Budget tool giant Harbor Freight has a new wet dry vacuum that looks to be very promising with the Bauer 6 Gallon 4 Horsepower Wet Dry Vacuum.
The new Bauer 6 gallon vac is a wet dry vac meaning you can suck up dry messes as well as wet messes. 4 horsepower should provide strong suction for its size and even has a blower port to clear dust and debris quickly. It’s priced at $54.99 normal everyday price which brings it inline with Ridgid’s current 6 gallon NXT vac but you can get the Bauer as low as $44.99 with coupon. It never makes sense buying at Harbor Freight without coupons otherwise you’re overpaying.
Compared to the Ridgid, the Bauer has a lot going for it. Besides being less with coupon, it has slightly more rated HP on paper at 4 HP with 75 CFM suction vs 3.5 HP of the Ridgid and the Bauer has what appears to be a premium looking hose. Ridgid makes solid wet dry vacs however their budget vacs, those priced under $100 have some of the worst and cheap hoses that are stiff and kink easily. So if Bauer’s 6 gallon vac has a premium very flexible hose, that right there makes it very appealing.
Other than that the Bauer has many features you’d find on the Ridgid such as 4 360 degree castors with built in storage for included accessories, includes a 1-7/8″ 7 FT hose, 2 extensions, utility nozzle (gulper nozzle) and handle that doubles as a cord wrap. The only thing the Bauer is missing is a crevice nozzle which is an essential attachment in my book. Hopefully one is included as the website listing doesn’t mention one at all.
The new Bauer Vac looks like a great addition to their wet dry vacs, hopefully they will come out with more models of varying sizes and performance. I’d like to see them make some 5, 6 and 6.5 HP models and possibly a high performance portable 4 gallon vac with at least 5 HP and wheels.
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Snooze
Agree, yawn. These cheapie wet/dry vacs are a dime a dozen, pick one up anywhere, and this one leaves plenty of question marks… what type of filters does it take? Can I pick them up at my local hardware store? Will it take filter bags? Where can I buy them? Doesn’t seem to include a wet filter sleeve, does harbor freight sell those? Also, “4hp” is a meaningless made up marketing number. Air compressor manufacturers had to stop doing that after a class action lawsuit, it boggles my mind that vacuums can still do it. CFM (measured with no hose!) is also more or less meaningless for typical shop purposes where you have a restrictive hose and attachments. The 8 amp figure is more useful, and compares with the Ridgid 7.5 amps. For a similar price you can find a real made in the USA 8.5 amp Shop-Vac that you can buy accessories anywhere.
Dan, here are the answers to your questions.
1. uses round Cartridge filters as shown in pic above
2. unknown, however you need to contact HF customer service for replacements
3. unknown, not mentioned in manaual. Contact HF personnel. They do sell filter bags and also vacuum bags which is probably what you are thinking of however both are for different vacuum models.
4. contact HF customer support for additional cartridge filters, this is stated in the Bauer vacuum webpage listing.
5. I didn’t see any wet filters on the HF website, try contacting HF employees directly for an answer.
Dan, HP becomes relevant when comparing efficiency. CFM is the rate of air it will push through, HP is the power. I personally do not nit pick on that stuff, but your comment is so un reasonably critical and inaccurate that it seems like you have a grudge about shop vac companies.
What filter bag would the 14 gallon use? I can’t seem to find any info
Good question. I would look into the manual for the answer and contact HF employees and corporate number if more info is needed.