Cyclone rake XL

[donn12]

I just bought one and I am pretty impressed with the whole set up. It arrived in 8 boxes but very well laid out. They have obviously been doing this for some time. The unit works very well. The only down side is that when you put it behind a commercial mower the whole things is pretty heavy. It was still pretty wet when I used it and I got stuck twice. That is bad on grass just like wet leaves. I went in on it with a neighbor and he bought a mower deck adapter from trac vac. It was about 400 and made of metal. It just popped on and is pretty slick. If my plastic unit gets messed up I will think about getting one of those. We also got the 17 vacuum hose to handle mulch beds etc. I used it on Sunday and had the whole area of grass clean not its almost covered again.

 

[frogfish]

I've been considering one for a while now, just have not heard enough good or bad about them to do it. Let us know how it performs over time.

 

[6dog]

Nice! :thumbsup:

If I didn't already have the factory 3-bag MCS on my 4110, I would have bought the Cyclone Rake. I've heard nothing but good things about them, other than they can produce a lot of dust in dry areas. But, so can my current setup.

 

[Baby Grand]

They make a very nice machine. I use one that I borrow from my mother in law in return for keeping her tractor running - I'm very happy with that deal. Her yard is about shin deep in leaves and she can clear it herself - and she's 80. Does a nice job reducing the leaf volume & tendency to blow around if used as mulch. MAkes a very nice mulch, BTW.
-Jim

 

[955er]

I bought an agri-fab unit 7 years ago. Best move I ever made. It was pricey, but I can now enjoy the fall colors. I used to dread doing the leaves, but now it is nothing more than mowing.

You will love it. It is going to save you a ton of labor.

 

[Zxyrthe]

I'm a huge fan as well. I bought the XL about a year and a half ago. THEY called ME after a year just to see what I thought about their product. (Brave move!) I told the woman on the phone that it was life changing being able to finally get all my leaves up (3+ acres) in a few hours rather than a few months.

"Any problems?", she asked.

I told her that some of the velcro stitching had come loose on the bag unit but I just clamped it in place.

She replied, "It shouldn't do that. I'm going to send you a new bag."

Dumbfounded, I asked, "Is there an RMA number or something I need for the return?"

She answered, "No, no. Just keep the old one. . . By the way, would you mind if we used you as a reference in case one of your neighbors were interested in buying one of our products?"

I enthusiastically told her that I'd be happy to recommend them to my neighbors.

A quality product made by a quality company in the United States.

 

[Bascom]

I've owned a Cyclone XL for three years. It is just simply awesome at vacuuming up leaves and debris. Very easy to use, reliable, starts every time, manueverable, easy to dump and makes excellent mulch!

The only complaint is from my wife who says it is too loud.

 

[IXLR8]

I have the JD 727a which I think is a bit weak to put on the mower driven blower/bagger system and I was considering one of the smaller Cyclone rakes. How does the CR XL affect the handling/manuverabilty of the Z? In the open I would expect no issues, but close to the house and decks.. I would think you would need to be careful with all that stuff hanging so far out the back.

 

[CHDinCT]

I have owned one of the smaller units since 2004. Now in it's seventh season of leaf duty. Bought it with the 17' hose extension for doing my shrub and flower beds. It is a well made, well thought out product and their customer support is superb. Since I live in CT, I was able to go look at them before buying. The newer models have gotten bigger and they've gone from 7" deck hoses to 8" and now offer the Z version with a 10" hose. Can't imagine how fast that unit will suck leaves. All the hardware is top notch, many of it chrome, and if space is an issue, the whole thing breaks down for storage. I like that they put the engine on it's own frame with casters so you can roll it around your shed/garage.

The unit is loud so it's recommended to wear good hearing protection, and it can be dusty if the leaves are dry and the wind is blowing at you from behind. It attaches rigidly to your tractor (no swivel point) so it takes some getting use to on inside turns. You can't pass an object then immediately turn away from it as the unit will swivel in the opposite direction into the object (tree, fence, mailbox, etc.). But after a little use, you adjust. In tight areas, I'll use a back pack blower to move the leaves out from house, bed, etc., to make clean up with the tractor a little easier. I also like they went to B&S Vanguard engines. Mine is a Tecumseh. Have not had a problem with it, but would have preferred the Briggs.

