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WAYS TO SUCK UP LEAVES

#1

lawn mower fanatic

lawn mower fanatic

I have a lawn care business and I rake up leaves in the fall. I used to do it by hand but now I like to suck up the leaves with my lawn mower and dump it. Is there anything that would make me have to empty the bag less? Like a super-sized bag that can fit all mowers? Anything else?


#2

scott47429

scott47429

you could get a van wagon that has its own engine my dad has one the only thing with them is theres alot of dust


#3

rmancini

rmancini

Have you looked into a "Cyclone Rake" ?
I've had one for years now and I wouldn't know what to do without it.
Get them to send you a catalogue. 1.888.531.7253
Rich

http://www.cyclonerake.com/index.htm


#4

lawn mower fanatic

lawn mower fanatic

Yes I have seen those before. That is a good idea.


#5

F

FastPauly

A few years back.....when I was young and used the larger half of my brain on figuring ways to turn an hours worth of work into 15 minutes....I used my two stage snow-blower to conquer the leaves. I would use a combination of the lawn tractor and leaf blower to gather the leaves to one spot. At that point I raked the leaves into the mouth of the blower as my wife held the bag at the outlet end of the leaf eating monster. It actually worked pretty good aside from the fact that the wife thought more conventional methods of leaf tending was the way to go....:confused2:. I do recall a problem with the stems from the leaves getting wrapped tightly around the gearbox on the first stage auger....to the point that they began to omit smoke.....small problem that required a little attention??

Anyway....that was probably 25 years ago.....still have the same wife!:thumbsup:


#6

lawn mower fanatic

lawn mower fanatic

That is also a good idea!
Thanks!


#7

N

NEgravely

My leaf clean up consists of mulching the leaves very fine then lowering the deck and bagging. Everything looks very nice when its done and you can fit alot into your bagger.


#8

lawn mower fanatic

lawn mower fanatic

Thanks for the tips!!


#9

M

motoman

I am surprised no one mentioned the 3 bagger craftsman setup. The DYT 4000 Intek 24 I use is a great and fast leaf vacuum. I have heavy leaf fall here. As long as the leaves are reasonably dry or freeze dry the rig is great. The 48" deck shreds and fills the 3 containers quickly. I consider this feature the best thing it does.

The downside of the 3 bagger is moist grass load on grade. I had two engine failures from 300 F overheating. The thing has guages and an oil cooler now.


#10

F

fastback

I do not own a business, but I have 2 acres with lots of leaves. I use my GT with a Agri fab vac. The blades on my tractor are of the mulching type. This set up does an excellent job. When we do the flowers we rake all the leaves into the hose and let it get suckin. You just need to be careful of stones the vac will suck in large ones. It really raise heck with the impeller good thing its steel.


#11

V

vettman

I use a "cyclone rake" with my Kubota ZD326 mower, and have generally been very pleased with its performance. I do have one issue with this set up, though, and it has to do with some of the leaves being blown ahead and to the sides of the mower deck. This is a result of the mower blade tip speed creating more air than the cyclone rake can accommodate. I've talked to the CS folks at Cyclone and they don't have a good answer. I've thought about mounting a piece of flexible material on the bottom of the leading edge of the mower deck (to "trap" the excaping air), but I think it would probably just push/mound the leaves ahead of the mower. My only solution right now is to make extra passes to pick up the missed leaves. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone with suggestions on how to "fix" this issue.

Thanks


#12

J

Jhon

I just ordered one of these. I will let you know if I wasted my money or not.

I have been looking for a used cyclone rake this fall, but so far no luck.

TerraKing Leaf Bag - ST95000


#13

jimvt

jimvt

If you can convince your customers to allow it you might want to mulch the leaves and leave them where they are.

The mulched leaves act as a fertilizer and return a good bit of favorable chemicals to the lawn.

More here:The Value of Mulching Leaves On Site ｫ Greener By Design


#14

J

Jhon

jimvt said:
If you can convince your customers to allow it you might want to mulch the leaves and leave them where they are.

The mulched leaves act as a fertilizer and return a good bit of favorable chemicals to the lawn.

