Cleaning lawn of branches

[WinterDeere]

Every spring, I spend at least a full afternoon cleaning up downed branches from my ~4 acres of lawn, mostly from the more mature walnut and maple trees. I get to repeat this exercise after each major storm, all summer long, and I'm getting awful tired of the routine. Presently, I drive the FEL to an area with a bunch of downed branches, pick up each larger one and put them into the bucket. Then I rake up all of the smaller bits, and scoop them into the bucket. Very tedious.

I'm wondering what automated options might be possible. A landscape rake with float (anti-scalp) wheels would do half the job, at least gathering them together. Although driving over them in the process is just going to make them harder to pick up, in the end. Perhaps a tooth bar on my bucket, fitted with large swivel caster mounts on either side, so that I can drive around gathering branches with the bucket floating just an inch off the lawn.

Ideas? I can't be the only one hating this chore.

 

[2manyrocks]

I have a tooth bar on my bucket. I'd rather use a landscape rake instead for this, but it's not going to get the bits and pieces that you need to get up in order to mow your yard.

 

[chim]

On 3-1/2 acres with a fair number of trees I have branches down in the Spring and after T-storms. My routine is to pick up the larger ones and mow over the rest. Anything that isn't larger in diameter than my thumb gets chopped by the 7-1/2' Caroni finish mower.

 

[Diggin It]

I used a landscape rake a few weeks ago. It dragged the bigger stuff and essentially chipped/shredded the smaller stuff to where it didn't matter. When I got done, I couldn't really tell where the material had been.

If you don't want to buy one, look around at rental shps. They might just have one.

 

[ruffdog]

There are many types of pine needle rakes on the market. The tines are real springy so they don't dig into the yard.

Pine Needle Rakes | Pine Straw Rakes | Prepare Pine Needles For Baling with the Everything Attachments Pine Needle Rake 72" Length

 

[JethroB]

I’m interested in possible solutions too. I surrounded by a dozen 80-100 year old pecan trees. They are notorious for self-pruning, twigs to thigh sized limbs. Note: do not park or build anything of value under them. My solution so far:

 

[Smokeydog]

Picking up branches is a chore for us too. Wife does most of the small stuff. EA wicked grapple can pick up a pencil or cleanly pick up a pile. Often picking multiple piles at a time. Been most helpful.

 

[2manyrocks]

I'd be extremely impressed to witness anyone pickup up a pencil with a grapple.

 

[seville009]

On 3-1/2 acres with a fair number of trees I have branches down in the Spring and after T-storms. My routine is to pick up the larger ones and mow over the rest. Anything that isn't larger in diameter than my thumb gets chopped by the 7-1/2' Caroni finish mower.

I do the same….

 

[WinterDeere]

I'm with you guys, I've started just focusing on the bigger stuff, and mowing over anything smaller. But it seems the vast majority of the branches coming out of the walnuts are 1" to 2.5" diameter, just a little on the large side for mowing.

Bummer to hear there's not a good bucket option, as it'd be ideal for capturing the branches, for dumping straight into the fire pit without further interaction. The landscape rake may gather then a bit, but in the end I still need to hop off the tractor to pick them up by other means.

What technique do you guys use with your landscape rakes, to avoid just driving over the branches and forcing them into the sod?