Cleaning lawn of branches

[gmgm]

I have a spring-tine harrow (UK term) on the 3pt, it picks up the smaller branches pretty well. Anything I can drive over, it will drag along.

 

[kenmbz]

I found my little spring tine dethatcher just clogged up too fast with little stuff.

 

[Thomas]

I would use bucket only because land not level you may dig in,which means another thing added to your things to do list.

I've used the rake before and work ok,just go slow on uneven ground.

 

[WinterDeere]

I had the same problem. On my 4 acres I had 21 big mature trees and 8 of them were black walnut. I was out there picking up sticks nearly every time the wind blew.

You got me curious, so I just went out and counted. Lot with the house is 4 acres, with approximately 3 acres of that being grass. Just counting trees in or overhanging the yard, I counted 99 trees, with 68 of them being mature black walnuts. I pick up a LOT of walnuts in the fall, like a pickup truck load per week. But you can understand the branch issue!

Here’s something that might work to push small twigs & branches to a pile

Zero turns can be used for lots of things other than mowing

I like that! In fact, I already have a mount for my JR Co Blower Buggy, which could adapt to a rake like this. Do you think branches would get tangled up too much in the front casters, though? Anyone here use one of these?

4 acres of lawn would be way more than I want.

Same. It was about 6 acres of lawn when I moved in, including the adjacent empty lot. I've got it paired down to about 3 acres of finish mowing now, having planted more than 100 trees and converting large swaths to gardens. I've been optimizing the mowing/trimming routine to where now in under 2 hours, I can mow the entire lawn, string trim half of it, blow off the driveway, walks, and patios. I string trim half the lot on one mowing, the other half on the next, mowing every 4th day during peak growing weeks (May/June, and again in September). Zero weeds to mow, so I can back way off in our usual summer heat and drought, sometimes almost skipping the whole month of July.

 

[Diggin It]

I pick up a LOT of walnuts in the fall, like a pickup truck load per week.

Is there a market for you to sell them as a crop?

 

[groundcover]

Everyone that has one of these in the tree business swears by them. Set up to go on the Branch Manager grapple but probably wouldn't be too tough to rig something to the JRCO .

Branch Manager Mini Grapple Rake

Shop the Branch Manager 53" Mini Grapple Rake at SHERRIILLtree.com

sherrilltree.com

 

[oldballs]

Here's my routine....

On the "front yard" of my three acres, many Sycamore, Soft Maple, Black Walnut trees drop lots of stix/limbs just like the OP. The trees are about 50 years old. Also, my place has Cedars and Pines along the property line on three sides also about 50 years old.....and I have a 50 x 100 garden.

I'm over 90 YO and consider picking up the larger stuff a PITA...but is also good exercise. I stack the debris in a couple locations along the perimeter....and ...then run it thru a MacKissic chipper/shredder (SC1650-HTE) when I feel like dealing with it. Occassionally I hand rake the small stuff and spread it under the cedar hedge

Really big limbs either go into the burn pile or are run thru my Woodland Mills WC-68 chipper. Chips/shreds from either machine are spread inside the cedar hedges, or in the garden...or along paths. I'm doing less and less burning however.

These machines have aided in other projects that turn up.
Cheers,
Mike

 

[4570Man]

I just pick up the one bigger than a few inches diameter and mow over all the small ones.

 

[Torvy]

My trees make a nice bed of needles that prevent many other things (like lawns) from growing . No need to mow or pick up branches before I mow.

Either remove the trees or remove the lawn. Which do you like better?

 

[jjeff]

Kids work great they have amazing little pea pickers, gets them outside and off I pads pick up sticks all day throw them in the bucket or garden trailer, wife or I drive the L2850 or the old 212 in the end we all win cause we usually get ice cream. Lol