Here's a pic of it attached to my Wheel Horse, but this year I've hooked it up to the BX.

 

[Stonehaller]

I have had a DR 9.00 vac for four years. I tow it behind two different zero turn mowers, an older White with a 62 inch deck and a Scag with 36 inch deck. I was worried when I got it that the 6 inch hose would not keep up with the 62 inch mower, but if the leaves are dry it does fine. It will clog quite often if the leaves are wet. I considered the Cyclone XL, but at the time, it was about $500 more. If I had to do it again, I would go with the larger hose.

It does take some time getting used to having that extra length behind you, but once you get the hang of it you can really get into tight areas well. And you can tell when it starts getting full as it becomes difficult to turn.

On my White it is easy to independently change front and rear height of the mower. I find that if I angle the front of the mower higher, it handles deeper leaves better. Without that, the front of the mower can push the leaves into a pile. If you just raise the whole mower, it does not pick up as well.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

Nice!!! :thumbsup:

 

[Bascom]

I'm a huge fan as well. I bought the XL about a year and a half ago. THEY called ME after a year just to see what I thought about their product. (Brave move!) I told the woman on the phone that it was life changing being able to finally get all my leaves up (3+ acres) in a few hours rather than a few months.

"Any problems?", she asked.

I told her that some of the velcro stitching had come loose on the bag unit but I just clamped it in place.

She replied, "It shouldn't do that. I'm going to send you a new bag."

Dumbfounded, I asked, "Is there an RMA number or something I need for the return?"

She answered, "No, no. Just keep the old one. . . By the way, would you mind if we used you as a reference in case one of your neighbors were interested in buying one of our products?"

I enthusiastically told her that I'd be happy to recommend them to my neighbors.

A quality product made by a quality company in the United States.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yessir!
I got to looking at my almost 3 year old XL after reading the above and noticed that the velcro stitching was coming loose and somewhat worn out in places as well.

I called the company late this afternoon.
The warranty covers it. I'll have a new bag at no cost in a few days:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

:thumbsup:for a great company with a great product and great customer service!:thumbsup:

 

[texas42]

I have a Cyclone Rake XL that is two years old - This will be the thrid season.
It works great - I agree with those that commented about the dust and noise, but I think its the same with any of these bigger leaf vacum machines.
I have mine behind a John Deere 2320 with the 62D mower and couldn't be happier.
I have over 80 pecan trees and about 3 1/2 acres to get leaves off of.
It takes me about 5 hours to cover the whole area and I do it about 3 times a season - this keeps the property looking presentable.
Well made unit, no problems, starts and runs good.

 

[lrunge]

I have a Cyclone Classic that I purchased in 2000. I also have the long pickup hose for fence lines and flower beds. It has been one of my best purchases after my BX 22. I use it on heavily wooded 5 acres. I picked up the leaves last weekend and did 20 fully loaded dumps. I pile the leaves up and leave them for a year or 2 and then move them to my garden. I also use it a couple times a year when my grass is to long when I cut it so I can pick up all the excess grass.
I spoke to them yesterday to get a few parts and they still had my complete file on record on what I have purchased form them and when. I have had the engine worked on twice in 10 years for leaking gas and hard to start but it runs fine after that. I replaced one of the frame rods I broke somehow. I have used this unit very hard and abusewd it over the 10 years and it has stood up well. My unit is so old it has 3 straps with snaps to connect the bag to the blower unit unstead of the ring and clamp system today. I replaced the snaps once. The bag also has a zipper around it to close the back instead of todays models with multiple doors and velcro. I have had no problems with the zipper. The bag is not as heavy as the bags they use today and the hoses are the older 7 inch ones.
So the units they make today are even better than the one I bought 10 years ago and I wouldn't be without mine. You can't go wrong with this unit.

