Hey, Gene. I don't know why, but I never think to take pics of how well that vac works. Next round, I'll try to remember -- it's pretty impressive. I'll hit it again next time it gets to the point where it's hard to see any green on the lawn.
What have you done with/to your GC Series 2300, 2400, 1700 Tractor TODAY
- Thread starter MF RED in MT
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GeneV
Elite Member
I'm sure it works real nice, Irving. My neighbor has a setup like that on his Simplicity garden tractor, it does real good.
cdaigle430
Veteran Member
Reminds me of when a wolverine took down a polar bear once.....dont under estimate the GC
OP
MF RED in MT
Veteran Member
It's that time of year, again, been wearing long johns for about a week now:
Last week had our first good snowfall, low temp of 10F, high of 29F, and we started burning wood 24/7.
Today I'll do some more pre-winter chores, install snow markers, remove the FEL/Boxblade on the GC, install Weight Box/Quick Hitch/Dozer Blade on the GC.
Next week I'll change out the antifreeze for the GC, and install tire chains for the GC.
Every year the pre-winter list is about the same, but takes me a lot longer to complete each year.
KC
Last week had our first good snowfall, low temp of 10F, high of 29F, and we started burning wood 24/7.
Today I'll do some more pre-winter chores, install snow markers, remove the FEL/Boxblade on the GC, install Weight Box/Quick Hitch/Dozer Blade on the GC.
Next week I'll change out the antifreeze for the GC, and install tire chains for the GC.
Every year the pre-winter list is about the same, but takes me a lot longer to complete each year.
KC
KC, I hear ya! Seems to take me longer each year, too.
Hit the lawn for the second time today, and had some serious clogs with my DR Lawn & Leaf Vac machine -- we got over an inch of rain last night, and the leaves were REALLY thick close to the edge of the lawn/woods-- and wet. Bad timing on my part, should have hit 'em yesterday when they were still dry.
So Gene -- here's some pics of how that DR thing works --
Hit the lawn for the second time today, and had some serious clogs with my DR Lawn & Leaf Vac machine -- we got over an inch of rain last night, and the leaves were REALLY thick close to the edge of the lawn/woods-- and wet. Bad timing on my part, should have hit 'em yesterday when they were still dry.
So Gene -- here's some pics of how that DR thing works --
GeneV
Elite Member
Irving, that works real good looks like, and your property is really nice!
cdaigle430
Veteran Member
I used my Husqvarna and three bin bagger, even with the extra capacity I still had to empty them like 20 times. I have one more round to clean up then its time to winterize the garden tractor and bring out the walk behind snoblower. This year I will just be using the loader with edge tamers because I will not be cleaning he snow for most of the winter.
When I did mine the other day, I emptied that box four times. (There's a lot more ground that I covered on the other two sides of the house.) That thing will fill up the box enough that it becomes difficult to lift up the rear end to initiate the dumping process, as you end up trying to round off the square edge of the packed leaf pieces inside.
It amazes me how much stuff that machine will cram into that box. I'd guess, with at least somewhat damp leaves, it probably holds about 200 lbs maybe? I'll have to try to weigh it someday when it's full.
OK, here it comes... all the history you never wanted to hear about...
I was thinking about leaf pick-up in the fall the other day, over the years I've been in this house -- now 35 years. Started out raking and using a push mower with a side bagger. The lawn mower worked fairly well, but when I'd get to the edges of the woods where the leaves were really thick, I could only go about 6 feet with that mower before the bag filled up and had to be emptied; raking onto a tarp... well that gets real old real fast. As you can imagine, fall leaf pick-up became a dreaded, very slow process.
A few years later, I hired a couple high school kids to do it; they showed up with a garden tractor with a fairly large collection bin on the back, and a Stihl backpack leaf blower. Then second year I called them only one kid showed up, so I asked to borrow the leaf blower to do the driveway while he did the lawn. Man was I impressed! Rocks, sticks, pine cones, leaves... that blower blew 'em all away! Two weeks later, I had my own Stihl leaf blower.
