Best Shop Vac Made

[PonicallyMade]

Anybody have a really awsome shop vac..one that will hold up to a lifetime (or at least some years) of power?

Recently my 5.0 hp 4gal little handy shopvac lost its ability to suck up hydroton, fans leaves, etc...but the main culprit was most likely LOTS of dog hair. I think I spent around $60 on it and now its useless. Doesn't have much power even with the inner fiter removed and the muffler cleaned.


So whats the best shop vac money can buy?
or
an awesome shop vac for the money?

Any input is great!



peace
PM, formerly PC

 

[stoney419]

Get one at sears than buy the 5 year extended warnty that's what I do cause I'm hard on everything LOL

 

[angryelf]

They all work pretty well, what you end up paying for is how quiet you want it to be.

Ridgid @ HD works great but the noise will make your ears bleed, even with the optional muffler. The newer models may be slightly better.

Is cost is no limit is hard to beat a Festool, Alto or Fein. ALL are way expensive but much quieter then the the big box brands.

BTW IMO if your using it for sucking water, dirt, and everything under the sun, just get one at a box store and grab yourself a good pair of MSA muffs for hearing protection.

You can buy five of the cheapies for the cost of one european brands

 

[HighonPottery]

if you want a freakin' badass shop vac w/ a hepa filter to keep from blowing contaminants into the air, check out Nilfisk vacuums.

we have a BIG one at work and it's the tri-motor/filter model and that thing can easily hold up a bowling ball w/o any issue. has like a 30gal capacity that dumps into an HD plastic bag. even has a pressure gauge to tell you how much suction you've got. only downside is it costs around $10k, probably more these days. we also have a small single motor version that holds like 3-gal is around $2k, but it'll own my Rigid Shopvac any day.

 

[NoddaPuppet]

http://ezinearticles.com/?Choosing-a-Shop-Vac-for-Your-Small-Business&id=24202