Grass and leaf pickup, what do you use, recommend?

[JimCald]

Volfandt

I have the Kubota mulch kit on my BX1500 and don;t think it will handle heavy leaves. It does doa good job on the occasional leaf, but most likely will start to leave a lot of debris behind with a heavy leaf cover.

I also have the Kubota grass catcher, whic I will be re-installing after a long summer with the mulch kit. It does a great job picking up everything on the grass. The capacity is a little small, but again more seat time. I have very seldom had an problem with cloging, and when it di, just removed the bags, switched the PTO to rear only, and turned on the blower. It cleared in just a couple of seconds (be sure to stand clear of the discharge though, you may get covered with debris!)

Jim

 

[Volfandt]

Thanks all, Good info!

All the solutions have merit. Course each persons particular requirements ends up being the determining factor.
For me, stowability ranks right up there with performance as out of the weather storage is at a premium at my shop.

I'll probably pull the trigger this week. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Volfandt

 

[have_blue]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I bought a Trac-Vac a few months ago. It does a great job picking up the grass. )</font>

JonM,

That's a monster of a leaf vacuum. Just out of curiousity, do you think the vacuum is strong enough to pick up loose soil fluffed up by a tiller? (I have another purpose in mind)

Thanks,,,

 

[rswyan]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Just out of curiousity, do you think the vacuum is strong enough to pick up loose soil fluffed up by a tiller? (I have another purpose in mind) )</font>
If it's dry sure .... but you would have to use just the intake hose, with it not attached to the deck. Expect to lose 35% - 50% of what you pick up as dust out of the hopper's vent.

 

[dholly]

5 years or so ago, I looked at the commercial CycloneRake to pull behind a JD285. After adding on/up the necessary 'extras', I got cold feet on the price. I ultimately settled on an 8 hp Agri Fab Chip-n-Vac with hard sides. Caught a big sale at NT for $995 delivered, assembly required. Took delivery in my office parking lot (pushed the boxes off the truck's lift gate onto my trailer /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif), and slapped it together with the help of a super friendly neighbor and a cold 12-pack. Took about an hour or so, and I haven't looked back. Works great and I can't imagine how I got along without it all those years. Will suck up big, heavy pine cones and dead pine needles from deep in the thatch. Ditto with dog bones and toys. Shreds and compacts grass clippings or leaves very nicely, and holds a ton to minimize trips to the dump plie. Even the chipper works reasonably well. Remember, HP is key, don't skimp! Did I mention, my neighbor has even more trees than I? Hmmm...

 

[JonM]

I run over a bunch of mole hills when I mow. All that loose dirt is just sucked up and transferred to the trailer. As rswyan has said in his post, some is thrown out the vents at the top of the trailer. There is a lot of force created by the turbine when your at full throttle and 16.7 PTO HP.

 

[Volfandt]

LMAO, Cub Scouts sounds like a good idea. My 16 yr old nephew that needs gas money in a bad way (remember those days?) and could make more money by mowing another of my properties more often but it's all I can do to get him to do it bi-weekly! Seems it cuts into his quality do-nothing time /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Well I pulled the trigger yesterday. I decided to go with the stow it folded on the wall Cyclone Rake. Since the performance was similar between most of the contenders, price became a major factor and the stowability factor sinched it!

Now I'm ready to get back into the composting bidness (not really a business) and also ready to wage my annual battle with the onslaught of the leaves! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Volfandt

 

[Junkman]

I have a older Cyclone Rake and I will tell you that if you didn't get the Commercial unit, you are making a mistake. The commercial unit holds more. The dual wheels are a nice extra. Just make sure to empty it immediately after use, because the grass being packed into the bag starts to rot in a few hours. After a day, it is fermenting. Spray the top plastic vent with silicone so it is easier to clean. They will supply you with a toilet bowl brush to keep the vent clear. Mine is a few years old now and they have made improvements to the units. The clips that hold the bag to the blower unit have been my biggest problem. They used snaps with nylon straps and the snaps keep breaking. When this happens, you need to purchase a new bag. They are good about replacement parts while in warranty, but the day after it is out of warranty, you are going to be paying for everything. Make sure that all is right and don't hesitate to ask for replacements as soon as you see the defect. I give their quality control about a 75% rating based on the unit that I own. It might have improved since then, and I haven't heard much negativity recently about the product. If they offer a Honda engine, I would go with that over the Tecumseh that came with mine. Junk....

 

[Volfandt]

I picked up the Platnum CR from the shipper just 3 days after order and had it assembled a couple hrs that evening after supper. They now ship a 6hp B&S Intek engine w/it sans the oil but they also included a 20oz bottle of genuine B&S 30w with it so that was kewel..

I ordered the deck adapter and altho it was what they called for a BX, it's height wa splenty tall enough but the length came up about 2.5" too short leaving a gap at the rear of the MMM's opening. I called and was told that it was the adapter they shipped on all Kubota BX's and that I would have to fab up a plate to cover the opening. Well I wasn't too happy to hear that and in further discussions they said they were going to Fed Ex me the longer adapter that was for smaller (less height) deck openings. That was fine with me. So far, customer service = /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I decided I didn't want to wait on the othe adpt so I went on ahead and mounted the adpater I had, made up a plate to cover the opening, cut and mounted the optional heavy duty hose and put it too work.

1st off this puppy is loud! Ear protecton is a must! They included some disposable ear plugs but I have a full cup hearing protector w/built-in AM/FM radio so this wasn't a problem. It also makes beau-coup dust so if you do alot of backing up and manuvering the included goggles are also a must.

That said, the CR does an outstanding job off collecting whatever your mower runs over. On a few occasions I heard some walnuts and small branches getting slapped through the high tech impeller into the hopper. I mowed about a 200 x 200 lot that wasn't very tall but had alot of leaves and this filled it up. Dumping the debris into my new compost pile was as easy as advertised and the included toilet. err ahhh I mean hopper cleaning brush was exactly the right tool for cleaning out the nooks & crannies of the fiber hopper. Cleanup didn't take long and since the top can be unzipped for easy access, I was able to use my blower to give it a good cleanout. All in all this unit did everything as advertised and I am definitely going to keep it. Those who recommended getting the Pro size were right. But now it comes in 3 sizes, Platnum, Pro & Pro commercial. I can live with my size as I have 2 distinct quadrants in my 2.5 acres that I mow differently. I can use the CR mounted to mow the front with only 1, or at the most 2 trips to dump whilst I'll mow the back w/the CR dismounted and side disharge everything into several wind rows then mount the CR to pick them up and that should also only take 2 or 3 dumps. I'll know fer-sher next week /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

A shot of the rig mounted. You've got to be careful manuvering around because the BX 23 is about 7.5' longer! The rigid hookup is a definite plus!

 

[Volfandt]

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