PT425 Leaf Mover

MossRoad · Nov 13, 2002

I have a hand held leaf blower that only does so well. In the past I have always used it to windrow the leaves, then used an upside down leaf rake as a pusher to push the windrows down to the leaf pile. Lots of pushing, as the leafy part of the yard is about 50 yards deep. In steps the PT425 with the large bucket. See attached.

MossRoad · Nov 13, 2002

It does a good job getting right down to the grass. See attached.

MossRoad · Nov 13, 2002

Getting hard to see over the pile( I really need to move those lights under the canopy ) See attached.

MossRoad · Nov 13, 2002

Push into the main pile, which is over 6 feet tall now /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Made quick work of it. See attached.

pajoube · Nov 13, 2002

MossRoad:
I see what you mean about the light issue.
What do you do with your leaves after you pile them up? Mulch or burn?
PJ

MossRoad · Nov 13, 2002

I let them rot right were they are. A few times a year I'll turn them over by hand. Now that I have the PT425, I can turn the pile over in about 10 minutes, so anytime I'm in the back yard and have the bucket on, I just tear through the pile a time or two. By this time next year the pile will only be about a foot tall. I'll move what's left aside and harvest some really nice compost that I spread on my garden before turning it in with a tiller for the winter.

pajoube · Nov 14, 2002

That brings up another question, I have been looking a shredder/chipper equipment. Do you get just as fast decomposing by just turning over the full size leaf or will shredding them speed up the process?
PJ

MossRoad · Nov 14, 2002

A pile of leaves, left undisturbed, takes several years to fully rot down. If I turn it over a half dozen times a year, it takes about a year. When we had a shredder we would spread the shreds over the garden and turn them under in the fall. Then in the spring, we'd till it again and they were gone. Sometimes we had to add lime to the soil to correct the PH, but not much.

I think the shreds will decompose much faster. But if you have the space and don't need the organic material right away, the "turn the pile over a few times" method is much less labor intensive and fuel efficent.