Building my own Leaf/Grass Vacuum system

[sandman2234]

UHMW is good stuff too, never can remember what all those different plastics we messed with at the shop are and what each was good for. I figure anybody with any connections in plastic could get the right stuff advice from them. Even plastic signs like the two I tore down at the church would probably work well as long as you weren't too hard on it when it was used for something besides leafs and grass.
David from jax

 

[BTDT]

Might try some of those political posters/signs (corrugated plastic and free after an election, lots of sizes) glued to the bed and sides of your trailer with liquid nails or something. I bet they are slick enough for grass/leaves to slide out easily.

 

[SkunkWerX]

I found enough of the same metal to cut the whole top out and make the whole top the vent, performance was improved.

Exactly, if you look at a Trac Vac roof, you will see a Roof Vent, (hood scoop) it's wide open to let out the rushing air.
The solids are "barely" suspended in the air as it is rushing into the hopper, once you bleed off some of the air, gravity takes over, and the particulate matter falls into the hopper. When you are full, stuff starts blowing out the roof scoop, so you know it's time to dump.
It would be more perplexing if I hadn't used a Trac Vac a few times before this.

The thickness of my blower housing is better than 16 gauge. I'm using 16 gauge for some of my Inlet/Outlet flanges, and it's thicker than that. probably 14 Ga. ? Sturdy enough for me.

I am going to use metal siding leftover from my pole building construction to make a topper for the garden trailer. Was gonig to start with the 4' by 6' trailer, but, I'm wimping out and starting with the standard Craftsman dump Cart. I'll "Go Big" once I know I have working unit.

On the topic of easier dumping: I was going to re-paint the interior of the trailer with EZ Slide graphite paint. It is used on farms for grain conveyors and such.
Van Sickle Paint &#34EZ-Slide&#34 Graphite Based Coating, 12.8 Aerosol Spray, Model RB95120 (usahardware.com)
My dad used it under his mower deck to keep grass from clogging, it works well. I think using that on the floor and sides of the garden cart should do the trick.

I did make my "Quick connect" last night, where the hose hooks onto the blower Inlet. I palce small angle brackets, and a spring holds the metal hose connector onto the blower inlet. This way, should there be a Clog, the spring can be removed and the connector pulled off of the Inlet flange to clear the Clog. I may end up using this method for the connection at the Discharge chute, also.

 

[sandman2234]

Those signs might would work, but I don't think putting a bunch of them together is a good idea. The seam would tend to catch things and reduce the slide effect. If you can find one sign large enough, go for it.
I hadn't seen the graphite paint, looks like a good idea. The incline in my hopper is steep enough that dumping isn't a problem. All I have do do is open the rear door which is hinged at the top and drive away.
David from jax

 

[vaskeet]

for unloading what about puttin in a load handler like this.
Load Handler Cargo Unloader — 3000-Lb. Capacity, Commercial Grade | Hoists, Lifts, + Cranes | Northern Tool + Equipment
you would have to remember to unroll before you loaded the grass but it may work.

 

[sandman2234]

I think Berniep had a good suggestion when it comes to that. Don't try to over engineer it...
That looks like a lot more work that just a regular dump trailer or one like mine that has the angle built into the floor so the tailgate is the only thing stopping it from sliding out.
David from jax

 

[KentT]

I have a 30+ year-old cart & vac from Simplicity (who owns Giant Vac) that I've used for a long time... so, here's a few ideas to think about:

1. Make the input hose to the vac 1" bigger than the outlet hose to the cart...

2. There's a reason for the the deflector over the open roof vent -- it sends dust to the back of the machine instead of straight up in the air to fall back down on you... A vented tailgate, with the vent at the top of the tailgate, works as well...

3. Use a slick mat of some kind in the bottom of your dump cart (those blue poly tarps MIGHT work) -- then you can grab it (or tie it to something) and pull the cube of material out the back...

4. Gator Blades will allow you to put about 3 times as much stuff in your cart before you have to empty it -- if you can find them to fit your mower. But, they don't have quite the lift of normal hi-lift blades, so you need a lot of suction from your vac...

5. I made a short length of clear tubing (by rolling up and pop-riveting thin plexiglass) that I use between the mower deck and the vac. I can watch the clippings and see when I have a clog and nothing's going up the tube...

 

[SkunkWerX]

I have a 30+ year-old cart & vac from Simplicity (who owns Giant Vac) that I've used for a long time... so, here's a few ideas to think about:

1. Make the input hose to the vac 1" bigger than the outlet hose to the cart...

2. There's a reason for the the deflector over the open roof vent -- it sends dust to the back of the machine instead of straight up in the air to fall back down on you... A vented tailgate, with the vent at the top of the tailgate, works as well...

