Opinions on rakes and sweeper.

[Handloader109]

OK, I've got a couple of things that I would like to have opinions on. I'm mowing my yard (2 acres roughly of lawn, and about an acre of pasture right now) and if I get behind, clippings are deep. I've been looking at options for cleanup and wanted to see if anyone uses a pullbehind yard sweeper? Good attachment? Not worth it? Whatever you think, let me know. I've too little grass to bale, just will keep cut.

And has any tried a bucket attachment called the ratchet rake? Wouldn't use for drive, but mainly working to remove rocks. Or would a pull behind finger rake work better?

Thanks guys

 

[dadster4]

No answers for you, but I am interested in opinions on the pull behind sweeper also. We have many shagbark hickories, with hickory nuts galore, and I would like to know if a sweeper will pick them up. FYI- rotting hickory nuts will make your dogs have mild seizures when they eat them.

 

[Steave]

OK, I've got a couple of things that I would like to have opinions on. I'm mowing my yard (2 acres roughly of lawn, and about an acre of pasture right now) and if I get behind, clippings are deep. I've been looking at options for cleanup and wanted to see if anyone uses a pullbehind yard sweeper? Good attachment? Not worth it? Whatever you think, let me know. I've too little grass to bale, just will keep cut.

And has any tried a bucket attachment called the ratchet rake? Wouldn't use for drive, but mainly working to remove rocks. Or would a pull behind finger rake work better?

Thanks guys

I use a craftsman pull behind sweeper but behind my lawnmower. It's only 42" wide but so far it's doing a good job. I don't use it everytime just when I get a little behind in cutting. I wait several hours after I cut or better yet is to wait until the next day if no rain is predicted to run the sweeper. If you sweep the grass while its still green it will mildew then is not too good to put on your garden or any bare spots you may have.

I think any of the brands are close to the same build and around $300 or so. There are different models and I got the one that has the 8-1 gear ratio as most have 4 or 5 to 1. Some people will say they've had the wheels to slide on the ground with the higher gear ratio but I've never had any issues with it. If you have those issues just raise the brushes a little higher.

In comparison my brother is not happy with his 5-1 gears. I talked to someone that knew sweepers before I bought mine and he suggested the higher ratio. It was I think about $50 higher. I don't use it a lot every year but its held up good now for 7-8 years. I'm getting close to needing new brushes (4) maybe next year. I noticed I have to lower them a good bit to get them a pick up height.

I have a Rachet Rake and it's one great tool for scouring through small brushes, honey suckles, briars, and general over growth and raking them into a pile. It does a good job of this without disturbing the ground so much. That is what I bought mine for. As far as digging rocks it might do it but I think it's made for brush removal. I've seen video of folks using them to scratch up the ground for food plots and my brother used it to loosen soil in his yard prior to laying sod. It done a good job on his lawn. This is one tough piece of metal you would think just bend or break up but it's barely got the paint off it and I use it on a 74hp backhoe and a 60hp skidsteer. It's the forestry size which is 5/8" thick and the most common are 1/2" thick but still tough. No I'm not sellin' for Rachet Rake but they do what they say they will and maybe even a little more.

I've never checked on a tractor size sweeper say 5 or 6 footer. Might be an interesting read if they make them.

 

[Steave]

No answers for you, but I am interested in opinions on the pull behind sweeper also. We have many shagbark hickories, with hickory nuts galore, and I would like to know if a sweeper will pick them up. FYI- rotting hickory nuts will make your dogs have mild seizures when they eat them.

I just posted above about the sweeper I have so I'll save you the trouble of reading through all that again. I've never tried it on hickory nuts but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't pick them up. The soft brushes would probably pass over them. It will pick up dried pine cones and leaves if they're good and dry. I have maple and apple leaves but it would probably do oak leaves. I also have oak and walnut trees but I just mow the leaves from them.

 

[mark02tj]

I pull my 48" sweeper behind my 35hp Deere! :laughing: When I let the grass get too long I will mow it so I have one, wide strip of cut grass in the middle of the yard. Then I sweep it up and dump it in a pile at the edge of the woods. Every so often I'll "turn" the pile with my FEL. It'll be interesting to see what it looks like in a few years.

I do have to adjust the brush height on the sweeper from high to low as I go over the strip of grass a couple of times. If the brushes are too low and the grass strip too thick/deep, the brushes will just stop turning. But if they're too high after I go over the pile a time or two, they're not low enough to get the grass up.

You don't have to pay much for a sweeper. I bought mine off CL for $40. The hopper is torn, but it still works OK.

I would think that a good time to pick it up would be right after leaf season when people that bought them to pick up their leaves decide they weren't worth the effort and don't want to store them.

 

[check 6]

I'm also looking at something to rake up excess grass clippings. My wife and I filled 6 42 gallon bags with clippings this week as we had waited to long to mow our acre lot. Grass was not that long just thick and about 3" tall/ I am interested in the Everything Attachments Pine needle rack attachment to my tractor 3 point as an alternative to hand raking. Has anyone tried one. It is the only rake I have found with lightweight spring tines so as to rake and not tear up the grass

 

[jeff9366]

There are a zillion threads in the T-B-N archive containing the words PINE STRAW RAKE:

Google: T-B-N


I have both a Landscape Rake and a Ratchet Rake. The Ratchet Rake will be superior for prizing rocks because of two articulations available on tractor bucket; up and curl. A bolt on toothbar is better than a Ratchet Rake for digging and prizing rocks. (( A Ratchet Rake cannot dig at all.))

LINK: Tooth Bars TB, STB, and ITB

 

[Handloader109]

Thanks guys for the information. I think the sweeper would work OK, I'd like to be able to clear the lawn a different then compost the clippings so it should work. Thanks Jeff for the suggestion of the tooth bars. I don't have many really large rocks, but it looks like it would dig better to free them up.

 

[dadster4]

Thanks for the info Steave, I just don't know which way to go on this one. My wife handles all the grass cutting and raking, so I'll probably try one to see if they work.

 

[jimmysisson]

I use a Craftsman 4' sweeper behind my garden tractor 44" mower. Works well for grass, skids a little if it's wet. Mine will dump, though it is a pain to back up to the dump spot being such a short wheelbase. Almost unused, $100 on CL 5 yrs ago.
I don't use it all the time but it's great when you're behind. It actually has chain drives in each wheel and a ratchet "differential", forgot the ratio. It does seem to fill up fast when you're behind in mowing. Mowings can only be used sparingly in a compost as they're intense w nitrogen. And they get slimy if a thick layer.
A bit of a pain to store, as its light but awkward to lift by hand. All told a good purchase. Don't think it will pick up nuts - misses just about all acorns for instance. I mow over my leaves and sweep after, a good system. Jim