Another Leaf cleanup question

[kernal]

Another year of leaves... I have filled my 6x10 dump trailer by hand 4 times so far, and I have a long way to go. I have found a John Deere Tilt Dump MCS from a 316 tractor a neighbor has for sale. It is setup for belt drive from the lawn mower. I'm sure I can get it mounted to the 3pt, and I have been researching how I could convert this over to run off the pto. I'd need to add a shaft will a larger pully, flanged bearing, etc. I have been searching online and have not found the parts I think I will need. From what I have found it is setup to run at 2000 rpm, so I'd need to determine correct pulley sizes etc, or find a pto gearbox increaser at 1:4

Anyone converted a belt drive implement to PTO drive before?

The other option is continue to look for a trac-vac or one of the John Deere MCS, the hydraulic dump, or a system with the standalone motor.

The trac-vac will have greater capacity, but being able to dump the contents, instead of shoveling the trailer does have some appeal.

 

[bigtiller]

I think when you get the MCS cart mounted on the 3PT the battle is over and you win! Especially if you build a heavy enough mounting system that you can lift the cart off the ground so you can back into the dump trailer to dump the grass out of the MCS cart and go for another load. A stacked pulley on the mower deck does a fine job of powering the fan.

 

[coveredbridge]

I bought a Cyclone Rake 5 or 6 years ago, and it does a great job.

Well worth the $$ in my opinion.

 

[BleedingOrange]

I,ve got a 455 lawn tractor with a 54" mower with new mulching blades.
I lifted the mower as high as it would go on the first pass, and gradually kept lowering it to regular mowing level. In about an hour of driving in cirles with a headset on, listening to country music, I chopped up the leaves into mulch so fine that my wife thought I had raked the leaves by hand. Did a great job, and it was fun riding on the tractor listening to country music, while working. Hard to beat that. Looking forward to mulching up the next batch.

 

[LBrown59]

I just leaf them alone..

 

[wyeguy]

And I'm leafing this thread after reading that.

 

[nybirdman]

I never could understand why people rake leaves.Make great "dirt".Two cuts with the mower in the spring and they are gone.
If you don't like the look,do it in the fall.

 

[pennwalk]

To me it seems like a lot of trouble for what may turn out to be not a very good solution. The powerflo blower is made to attach to the mower deck and run off a pulley on the blade spindle. I think you would be a lot better getting a pto blower or a blower with its own motor. It would be set up for hoses and be made of metal and be a little bigger. I have a MC519 and it is good for when there are a lot of leaves but mine required some work to operate reliably. Getting the right equipment sure makes the job go better.

Chris

 

[jenkinsph]

A 2320 with the mmm deck should be fine to run the MC519 cart. With my x749 I run mine to pick leaves and pine needles then back into my 6.5x14 dump trailer and unload. I charge $12/yd for hauling and put them on my mulch/top dressing pile with the grass clippings and debris picked up all summer. After cooking down with nitrogen fertilizer, steer manure and chicken manure I am left with a good supply of top dressing.

About the blower, doesn't take much to run it, I wouldn't reinvent the wheel to get this to a separate pto shaft. I don't know what yu need to use it with a 2320 but power to run it isn't a problem. IIRC the 2320 and x749 have the same motor. I suspect to hook it to a 3ph or IMatch you need to have independent lift for the mower deck, I don't so I had to nix the idea of converting to IMatch on mine.

 

[etcallhome]

Get a piece of metal ,about the thickness of a street sign . cut it appx 2" bigger than opening of discharge chute then bend to fit over the discharge chute make 2 slots where the dishchage chute attaches . Put on completed end cap and mulch your leaves... Been doing this for past 15 yrs . Don't need any special blades no mulching kit and no vac .