Leaf Sweeper Recommendation

[jamiebolseth]

I bought a new 12 acre property (about 4 in lawn) with lots of oak trees (also elms, bass woods, maples, ash, etc). I'm anticpating the leaf raking season and was hoping that somebody would recommend a good lawn swweper. Of course I've looked at (and used) the stuff at Sears and Home Depot, but I was wondering if there are better, commercial grade sweepers out there.

JamieB

 

[nasdaqsam]

Jamie,

Thats going to be a lot of leaves. I would forgo the sweeper and get a power bagger. Power baggers shred the leaves allowing more run time between dumps and a lot less of a pile when done. YMMV.

 

[djradz]

Use to have a sweeper, sold it and bought a vacuum. The sweeper filled in about 2 minutes - seriously. One pass through the yard and it was done. For leaves, you need to chop 'em and vacuum up. Get a unit that pulls behind your mower and dumps easilly. My Agrifab is nice, but doesn't tilt enough to dump and also the construction of the box tends to hold the choppings in so that you have to use a rake or get right into it to get it empty. Other manufacture's units really tilt, some almost 90 degrees, to dump easily.

 

[oliver28472]

do a google search for cyclone rake. or just search here at tbn. several members have them and there are some comments. search all posts for maximum results.

 

[KAZZ]

get a trac Vac I have had three Currently own Two now. One We use for grass clippings it holds Two 32 Gallon Trash Cans and mount on our three point . The second is a Trac Vac 1080
11hp holds 50 bushel of shredded leaves. We have 6 acres we care for. Usually do about thirty loads a year. The size of the Trac Vac will depend on the size of tractor and mower deck you have. I started with a 580 5hp. when I owned as smaller Tractor Now I Have a New Holland TC33 D with a sixty inch MMM . Had a Kubota B-24 in between with a 54 inch deck and that when I found out I needed a bigger Vac, A 54 inch deck puts out to much for the smaller vacs to handle.
I,ve seen many makes of vacs ,But in my opinion Trac Vac Makes the best been using them for fifteen plus years. They are not cheap but you get what you pay for.

 

[Dirtboy]

Hi all, I just bought A JD X485 and also got the 3 bag 14 bushel power flow collection system. I dont have 12 acres to clean only 2 with several large maples and walnut trees. Im hoping this deal will work for me. Im 38yrs old and have been hand raking this yard since I was 13 (bought the house from my parents) and I have had enough. Good luck.

Adios , Mike

 

[Ryno1]

I use a trac vac 880 behind a TC30. You can also order a extension hose (15 ft) to work around trees and flower beds. Just got the trac vac this year, used it on some of last years leaves and general mowing in the orchard. Works great. Dumping was a problem at first, until I realized the best (for me) way was to dump, then ease forward a few feet. Everything dumps. Trac vacs are made heavy duty. Mine holds 50 cubic feet. You can buy some models setup so the motor mounts to your 3ph, others like mine mount on the dump trailer.

 

[norgeman]

I have a cyclone rake which has features such as its a great unit for storing as the motor comes off , folds up flat and really holds alot of leaves. There is one problem with it though and that is asyour catching leaves and grass the fine debrey will blow up thru the vent in the top and eventually you are full of fine dust. Check out the DR rake which they didn't make when I bought my cyclone. Earl

 

[JimWalch]

Does anybody have one of these? pros or cons

DR Power

 

[pennwalk]

I have always used the powerflo bagger with my John Deeres to collect leaves. Works well as long as you mow regularly. Last year I tried Gator blades. They really work. They chop the leaves up finer so more fits in the bag. Less trips to the compost pile.

Chris

 

[jamiebolseth]

I ordered a cyclone rake. Haven't got it yet, but I'll report back after I give it a try. Thanks for the help.

JamieB

 

[ChuckT]

I bought a Cyclone Rake for my wife (honest, I did) and now she won't let loose of the thing! My gawd, I've created a monster!

We have 5/6 acres mostly Florida Oak & Hickory trees. We got the consumer model (in 2002) rather than the commercial one & it's biggest drw back is that we fill it so quick. Oh yeah, it belches dust so much that it looks like a steam loco from the side!

cvt

 

[fcardwell]

I purchased a CycloneRake 5 years ago. I tow it with a New Holland TC26DA. It works well, fills rapidly, dumps easily. If you do not have a place to dump it, there is an option for containers that fit inside the trailer that can hold large trash bags. Just don't overfill the unit or it does blow excess dust. It is a little loud as well. I purchased the dual wheel sets, I don't recommend them unless you have very soft ground. They tend not to turn as readily as the single tire units and dig in on occasion. I picked up some object (unknown what it was) about 1 week before the 3 year warranty ran out. It blew a hole in the top of the blower housing (which is metal lined by the way). It didn't hurt the impeller though. I called CycloneRake and they replaced the entire housing with impeller for free, no questions asked. I'd buy another just because it works well, is American made and service is impressive. The 6.5 hp B&S engine has run flawlessly. It came with a Cat 0/1 3pt hitch adapter which I used for a couple of years until I used it for pulling a stump and bent it a little. Later, I replaced the hitch with a much heavier unit and drilled two holes for the tow points. I can keep a trailer ball in the center and still use the CycloneRake with the holes on either side of the ball.