I reckon most people now (unless you have flame trees or pies or something that puts out mass amounts of leaves/needles/seedpods) can get away with the smaller vacs.
The echo vacsac was available up to a few years ago and that is a great machine. The problem arises that when briggs took over parts distribution they cheaped out on the replacement impellers. They flog out and strip in as little as 10 mins.
I saw a star products vac at the tip, checked and since the impeller spun freely, figured it wasn't worth the effort. Talked to a mechanic mate and discovered potential fixes, so I went back 3 days later and it was still sitting there.
Same as an echo body wise, but a 1e34f china motor.
Turned out it (unlike echo) has a clutch. Replaced the carby, new throttle lever and fuel lines and it is perfect. Doesn't like big frangipani leaves but good otherwise.
For $20 plus modifying a ryobi bag, it is definitely worth it.
Its a shame that the big victa vacs don't sell, but most commercial operators just see them as a 30 yr old machine.
