Pine cones everywhere! Any automated pickup ideas?

[jim gerken]

I have a few very large pine trees. This year with the ridiculous wind the trees dropped massive quantities of cones about 1.5 x 4 inches. Usually my wife rakes them up but shes getting kind of sick of doing it (raking I mean). Has anyone figured out a good attachment which could gather up all the cones without tearing out the lawn in the process?
I did a TBN search for this but did not find anything. Thanks!

 

[Rockbadchild]

the only thing I can think of ... other then you raking it, you know instead of your wife.

 

[ning]

Raking isn't ideal here because they often fall in areas I prefer not to disturb too much (not lawn; thin soil on a slope).

I bought one of these a few years ago in an attempt to not have to bend over so much in picking mine up.
It works ok; I have a wheelbarrow nearby, use a child's leaf rake to get 10-15 pine cones, dump into the wheelbarrow, repeat, then dump the barrow out to the burn pile.
Ideally the scoop would be twice the size it is. The pine cones tend to fall out of it when there's more than 10 because they're so light they don't interlock well.

 

[JB Good]

I have a few very large pine trees. This year with the ridiculous wind the trees dropped massive quantities of cones about 1.5 x 4 inches. Usually my wife rakes them up but shes getting kind of sick of doing it (raking I mean). Has anyone figured out a good attachment which could gather up all the cones without tearing out the lawn in the process?
I did a TBN search for this but did not find anything. Thanks!

I bought one of these Brinly-Hardy 42-inch 6-Brush High-Speed Tow-Behind Lawn Sweeper https://www.homedepot.ca/product/br...VwimzAB2GIg7XEAQYASABEgK-VfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds to clean up our oak leaves and acorns. Unfortunately, it did not work well for the acorns but was very good at picking up leaves and the pine cones we have. I now use a high powered backpack blower and a Sthil sweeper.

 

[texas42]

Look at a Cyclone Rake

 

[oosik]

The only trees I have here are very large Ponderosa pines. I don't worry about cones on the driveway. I always get some on my lawns. I just make sure I'm mowing in the right direction when I mow over them. The riding mower will throw them completely off the lawn. If not the first time - a second shot will always do the job.

 

[oldballs]

I was also wondering if a leaf blower would corral the pine cones so that they could be shoveled up. That wouldn't cost much in time or money. And "yes", a Cyclone Rake should do it.....but quite expensive. When I had a lot of full grown Pine trees, I used a Pine Needle Rake to gather up the needles and many of the pine cones as well. But I still had to fork the pile into a wagon to be hauled off to the burn site.

I guess it depends somewhat on how much, how many Pine trees involved and where they are located.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[jyoutz]

3ph pinestraw rake:

https://www.amazon.com/Titan-Attachments-Category-Drag-Behind-Landscape/dp/B078GX95WS/ref=mp_s_a_1_12?adgrpid=91906259263&hvadid=415331014008&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9030431&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=10236093004601530596&hvtargid=kwd-372204628763&hydadcr=13538_9594960&keywords=pine+straw+rake+for+tractor&qid=1680843751&sr=8-12

 

[stuckmotor]

There's an old issue of Farm Show with a photo of several plastic broom type yard rakes rigged to the back of a tractor. If memory serves the device was used to sweep a camp ground. I think they have an online archive of their old issues and the first few searches "MIGHT" be free without a subscription.

 

[bcp]

There's an old issue of Farm Show with a photo of several plastic broom type rakes rigged to the back of a tractor. I think they have an online archive of their old issues and the first few searches "MIGHT" be free without a subscription. If memory serves the device was used to sweep a campground.

Leaf-Raking Toolbar Fits Tractor 3-pt.

Thanks to a strange-looking contraption that attaches to his tractor's three-point hitch, Bartt Nettleman can rake 20 acres of campground in about two hours instead of the two weeks it used to take do...

www.farmshow.com

Bruce