Vacmaster Professional - Professional Wet/Dry Vac, 12 Gallon, Beast Series, 5.5 HP 2-1/2" Hose (VJH1211PF0201) , Black

I bought this vacuum a few weeks ago for a home improvement project and just to have around. I went with the Vacmaster brand because I have a smaller Vacmaster with the small hose and despite its size the performance has been very good.Let me start by saying I am sort of a neat freak. I am the master cleaner of the house when it comes to cleaning up carpet stains or big spills or things like that. I have always had a shop vac, just never one with the big hose.So in doing demolition in the kitchen I had to borrow the plumbers big shop vac to suck up chunks of wood and sheet rock and nails, etc. And I thought damn that works well! My little one is great for a dust and tiny little things but that’s about it.By now you may be thinking I don’t have anything to compare this to really… Only my smaller one. You are correct. So that makes this whole review kind of pointless because I don’t know if another brand of big shop vac like this one would do as well, but I don’t care. This thing has many features that I am very pleased with. Sure, you might go with a craftsman, or a rigid, or a Dewalt. And I’m sure all those vacuums are awesome. But I’ve become sort of loyal to the Vacmaster brand and so there you go.First of all I’d like to say that it is actually quieter than my small one. Kind of like a big dog is quieter than a small dog. The little one screams with a very high-pitched tone, whereas this one is more of a low hum.A few weeks back, I had over seeded my lawn and put down a bunch of soil over the top. Little did I know that the soil was mainly tiny wood chips. What a bummer. So after the seed started sprouting and the grass got green I looked over at the Beast and thought “I wonder if this would suck up the wood chips?” It did. So there I was vacuuming my entire backyard lawn. The big 16 gallon drum filled up about five times in about 45 minutes. This product sucks.So the filter. The filter looks like it came off a Tesla or the space shuttle. It is absolutely high-quality and when I cleaned it off, the inner portion was as clean as a whistle after sucking up so much crap. If you wanna suck up liquid, take the filter off and maybe put on the foam filter for liquid. I have yet to do this. This thing even has a drain at the bottom of the drum to drain liquid.The cord is 20 feet long so I have yet to need an extension, except when I did my backyard of course.I don’t put the casters on these things. Because the fairly stiff hose makes it roll around like crazy every time I vacuum something. This one has a nice bottom that slides across most surfaces anyways. Plus without the casters, the overall center of gravity is lower and the risk of the whole thing tipping over is nil.I love the on off switch. You can just sort of hit it or tap it with the hose extension to turn it on or off.So I would say it just works really well, it’s very friendly, and it’s very powerful and it says the Beast right on the top. I guess I could put tools or something on top but I have not done that yet.Do yourself a big favor and go buy 10 of these.

I wanted a shop vac with as much suction as I could get because I needed it to double as a dust collection system when working with shop tools in the yard. Mine came with a free sample dust bag that you can affix inside the unit to the suction port to catch extremely fine, dusty debris. My wife saw me unpack it and said "Good! Clean the fireplace with it!" So I gave the dust bag a try for the inaugural run, and may be worth the extra investment for fine dust situations, especially in tight quarters where an in-line collection bucket isn't amenable. Mine also came with a filter attachment for the exhaust port (with a foam insert) which will likely work similarly to keep dust from blowing out, but audible strain on the motor along with reduced suction occurs when in use. The suction is still strong and I'm sure the unit was built to handle that filter, but I will personally use an in-line bucket/cyclone instead. Still, it's a nice feature in the event I need to use it indoors with fine dust.When considering its size, it moves well and is not particularly heavy (when empty). Even so, this unit should be bought for its suction power. If you don't need premium suction and prefer something smaller, then other units will be a better choice. I needed to replace a quality, but 15+ year old unit with a smaller hose diameter, and I can already attest to the amount of time and frustration I will save by not stopping to clear the hoses all the time. I found myself smiling with happiness on multiple occasions because this machine works so well. Really glad I own it.

I bought this to replace a old wet/dry Shop Vac with the 1.25" hose that was more than 20 years old. It could suck up anything and everything and I hated to see the motor final die. I spent time searching the web and reading professional hands-on reviews. Lots and lots of choices. I selected this one because of the solid reviews and the features. This unit has a 2.5" hose (which was surprising larger than I was expecting), 5.5 horsepower and the 12 gallon container. Setup was simple and rather intuitive if you already own a unit like this (casters go there, hose goes there, attachments go there). In less than 10 minutes I had mine together and test running. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the attachments can be held in place both in built-in slots on the motor head but also in the top of the casters. Nice design feature and truly helpful. First impression is that this has great suction even with the 2.5" hose. Strong motor and exhaust air flow confirm performance is very high. The large hose is actually a bit unwieldy and will take some getting use to compared to my previous (well worn in) unit. I am being patient and hoping with more use the stiffness of the hose will diminish. When empty this unit is totally manageable for an average adult as I had not difficulty carrying it down stairs or rolling it around the floor when plugged in. The long cable is nice but I do not see an integrated way to wrap it around the motor head when not in use. The company provides a velcro strap attached to the power cord so you can hand wind the cord and secure it with the velcro strap. Not exactly a "10" on that design feature but it suffices. Overall, the professional hands-on reviews were accurate and this unit is worth the money. I will have to see if it lasts 20-years like my previous shop vac but I will not check back in with you all to let you know if it does! I hope this was helpful.