Best Shop Vac? Ridgid vs Shop Vac, DeWalt, Stanley, Hart, Craftsman

if you're as good at making messes as i am you're going to want a good shop vac we have seven different brands today some costing quite a bit more than others so let's get the testing underway and see which brand is the best we'll see which shop back vacuums water the fastest we'll find out which one creates the most suction we'll test which shopvac has the largest capacity we'll find out which one vacuums 50 pounds of sand the fastest and the final event will be a grudge match hooking up the vacuum lines in a head-to-head contest and letting them slug it out at only 88 the heart brand is the least expensive shop vac that we'll be testing 16 gallons and 6 peak horsepower limited 3-year warranty 9-piece accessory kit made in china shopvac handle extension wands wheels 3 nozzles foam wet filter assembling the heart shop vac was very quick and easy installing the wheel kit with four screws and the handle with two screws took less than two minutes hose inlet diameter is about one and three quarter inches the hose locks into position by sliding into position and then twisting clockwise i used a crane scale to weigh each of the vacuums and the heart is pretty light at only 20.2 pounds peak horsepower is a term used in the wet and dry vacuum industry for consumer comparison purposes it does not denote the operational horsepower of a wet and dry vacuum but rather the horsepower output of a motor including the motor's inertial contribution achieved in laboratory testing in actual use the shopvac motors do not operate at the peak horsepower shown there are quite a few online calculators for converting amps to horsepower according to the power use meter the heart is around 11.4 amps assuming 99 efficiency which is extremely optimistic the heart shop vac produces around 1.6 horsepower at 11.4 amps and 115 volts i placed the sound meter 36 inches from the center of the electric motor and the noise level is 81.5 decibels at a price of 95.42 the second least expensive brand we'll be testing is made by stanley 5.5 peak horsepower and 12 gallon one year limited warranty stanley is made in china the stanley comes with two extension wands and three nozzles the grab handle was already installed and installing the wheels took about a minute just like the heart the stanley's hose diameter is about an inch and three quarters the stanley was even lighter than the heart at only 16 pounds which includes the weight of all the accessories the stanley is only making around 1.3 horsepower at 9.6 amps and is a little quieter than the heart at 79.6 decibels at a price of only 99.99 the barrow brand is tied with the ridgid as being the third least expensive brand we'll be testing six pig horsepower and 14 gallon it claims to draw 10 amps flow rate is 115 cfm made in china since the bow brand is guaranteed heavy duty i wanted to know more about the warranty but i couldn't find any information on the packaging according the instruction manual limited 90-day warranty the barrel comes with two extension wands and four nozzles just like the stanley it only took about a minute to install the wheels the hose end on the heart and the stanley are about one and three quarters of an inch but the bowers is a half inch larger diameter at two and a quarter at 19.2 pounds the bower is slightly heavier than the stanley but lighter than the heart brand at 10.2 amps the bower is making around 1.4 horsepower the bauer is extremely noisy at 87.5 decibels also costing 99.99 is this ridgid brand six and a half p horsepower and 16 gallons hose diameter is two and a half inches the ridgid is made in mexico the ridge it comes with a full lifetime warranty unlike the other brands the ridgid has a removable electric motor which can be used as a leaf blower the ridgid has two extension wands plus a leaf blower attachment along with three nozzles ridgid claims their hose is two and a half inches but the hose ends are only two and a quarter installing the wheels and the plastic bracket that steps into position took under two minutes at 24.6 pounds the ridgid is quite a bit heavier than the previous three brands at 12.3 amps which is around 1.7 horsepower the ridgid is the most powerful yet of the four brands it's a little noisier than the heart and the stanley at 82.4 decibels at 101.49 the craftsman is the third most expensive brand we'll be testing 16 gallon six and a half peak horsepower three year limited warranty made in mexico air volume is up to 185 cfm the craftsman includes a vacuum bag two extension wands and three nozzles just like the bower the hose end is about two and a quarter inches in diameter assembly takes around three minutes and includes installing the wheel kit the grab handle and a couple of brackets that'll keep the hose contained when not in use the craftsman was slightly lighter than the ridgid at 23.2 pounds it was also slightly more powerful at 13.1 amps which is about 1.8 horsepower and slightly quieter at 81.5 decibels at a price of 124.99 the second most expensive brand we'll be testing is made by shopvac 14 gallons six and a half peak horsepower powered by svx2 advanced motor technology five-year warranty assembled in usa of u.s and global components the shopvac brand includes a large vacuum bag two extension wands three nozzles along with a brush and a squeegee attachment the shopvac claims to be assembled in the united states but this shopvac required far more assembly than any of the other brands including the wheels a bracket for the large wheels a handle and a couple of smaller brackets assembly is still pretty easy and takes less than 10 minutes the hose end is two and a quarter inches at 28.4 pounds the shotvac is the heaviest yet it's also a little less powerful at 11.8 amps or 1.6 horsepower it's the second noisiest shot vac at 83.5 decibels and the most expensive brand we'll be testing at 143.37 is made by dewalt 14 gallon six peak horsepower three year limited warranty one year free service 90 day money back guarantee 11 amps 110 cfm 32.4 pounds the dewalt brand is made in china the dewalt includes a vinyl accessory holder two extension wands