My house persistently has roots, so I've been paying $300 for a plumber to clear them once a year, and having to deal with their scheduling, or renting a heavy drum machine for $100 a day and lugging it down the stairs. This machine obviously won't last as long as a Ridgid, but if I can get a few uses out of it, it will pay for itself, plus the convenience of doing it on my own schedule. It does the job of knocking out light roots and wipes just fine. If I can keep up with the roots, I can put off replacing the clay pipe for $10k. So keep on top of the preventative maintenance and use root killer regularly. Just be careful to disengage the auto feed when the couplers pass through.