IME how chopped they need to be depends on the type of leaves to some degree. Ones that are light in texture don't need to be chopped as much, but heavier ones will mat and may create issues if too coarse. We aim for 1-2" with maple leaves which is fine enough that they don't blow away and also don't smother the lawn or perennials when left in place. We just use the lawnmower to chop the leaves out on the lawn.

I have a lightweight blower (electric) that is light enough for me to carry. It's just a basic one from a big box store. The blower part can come in handy, but it's useless for chopping up any leaves because the moment a twig gets in, it jams up. This is the only one I have any experience with so take it FWIW.

what are you going to do with it??? ... with a little more specificity

ken

I want to use them as mulch in my perennial beds. I've used wood mulch and don't like that at all. I thought the leaves would work into the soil faster and be more beneficial.

where are you vacuuming from .... i understood what you want to do with the end product

ken

Wayne, for years I used a vacuum/shredder blower in the fall to mulch the maple leaves in my yard. I found that my back hurt at the end of the day so not sure that is a good choice for you. Now that I am having back problems I use the blower very rarely. Mostly I use the mulcher with a bag on my mower and then put the shredded leaves on the garden beds.

I actually have 2 main reasons for the mulcher. We live on an acreage in a rural area. The corn shucks from the farmer's corn field are a major headache when they get blown into the shrubs and roses. About the only way to get them out is by hand. This was an especially bad year with very little snow and a lot of wind. Actually. my main need is for the vacuum/mulcher. We also have quite a few leaves, although our trees are still small. I thought both the leaves and corn shucks would make good mulch for the flower beds. I also do some of the yard work at our church and we have barberry (arrgh) shrubs that I don't care to clean out by hand.

We bought a "sun joe" leaf

MuLcher lightweight and actually very efficient for what does : chop up leaves. We did not want spend a grand for another big gas machine . You can read reviews on amazon.

Good customer service.

Any leafb blower kills my back

Not sure how well a light leaf blower/mulcher will do on corn stalks. Doesn't take much to plug them. If you buy locally you can try it out and return it if your results aren't good. Using the blower to get leaves/stalks out of shrubs should work better than the vacuum aspect.