Leaf collection ideas

[Jbeery78]

im curious to see how well the 54 inch deck on my new bx does with the leaves this year, my old ingersoll could barely handle it. Thanks for everyones input, definitely look into a cyclone rake, ive offered to pay my wifes cousins to do it for me, but those boys get about 1/4 the way thru and give up haha. love those trees when its hot out, but sure do hate the clean up! Hmm... Maybe ill fashion up a monster scoop attachment for my loader, and just scoop em off... give me another excuse to put hours on that new BX!

 

[Jbeery78]

The sweeper has always worked ok, but i always felt like it could be designed differently to fully take advantage of the hoppers space.

 

[DrRod]

Raking and blowing and mowing hasn't been my problem -- its picking them up. So I started moving them to the curb -- mostly with the mower -- early in the fall so there's not much volume at one time. Then I let them sit there a few week. They get wet and pack own so the volume isn't so great. Then I use a pitchfork to toss them into the pickup. Then I either go to the dump or head up the interstate -- they sort of trickle out and are pretty much gone in a couple of hours.

Incidentally, my town had the stupidest process for leaf pickup [just changed this year]. You had to bag your leaves [the hardest job] and set them at the curb. Then they had a crew come by and empty your bags into the recycling truck and then take the empty bags in a separate bin. Now they switched to paper bags and they take it bag and all which they then shred and turn into mulch or compost which they sell at the dump for $12 a cubic yard.

 

[oldballs]

Over the years, being a city and a country home owner, I've tried all the methods already mention.

Last fall I bought the top of the line Cyclone Rake and attached it to my B2620......50 year old Sycamores, Soft Maples etc.on three acres, and some great shade. It works great, but one still has to have a large area to dump the stuff. It even does a fair job on pine needles. Actually I use a Pine Needle Rake, yard rake, pitch fork and trailer to "harvest" the pine needles which are used in my garden path ways.

Conclusion: I'm ready to move into assisted living.

 

[coolreinfarm]

I have used my cyclone rake for 8 years behind a zero turn, cleans the yard better than any other method I've done in 32 years, well worth the money, and it folds up for summer storage.

 

[SJay]

Add me to the the list of Cyclone Rake users. Found it used - best thing for cleaning up leaves. Boys went off to college and I sure wasn't going to rake leaves by myself. :laughing:

 

[Gary Fowler]

Mow 'em first. then pick 'em up.

I just make unidirectional passes with the walk behind until the leaves are blown over the bank.
Where that doesn't work, the get mowed to reduce volume and then raked up and put in the garden trailer to be dumped over the bank.

Every 10 years or so, "the bank" gets hauled back up as compost for the gardens.

I've got over 100 head of maple in the "yard" most are pushing 100 years old and 100 feet tall. ;-)
I'm trying to grow a few more oak, but they have leaves of their own.

I agree. I don't have massive amounts of leaves (two sycamore trees and a few sweet gums) and I try to mulch them in and not collect them. I find that if I just keep mowing them over and don't let them pile up, I can reduce the leaves to almost a powder which is good for the lawn. I don't even bother working them till they all fall then mow them up and your are thru, no gathering, no composting, no nada.

 

[LD1]

Why do you have to pick them up?

Mow the yard, leaves and all. Done. Leave them there to decompose and put nutrients back into the soil. I have never raked or collected grass clippings or leaves. Although dad does have a bagger for his ZTR that he will use in the spring to mulch around the plants in the garden. But its for that reason only, and not because he wants to pick the clippings out of the yard.

 

[Ford850]

I usually just mowed the leaves, and blew windrows of them back into the woods that borders much of my lawn. Some areas get really deep in the yard, especially around the oaks and maples. Last year I got an AllFit HD 50" lawn sweeper from Home Depot. It has a 26cf capacity, and is made by Ohio Steel. It's a heavy sweeper, as you'll find out when you pull the box off the shelf in the store
I was hopeful, but was very surprised at the job it did the first day I used it. My son took over after that and we created a designated dump area for the leaves. We use Grasshopper to pull it and can fly through the leaves. I use the tractor FEL to push them together to pile and compact them. We used those in the garden around the rows of peppers and tomatoes, which it really working out well. It is all so easy, and the mulch works so well on the garden, we plan to collect a lot more this year to also use to mulch the blueberries and raspberries.

 

[Jbeery78]

Why do you have to pick them up?

Mow the yard, leaves and all. Done. Leave them there to decompose and put nutrients back into the soil. I have never raked or collected grass clippings or leaves. Although dad does have a bagger for his ZTR that he will use in the spring to mulch around the plants in the garden. But its for that reason only, and not because he wants to pick the clippings out of the yard.

ill have to take a pic this fall when the leaves are off the trees... been trying to mow them for 5 years and it just doesnt work. Way too many leaves. i can say our trees are in need of some thinning, which we are planning on for this coming spring, so hopefully that will help the massive volume of leaves some.