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

 

[Wagtail]

I think that I saw it on Facebook: it was a drag horse manure 'scoop' which may suit your purpose. Pinecones are about the same size as horse 'droppings'.

They're light enough to be towed by a lawn tractor, Z-turn or such.

I just Googled "drag horse manure scoop" and a couple of examples showed up.

 

[stuckmotor]

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

Good going bcp. The rakes weren't plastic after all. It's been a while since I've seen that photo. It's one of those things that visits my mind often even though I have no need of one.

 

[mikester]

 

[Thomas]

We have half dozen large pines which produces lot cones,the easy way I found good back pack blower blow cones down over the bank...or on to tarp.

 

[duffer]

Friend of mine has a LOT of pine trees. He got a pull behind lawn sweeper. 2 wheels on the front, big catch bag on the back, and a rotating brush between the front wheels. He says it does a great job.

 

[jenkinsph]

The sweeper is great. Backpack k blower Stihl 850 will blow and roll 3" gravel if you get down on it. Blower is good for city jobs and confined spaces.

My favorite though would be a pinestraw rake. I have raked the straw and pine cones for many years using my x749 deere mower with 3 ph. An advantage of using these round tine rakes is the tines do not clog up the way a hand rake does. Pick up the rake and it will rise cleared of needles. One pass with a pine straw rake and you are done in most cases.

Available from Everything Attachments in 5 or 6' lengths.

 

[Sarge50]

1st world problems. You won't be worried about pine cones in a few months!

 

[mikester]

1st world problems. You won't be worried about pine cones in a few months!

The pinecone apocalypse is coming! The pinecone apocalypse is coming!

 

[Yander]

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.
View attachment 793887

Yes I bought one of these for my wife couple years ago and she loves it for raking up pine cones. That's her thing I don't mess with them I would just mow them

 

[CADplans]

We have half dozen large pines which produces lot cones,the easy way I found good back pack blower blow cones down over the bank...or on to tarp.

I agree with the blower, I have the BR600 Stihl.
Last weekend, I was blowing leaves from around the shrubs (stone mulch)

I could easily blow the downed 1" diameter branches along with the leaves.
Blowing the branches into a pile made removal much easier.

If I can move 1" branches that are 1 to 2 feet long, a pine cone would be easy to move.

Actually, I could separate the leaves from the sticks,,
The leaves were blown into the woods, the pile of sticks were picked up