3. Use a slick mat of some kind in the bottom of your dump cart (those blue poly tarps MIGHT work) -- then you can grab it (or tie it to something) and pull the cube of material out the back...

4. Gator Blades will allow you to put about 3 times as much stuff in your cart before you have to empty it -- if you can find them to fit your mower. But, they don't have quite the lift of normal hi-lift blades, so you need a lot of suction from your vac...

5. I made a short length of clear tubing (by rolling up and pop-riveting thin plexiglass) that I use between the mower deck and the vac. I can watch the clippings and see when I have a clog and nothing's going up the tube...

Kent, thanks for the info, all good stuff!!

1. I converted the input to 8", leaving the output at 7" , thinking of suction on one side and velocity on the other made me do it.

2. I am going to make the TracVac style vent, but was also considering vents at the back, up high. Will go fwd with that based on your input.

3. Going to use the graphite paint on metal pan.

4. When I had use of the Trac Vac, I tried to do "free mowing" first, then come back a day later for a Mow & vac session. This tended to chew up more material. But, will take Gaotr blades into accoutn when i do need new blades.

5. AWESOME idea!!! I like it!!

again, Thanks, this is the stuff that helps everyone.

 

[sandman2234]

My leaf vac is a little different than what you are building. It appears your putting yours on the discharge side of the mower, to pick up clipping and things. Mine is kind of like a "Billy Goat" vacumn but much larger with a very large storage compartment. It is pulled behind my mower, or even a golf cart and picks up loose leaves, grass clippings, sticks, pine cones, sand, rocks, gravel, bricks (just kidding on the bricks). Mine has a top hinged door that is spring loaded that once lifted allows everything to just slide out onto the ground. Pull up a little and close your door and back to work. I have never filled it completely up, but can imagine it would be extremely heavy when fully loaded. A couple acres doesn't even come close to filling it up.
I know I still need to post pictures of this one...
David

 

[SkunkWerX]

My leaf vac is a little different than what you are building. It appears your putting yours on the discharge side of the mower, to pick up clipping and things. Mine is kind of like a "Billy Goat" vacumn but much larger with a very large storage compartment. It is pulled behind my mower, or even a golf cart and picks up loose leaves, grass clippings, sticks, pine cones, sand, rocks, gravel, bricks (just kidding on the bricks). Mine has a top hinged door that is spring loaded that once lifted allows everything to just slide out onto the ground. Pull up a little and close your door and back to work. I have never filled it completely up, but can imagine it would be extremely heavy when fully loaded. A couple acres doesn't even come close to filling it up.
I know I still need to post pictures of this one...
David

David, yes mine is hooking to the discharge chute, but, I have enough 8 foot hose to hook up an alternate "Billy Goat" style vacuum, as well. After getting the system up&running, then I was thinking about making a sweep collection point that could be hooked up, using sheet metal and short peice of 8" hose. This way , it could be used like a floor Inlet in a Dust collection system, where you sweep or rake to the Inlet point.

My experience with the TracVac I was loaned taught me to do the Mow job first, grind up what I could, then come back for the MOW&Vac session, if possible the next day. Dry grass doesn't tend to clog and you get the added benefit of fitting more ground up material per load.

In the fall I have always used a home-made discharge block-off plate, which allows the mower decks to really re-grind the leaves several times before they slip out underneath the deck. (Caution: only use a block off plate when it is dry, with sharp blades). The block-off method doesn't quite give me the 10:1 reduction of a true shredder, but probably gets a good 5:1 grind on the material. Enough reduction that it goes straight into the compost pile.

The best decomposition is that fine mix of dried leaves and the last few lawn mowings of the year. Add some water, 10-10-10 and lime and it "bakes" down real nicely. I have ben using composted horse manure from down the road as a compost additive, wow, it supercharges the whole process.

 

[sandman2234]

I hadn't thought about the dry grass problem. I pulled mine behind my Steiner while mowing, and then made a quick pass over the whole thing to get what I missed. The pickup chute is slightly smaller than my 60 inch mower. The last time, I just made a separate run instead of using it while mowing so I didn't have to worry about it being back there while mowing. I don't remember if it was wet or not, since the Steiner doesn't care one way or the other, and the blower pulverizes the stuff into almost nothing.
David from jax

 

[53gravely]

a thought on unloading....
I have a 4x6 utility trailer with 2' high steel sides. For leaf season I have 4' plywood peices that I use to gain lots of capacity....I load the leaves and stomp them down then load more....gets very compacted. I make runs to the town leaf dump down here in Suburbia. After years of unolading 1,000 pounds of compacted leaves with a pitchfork, I wised up.

