Trac-Vac 854 PTO Powered Leaf Vacuum

[charlz]

Originally Posted by art

We have also found that the 5 horse unit will normally work with a 60" deck although they recommend the larger unit and the new models come with a small chipper built in!

How effective is the chipper? I have been thinking of getting one of these units and have been trying to decide chipper/no chipper. Someday soon I will be in city limits and no longer able to burn so I will have to chip or haul to the dump. I thought the chipper on the cart would be nice for 'chip as you go' pruning.

[HiTech Redneck]

Originally Posted by Hooked_on_HP

Cool! With that setup couldn't you build any size trailer you wanted. As long as the discharge hose was long enough you could build a hydraulic dump trailer. I also have a lot of trees and use to hate picking them up. Now I love picking up leaves. I picked up aLawn Genie flail with catcher last year and it works wonders. I will post a couple of pics and maby it will give you some ideas on how to make a dump for yours.
Bill

Hi! Do you have a website address for the "Lawn Genie"?I like the idea of no chute,hose,trailer etc. to mess with.Thanks for any info you can supply!

[art]

Originally Posted by charlz

How effective is the chipper? I have been thinking of getting one of these units and have been trying to decide chipper/no chipper. Someday soon I will be in city limits and no longer able to burn so I will have to chip or haul to the dump. I thought the chipper on the cart would be nice for 'chip as you go' pruning.

The biggest thing when chipping is the limb can not have branches sticking out to get throughthe hloe next to the chipper wheel. This can be frustrating as it doen't take much of a limb to keep the branch from getting to the chipper.

[art]

Just thinking about the non-tapered trailer. To have a sheet of plywood cut to match the bottoms size and have a small chain or rope attached to it from the front of the trailer that would allow it to come totally out of the trailer and then while pulling ahead you could pull the plywood out from underneath the leaves.

[ChuckinNH]

Originally Posted by art

Just thinking about the non-tapered trailer. To have a sheet of plywood cut to match the bottoms size and have a small chain or rope attached to it from the front of the trailer that would allow it to come totally out of the trailer and then while pulling ahead you could pull the plywood out from underneath the leaves.

Art, now that you mention that, I remember a thread here a year, or two ago about just that. There were photos, and a good discussion. The plan worked as well as you think it should if I remamber correctly.

[Kevin M]

Originally Posted by kennyd

Two weeks ago I drove to New Jersey to pick up this used Trac-Vac 854. I have A LOT of trees around me, and doing leaf cleanup is always a chore I hate...So I have been looking for years for a solution-and this turned up on Craigslist so I jumped on it.

I have about 4 hours on it now including some time with wet leaves, and it really does a remarkable job at collecting, mulching and packing them in the trailer! Emptying the trailer is a chore so far-but hopefully I will get batter at it or find a way to hydraulically PUSH them out!

Please enjoy the pictures on my Picassa Web Album

Kenny its ironic i found mine the same way , i found my (880 trac vac) in a want-ad magazine from dealer in PA , wasnt running , cleaned carb and reattached spark plug wires ( rubbed on the flywheel and broke in two) , paid only $300 The biggest thing i found is to keep them clean ( the box ) and never let them rust inside , the load inside wont slide easy

[Kevin M]

Originally Posted by SPYDERLK

Congrats. Trac Vac is a good unit. I have one with an engine powered vac since the BX1500 does not have enuf power to suck and mow at the same time. Maybe yours is different, but mine dumps easy by tipping the trailer back and then pulling forward with a jerk. The trailer is tapered open toward the back so as soon as the leaf pack moves it becomes loose and slides out as you pull away. Leaf loaves everywhere. Keeping the inside of the trailer well painted and smooth helps too.
larry

Not sure of the H/P of your BX ? My father also has a collection system (similar to trac vac) infact the trailers are indentical , anyway his is on a Deutz Allis 1920 , 20hp kohler 60 inch deck and the blower (which was a factory option ) runs of the rear PTO and has plenty of snot ???

[Hooked_on_HP]

Originally Posted by HiTech Redneck

Hi! Do you have a website address for the "Lawn Genie"?I like the idea of no chute,hose,trailer etc. to mess with.Thanks for any info you can supply!

Mathews company is who made the one I have. They are nolonger making them. There are several other companys that a making a simular machine but I don't know the names. The new ones I have seen are in the 5-10K price range. I ocasionally see them on ebay. There is a tow behind on there now.
Bill

[joes_427_vette]

WOW..... Kenny, you did it again. I had a prelim sketch in my head about how I would attack the design with a pully system to gear it to the right speed. Never seen anything like that before. It would be nice if a guy could fab a light material holding assembly on the back eliminating the need for wheels on the trailer. Don't think the 4110 would have much weight on the front wheels at this point.

Kenny... If you get some time can you get some type of estimate on impeller speed ( one turn of the pto vs how many revolutions on the impeller. It's not a new idea but I like the idea of using the pto vs putting up with maintaining another power source.

I have the gearbox from another 60" JD mower. Do you think it would hold up ?

By the way, thanks again for the help on the loader. It really works well. I didn't think the on board oil pump would be able to work the rams effectively but it is more than adequate.

[kennyd]

Joe, according to the documentation, the fan speed is about 3800 RPM. It also say's it on the Trac-Vac web site on the right side. You can also download the manual and see the parts breakdown.

No clue on the MMM gearbox-the one on the Trac-Vac it 3 times as big and 3 times as heavy. I had to remove it to change the oil.

By the way, thanks again for the help on the loader. It really works well. I didn't think the on board oil pump would be able to work the rams effectively but it is more than adequate.

You are welcome! Can you elaborate a little on the second part of that statement?