More here:The Value of Mulching Leaves On Site ｫ Greener By Design
Click to expand...


Here is my issue, (I just asked this on another site) I have a ton of leaves. In some spots, knee high. There has to be a point where too many leaves will harm the lawn. I have mostly oak and I know they are loaded with acid. At what point are there to many leaves to mulch?


#15

rmancini

rmancini

vettman said:
I use a "cyclone rake" with my Kubota ZD326 mower, and have generally been very pleased with its performance. I do have one issue with this set up, though, and it has to do with some of the leaves being blown ahead and to the sides of the mower deck. This is a result of the mower blade tip speed creating more air than the cyclone rake can accommodate. I've talked to the CS folks at Cyclone and they don't have a good answer. I've thought about mounting a piece of flexible material on the bottom of the leading edge of the mower deck (to "trap" the excaping air), but I think it would probably just push/mound the leaves ahead of the mower. My only solution right now is to make extra passes to pick up the missed leaves. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone with suggestions on how to "fix" this issue.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I have the same problem with my Cyclone Rake. (Not really a problem - just a condition.)
My solution is to reduce the mower engine RPMs to less than half throttle and keep the Cyclone at full throttle. You just need enough blade motion to "lift" the leaves so they can be sucked into the rake. A slower ground speed also helps when the leaves are wet.
Rich


#16

T

turbo78

From '86 through '04 we lived on 29 acres in Western NY. Our home was built in the woods. We had leaves! Went through all of the typical pick up leaves steps. Rake, blow, mulch, etc, etc but all attempts were very labor intensive. Ran across a used Trac Vac at our local JD dealer. Paid $400 for the best buy of my life. Hook up hose adapter and hose to lawn tractor mower discharge. Hose runs to chopper/blower inlet on front of trailer. 8 hp engine does the work and blows bits into the converted utility trailer with a top on it. Super cleans the yard every time. Looks like a golf course. Took them into the woods for dumping. It was getting tired when we were getting ready to move, but still sold it for $200. Lawn always looked great - used it for most of the year just to pick up the grass clippings.
Take care and get those leaves picked up. Southern Indiana now, 2 acres, no trees, no leaves.


#17

slammed

slammed

The best way to suck up leaves is with a power bagger or vacuum for your mower.


#18

R

repeters

I use the Billy Goat Termite 27" Self Propelled Vacuum / Chipper. It does a great job so long as I don't try to hog up the leaves when they are a little damp or it will clog. It also has a chipper for small twigs / branches which I like. My only concern is with the emptying of the bag. If I dont lubricate the zipper a few times every season, it binds and makes emptying a real PITA.
The good thing about it is it chops the leaves down so more can be picked up between emptying.


#19

lawn mower fanatic

lawn mower fanatic

Jhon said:
Here is my issue, (I just asked this on another site) I have a ton of leaves. In some spots, knee high. There has to be a point where too many leaves will harm the lawn. I have mostly oak and I know they are loaded with acid. At what point are there to many leaves to mulch?
Click to expand...

Having leaves ankle high can be too high to mulch. If you have places that are knee high you can kill the grass if you don't watch it!!


#20

lawn mower fanatic

lawn mower fanatic

Jhon said:
I just ordered one of these. I will let you know if I wasted my money or not.

I have been looking for a used cyclone rake this fall, but so far no luck.

TerraKing Leaf Bag - ST95000
Click to expand...

WOW that is different looking! It would probably work, though! It reminds me of this for walk-behind mowers:
big leaf bag.jpg
(http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vRl_JOmf0WA/0.jpg)


#21

PJ

PJ

lawn mower fanatic said:
I have a lawn care business and I rake up leaves in the fall. I used to do it by hand but now I like to suck up the leaves with my lawn mower and dump it. Is there anything that would make me have to empty the bag less? Like a super-sized bag that can fit all mowers? Anything else?
Click to expand...

