Leaf vacuum setup without mower

[bncsauve]

Several TBNs have asked about leaf vac systems. I thought
I'd show a couple of pictures of one that I put together. Its a Trac Vac blower and a Northern Tool dump trailer. I boxed in the trailer and made a mount for the blower. The hose on top of the trailer has a QD to attach to a QD on the suction side of the blower hose. The toughest part was making a plenum as I don't have a belly mower to hook up to.

 

[bncsauve]

Picture number 2. Close up of the blower

 

[bncsauve]

I tried again a little larger

 

[bncsauve]

second one

 

[Steve_Taylor]

How well does this setup work. I have envisioned making something like this to pick up all the pine needles around here. I don't have a mower on my tractor and don't really need one since I don't have much lawn to mow. I do have a lot of driveway, all concrete and asphalt that is a pain to rake, blow, or sweep to get rid of the pine needles. Some people have said that without the mower, the vacuum will not be able to pick up the pine needles. Where did you get the vacuum unit and how much did it cost? Are you driving the vacuum from your PTO?

 

[bncsauve]

It sucks up oak leaves, small sticks and small rocks depending on where I have the 3pt hitch height set.
I suspect it would pick up pine needles as well. (You may have to fool around with plenum design). The blower has excellent suction. It is from TracVac. http://www.trac-vac.com The blower cost about $1600 at my local tractor dealer. It runs off the pto at 540, but they also make a 1000 rpm version. It will pack the cart full of partially chopped up leaves. I made the roller base and plenum. I originally had a wooden plenum about 5 feet long and 1 foot wide. It worked pretty good but I kept breaking it on uneven ground.

 

[Bedlam]

Looks like a great setup. I never considered the pto option. If anyone has more links to where they can be bought, possible from online it would be appreciated greatly.
thanks
Al

 

[Panache]

bncsauve,
What about using rubber conveyer belt as a skirt for a wider plenum that will be ground friendly?

 

[bncsauve]

I think you're headed in the right direction. My original plenum was a wood box tapering away from the hose with 4 casters mounted on the bottom. Riding on the casters didn't work too well, but it worked o.k. if modulated by the 3pt lift. But as I said, I kept breaking it. So, when I remade the current one, I used an upside down plastic mortar trough. It is more flexible and hasn't broken, but if I don't keep an eye on it, it is stiff enough to dig into the ground. I think you idea of an even more flexible material is a good one. I'll try something like that on the next revision.

Thanks for the thought