Cyclone Rake Z-10 On Order

[CompactTractorFan]

Well, did not get to assembling it yet. Most of today has been consumed with battery problems...

Also snowing right now...

 

[texas42]

I put a spacer on the top of my mower deck of about 3/4" to bring the bottom of the boot almost flush with the bottom of the mower deck.
This way I have very little boot extending below the mower - less chance of hooking it on something.
Two seasons has worked great.

 

[CHDinCT]

Any thought?

Kevin, I got confused and thought your pic was actually CTF's. Anyway, yesterday was a mess with power out most of the day and snow to clear not to mention lots of downed limbs, etc. so I did not get a pic of my boot on the MMM. How did you make out with your mod's? Looks like if you made up some spacers to put on the bolts sticking up from the MMM you could easily raise the boot up - much like texas42 suggested.

 

[kday64]

All,

It turns out that a 2x3 is nearly a perfect fit for what I need. I am going to rip about 1/4 of an inch off the 3 side and drill to holes and rethread longer bolts.

I did call Cyclone Rake about my problem, they were very helpful and very polite. I sent this pictures and measurements and they were able to identify a better fitting boot however it will cost me $40 in gas to pick up a new boot compared to the $.30 for new bolts and another reason to visit my local hardware store.

All I need now is an houre to finish assembly, the snow the melt and a weekend to suck up the neighborhoods leaves.

:drink:

Thanks all for the help. This shall be the best leaf season ever! If they ever fall...

~Kevin

 

[CHDinCT]

Well, a little late, but here are a few pic's of the CR boot on my BX25. Looks like it's just about even with the bottom of the 54" MMM. I measured the tube opening on the boot and it's 8" even though my hose is the old 7" version. CR uses a reducer fitting that connects the hose to the boot. I assume with the 10" hose on the high end CR models, the boot has to be deeper by virtue of the 10" diameter hose connection.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

Well, finally got the Cyclone Rake all assembled. Got a little time in today using it. Have a few observations:

#1. Power unloader hose seemed too small to fit over the chute that it attaches to. We were barely able to get it on and it's just on like an inch.

#2. Power unloader again, when you have a full load (especially of grass clippings) it takes a longgg time to unload. The vacuum hose also gets clogged a lot when unloading...

#3. Getting the vacuum hoses on the roof rack is big pain. They just want to coil up.

#4. This is more in the tractors part, but with the 3-pt drawbar you can't raise the mower without the CR going up with it.

#5. One of the attaching pieces inside one of the hoses came loose and fell off resulting in the Cyclone Rake "eating" it...


That said, it sure is nice to just drive around and pick up debris off the lawn. :thumbsup:

Oh, and the whole rig JUST fits in the garage (both length and width wise).

I'll post pics soon.

 

[KennyR]

Well, finally got the Cyclone Rake all assembled. Got a little time in today using it. Have a few observations:

#1. Power unloader hose seemed too small to fit over the chute that it attaches to. We were barely able to get it on and it's just on like an inch.

#2. Power unloader again, when you have a full load (especially of grass clippings) it takes a longgg time to unload. The vacuum hose also gets clogged a lot when unloading...

#3. Getting the vacuum hoses on the roof rack is big pain. They just want to coil up.

#4. This is more in the tractors part, but with the 3-pt drawbar you can't raise the mower without the CR going up with it.

#5. One of the attaching pieces inside one of the hoses came loose and fell off resulting in the Cyclone Rake "eating" it...


That said, it sure is nice to just drive around and pick up debris off the lawn. :thumbsup:

Oh, and the whole rig JUST fits in the garage (both length and width wise).

I'll post pics soon.

I've been following your post and considering a Z-10 to replace my DR commercial vac next year. Glad it did a great job picking up the lawn

Re: #4. the only way to stop the the 3 point hitch from raising/lowering while using the mowing deck on a BX is to disconnect the 3 pt arms from the hydraulic lift arms and reattach them to the non-movable frame holes on the rear of the tractor. It takes only about 30 seconds to switch back to the hydraulic arms when you ned to lift with the 3 pt.

 

[FELMOW2320]

I've had the cyclone rake for about 12 years on a ZD21 and my 240 JD.Over those 12 years i've kept up between 10 -14 yards.I've replaced the bag twice,the aluminum frame the that holds the bag twice,three sets of casters and went to the dual wheel set up the third time,replaced the frame twice and welded and patched numerous times,2 boots that goes on the deck,repaired cracks in the blower housing and the engine worked on twice for sticking valves( not a big fan of Tecumseh engines).For what i've put it through I can't complain.I also bought the long extension hose to get leaves up.The long hose stops up way to easy so I just remove the hose from the mower deck and use that if the pile of leaves is too big to run over with the mower.If you wait till the grass or leaves is blowing out the top vent you will probably have to pull some out by hand because it is packed in so tite before it will dump.When I bought the 2320 I got the bagger attachment so I will be selling my CR.I do miss the capacity of the CR versus the bagger and the CR grinds the leaves up smaller than the bagger.

 

[CHDinCT]

CTF, not surprised on the power unloader taking long to empty the bag. That was my thought when I reviewed it on the CR web site. I have plenty of space to dump mine (big mulch pile in the woods) so I didn't bother with it. I guess if you need to blow the picked up leaves into an inaccessible area, it's a necessary add on. I am surprised you've had any clogging issues. Again, I have the 7' hose and have the 17' extension for picking up around the shrubs, etc., and that thing only clogs if a stick or two get sucked in and wedge sideways, so I try to avoid picking up too many of them. If I hold the end too near the ground, it will suck down to the ground and actually pull me down a little. I try to keep the hose end at an angle to avoid that.

On the 3PH raising up with the deck, yes that is a function of the MMM lift linkage being tied to the 3PH, but, I find I can raise the deck all the way up, then lower the 3PH quite a bit before the deck starts to drop. For traveling to the unloading site, I raise the deck fully, then slowly drop the 3PH until I see the deck start to drop. The alternative, like KennyR said is to fix the 3PH to the frame. Something I think I'll do at some point but more to shorten up the overall length of the tractor + CR.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

I've been following your post and considering a Z-10 to replace my DR commercial vac next year. Glad it did a great job picking up the lawn

Re: #4. the only way to stop the the 3 point hitch from raising/lowering while using the mowing deck on a BX is to disconnect the 3 pt arms from the hydraulic lift arms and reattach them to the non-movable frame holes on the rear of the tractor. It takes only about 30 seconds to switch back to the hydraulic arms when you ned to lift with the 3 pt.

Yes, I tried putting them in those holes, but then the drawbar would be too high.