four nozzles and a large vacuum bag the hose end is two and a quarter inches it takes around five minutes to assemble the dewalt which includes installing the wheel kit the accessory holder and the handlebar the accessory holder seems a little undersized for all the attachments at 32.2 pounds the dewalt is by far the heaviest of all the shop facts at 10.9 amps it's not as powerful as the ridgid the craftsman or the shopvac brand it's the quietest shop vac at only 75.6 decibels so the dewalt is the quietest at 75.6 decibels stanley second and the craftsman in heart tied for third if you're planning to lift or carry the shop vac and weight is a factor the stanley is the lightest at only 16 pounds bauer is second lightest at 19.2 part third at 20.2 craftsman fourth at 23.2 and rigid fifth at 24.6 higher wattage or amperage is usually marketed as more powerful and better not surprisingly the shopvacs with the highest horsepower ratings all rated for 6.5 peak horsepower at the highest amperage the craft's been finished first at 13.1 amps rigid second at 12.3 and shot back third at 11.8 all of which were rated for 6.5 horsepower however there is a big difference between power use or what we just measured in power output or real world performance so let's get into some testing and see if these numbers really matter when it comes to vacuums two very important factors to consider include airflow and vacuum suction so we'll first measure airflow or how much air each brand is able to move in our next test i'll position the hose on each shop vac so the air is blowing out of the shop vac and into this test stand air will enter the top of the box then go around an air deflector and finally enter and travel through an 8 inch wind tunnel inside the wind tunnel is a wind meter which will measure the air speed in miles per hour and the heart is off to a great start with a peak speed of 10.45 miles per hour the stanley did do nearly as well with a top air speed of only seven miles per hour so hart holds on to the lead and the bauer's airspeed was 10.1 miles per hour so the heart brand holds on to the lead and the ridgid is definitely moving a lot of air at 12 miles per hour taking the lead away from the heart brand and the craftsman takes away the lead from ridgid with a very impressive 13.1 miles per hour and a shot back at 10.5 miles per hour isn't going to be enough to take away the lead from the craftsman and the dewalt did just about the same as a shop vac at 10.4 miles per hour so the craftsman takes the top spot at 13.1 miles per hour rigid second at 12.1 miles per hour shot back third at 10.5 so the top three shopvacs with the highest peak horsepower ratings took the top three spots while airspeed is very important equally important is suction suction is what allows a shop vac to pick up things while airflow moves them into the vacuum tank so in our next test we're going to see how much suction each shop vac applies to a rubber ball shopvac design and build quality have a huge impact on suction for example a lid that doesn't seal well like this lid on the heart brand it might have a powerful motor but air leaks around the lid prevent good suction i'll take an average of three samples for each shop vac and the heart brand which has fairly good air airspeed really struggled with suction at only 4.4 pounds build quality of the stanley does seem slightly better than the heart but there's definitely room for improvement even though the stanley brand has the lowest horsepower rating and a much lower air speed it actually outperformed the heart brand at 4.8 pounds the build quality of the bower definitely seems better with a much tighter lid and bucket fit the bar had slightly less air speed than the heart but check out the lift 10.2 pounds more than twice as much as the heart and stanley very impressive the ridgid has a much larger diameter lid and bucket than the bower which means there's more opportunity for air to leak unfortunately the lid just doesn't have a very tight fit the detachable motor is also another area prone to leaking and the ridgid has great airspeed at 12.3 miles per hour but just doesn't have very good lift compared to the bower at only 5.8 pounds so bauer holds onto the lead at 10.2 pounds just like the ridgid the craftsman has a very large diameter lid and bucket making it more susceptible to air leaks however it doesn't have the detachable motor like the ridgid and the craftsman did better than the ridgid at 6.4 pounds of lift and moves into the second position behind bauer which did quite a bit better at 10.2 pounds the shotvac has a smaller diameter lid and bucket compared to the rigid and craftsman it also seems to have a better lid to bucket fit than most of the other brands so the shopvac brand moves ahead of the craftsman with a pretty good 7.8 pound pull but that's not going to be enough to take the lead away from bauer wow the build construction of the dewalt definitely seems the best with a very tight fit between the motor and the bucket it also has a smaller diameter lid and bucket compared to the ridgid and craftsman and the dewalt did the best yet narrowly beating the bauer at 10.4 pounds so the dewalt came in first at 10.4 bauer's second at 10.1 shop vac third at 7.8 and craftsman fourth at 6.4 the air filters have been removed so let's test the wet vacuuming capability of each of the brands next in a side-by-side showdown i've added food coloring to the water stanley is on the left and heart is on the right i'll start the clock and at the five second mark the test will begin and both shot vacs are guzzling down the water but the stanley is definitely faster than the heart brand and the stanley emptied the five gallon bucket in seven seconds and the heart was pretty far behind at nine seconds ridgid is on the left and bauer's on the right the ridgid has a better air speed than the bower but the bar has better suction poofy water definitely requires a lot of suction and good air speed both brands are doing great but the bar is gulping down the water quite a bit faster than the ridgid and it's better for the wind at just under six seconds and rigid at seven seconds shot back