One option is to get a tow behind trailer
Regards
PJ


#22

L

lostinbaja

My initial leaf vac was an Agri-Fab Mow N Vac that I purchased new it lasted about 15 years before the cart fell apart and the plastic chute parts needed replacement. I rebuilt the cart and replaced the plastic parts for an added investment of $250.00. The unit works great and I can't complain.
I purchased a Cyclone Rake a couple years after the Agri-Fab for use at my weekend getaway in Michigan. The Cyclone rake started showing wear and tear after 3 seasons and after 5 years the canvas had holes in it. The sixth year the unit inhaled an oak stick and it broke the crankshaft in the engine.
I replaced the Cyclone Rake with a well used/worn Trac-Vac, the Trac-Vac has no plastic parts to crack and no canvas to wear out. This has been the 6th year using the Trac-Vac that was well used when I got it, it still works great with a nice clean path behind it.
My vote is for the Trac-Vac.
I pull the Agri-Fab around a heavily wooded 2 1/2 acres with a John Deere 420. The Trac-Vac is pulled around a heavily wooded 1 1/2 acres by my 1962 Cub Cadet 100.


#23

lawn mower fanatic

lawn mower fanatic

lostinbaja said:
My initial leaf vac was an Agri-Fab Mow N Vac that I purchased new it lasted about 15 years before the cart fell apart and the plastic chute parts needed replacement. I rebuilt the cart and replaced the plastic parts for an added investment of $250.00. The unit works great and I can't complain.
I purchased a Cyclone Rake a couple years after the Agri-Fab for use at my weekend getaway in Michigan. The Cyclone rake started showing wear and tear after 3 seasons and after 5 years the canvas had holes in it. The sixth year the unit inhaled an oak stick and it broke the crankshaft in the engine.
I replaced the Cyclone Rake with a well used/worn Trac-Vac, the Trac-Vac has no plastic parts to crack and no canvas to wear out. This has been the 6th year using the Trac-Vac that was well used when I got it, it still works great with a nice clean path behind it.
My vote is for the Trac-Vac.
I pull the Agri-Fab around a heavily wooded 2 1/2 acres with a John Deere 420. The Trac-Vac is pulled around a heavily wooded 1 1/2 acres by my 1962 Cub Cadet 100.
Click to expand...

WOW...you have a lot of leaf vacs!! Even though the Cyclone Rake got worn out, would you still recommend it?


#24

L

lostinbaja

lawn mower fanatic said:
WOW...you have a lot of leaf vacs!! Even though the Cyclone Rake got worn out, would you still recommend it?
Click to expand...

The Cyclone Rake just doesn't seem as heavy duty as the other 2 units and the Trac-Vac is absolutely the most HD out of the three that I have owned.


#25

lawn mower fanatic

lawn mower fanatic

lostinbaja said:
The Cyclone Rake just doesn't seem as heavy duty as the other 2 units and the Trac-Vac is absolutely the most HD out of the three that I have owned.
Click to expand...

OK...nice to know! :thumbsup:


#26

slammed

slammed

lostinbaja said:
My initial leaf vac was an Agri-Fab Mow N Vac that I purchased new it lasted about 15 years before the cart fell apart and the plastic chute parts needed replacement. I rebuilt the cart and replaced the plastic parts for an added investment of $250.00. The unit works great and I can't complain.
I purchased a Cyclone Rake a couple years after the Agri-Fab for use at my weekend getaway in Michigan. The Cyclone rake started showing wear and tear after 3 seasons and after 5 years the canvas had holes in it. The sixth year the unit inhaled an oak stick and it broke the crankshaft in the engine.
I replaced the Cyclone Rake with a well used/worn Trac-Vac, the Trac-Vac has no plastic parts to crack and no canvas to wear out. This has been the 6th year using the Trac-Vac that was well used when I got it, it still works great with a nice clean path behind it.
My vote is for the Trac-Vac.
I pull the Agri-Fab around a heavily wooded 2 1/2 acres with a John Deere 420. The Trac-Vac is pulled around a heavily wooded 1 1/2 acres by my 1962 Cub Cadet 100.
Click to expand...

lawn mower fanatic said:
WOW...you have a lot of leaf vacs!! Even though the Cyclone Rake got worn out, would you still recommend it?
Click to expand...

lostinbaja said:
The Cyclone Rake just doesn't seem as heavy duty as the other 2 units and the Trac-Vac is absolutely the most HD out of the three that I have owned.
Click to expand...

lawn mower fanatic said:
OK...nice to know! :thumbsup:
Click to expand...