 

[IXLR8]

How easy is the Cyclone Rake to unload??
My neighbor has one of the steel boxed Trac-Vac units, cleans the yard up nice... but is a bi#$h to unload. It packs stuff in there so tight it takes him 10+ minutes to pull it all out. Lifting the front up and tipping it back basically does nothing. He finally cut up a sheet of plywood to fit against the front wall, ran ropes from each corner of the plywood out the back. When it comes time to empty it.. he ties the ropes off to a tree and drives away pulling the plywood and stuff out. Then he has the chore of putting the plywood and ropes back.. but it is easier and faster then manually trying to get everything out.

 

[Bascom]

How easy is the Cyclone Rake to unload??
My neighbor has one of the steel boxed Trac-Vac units, cleans the yard up nice... but is a bi#$h to unload. It packs stuff in there so tight it takes him 10+ minutes to pull it all out. Lifting the front up and tipping it back basically does nothing. He finally cut up a sheet of plywood to fit against the front wall, ran ropes from each corner of the plywood out the back. When it comes time to empty it.. he ties the ropes off to a tree and drives away pulling the plywood and stuff out. Then he has the chore of putting the plywood and ropes back.. but it is easier and faster then manually trying to get everything out.

Very easy and fast, even with a full load of heavy damp leaves/grass.
Basically, disconnect two latches at the intake point, undo the fast-snaps and velcro tabs in the back, lift from the front, lock the bag in the up position and drive away. It empties itself. Check out the CycloneRake website for pix/info.

 

[Carl_NH]

Just to chime in here on the Trac Vac I have read about several having issues unloading these - most of which are larger/longer which reduces the dump angle thus unloading ability.

My 580 Trac Vac is 30 CF and even with heavy/wet leaves it dumps and unloads the "brick" of leaves w/o issue every time. I have used this setup for 8 years with my cub cadet 1811 with 44" deck, and this year the new Ferris IS2000 ZTR with 52" deck.

The ZTR has a more suction and volume and the 6" hose has worked fine even in heavy wet leaves and pine needles with only 1 clogging event in over 10 loads due to sticks. I attribute this to the higher air flow created by the ZTR making the vacuum work less as I had more clogging events with the cub set up.

The ZTR also creates a much finer mulch of the leaves which I compost from 20 yards down to 8 yards each year. The manueverability behind the ZTR with the hitch is surprisingly easy like anything else it takes a bit of practice.

Regarding the market, service and support, it seems to me that Cyclone Rake is more direct marketing consumer focused, while Palomar is more dealer based commercial focused and Palomar/Trac Vac are/were higher in cost, tho the larger Cyclone units are getting close.

At the end of the day not having to rake leaves is the goal and both units meet that.

 

[IXLR8]

Very easy and fast, even with a full load of heavy damp leaves/grass.
Basically, disconnect two latches at the intake point, undo the fast-snaps and velcro tabs in the back, lift from the front, lock the bag in the up position and drive away. It empties itself. Check out the CycloneRake website for pix/info.

Thank you for the info. The Trac-Vac web site shows the same thing for their unit... but after watching my neighbor fight with his... I don't know they got theirs to empty like it shows.

 

[Bob_In_MN]

A bit off topic, but for those with a Trac Vac (or Agri-Fab in my case) I mounted a holder for a tool that works great for emptying grass/leaves. I don't know the official name, but it looks like a giant version of the gardening claws used to weed flower beds/gardens. It's basically a pitchfork with the tines bent at 90 degrees. You can unload in a few minutes no matter how packed the material.

FWIW--my brother used my agri-fab before he bought his cyclone. He said the agri-fab did a better job of reducing (chopping) leaves but other than that they both where very similar. He prefers the locked hitch system of the cyclone versus the standard trailer system on the agri-fab.

 

[IXLR8]

Just to chime in here on the Trac Vac I have read about several having issues unloading these - most of which are larger/longer which reduces the dump angle thus unloading ability.

That could well explain my neighbors issue. He has a 72" cut JD mower and mows at least 10 acres of his property and he would have bought the largest, most powerful, one that they made. He did complain about lack of dump angle now that you mention it.