is on the left and craftsman is on the right craftsman has a pretty big airspeed advantage and shot back has a slight suction advantage and his craftsman for the win at nearly six seconds and shot back at seven let's compete the dewalt against the bowers since they are pretty evenly matched dewalt is on the left and bowers on the right and both brands are very fast but dewalt is in the lead and it's dewalt for the win at just under six seconds and barrow once again finishing up just behind the wall the craftsman and the barrett both finished very close to six seconds so let's have a tie breaker craftsman is on the left and bauer's on the right and this is definitely the closest race yet with both brands moving the water very quickly but it's barra for the win over craftsman so dewatt finished first bower second and craftsman third the stanley ridgid and shotvac all tied for fourth at seven seconds according to the fine print the bucket size does not indicate actual wet capacity i'll wait each of the buckets before and after the test and we'll calculate the actual capacity by dividing the total weight by 8.34 pounds which is the approximate weight of one gallon of water testing the heart brand first and the heart brand has a 16 gallon bucket and did fairly well holding a total of 12.2 gallons and the stanley which is a 12 gallon bucket held 9.4 gallons of water so the heart brand holds on to the lead the bar which has a 14 gallon bucket stopped picking up water at only 9.5 gallons so the heart brand holds on to the lead the ridgid with a 16 gallon bucket the same size as the heart brand did the best yet at 12.5 gallons testing the craftsman next and the craftsman which is a short and wide bucket just like the ridgid just about cleaned out all three buckets with a very impressive 13.9 gallons of water and takes the lead from ridgid shopvac which is a 14 gallon bucket stop picking up water at 10.8 gallons and the craftsman holds on to the lead the dewalt which also has a 14 gallon tank did the best yet of all the 14 gallon shop vacs holding 11.6 gallons of water so the top three all had 16 gallon buckets the craftsman came out on top at 13.9 gallons rigid second at 12.5 and the heart third at 12.2 the dewalt shopvac and bar each have 14 gallon buckets and came in fourth fifth and six respectively i'll reinstall the air filters for the final test and we'll see how quickly these shop vacs can lift 50 pounds of sand beginning with the heart brand air filter efficiency hose length and build design are all factors that impact performance the heart brand really struggled the hose clogged several times during the test and temporarily stopped making progress we finally finished the job at 78 seconds the stanley which has both better suction and a shorter hose than the heart brand did a lot better easily picking up the sand in only 40 seconds nearly twice as fast as the heart brand the barrel which has about the same air speed as the heart but a lot more suction totally crushed this test with a very impressive 31 second performance the ridgid has better air speed but a lot less suction than the bower and it really had a big impact on performance as a ridgid needed longer than the bower to pick up the sand the craftsman has a little bit better air speed and suction than the ridgid and both were factors as the craftsman picked up the sand in only 38 seconds and moved into second place behind the bower the shopvac has a 10 foot hose while most of the competition has a 7 foot hose the extra hose length really slowed the shot vac which needed 63 seconds to remove the sand so far bauer is in the lead but the dewalt does have a slight edge over the bar for air speed and suction and dewalt totally crushed this test with a 28 second finish beating the bower by three seconds so the dewalt came in first at 28 seconds bauer's second at 31 craftsman third of 39 stanley fourth at 40 and ridgid fifth at 43. let's kick off the grudge match with hart brand to the left and stanley on the right and the stanley didn't waste any time knocking the wind right out of the heart brand powering the left and stanley on the right and this wasn't even a contest with baron knocking the wind out of stanley in a quick one-two punch to the gut power on the left and rigid on the right since the barrier's overpowering the ridgid i powered it off and then back on again to see if it could recover and it still overpowered the ridgid and the barrier is getting cocky as it's letting the ridgid deliver punches to the gut it just laughs as it knocks the wind right back out of the ridgid so it's barra for the win it's barrow on the left and craftsman on the right and the bower has been warned for unsportsmanlike conduct but the bear just doesn't seem to care once again the bowers up to its old trick and just laughs off the gut punches it just knocks the wind right out of the craftsman barrow on the left and shot back on the right and the barrel brand tells the shopvac and its svx2 motor to eat dirt as it totally sucks the wind right out of the shopvac brand and it's down to the final match with bauer on the left and dewalt on the right and this has turned into a real slugfest with back and forth blows to the gut but after several rounds of back and forth blows is dewalt for the win so which shop vac is the best that really depends on what you're looking for if you need a shop vac that has a lot of suction for picking up water and really heavy items the bar is going to be hard to beat as far as performance but on the other hand my biggest concern with it it only comes with a 90 day warranty i really have a lot of respect for companies that stand behind their products in 90 days just doesn't seem enough especially when you consider the other brands are offering between one year three year or even a lifetime warranty in my opinion the best overall shop back is the craftsman it has terrific air speed very good suction and a very good warranty all the videos in this channel are viewers suggested so if you have a video idea i hope you'll take time to leave a comment thanks so much for watching and please take care and i'll look forward to next time

