Cleaning lawn of branches

[2manyrocks]

Must be talking about a giant chubby pencil from kindergarten. Still waiting to see someone pick up a standard No. 2 pencil with a grapple.

 

[Eagle1]

 

[kenmbz]

If that were me, I would just smash the bottles first so I wasn't disappointed

 

[Texasmark]

Over some 40+ years of attempting to learn how to farm, I scoffed at 6', 3 pt mounted rakes that can be multi positioned and 360 degree rotated to pull or push debris, as I felt they were essentially useless (dumbass thought). This neighbor that cleaned up his Locust trees had tree parts everywhere as he had a tree stripper come out .....skid steer mounted device that just ripped the branches off the tree and made a big mess.

I thought about it and decided I'd try such implement so I bought one. Ha! Now one of my favorite implements. I use it for many things, including fall leaf raking and find that it's better at doing jobs (like putting rock back on and leveling driveways with loose rock, which were done with my blade or box scraper in the past. Give it some thought.

 

[WinterDeere]

Over some 40+ years of attempting to learn how to farm, I scoffed at 6', 3 pt mounted rakes that can be multi positioned and 360 degree rotated to pull or push debris, as I felt they were essentially useless (dumbass thought). This neighbor that cleaned up his Locust trees had tree parts everywhere as he had a tree stripper come out .....skid steer mounted device that just ripped the branches off the tree and made a big mess.

I thought about it and decided I'd try such implement so I bought one. Ha! Now one of my favorite implements. I use it for many things, including fall leaf raking and find that it's better at doing jobs (like putting rock back on and leveling driveways with loose rock, which were done with my blade or box scraper in the past. Give it some thought.

Excellent. Do you have float wheels on this, so you can just drop it and let it follow a lumpy lawn, or do you float it with adjusting your 3-point height? Also, are you using a hydraulic angle, or just manually setting it?

My 3033R with loaded tires is an awful heavy machine for the constant back-and-forth required to move leaves or branches on soft and damp November or April soil, even if I go to the trouble to remove the FEL. So I'm thinking a very light rake with float wheels, which I can mount of my JRCO blower buggy mounts on my zero turn might be a good option, as HayDude had recommended. I could rig a lever or pedal to lift it a few inches for transport, although I'm not even sure that would be needed.

 

[Creamer]

This may be a bit of overkill but who cares. Rowse makes rakes for haying that are essentially a modern version of the dump rake. One of their markets is picking up pecan tree prunings and bunching them to wither burn, mulch, or haul away. Since I have a few acres that surround a pond with willows and cottonwoods that like to trim themselves continuously I went out to our farm in SD and got an old dump rake and brought it back. It is definitely used every spring and a couple of other times during the year. It isn't perfect but it gets about 90% if you go over it a couple of times and cross your directions. I went from a couple of picking to a couple of hours as once they are in a bunch my loader with grapple picks up the lions share.

Dump Rake - Rowse Rakes

www.rowserakes.com

All I am saying is that dry hay is not a lot different than small sticks up to 10' long or so and that is what these rakes were made for. Obviously if there are too many large branches those are grappled away before I turn the rake loose.
Here is an old style rake picking up hay. I will have to see if I can get one of my kids to shoot a video of stick pickup which I will be doign in a couple of weeks.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dump+rake

 

[MTGreen]

Maybe I'm lazy but if the branches weren't too thick that would be a mulching job for my flail mower during a mowing pass. Any big chunks that were left after being pummeled with the flail hammers I'd pick up

 

[Diggin It]

Excellent. Do you have float wheels on this, so you can just drop it and let it follow a lumpy lawn, or do you float it with adjusting your 3-point height? Also, are you using a hydraulic angle, or just manually setting it?

I use a chain in place of the top link. Allows me to raise when needed, but when I let it down, it follows (floats) the terrain.

 

[WinterDeere]

Rowse makes rakes for haying that are essentially a modern version of the dump rake.

