Leaf Vacuum --- whats the scoop[or suck]?

[cubby]

I'm finally tired of raking leaves! So next season I plan to buy a vacuum. But I don't know that much about them. Should I consider a pull behind type or go with whats available for my mower from the
manufacture. They have a bag setup to mount directly to the mower, and a clamshell dump both blower
driven by the deck. What are some of the pros and cons.........

.......Also do they suck up acorn nuts and what happens if driveway stones or gravel goes through.
I have a lot of oak trees and a couple of stone driveways. It was a banner year for acorns.

I would greatly appreciate your views on this, thanks...cubby

 

[KennyV]

You can get something like this...
The Cyclone Rake Lawn Vacuum, Leaf Vacuum and Property Care Machine

Or the deck belt driven... you will have to check into your mower availability...
I have one of the engine powered ones that vacuum from the discharge of my Cub Cadet... it works great sucks up walnuts so I guess it would do acorns...
I rarely use it anymore I just mow the leaves into the grass.... :smile:KennyV

 

[rmancini]

I've had a Cyclone Rake for about 12 years now. Best investment I ever made.
Makes life easier when clearing leaves AND when mowing.

Different sizes and power ratings available - mine's the little one at 5HP.
Rich

 

[KennyV]

.......Also do they suck up acorn nuts and what happens if driveway stones or gravel goes through.
I have a lot of oak trees and a couple of stone driveways. It was a banner year for acorns.

The acorns will most likely get smashed and shattered while passing through the impeller (walnuts do)...
Small sand will generally get pulled into it, but larger stones will not ... when an occasional mid sized rock goes in you will hear it get flung int the bin...
I use to use mine a lot to gather grass clippings and leaves for composting... the pass through chopped things up good, ready to start composting... KennyV

 

[cubby]

I checked out the cyclone rake on their site and it looks pretty good and the price seems fair.

Haven't had time to check any other vacuums yet, but a few popped up when I was on cyclones site.

Tomorrow I hope to stop at a scag dealer near a job I'm working if I get done early and see what they

have to offer. I'll bet the price is a lot more, thanks to all.......cubby

 

[oldfatguy]

Chipper Shredder Mulcher Vacs by Troy-Bilt

I have the CSV206 yard vac, the thing is great it shreds leaves grinds up tree branches and deposits everything in a bag. My only complaint is that the bag fill up so fast, but then I have some very large trees around the house that lay down a wall to wall carpet of leaves 6 inches thick. The machine doesn't like wet leaves but when they are dry it tears them up.there is a adjustment on the front for smaller debris, during the summer I use it to vacuum the driveway , I have a pine tree that drops tiny pine cones plus the millions of seed pods from the three giant maple trees. You would have to check with the dealer if it can be used on a gravel drive. I think that it would all depend on the size of the stones that were used. The machine won't pick up a larger stones but any thing smaller then a marble is fair game. I forgot to mention that it is self propelled with a very easy to use control lever.it is like the brake lever on a motorcycle as the more you squeeze it the faster it goes.

 

[jeepnjim]

I have th DR comercial job and it works very well.
:smile:

 

[cubby]

I'm still checking out different vacs so keep the info coming, thanks to oldfatguy and jeepnjim for the
help.

I still kinda like the cyclone rake but not ready to make a move yet. I also checked a few pull behinds
from stores like tractor supply, etc. and their prices are cheaper but quality is too.

I just don't know if I want the pull behind or the bag/clam set-up for my particular mower.
Do I want a piece of equipment thats bulky and have to store pretty much all year versus the bag
set-up that mounts on the mower?

The scag dealer told me the bag set-up doesn't take up much room and comes off easily, and oh yeah
cost alot more. Hopefully I'll talk to some scag owners and find out what they have to say.

again thanks.........cubby

 

[oldyellr]

I would think by now all the leaves would have dropped. If you haven't picked them up yet and they aren't frozen or covered with snow, here's what I do:

Sweep them up with a Swisher lawn sweeper

The only thing wrong with these is the sweeper height adjustment is critical. If it's too high, you won't pick up as much leaves; if it's too low, the brushes hit the ground and won't turn, so the wheels dig trenched in your lawn. They'll do that anyway if it gets too full and on uneven ground.

I also use my mower at its highest setting to blow the out of areas where the sweeper won't work. I have a Honda H3013H rider that used to have a bagger, so it blows leaves like crazy.

 

[Semiretired]

The one thing you didn't mention was the size of your yard. I'll tell you this , however. The bag type systems fill up very fast. I have about 3 acres and 200 trees and my old self propelled Troy Built chipper Vac (one of the originals actually built by Troy Bilt) and it fills up in nothing flat. If you've only got a 1/4 to 1/2 acre yard and a few trees, it'd do o.k., but anything larger and you're just going to wish you hadn't wasted the money on it. I also have an Agri Fab vacuum chipper trailer. It's the better model with a hammermill chipper in it, so it really chops things (including rocks) up pretty finely. They make a lesser model without the chipper, and the mulch you end up with depends on how well the mower towing it chews it up. Depending on how deep and wet the leaves are, I can do about 3/4 to 1 acre per fill up. I also have a Scag STHM (61" deck) fitted with super high lift blades that i use to simply mulch the leaves into the grass and two commercial blowers, a Little Wonder and a self propelled Giant Vac that I use to blow the leaves into the neighbors pasture and then grind up there with my Scag.