Barracuda MX6 vs Mx8

[Fire51]

I have a Vinyl in ground 20 x 32. Anyone have recommendation or advise as which one will be better?

 

[Patrick_B]

Welcome to the forum Fire51!

Not familiar with those but you'll get some opinions. Enjoy the forums!

 

[LI poolguy]

Was thinking about getting one for my dad for Father's Day this year, and the most info that I could gather is... The MX6 is a single wheel drive and the MX8 is dual wheel drive. The MX6 does not have a "reverse" gear, it just spins the drive wheel to pivot when obstructed by something. Where as the MX8 has a reverse gear to get out of jams. The MX8 comes with 39 feet of hose and the MX6 has 32 feet of hose, so depending on where your skimmer or port is, that may make a difference. If you want to use a suction cleaner, you should also use one of the inline leaf baskets (any company), it'll keep the filter cleaner than without it. With that said, I do not know how long the drive assembly will last before replacement (plastic gears are not the strongest). You may be better off with a Pool Cleaner. When the gear teeth strip on the wheel, you can just flip the wheels on each side and be ready to go. One wheel is driven by a top set of teeth and the other is driven by a lower set of teeth. This allows you to simply switch the wheels around making for a longer lasting item before spending more money. Also the Zodiac Barracuda cleaners comes with proprietary hoses that twist lock. You'll need adapters to connect to normal vacuum hoses.

I'll also add that there were a few negative reviews about these units not working that well with 2 speed pumps. I do not know if they were solved with the addition of the flow valve thingy they include with both units now. Although, they do look like pretty cool cleaners.