The metal of the housing is 2.5mm thick. There is a similar kink for the other chipping blade so I'm guessing it's meant to be there.

I haven't used the drop down shute but when I drop stuff in there it seems to get sucked in. The section just before the blades is flat so there is no continuous slope to the blade. So I think if you raked leaves up close enough to the hopper they would just get sucked in.

Last edited by aldot; 05/10/11 12:46 PM.