Low budget leaf pickup

[DanR67]

After I finished drooling at other folks' nice leaf vac systems - just wanted to share my leaf clean up system (a bit late for the New England area) - hopefully saves someone else some time too.

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Step 1 - Attach center grommets of small end of tarp (mine is on it's last season! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif ) to bucket hooks / or rope to bucket mounts. (I used some heavy duty cable ties)

Step 2 - spread out tarp next to pile of leaves (Mrs. Dan had been nice enough to blow them into piles)

Step 3 - Rake the leaves onto tarp

Step 4 - Fold the tarp lengthwise - making a "leaf burrito" /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Note: I used a carabiner (spring clip) to quickly connect the two sides together

Step 5 - Fold the tarp / leaf burrito in half again - hooking the loose end of tarp to the bucket hooks

Step 6 - Raise FEL & drive to dump pile

See all the pictures full size here

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While this obviously still involves a bit of labor - if the leaves are dry I can do the whole cycle in less than 5 minutes by myself. This system is drastically faster than putting leaves into a garden cart & then dumping as we did this past spring.

Cost: Tarp @ $20.00 / Cable Ties @ $2.00 / Carabiner @ $1.

I don't mind the few hours work - and all the leaves go into an ever-growing compost heap (when does a pile become a heap? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif ) - so my wife is happy that she can feed her gardens.

Hope that helps,

Dan

 

[surfran]

Nice touch to the old standby. I used to do my leaves with a tarp also and drag it with my cub cadet.

My wife did the raking and leaf blowing several times over the years, so when I finally talked her into a new tractor, SHE insisted on the grass catcher! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Now she doesn't touch any of it, and I get more seat time /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Just keep her raking/blowing for a few more years and maybe you'll get a concession or two as well. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Freds]

If you had more tarps and layed them around the yard in September... you could skip step-3
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Where there's a will...

 

[sandyc]

Up here in rural Maine, we just let the wind blow them back into the woods.....

 

[DanR67]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( If you had more tarps and layed them around the yard in September... you could skip step-3
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )</font>

LOL! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Yeah well I'd just a soon leave them all in place to naturally compost & fertilize the lawn - but the lawn does grow & look better if we clean them up. And it's much easier when the leaves are "dry & fluffly" (ie *right off the trees*) - rather than let them compact under the snow all winter.

What I didn't mention was - after I dump the tarp out - I stuff it back into the FEL bucket (still hooked in place at one end). When I get back to my leaf pile - I just dump the bucket and back up so the tarp is next to the pile.

I guess I was just trying to share a *less expensive* way of leaf pickup. Yeah - them leaf shredders / vacuums sure are sexy - but if you're only using them for a few weeks in the fall - then I'd much rather put the money towards a backhoe - perhaps even a 3PH snowblower - just something with a broader range of use / versatility (OK - that doesn't apply to the snowblower - but I hope you get the point! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif )

Last comment about "letting leaves blow into the woods" - I notice flying insects get stirred up when walking through our woods - I suppose because they nest in the leaf litter? So NOT picking up the leaves might invite more flying critters? While we get pretty bad "black flies" in late April - May - nothing tops those mosquitoes up in Maine! They'll suck you dry in an afternoon! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Dan

 

[BRIGUY]

I have one of the biggest backpack blowers Echo makes (great machine) www.echo-usa.com/prods_item.asp?Model=PB-651&Category=POWERBLOWER

This year the leaf mess as well as sticks, branches and other debris from the summers projects was real bad So I went to Emerichs and came home with a 13 hp Little Wonder. www.littlewonder.com/ These machines are incredible. It went so fast I did my neighbors lot too.

 

[ronjhall]

<font color="blue"> 13 hp Little Wonder</font>
Brian
Not exactly a <font color="red"> Low Budget </font> way to cleanup leaves. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
My neighbor has one. Sure will move leaves fast.

 

[BRIGUY]

I couldn't resist the 13 hp Honda powered model. I really only intended on getting a smaller one. But Emerichs was closing out all of their leaf blowers (guess it's time for snowblowers)

I bought the one that the owners wife used to clean up their lawn. It had less than 2 hours on it and they sold it to me for cost. They really take good care of me