piping and condensers for repairs. Have a 12 gallon one at work that's taken a beating, with no problems. Have a 16 gallon at home from 1999, but it won't take a bag. Bought a 12 gallon, so I could use a bag. Boiler cleaning company at work uses two 16 gallon Craftsman in series to clean our oil boilers, said it's amazing how much abuse they take. I've also have used the 16 gallon to pull river rock out of the grass that was misplaced from plowing after a snow storm.

 

The 6.5 HP Ridgid does the job. It pulls up #27 gravel through grass.

 

Agree Rigid. I had a sewer drain that was filled with gravel down about 10 feet. I duct tapped a 2" PCV pipe tp the end of the hose and it sucked that drain clean of sand and gravel.

 

I have not kept up with Sears Craftsman tool status; having said that; installed a 75 foot retaining wall which consisted 8 individual 3' by 6' holes to set I-Beams in concrete however rains came in the interim leaving approx. 1 ft of dirt and drain rock at the bottom of these holes. The material had to be removed before the project could proceed and out of desperation decided to try my Craftsman 6 hp shop vac and found it sucked up all the mud and drain rock in a relatively short period of time, although did go thru a couple of filters.

 

Channel Lock brand pretty good. https://www.channellockproducts.com/...702d6f2c00005c

 

I laid down 1000 feet of 2" Electrical PVC and need to pull wire through it. I put the VAC on one end used a plastic bag with a rope on the other end and sucked it all the way to the vac. Tied off the cable and then pulled that through. Some guys feed the cable through each 20' of the pipe by hand, piece by piece. The VAC is the way to go for long or even shorter pulls.

 

Kendall - great way of pulling the cable!