I take a 100 foot piece of rope...(one end has a loop) and lay the loop hanging over the front. I put the rest of the rope hanging over the tailgate. I load the trailer as normal then when I get to the dump I run the tag end of the long rope thru the loop then tie it off the the railroad tracks behind the dump area and pull the trailer forward. The whole load comes out as one "bale"....minimal calories expended.
See if you can't rig something to hold a rope to the top of the leaf trailer so you can tie off to a tree and drive away.

 

[sandman2234]

Good idea for people that have large leaves, or that rake the leaves, but in my case, if I were having a problem, a rope wouldn't work, as my vac pretty much pulverizes the leaves into powder, or slightly larger than that. Now a large belt or tarp done the same way would probably be wide enough to handle the stuff that my vac spits out, so would probably help others.
I think a sloped bed or a dump trailer would be a better choice, but we work with what we have, and if you don't have those, then the option of pulling it out is the next best thing.
David from jax

 

[Berniep]

I take a 100 foot piece of rope...(one end has a loop) and lay the loop hanging over the front. .

I am gonna try that if I ever use the grass catcher again. No rain her for a long time and none forecasted. Grass is looking kinda peeked.

 

[sandman2234]

Here is the nosecone of the "other" Giant Vac unit I have that has a hopper. I promised Nappy that I would take some pictures of it so he could fabricate a nosecone for the one he purchased from me. They made two sizes of the nosecones, 36" and 42", and this one is the larger one. Due to the size of the blower and the horsepower of the motor on that other blower, I would not hesitate to put at least 42" on it, and maybe think about putting a little bit more than that.

David from jax

 

[sandman2234]

There are more pictures of the Giant Vac unit with the hopper and nosecone in my Photo Gallery if anyone is interested.
David from jax

 

[SkunkWerX]

Progress report:

Sorry no pics for the moment, I'll be sure to get some soon.

-Discharge chute is 90% complete, just need to finish the square to 8" circle transition.

-The blower and motor are mounted on the 3PH carriage.

-The hoses and connection flanges are ready to hook up.

-The collection box is coming along, built the roof tonight, using the trac vac idea, open top with mesh, still need to make the "hood scoop" for it.
Used the corrugated metal for the roof, and 2x2 PT frame.
Tomorrow may get to the rear door/panel.

-Used rubber roofing membrane as the "gasket" where the discharge pipe enters the collection box. Cut the hole in the rubber slightly smaller than the 7" pipe size, so it has to squeeze through with a little stretching. Hopefully it will hold it tight enough so as not to need a mechanical fastener. The idea I have, is, to be able to remove the pipe for dumping, quickly and easily, and re-insert with same ease.

It will coming together now, as the sub-assemblies are finished.

Pics will follow...at some point. Thanks for your patience.

 

[SkunkWerX]

Pictures, as promised.

These two pics show the interior and exterior view of the Collection box.
Back door is next thing inthe works.

http://usera.imagecave.com/skunkwerx/LawnVacCollectionBoxExterior.jpg

http://usera.imagecave.com/skunkwerx/LawnVacCollectionBoxInterior.jpg

 

[sandman2234]

Your filter screen appears to be alot more open than mine, and I thought mine could use some smaller holes. Maybe you could put two layers instead of one and it would help keep the dust down.
A deflection shield on the inlet side of the box to turn the air stream down might also help.
How are you going to keep the wood from getting wet from the moisture in the leaves? Expoxy or just paint? Did you use marine grade plywood?
Just wondering...
David from jax

 

[SkunkWerX]

I'll use some waterproof deck-sealer on the plywood, then follow with some EZ Slide graphite paint on the interior sides and metal floor.

The collection box will be stored in my workshop, it's being built as a "take down" unit , so it will store flat when not in use. Let's say I have it assembled during the fall, I have room in Shop for it to be parked, out of the weather. I envision using this unit several times in the Spring, and then again from late Oct. through December for leaves, the rest of the time, it will be inside, de-assembled, dry, and stored. Should last for many years.

I'm not so much worried about dust as I'm trying to pick up leaves in the fall and thick grass in the spring, if a little bit escapes, no problem.

The total area of mesh opening might need to be larger, not smaller.
The principal behind how it works is a sudden pressure drop.
The leaves, grass, and particles "fall out" of the air stream due to sudden drop in velocity/pressure. Look closely at any TracVac, it's a simplistically great idea. No need for filtration, this is for bulk pick-up, not meant to vaccum down to micron levels. The more opening in the box, the more immediate the velocity drop, it's a bit counter-intuitive, the more openings, the more the debris will drop into the box.

I might even add some circular plastic vents high up on the back door , or at the back of the roof.

I will only add an interior deflector after testing and seeing a need for it.
Again, I want the air to go out of the box, not force it down into the pile where it may blow already collected material back to airborn.

The first run will certainly give me ideas for fine-tuning.

After having used a Trac Vac and examining how it worked, I think this will do a fair job.

More news to follow, this evening will be the back door construction.