Best way to deal with acorns?

[megotatractor]

Hi,. any suggestions on the best/easiest/cheap way to pick up acorns? We have 8 very large oak trees and only 2 squirrels. Aside from subcontracting about a hundred more squirrels what's the best way to get them up? So far only a plastic leaf rake seems to work and it's a lot of work.

 

[the_sandman_454]

Wait until the deers show up to eat the acorns, shoot a deer or two (if they're in season) and place in your freezer. Then you get to eat well for a while essentially for free.

Other than that you might try one of those pull behind "leaf rake"/"lawn sweeper" attachments/implements and I imagine that would pick up the acorns if you'd rather not use 'em as naturally occurring bait. Such attachments aren't too terribly expensive IIRC.

 

[thatguy]

Advertise on the nearest highwy "Acorn Days - Free admission, fun, games, and you can keep all the acorns you pick up. Did I mention all of the is FREE".... LOL

brian

 

[4720 OWNER]

Tried the 'Free rocks You pick' sign but someone ratted me out that it was just a scam to get out of work.

 

[Maxfli]

I am in the same boat, I have been sweeping a pile on the 18' x 26' patio for a week or 2. I have probably accumulated at least a 5 gallon bucket worth in that time. I bought a used PTO Trac Vac for my JD 2210 and while I won't say is picks up every acorn, I will say that with repeat mowings it definitely improves things. I think it is the best option.

 

[riptides]

Cut the oaks down, use them to heat the house. Cheaper than buying equipment and doing yard work over the long term.

 

[czechsonofagun]

well tractorwise only sweeper would work IMHO. Tractor sweeper

 

[jeffinsgf]

Is the "dumping grounds" yard? If so, a lawn sweeper is the lowest cost option. I have one from Sears. Pretty sure it is made my Agri-Fab. It does a great job for a not so heavy investment. I use it to pick up the plugs after I core aerate. It gets 85-90% of those, so I'm pretty sure it would deal with acorns. I also have a PowerFlow head for the MMM on my 455. That'll get the job done, but it's salty.

 

[3RRL]

Do you have little kids or grand kids?
You could have them collect the acorns and make a feast Indian style.
We had a day where the kids collected a bunch so we could do that. There is a whole process of boiling them to leech out the tannin, but the kids were enthralled with getting ready to eat like the Indians. They collected bushells (more than we will ever use), but it sure got their interest. I was blown away because salted, they are very very good!

 

[4x4dump]

It could be worse try having 12 large hickory trees.