The cyclone is a good machine but the trailer canvas don't last long with heavy use. I would like to buy just vac part again. It worked well.


#27

F

fastback

I also own an Agri-fab Mow N Vac and I also had to rebuild the trailer. I saved the old rotted metal and use it or other projects when I need sheet metal. The rebuilt trailer is made out of 1/2 inch plywood and I expect will outlast the original sheet metal unit.

My vac is around 13 years old now. It still works well. I also replaced some of the pieces like the vinyl type material on the end of the shoot (twice). Once I needed to remove the flywheel on the blower to straighten the fins (rock damage).

I would consider buying another one when this one bit the dust.


#28

L

lostinbaja

fastback said:
I also own an Agri-fab Mow N Vac and I also had to rebuild the trailer. I saved the old rotted metal and use it or other projects when I need sheet metal. The rebuilt trailer is made out of 1/2 inch plywood and I expect will outlast the original sheet metal unit.

My vac is around 13 years old now. It still works well. I also replaced some of the pieces like the vinyl type material on the end of the shoot (twice). Once I needed to remove the flywheel on the blower to straighten the fins (rock damage).

I would consider buying another one when this one bit the dust.
Click to expand...

My trailer didn't rot out, the axle mounting bolts and front support mounting bolts started ripping through the sheetmetal floor of the trailer.
My neighbors have definitely been paying attention to my leaf collection techniques, one bought a new Trac-Vac and two bought Agri-Fab units this past fall. :smile:


#29

lawn mower fanatic

lawn mower fanatic

lostinbaja said:
My trailer didn't rot out, the axle mounting bolts and front support mounting bolts started ripping through the sheetmetal floor of the trailer.
My neighbors have definitely been paying attention to my leaf collection techniques, one bought a new Trac-Vac and two bought Agri-Fab units this past fall. :smile:
Click to expand...

I guess you have an audience when you are doing that! :laughing:


#30

J

Jhon

The thing I like about the Cyclone Rake is the optional leaf bags you can buy that go into the cart. This would make it easy to dump my leaves in my big 4 X 8 trailer to haul off to the dump. Without this option, it would be pretty hard to transfer my leaves to my trailer. Seems like the agri-fab is simply a dumper.
I don't own either, but plan to buy one or the other someday.


#31

lawn mower fanatic

lawn mower fanatic

Jhon said:
The thing I like about the Cyclone Rake is the optional leaf bags you can buy that go into the cart. This would make it easy to dump my leaves in my big 4 X 8 trailer to haul off to the dump. Without this option, it would be pretty hard to transfer my leaves to my trailer. Seems like the agri-fab is simply a dumper.
I don't own either, but plan to buy one or the other someday.
Click to expand...

That is why I like where I live.....we can just dump the leaves in the road....no need to haul it to the dump!


#32

slammed

slammed

Jhon said:
The thing I like about the Cyclone Rake is the optional leaf bags you can buy that go into the cart. This would make it easy to dump my leaves in my big 4 X 8 trailer to haul off to the dump. Without this option, it would be pretty hard to transfer my leaves to my trailer. Seems like the agri-fab is simply a dumper.
I don't own either, but plan to buy one or the other someday.
Click to expand...

You can put bins in all the leaf trailers like the cyclone rake. Just look for square bins they fit better.


#33

tigercat

tigercat

I have an acre here with a short ton of leaves in the back yard. My 3 yrd old Craftsman yard tractor is so fragile and the 3 bucket grass catcher is just pure junk. After replacing the grass catcher for the second time last year (another $400 bucks) It cracked again and woundn't stay on the deck of the tractor. I had enough and broke down and bought a Scag Tiger Cat.
I used it yesterday and man oh man I should have bought a commerical machine years ago! I'm pleased with the Scag so far. The yard tractor will be placed to mulching and lawn cart duties. When it blows a bearing I'll give it away. Here are a few pictures of the new machine.

:smile:








#34

slammed

slammed

Nice tiger.


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