42 inch sweeper vs. power flow bagger on Z445

[fabsroman]

I have a Z445 Zero Turn that I use to mow our 2 acres. Most of the time, I don't need to bag the clipping, but about 2 to 3 times a year the lawn gets away from me for a week or the rain is just insane and I find myself out there with a rake and trash cans. If there is anything I hate more than moving grass, it is raking. So, I am debating a power flow bagger, but that thing is extremely expensive and I don't need it all the time. Guessing it would be a pain taking it off and on whenever I needed it or did not need it. So, with cost and simplicity in mind, I thought about getting the 42" pull behind sweeper. My question is whether the sweeper will work adequately on grass clippings. Not too worried if it leaves a little behind, but would just like to get rid of the hayfield look the couple of times I have it a year. Thanks in advance for the help guys.

 

[MrPete]

I am on my second sweeper in 25 yrs. They work great for clipping and leaves, as long as you have a fairly smooth lawn.

 

[yelbike]

Obviously you lose the zero turn capability when using the sweeper. Pretty hard to justify the power flow for 3—4 times a year though.

 

[fabsroman]

I am on my second sweeper in 25 yrs. They work great for clipping and leaves, as long as you have a fairly smooth lawn.

There is a small hill at the front of the yard, but nothing too terrible. Otherwise, most of the lawn is flat as a pancake and extremely smooth with decently lush grass. Only 4 trees total on the entire 2 acres and they are spread apart pretty decently.

For the couple times a year I will be using it, I can live without the zero turn capability. When I have to rake the stuff up, I usually wait a day for it to dry and then run the Z445 in a manner that I get the clippings in thick wide rows throughout the yard so I can just rake up the rows. It would be simple to run the sweeper over the rows a couple of times even if I have to make a large turn at the end, or I could just go from one row over to another and just make large circles instead. Yeah, this might actually work and be a lot less money and headache than the power flow bagger.

Might even work for all the little leaves I get from the two weeping willows we have.

 

[bjr]

Be really picky if you buy a sweeper. I bought the Agrifab 42" and feel like I just pissed away almost $300. I does a horrible job. It misses a lot. I'm constantly on and off the mower trying to get the sweeper at the correct height. I feel like I've a fairly flat lawn as well. I've about wore out the lawn just in driving in all directions trying to get it to pick up SOMETHING. The Bag Hopper won't fill up as it keep kicking the clipping forward and nothing else will go into the bag. Agri-Supply sells some that SAY they don't skip, but investigate first and then buy. bjr

 

[fabsroman]

Be really picky if you buy a sweeper. I bought the Agrifab 42" and feel like I just pissed away almost $300. I does a horrible job. It misses a lot. I'm constantly on and off the mower trying to get the sweeper at the correct height. I feel like I've a fairly flat lawn as well. I've about wore out the lawn just in driving in all directions trying to get it to pick up SOMETHING. The Bag Hopper won't fill up as it keep kicking the clipping forward and nothing else will go into the bag. Agri-Supply sells some that SAY they don't skip, but investigate first and then buy. bjr

Yeah, I read some horrible reviews about that sweeper. The reviews on the Johne Deere sweeper have been pretty decent. Not much bad about functionality, just durability. Since I only see myself using it 3 to 4 times a year, I seriously doubt durability will be an issue. Now, something not functioning properly will drive me nuts.

The Agri-Fab got about 2 stars and the John Deere got around 4 stars for whatever that is worth.