Lawn Sweeper

[dj1701]

Hi all,

Anyone have experience with a pull behind lawn sweeper? I have a Kubota BX2680 with a 60" MMM. I just want to gather clippings for mulch when I need some. I know there are several brands to choose from.

Thanks
Dave

 

[alexpops]

I've got the AgriFab Chipper Vac for the last 5 years. MEH. Not overly impressed since it's finicky. The hose gets plugged whenever you have heavy mower output unless completely dry (dead leaves), then requires some disassembly to clear. the chipper is only ok (underpowered & bogs down) and anything except straight branches can jam, and the quality of the parts/assembly is iffy (mine came with a mis-wired safety switch on the cover -- would only start when the cover was off, so I eliminated the switch rather than send the whole thing back). It works only OK as far as I'm concerned, & I wouldn't buy again, though I will keep it going as long as possible now that I own it.

As a kid, I rigged up a manual push (rotary brush type) sweeper to tow behind a garden tractor. worked fine for grass clippings, but you have to do a separate pass after mowing is done. Ok for grass, but filled quick & needed lots of dumping ... depends how much mulch you want/need vs time spent.

 

[dj1701]

I've got the AgriFab Chipper Vac for the last 5 years. MEH. Not overly impressed since it's finicky. The hose gets plugged whenever you have heavy mower output unless completely dry (dead leaves), then requires some disassembly to clear. the chipper is only ok (underpowered & bogs down) and anything except straight branches can jam, and the quality of the parts/assembly is iffy (mine came with a mis-wired safety switch on the cover -- would only start when the cover was off, so I eliminated the switch rather than send the whole thing back). It works only OK as far as I'm concerned, & I wouldn't buy again, though I will keep it going as long as possible now that I own it.

I meant the kind that is just a sweeper not a vacuum.

Thanks
Dave

 

[alexpops]

We crossed ... I added a line on that to my original post

 

[dj1701]

Yeah, I only need it for collecting mulch for the garden. I use a push mower with a bagger now. It's just too much work to empty that thing so often. 27 loads I needed.

 

[ruffdog]

Maybe a pine straw rake?

https://www.everythingattachments.com/Tractor-Pine-Straw-Rakes-Pine-Needle-Rakes-s/3425.htm

 

[dj1701]

Maybe a pine straw rake?

https://www.everythingattachments.com/Tractor-Pine-Straw-Rakes-Pine-Needle-Rakes-s/3425.htm

I don't think that would work. Plus, the price is more than I want to spend.

 

[crashz]

I have a lawn sweeper that I've tried to use for leaves. My lawn is just to large for it. But for thatching, it works pretty well. Grass clippings would be fine too, but better if you have a side discharge vs rear discharge mower. The sweeper will pick up a wind-row of clippings pretty well, but loose clippings not as easily.

I have a rear discharge finish mower for my Kubota, but I feel like that was a colossal mistake. Cuts nice, but is not meant for gathering clippings. The lawn sweeper was a cheap method to try and remedy that and it just doesn't fit well.

 

[Thomas]

Wife brought real nice sweeper end of last summer I was not impress at all fall clean up and this spring clean up...gave it away.

 

[LD48750]

We have one that the wife pulls behind her riding mower for leaf clean up in the fall.
Works good for what we want.
She makes a pass & fills it up.
Dumps it by me & I rake it further back into the woods.

 

[Raul-02]

anyone have experience with a pull behind lawn sweeper?

I have looked at a lot of them, Powered and othyerwise.
All the ones' I've seen are so bad that I decided to instead look for the drum sweeper as a used part that I can buy separately and build my own around it.
I've even considered building my own drum sweeper. It can't be that hard.

 

[RjCorazza]

I have an older AgriFab sweeper that does a good job, but I rarely use it. If I have to pickup clippings when I get behind I generally use a walk behind and small bagger.

 

[jaxs]

I use a push mower with catcher near air conditioner and leave clippings on remainder for a healthier lawn and less fertilizer. Those few clippings go in compost and free wood chips from tree service for mulch. Less labor that way.

 

[NoTrespassing]

I used an agri-fab for a few years and gave it to my neighbor when I bought my Walker with grass handling system. My neighbor used it several years after that. The one I had was cheap and needed repair once in awhile but it worked.

 

[East30]

I have a sweeper and like it. Look at a good quality one. I have two, one is great, a cheaper one is terrible. The better quality sweeper has a much better adjustment to get closer to the ground if needed. Picks up grass clippings, mulched leaves, sticks well. I have both up north, and can't tell you the names off-hand. Had them both for years. As I'm typing this, I should dump the cheap one, not sure why I still have it.

 

[oldtimer 66]

I used one of the Agri Fab pull behind sweepers for years. I pulled it with my 3 wheeler, Honda Big Red vintage 1985. I generally used 2nd and 3rd gear. I had a JD 750 with the 60 inch deck with side discharge. It took about 2 hours to cut the grass and about 20 minutes to sweep the yard. I didn't sweep the yard after every cut only when the grass started to accumulate. The I think I purchased at least 2 of the sweepers over that time period. The last sweeper I purchased only lasted one year. Agri Fab upgraded the wheel drive train to plastic drive gears. The wheel hub was still cast aluminum ?? but the small pinion drive gear was plastic of some kind. It didn't hold up. I never used the sweeper behind my mower. It was to awkward and to slow to effectively pick up the grass. With the three wheeler I would some times go to fast and throw the grass over the sweeper bag setup. And then I would need to circle back. Also the sweeper would skip/ wheels slide/ until there was sufficient grass weight in the sweeper. Last item is that it would stand up some of the grass and weeds that maybe did not get cut completely. That's all I know. Later

 

[MossRoad]

I have a Brinley pull-behind sweeper. For the most part, it worked fine for about 12 years. If you keep it cleaned up between seasons and stored indoors it should last. However, the bottom and fabric wore out and I'm looking for replacement options. I think it was about $300 when I bought it, so that's about $25 a year for leaf and grass pickup.

 

[DB Pilot]

I'm on my second Agri-fab sweeper. The first one I destroyed the wheel gears so that I learned to set the depth of sweeper just enough to lightly whisk the top of the fresh cut grass. Also wait until the grass has dried out some (just a couple of hours) as a bag of wet grass is HEAVY, when you try to pull the rope to empty the basket. The results I really like is to De-thatch the yard and sweep up that debris.

 

[Stumblebum]

I have an AgriFab 52" sweeper.
It works quite well.
It cannot have the brushes set to close to the ground or it will not work as well as it is capable of.

 

[Rod in Forfar]

Hi all,

Anyone have experience with a pull behind lawn sweeper? I have a Kubota BX2680 with a 60" MMM. I just want to gather clippings for mulch when I need some. I know there are several brands to choose from.

Thanks
Dave

I have gone through two of them over the years. They are cheap when on sale and surprisingly durable. In my salad years as a country home owner I was determined to gather the leaves from our three-acre lawn, and haul them to a dumping area at one end of the patch. I found the best tow vehicle was any 3 point hitch sub compact tractor, because I could adjust the sweeper on the fly by raising the hoist, thus tipping the sweeper back to engage the beaters. For travel with a load, I could lower the hoist and disengage the beaters from the lawn or gravel driveway. A pull on a stout rope looped over the tractor seat took care of the dumping. Repair parts for the sweepers are available online. On one occasion I replaced the bearings on the wheels, which had worn out after a lot of use. Your Kubota would do well to have a tow bar attached to the 3 pt hitch for easiest handling of the sweeper.