Need a Good Lawn Sweeper

[wsp617]

I've been looking for a lawn sweeper and I'm getting a little PO'd. Seems like every time I see one that looks like a well-made unit, it ends up getting really poor reviews from people that bought them. I saw an orange colored AgriFab unit at Farm/Fleet tonight that looked like a solid piece of equipment. I go to read reviews of in on Amazon.com and find the one guy said it took 2.5 hours...just to put it together! Of the 7 reviews, 3 gave it a 1/5. I read reviews on the "Craftsman Professional" unit on Sears.com only to find out they're also made by AgriFab. It too got a poor rating. The JD unit didn't look bad but didn't look overly heavy duty either.

Any suggestions? Really looking for anyone that's had a unit for a couple seasons. So may products made today work great when first bought but fail after a year or so (like my JD LA140).

 

[James Loehr]

I have an agfab heavy duty 42in that is several years old. I've used it hard and sometimes abused it by picking up black walnuts and overloading it well beyond what it should be. I've been thinking of replacing it with the Brinley or that orange Agfab. I have the dethacher on mine and use it often. It works nice for picking up those crappy walnuts as well as dethaching the lawn. I emailed Agfab to see if they had this option for that orange sweeper but never got a reply from them. I want that thacher option so that leaves the Brinley. The Deere sweeper looks just like the Brinley only green and more money. I too have read the reviews on this sweeper and it makes me wonder. Maybe mine will last another year yet I hope.

 

[DMW]

Had to replace the pawls on my old Brinley after several years of very hard use, then everything (frame/hopper/pawls a second time, etc.) gave out at once. Probably lasted 7-8 years, and thousands of walnuts. I got my money's worth out of it.
The agrifab smartsweep 44" looks great. Only problem was the plastic gears on the drive wheels wore out the first month I had it. Been super careful with the warranty replaced drive wheels, but the pawls are still cutting into the plastic. Have to bend the axles back every couple months. I don't expect it to last too long. Had it 12 months now.

Customer service for both Brinley and Agrifab has been great in my experience.

My next one will again have metal gearing for the drive wheels and pawls.

 

[bjr]

I've the 42" Agri-Fab for about 3 months now. I've kinda got rougher lawn and it tends to bounce and not pick up much. I've played with the wheel to brush height a lot and nothing seems to work to get it to actually sweep up the lawn clippings. Having said that, it still beats the Dixon bagging system. I just have to keep going over and over the lawn to get much picked up. Mine came assembled. bjr

 

[Will_C]

I have not used one, but have looked at Parker sweepers. They seem to be much sturdier than others. I did have one of the Agri-fab models, worked well for a couple years, but then the axle wore through the sheet metal.

Will

 

[legbuh]

I just picked up an older used JD 38T on Craig's list for $60. I know it's worth $150 at least. I just went through it and lubed it all up last night. Works great so far! Very heavy duty unit.

The main reason I wanted one is after I dethatch there's a lot of stuff to pick up. Otherwise I normally never sweep or bag my clippings.

 

[tsteahr]

Take a look at the Ingersoll sweeper. I have not used one but others on TBN have. Ingersoll makes top quality equipment. I would expect it to be at two to three times the cost of a Agri-fab unit.