Cool! We have guys around here who offer gutter vacuuming, and I think they just go out and buy one of those specially designed systems and basically rent themselves out. I kind of wonder if you could just get a heavy-duty wet/dry shop vac of some sort and basically do the same thing. The chipper vac is nice because it has suction and it obliterates anything it sucks in, but that’s not really necessary…

Those are some heavy-duty gutter cleaners, but yeah, they come with a price. I already had the chipper-vac and most of the extra duct work sitting around, so my gutter vacuum experiment really only cost me a few bucks for the elbow. If you’re serious about cleaning your gutters out without climbing on the roof and you don’t have any other need for a chipper vac, then yeah, go for a customized system!

Let me know what you end up doing. The next time we get some good weather on a weekend I’ll attach the 8 foot piece of duct to my chipper vac and post some photos with info whether or not I seem to lose any suction…

Thanks alot for your help with this. Much appreciated. I went to Bunnings the local Australian DIY superstore the other day. They have either 90mm or 100mm ridgid stormwater PVC pipe. Both are inexpensive and light. They also have very neat elbows which click together (airtight)to make the top section which reaches into the gutter. There are various reducers and increasers to attach the stormwater pipe to the Troy-Bilt 5 inch hose. I tested the unit obviously without the chipper and it was stable and relatively easy to move around.

I’m looking to buy one of the original Troy-Bilt (not inferior MTD) 8HP chipper vacs and using it as a small business here cleaning gutters. I’m fairly sure that the 8HP engine would be sufficient to suck most of the debris even at s standard height of 12 feet. I’m not sure it will work much higher however. At some point there will be a loss of suction. i have also found a couple of exciting tailormade systems. One is http://www.upkeeper.com (expensive). The other is http://www.omni-guttervac.com which I really like. Take a look and let me know what you think. Thanks again, Michael

Heh… Yeah, I’ve been there: can’t test it until you buy it but don’t want to buy it until you test it. I don’t even have a 12 foot section of duct, but I did have an 8 foot section which I just put on there for a test yesterday. I didn’t tape it on or anything, but the suction still seems pretty good. With a 12 foot tube I’m thinking you might be okay with suction, but the whole thing might be a little unweildy and difficult to control. I’m using cheap aluminum 4 inch wide ductwork and it is a little hard to move around real delicately. I’d almost be afraid of accidentally banging my gutters repeatedly with a 12 foot tube.

I’m not sure if I’d recommend buying a chipper vac JUST for this use :-) I’d say go for the chipper vac as a means of cleaning up all the leaves in your yard and maybe look at the gutter cleaning ability of a leaf vacuum as a “potential” added bonus :-)

I just used mine to clean out the leaves. I have a feeling that if I had a few inches of wet slime and sticks and other debris in my gutters that this wouldn’t have worked quite so well. I still think I may need to get up on a ladder every couple years and give my gutters a thorough cleaning with a hose, but using the chipper vac to suck out the leaves during autumn really helps keep them from getting too clogged up.

Good luck! Let me know how it works out :-)