Recommend a magnetic sweeper

[General Lee]

I need a magnetic sweeper mainly to run over a burn pile that had pallets and other wood with nails in it. Would the basic ones at Nothern Tool or Amazon suffice? I'm worried the small wheels won't allow it to roll over rough terrain to well. Anybody have one they used for this same purpose?

 

[Industrial Toys]

I use the two foot one from Princess Auto. Probably the same chinese stuff you can get. It was on sale for about thirty bucks cdn. It has the release, which is handy. I had borrowed one from a friend that didn't have that.

I tore a cedar shingle roof off last summer and threw it on the burn pile. Got a full five gallon pail of nails with that sweeper.

Those nails where everywhere! That sweeper was invaluable! It picked up nails in fairly high uncut grass around the house as well.

 

[RNeumann]

My buddy invented Magna Rake. He has since moved on to bigger and better things. Anyway don't worry about the wheels- just drag it behind you wheels or not! As stated above, they work well.

 

[kcflhrc]

I bought one at Harbor Freight, it works great and was fairly inexpensive.

 

[JRobyn]

I use the HF one. Works fine - strong magnet! The wheels do ok on rough surfaces. As noted, you can just drag it on really rough surfaces, but that can result in some captured items being scrubbed off. When you have these conditions, just make multiple passes, preferably in different directions.

 

[Kodiak45]

I had been pondering the same thing regarding a need for a strong magnet to pick up mainly metal shavings and slag from cutting and grinding metal that gets slung into the yard. I would hate to get some of that shrapnel stuck into my foot or my dogs or in the mower tire. The harbor freight pickup works ok, but i was wanting something stronger that could pickup a nail from a few inches away. I am not sure if a decently priced magnet with strength like that is economical or even portable enough to use. You have to watch the HF magnets as said before as it will scrape off the pieces on grass or whatever else.

 

[CurlyDave]

I have the HF one about 18" wide.

Used it after building a house and then after having a contractor build one. Worked well, and for the price I didn't really care if the wheels fell off (they didn't). Had to make several passes, but it eventually got everything.

Don't overthink a $30 purchase.

 

[newbury]

I built a "sweeper bar" out of a dozen 112 LB Holding Power Neodymium Cup Magnet w/ Thread Stud and a piece of 3/4 plywood drilled to hold the magnets in a line.

I had bought the magnets to use as heavy duty "note" holders and to hold LED lights on my ROPS. So I ended up with about a 2 foot bar of STRONG magnets.

 

[scdeerslayer]

They work well. I think I have the roller one from Northern. Bought it after redoing a screened in porch. A lot faster letting stuff fall to the ground and using a magnet later than trying to capture all of those finish nails and staples by hand. It's also come in very handy in finding parts lost in the grass. It's actually kind of fun rolling it around and hearing thing clunk when they hit it. It's also kind of scary finding rusted nails and screws in areas where you drive.

I also have a smaller hand held one that I use inside. Again it comes in handy finding those little screws that get dropped. My dad even got it one time so a coworker's son could borrow it. After launching his boat he had dropped his key ring with the boat and truck keys on it in the water. After partially disassembling a brush pile under the dock he was able to find they keys with the magnet and go fishing.

 

[EddieWalker]

I bought mine from Northern Tool a dozen years ago or more. It's probably a foot and a half wide, maybe a bit more. It picks up everything and then some stuff that will surprise you. It's light and easy to handle, so it's been great for going over job sites. Mostly I use it in the grass around a house that I'm working on.