Used that for several years; it worked very well, but it sure took a long time to do the whole lawn, and of course it's annoyingly noisy. And if it's a windy day... well, forget it!
Then in February of 2008 I got my GC. With the flapper-damper removed from the MMM, that thing will shoot leaves quite a distance, but when they get real thick it doesn't work that well -- so out would come the leaf blower to finish up the edges and blast the leaves into the woods.
That method was my routine, until I got that Lawn & Leaf vac machine in September of 2016. The rest, as they say, is history.....
It amazes me how much stuff that machine will cram into that box. I'd guess, with at least somewhat damp leaves, it probably holds about 200 lbs maybe? I'll have to try to weigh it someday when it's full.
OK, here it comes... all the history you never wanted to hear about...
I was thinking about leaf pick-up in the fall the other day, over the years I've been in this house -- now 35 years. Started out raking and using a push mower with a side bagger. The lawn mower worked fairly well, but when I'd get to the edges of the woods where the leaves were really thick, I could only go about 6 feet with that mower before the bag filled up and had to be emptied; raking onto a tarp... well that gets real old real fast. As you can imagine, fall leaf pick-up became a dreaded, very slow process.
A few years later, I hired a couple high school kids to do it; they showed up with a garden tractor with a fairly large collection bin on the back, and a Stihl backpack leaf blower. Then second year I called them only one kid showed up, so I asked to borrow the leaf blower to do the driveway while he did the lawn. Man was I impressed! Rocks, sticks, pine cones, leaves... that blower blew 'em all away! Two weeks later, I had my own Stihl leaf blower.
Used that for several years; it worked very well, but it sure took a long time to do the whole lawn, and of course it's annoyingly noisy. And if it's a windy day... well, forget it!
Then in February of 2008 I got my GC. With the flapper-damper removed from the MMM, that thing will shoot leaves quite a distance, but when they get real thick it doesn't work that well -- so out would come the leaf blower to finish up the edges and blast the leaves into the woods.
That method was my routine, until I got that Lawn & Leaf vac machine in September of 2016. The rest, as they say, is history.....
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GeneV
Elite Member
Same thing here. I generally don't pick them up, I mulch them with a mulch kit on the mower. When the lawn gets too thick with chopped leaves, like under trees, I blow some of that around to less thickly dispersed areas, and onto flower beds.
Mulching some leaves into the lawn is good for it, but I do think with the amount I mulch into the lawn by fall's end, I'm choking it a bit. And it certainly doesn't leave the lawn looking as nice as Irving's.
Yesterday I took my dethatcher out back, did a bunch of that...wow I pulled up a lot! So today I'm gonna bust out the pull-behind sweeper, pick all that up along with some leaves.
GeneV
Elite Member
Had a busy day yesterday, boys! Dethatched around the pond, swept all that up, put together and mounted the ballast box I just got, jacked up the new mower, cleaned out deck and changed to mulching blades (which was a bear to do, it SUCKED!).
cdaigle430
Veteran Member
I think it would be better for the lawn, it leaves fertilizer behind for the following year. The leaves get so thick on my lawn it would overwhelm the mulcher.
Pixguy
Super Star Member
Ordered replacement tie rods at $140ea for my front end and installed today.
Pixguy
Super Star Member
Any idea why there's oil under here and around? The front end was down fluid a bit but I haven't seen any puddles where it's leaking.
cdaigle430
Veteran Member
It could be seeping from the pivot seal, I had to replace mine last year, wasnt too bad of a job.
Pixguy
Super Star Member
Ya, I thought that too, from that gasket but it looked like a tough job. Hopefully not.
GeneV
Elite Member
When did you do the axle fluid change, recently? Maybe that's just leftover from then?
Pixguy
Super Star Member
Nah, I changed that out 2 yrs and 150 hrs ago but I'm changing it anyways.
GeneV
Elite Member
Gotcha. Well we'll be watching you mess with it, whatever it is. Hopefully no biggie.
