Pull behind leaf vacuum

[MossRoad]

Trees & grass have never played well together. I would certainly hope the grass quality is higher in your less tree dense areas of yard.

I also think the acidity level of dead dried leaves is negligible. The benefit of the organic material outweighs any ph concerns, IMO.

Sycamores will typically hold many leaves through December, so weather permitting, I'm usually mulching right up to Christmas. A couple passes with the Gator blades, all that's left is confetti.

As long as I pick up the leaves, the grass quality under the trees is great. It's mostly a fescue mix. Nice and thick. It's a great place to put out a blanket and take a nap. Mulching the leaves and leaving them on my lawn causes some issues. Some of the issues are beneficial, but for the most part, it makes the lawn less "showy" and that's what I like.

Way back in the kids' play area, where we had a pitching mound, home plate, back stop and golf net, the lawn is "lived on" so doesn't look like a golf course. More like a well-used park. Back there, I mulch on occasion. But under the oaks, I pick em up for garden and landscape use.

Wish I had a picture of all of the areas. I only some of the front yard.

Here's a couple of a hole I had to dig when a mystery washing machine drain pit collapsed...

And a couple before and after mowing pics....

Before:

After:

These were about 16 years ago. There's about 5 acres of oaks in the back. I'll try and get dig up some pictures. I know I had some of leaf clearing in here somewhere.

 

[dalola]

As long as I pick up the leaves, the grass quality under the trees is great. It's mostly a fescue mix. Nice and thick. It's a great place to put out a blanket and take a nap. Mulching the leaves and leaving them on my lawn causes some issues. Some of the issues are beneficial, but for the most part, it makes the lawn less "showy" and that's what I like.

Way back in the kids' play area, where we had a pitching mound, home plate, back stop and golf net, the lawn is "lived on" so doesn't look like a golf course. More like a well-used park. Back there, I mulch on occasion. But under the oaks, I pick em up for garden and landscape use.

Wish I had a picture of all of the areas. I only some of the front yard.

Here's a couple of a hole I had to dig when a mystery washing machine drain pit collapsed...

And a couple before and after mowing pics....

These were about 16 years ago. There's about 5 acres of oaks in the back. I'll try and get dig up some pictures. I know I had some of leaf clearing in here somewhere.

lol...well, it's very clear to me based on your pix, your soil & grass is far superior to any soil or grass anywhere on my property!

Living on a river bank, it's mostly clay & rocks. Mix in two big dogs, and kids playing soccer all the time.....well, you get the picture. Plus, I really have no escape from the giant trees (which I like..). The trees are just spaced enough to allow grass to grow, but too concentrated to have any clear areas. No mans land.

When I retire down to the camp, there will be no yard, just forest, and the trees will do as they please, and I won't care.

 

[joecoin]

I'd urge you to take a closer look at the Steiner I mentioned earlier. It's ground driven (no motor to mess with) and tightly compacts whatever it picks up. It can be used with any tractor/rider mower. Has adjustable towing position with respect to the back of the tractor. Floats over uneven ground. As soon as I get rich I'm getting one:

 

[MossRoad]

OUCH! $4500 OUCH!

218 Steiner Lawn Sweeper (LS34) for sale in Rochester, NY | Brodner Equipment, Inc. (585) 247-5218

Messick's had a used one...
$2500 OUCH!

Used Steiner LS34

Here's one that sold at auction for $650.... that's better. :laughing:

Steiner Commercial sweeper model LS34 - govdeals.com

The rest are all call for price.

 

[windcatcher]

OUCH! $4500 OUCH!

218 Steiner Lawn Sweeper (LS34) for sale in Rochester, NY | Brodner Equipment, Inc. (585) 247-5218

Messick's had a used one...
$2500 OUCH!

Used Steiner LS34

Here's one that sold at auction for $650.... that's better. :laughing:

Steiner Commercial sweeper model LS34 - govdeals.com

The rest are all call for price.

That's far too steep for my blood except of course the $650 one. Thanks for the heads up though.

 

[Alien]

I have the Paddock brand Sweeper. Works well but lawn needs to be pretty flat. We are inundated with bamboo leaves at times and it has been a godsend.

 

[RalphVa]

Our church in NJ years ago had 5 acres with lots of trees. They originally had 2 Sears riding tractors with underbelly mowers and a cart with a suction gas blower on it with a tent on the top to hold the leaves. A really horrid nightmare machine setup guaranteed to leave to deaf if dumb enough to use it.

I'd used the Sears tractors and knew how bad they were to maintain and how long it took (7 hours) just to mow the grass. When my schedule eased so that I could be home more, I volunteered to do the grass and the leaves but told them that I needed a ZTR to do it. Bought a Scag. Never looked back. The Scag did the lawn in 3 hours and would chop up the leaves by just circling, discharging inward until it was about to konk out. Then turned it around and discharged outwards. Did the leaves fine. No big piles of them in the back of the property. The Scag was just so easy to work on, too.

Ralph

 

[nikdfish]

We've used the Agri-Fab for a couple of years now. So far, it is the best of the various strategies we've tried despite some of the headaches.

Things to note if you go Agri-Fab:

1) Although the unit has a "tilt" function, you can't count on that for emptying it when packed full of leaves unless you are backed up to the edge of a cliff - just not enough slope to do much. Expect to use a rake (a lot) to remove the packed leaves from the box.
2) Expect the hose to tear at some point. In retrospect, I would have been well served to pull the hose straight & wrap about 2-3 foot on either end with duct tape before first use. Initial tears occurred at either end.
3) Buy some extra clamps. I ended up needing to replace clamps on both ends after multiple re-tightening. Expect to need to remove the hose from the boot occasionally to clear clogs if you don't clear your area of sticks/twigs before starting.
4) Tie some para-cord to the hairpin clips that hold the rear panel in place. Grabbing cord to remove them when emptying is much easier than getting a finger hold on the clips.
5) Come up with a way to attach a rake to the unit so it is available when unloading. I put a set of spring clamps on the side of the box to carry one.

 

[windcatcher]

nikdfish, thank you for taking the time to review your Agrifab. Those tips help me a lot. BTW, you're just up the road from me. About 30 minutes as the crow flies. I'm just off hwy 49 North (South of you).

 

[windcatcher]

We've used the Agri-Fab for a couple of years now. So far, it is the best of the various strategies we've tried despite some of the headaches.

Things to note if you go Agri-Fab:

1) Although the unit has a "tilt" function, you can't count on that for emptying it when packed full of leaves unless you are backed up to the edge of a cliff - just not enough slope to do much. Expect to use a rake (a lot) to remove the packed leaves from the box.
2) Expect the hose to tear at some point. In retrospect, I would have been well served to pull the hose straight & wrap about 2-3 foot on either end with duct tape before first use. Initial tears occurred at either end.
3) Buy some extra clamps. I ended up needing to replace clamps on both ends after multiple re-tightening. Expect to need to remove the hose from the boot occasionally to clear clogs if you don't clear your area of sticks/twigs before starting.
4) Tie some para-cord to the hairpin clips that hold the rear panel in place. Grabbing cord to remove them when emptying is much easier than getting a finger hold on the clips.
5) Come up with a way to attach a rake to the unit so it is available when unloading. I put a set of spring clamps on the side of the box to carry one.

Nikdfish, I found this tidbit on youtube. It shows how to fasten an el cheapo tarp inside the trailer to allow for easier dumping of the collected leaves. I like the way it's done myself as I like to have cost efficient, functional way of doing things.