Grass and leaf pickup, what do you use, recommend?
- Thread starter Volfandt
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Toolguy
Platinum Member
Toolguy
Platinum Member
coveredbridge
Gold Member
I just put my CR Commercial Pro away for the winter. I got it in September and over the past 3-4 weekends I gathered about 20 loads of leaves, mostly red oak. I figured about 20 hrs running time on the CR and 40 hrs overall, but the yard looks great! I was very impressed with the performance of the CR and, since storage space is at a premium, I really appreciate the ability to fold it up and store it compactly, although the guy in the video that hangs it on the wall must be related to the incredible hulk!
I've got a mountain of mostly chopped leaves that's about 32'L X 16'W X 4'H. I don't know what I'm going to do with them, hopefully they compost and I can give it away before next year. I thought about dumping them along the road for the Township crew to pick up with their truck loader - I'd love to see the look on their faces! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
A couple of items to keep in mind. 1) Plan on getting dirty - there is no way to operate this machine without being covered in dirt and dust. And, wear eye protection! 2) Remember that your tractor just got about 8' longer and most of it is behind you - you will hit something with it, so go easy. 3) Pay attention to the hose and collector bag. The MDA can clog if it is overloaded with thick leaves and the bag will fill faster than you might expect if your vacuuming thick piles of leaves.
I also looked at the other brands (Trac Vac, DR, Agri-fab) but the ability to store the CR compactly made the difference for me in the end.
I've got a mountain of mostly chopped leaves that's about 32'L X 16'W X 4'H. I don't know what I'm going to do with them, hopefully they compost and I can give it away before next year. I thought about dumping them along the road for the Township crew to pick up with their truck loader - I'd love to see the look on their faces! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
A couple of items to keep in mind. 1) Plan on getting dirty - there is no way to operate this machine without being covered in dirt and dust. And, wear eye protection! 2) Remember that your tractor just got about 8' longer and most of it is behind you - you will hit something with it, so go easy. 3) Pay attention to the hose and collector bag. The MDA can clog if it is overloaded with thick leaves and the bag will fill faster than you might expect if your vacuuming thick piles of leaves.
I also looked at the other brands (Trac Vac, DR, Agri-fab) but the ability to store the CR compactly made the difference for me in the end.
TBDonnelly
Veteran Member
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Toolguy,
Excellent conversion for 3 point hook up. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Would this be similar to your original clamshell leaf vac?
Clam shell vac by Bluebird International.
(You'll need to click on the lawn vacuum link on the left side of the page.)
Don
Excellent conversion for 3 point hook up. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Would this be similar to your original clamshell leaf vac?
Clam shell vac by Bluebird International.
(You'll need to click on the lawn vacuum link on the left side of the page.)
Don
Toolguy
Platinum Member
TBDonnelly,
Thanks. A couple things that I had to change that worked out very well is the 90* bend where the hose meets the hopper. It is a very tight bend due to the position of the blower compared to the original location that allowed more room for the hose itself to make the turn. I used a 90* furnace pipe elbow & despite my concerns it never plugged even once at that point. The only time that the unit plugged all season was when I tried to suck up a KFC box that someone threw on my lawn by the road. A big piece of that plugged the hose from the chute to the vacuum. Otherwise , I was surprised how much stuff it would suck from the bigger 60" deck. I do slow down when going over thick leaves and it was quite dry this year so that helps a lot. The other major change I had to decide on was how to make the old chute from the JD 50" deck work on the Kubota. The Kubota deck opening is 3" wider and has that extra 2" longer section on the bottom. I finally decided to forget about modifying the old one and just bought a new chute from TSC and started from scratch. It turned out so well that on the night that I got it all fabbed up I was so excited I couldn't sleep when I went bed. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I couldn't stop thinking about how good it turned out after wracking my brain for a week thinking about it.
And, that Bluebird Vacuum looks almost identical to mine before I modified it. They must have acquired the rights to it from EASY-RAKE.
See ya
Thanks. A couple things that I had to change that worked out very well is the 90* bend where the hose meets the hopper. It is a very tight bend due to the position of the blower compared to the original location that allowed more room for the hose itself to make the turn. I used a 90* furnace pipe elbow & despite my concerns it never plugged even once at that point. The only time that the unit plugged all season was when I tried to suck up a KFC box that someone threw on my lawn by the road. A big piece of that plugged the hose from the chute to the vacuum. Otherwise , I was surprised how much stuff it would suck from the bigger 60" deck. I do slow down when going over thick leaves and it was quite dry this year so that helps a lot. The other major change I had to decide on was how to make the old chute from the JD 50" deck work on the Kubota. The Kubota deck opening is 3" wider and has that extra 2" longer section on the bottom. I finally decided to forget about modifying the old one and just bought a new chute from TSC and started from scratch. It turned out so well that on the night that I got it all fabbed up I was so excited I couldn't sleep when I went bed. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I couldn't stop thinking about how good it turned out after wracking my brain for a week thinking about it.
And, that Bluebird Vacuum looks almost identical to mine before I modified it. They must have acquired the rights to it from EASY-RAKE.
See ya
Yes, I have used a mulcher attachment on my deck, but it just did not do a great job. On top of that, in the spring my grass grows do fast and thick that even when mowing every four days, the thatch produced is too heavy to leave without suffocating the remaining turf. I won't collect the grass all year long, but definitely in the heavy growing season.
OP
Volfandt
Veteran Member
Kubotafan, sorry for the late response. I didn't notice that this topic had came back around when yuou posted but with all the talk re. Cyclone Rake going on lately I searched for this topic and found your question.
I don't have power vac option so I can't comment on it other than to say that that the CR produces beaucoup suction. When I run mine it keeps the underside of the MMM clean and free of clippings.
Funny, I went with the CR primarily because it looked so easy to collaspe and stow but I left it assembled all winter and just rolled it around out of the way when I needed to get around it.
So far this spring I've only done one mowing and didn't need the services of the CR. Last night I put down my spring feeding of weed & feed and with all the rain we've been getting this spring I 'm sure I'll fireing the CR up soon enough.
Good luck
Volfandt
I don't have power vac option so I can't comment on it other than to say that that the CR produces beaucoup suction. When I run mine it keeps the underside of the MMM clean and free of clippings.
Funny, I went with the CR primarily because it looked so easy to collaspe and stow but I left it assembled all winter and just rolled it around out of the way when I needed to get around it.
So far this spring I've only done one mowing and didn't need the services of the CR. Last night I put down my spring feeding of weed & feed and with all the rain we've been getting this spring I 'm sure I'll fireing the CR up soon enough.
Good luck
Volfandt
eaf
Bronze Member
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Kubotafan,
I purchased the power vac option with my CR several years ago. It has plenty of vacuum power to pick up any and everything that gets close to the nozzle.
ed
I purchased the power vac option with my CR several years ago. It has plenty of vacuum power to pick up any and everything that gets close to the nozzle.
ed