Channel: Project Farm

Views: 1,868,984

Keywords: project farm, shop vac wet dry vacuum, shop vac assembly, best shop vac, dewalt shop vac, ridgid shop vac, craftsman shop vac, stanley shop vac, hart shop vac reviews, hart shop vac assembly, hart shop vacuum, bauer shop vac, best shop vac reviews, shop vac reviews, dewalt shop vac review, ridgid shop vac review, wet dry shop vac reviews, project farm shop vac review, shop vac dust collection system, shop vac showdown, shop vac comparison test

Id: hSN7PXwn1yU

Length: 16min 20sec (980 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 31 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/sla342]

This guy does awesome unbiased, informative videos! He’s definitely one of my favorites.

[u/murph331]

I just watched this a bit ago. Was really surprised at the Bauer. Especially with the lbs of suction

[u/jim_philly]

Same here. On the other hand, though, if they're going to sell it for $99 with Rigid at the same price point and rarely offer coupons, it better be decent.

[u/AdvocatusReddit]

Haha I came here to post this and y'all beat me too it. I'm surprised to see the Bauer owning the Rigid. As with everything at HF, if you're interested, buy it with a credit card that offers warranty extension like the Costco Citi card. That way you get sightly more than two year protection (27 months). I wish he had included the Vacmaster brand that I have. Mine isn't great but I'm happy with it.

[u/Ordinate1]

I've had a couple of Bauer items, and was not disappointed with them. I used the cordless angle grinder 4 hours/day for 6 months, and it held up like a champ.

[u/Painkiller3666]

Can never have enough project farm vids

[u/dcast777]

Project Farm is by far one of the top review channels on Youtube. His scientific approach is amazing.

[u/h4ppidais]

Like the video suggests, performance isn’t everything. In the case of a shop vac, I prefer to pay a little more for a product that its designers and engineers can stand behind. Actually, getting Rigid is a no brainer because of its lifetime warranty at the same price of Bauer

[u/HumbleBadger1]

Ive had the ridgid for many years, the removable blower is super useful.