Looks like an excellent way to de-thatch a lawn, if it doesn't dig in too much.

Maybe I'm lazy but if the branches weren't too thick that would be a mulching job for my flail mower during a mowing pass. Any big chunks that were left after being pummeled with the flail hammers I'd pick up

Sounds like the easiest way to go for fields bordering woods, but this is a finished lawn space around the house, so this is not an area for flail mower.

 

[Creamer]

I do

Maybe I'm lazy but if the branches weren't too thick that would be a mulching job for my flail mower during a mowing pass. Any big chunks that were left after being pummeled with the flail hammers I'd pick up

On my front and back lawn I do not like the little wood chunks to walk on barefoot - and I enjoy my barefoot time in the summer as I go in and out of the lake.

 

[Creamer]

Looks like an excellent way to de-thatch a lawn, if it doesn't dig in too much.

You could set them to do that but normally the end of the tooth is more tangent to the ground and doesn't dig.

 

[mikester]

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.

The full auto method is to hire someone to clean up for you. If you can afford to mow 4 acres you can afford to hire a contractor.

A slightly cheaper option is to get a 3PH bush hog and run over all the small stuff. You will still need to pick up the big stuff. A grapple on your loader is helpful with the bigger stuff.

 

[SF82]

Landscape rake and debris forks can help, would still need something like a dethatcher for the really small stuff I guess if you didn't want to dull your mower blades

 

[Hay Dude]

I take a hay or pitch fork and run it along the ground, pushing the branches into a pile. Once I get a bushel or so of branches, I then use the fork at a downward angle, “stabbing” the pile to kind of compact them together. In one motion, I then lift the branches up almost vertically, so they sit against one another in the back support of the fork tines and carry them to the pile.

Not a way of using the tractor, but its inexpensive and effective.

 

[Texasmark]

I use the teeth pointing forward to drag material to the disposition site. I drag numerous loads to the site. Then I turn the blade around so that I can push the material backwards into a pile.....piece of cake. Then torch the pile and be done with it.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I have a harrow which works great for cleaning up branches.

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This is a picture of it being used to to shave ice so it's not so slippery but I've used it to clean up branches too. You just drag it through the grass till the tines are full. Then drag the branches to where you want them and lift the 3 point. Repeat till your lawn is cleaned up. There is very little handwork involved. Maybe rakeing branches away from tree trunks and the odd small branch that gets missed.

 

[crashz]

My 2 acres of lawn is surrounded by a few maple, and lots of pine. Huge pine that sheds. I've found that I have to hand pick the big branches 2" and larger, but the small stuff either gets mowed or I will rake up with a pine needle rake. It much more forgiving than a landscape rake and won't dig up the soil/sod. Does a fair job of thatching too.

The pine needle rake is also part of the leaf removal process in the fall.

 

[WinterDeere]

The full auto method is to hire someone to clean up for you. If you can afford to mow 4 acres you can afford to hire a contractor.

This is true, for the single spring clean-up, but more difficult to schedule for the repeat of this task required after each and every major summer storm.

 

[WinterDeere]

I take a hay or pitch fork and run it along the ground, pushing the branches into a pile. Once I get a bushel or so of branches, I then use the fork at a downward angle, “stabbing” the pile to kind of compact them together. In one motion, I then lift the branches up almost vertically, so they sit against one another in the back support of the fork tines and carry them to the pile.

Not a way of using the tractor, but its inexpensive and effective.

I've been doing a lot of this, lately. Works, to a point, when the stuff is small enough to fit in the bucket, but large enough to still stay together in a bundle. I still end up bending and picking up a lot, though.

 

[GeneV]

I'm on 2.6 acres. Each spring, I go around with the wheelbarrow picking up bigger branches. After that, I hook up the tow-behind lawn sweeper, which gets the smaller stuff adequately enough. Whatever's left over gets mowed and disappears that way.