Rake Cyclone Rake Anyone?

[akadave]

Does anyone have any experience with a Cyclone Rake or another brand of yard cleanup vac? This would be pulled behind my Cub Cadet lawn mower, not my tractor, but after lurking here for a couple of years I do know the posters here are knowledgable about everything so I thought I'd see if anyone has an opinion.

I have lots of oak trees and just can't keep up with them so I need something to take care of the leaves. Do these rakes work as well as advertised? What are the pros and cons (other than price)?

Thanks.

 

[actionaj]

I have had a Cyclone Rake for about 4 years now. It is loud and dusty but I could not do with out it. Very well made machine good company to do business with and pays for itself when leaves fall.

 

[Old Paths]

I bought mine 2 weeks ago, have used it sparingly. Bought a returned unit (their policy is if you buy now, you can return it any time before Dec 31 09 at their expense). It was hard to tell from a new unit. I have a BX1500 w/ 48" mower, I mow about 3 acres. I have about 100+ trees in the front yard only, with 48 acres of woods. I am down in a hollow, so the leaves migrate into the yard. I bought the double wheels as an option, as this will fill up and be very heavy. It works great (Commercial Pro model). 8" hose w/ Kubota MMM deck adaptor from Kubota, which was about 150 dollars, the one from Cyclone Rake is only 79 dollars. I also upgraded the hose material ,and is more durable (I am told). It has the 3ph adaptor, which is included at no extra charge. I will get pics tomorrow, as I plan to do more sucking up of last falls leaves. I bought the 48" deck for the reasons cited above, as I need to mow between trees so much. I had a zero turn which dod terribly on the hills here. I have yet to plug up the unit. It will suck up wet leaves with no problem, it comes out as 1/4" to 1/2" mulch makings. It is expensive, but a real time giver-backer...
I recommend it highly, I have had a JD GT-225 with grass collection bins and that would plug up, a Gravely zero turn with blower powered off the deck, a cub cadet with EZ-vac attachment (they are out of business I think), it was anemic with only a 6" hose. Horsepower and big hose = success. I do not have high lift blades, just stock Kubota blades on the mower deck. Total with shipping and options was $1638, delivered. I cannot get over how fullit will pack. I believe it is a 6.5 hp Briggs, starts on 1 or 2 pulls, not that noisy. Dust, yes, but that is a byproduct of sucking up everything inits path. The plastic impeller is great, it flexes rather than suffers impact damage from stones.

 

[Timberman444]

The cyclone rake is probably one of the best things I have bought, cleaning up in the fall would take me 2 full days(about every other week) since I bought the cyclone rake, I now do the yard once a week and it takes me about 3-4hours depending on how many leaves have fallen. As mentioned the thing is loud as ****, definately get your self the best hearing protection, and plan on being covered in dust and tiny mulched up pieces of leaves. The hoses are not very strong at all, one night i left the small hose, the one that connects from the mower discharge to the rake, inside the cyclone rake curled up in a half circle, and the cold temps causes the hose to split. Also be careful when getting close to small trees, shrubs, basically anything that has branches low to the ground, because they will rip a hole in the rear cover. I tried saving my self some time by not using the hand held blower around the small trees, and blueberry bushes, and the cover got ripped. Ohh well live and learn.

 

[Baby Grand]

My MIL bought one of these about 3 or 4 years ago. I thought it was a toy, but I dutifuly put it together and set it up for her - it's mounted to her 12 HP MTD. The unit really impressed me with how well it works. She has a small lot, maybe 1/2 acre, but it's got 10 or 12 mature oak & tulip trees that dump leaves shin deep twice every Fall. She's 80 now and still does all the lawn work herself and this was entirely her idea - she identified the problem, selected, specified & ordered the product working with their sales people. She wears a dust mask, safety goggles and shooting ear protection when she runs it. I think she scares the neighborhood kids. If you get one you will have the ultimate compost making machine and, as Old Paths noted, you will get a big chunk of you Fall weekend hours back for other things.

-Jim

 

[sandman2234]

I purchased a Giant Vac pull behind, used, but decided to continue my practice of just blowing the leaves over to the side of my property. I traded it to a friend who used it maybe once and then his health went down to a point where I have been doing his yard. So the Giant Vac sits unused under his shed. It is for sale but shipping could be a problem, unless you in the path of one of my planned trips.
David from jax

 

[Squeak n Itch]

My SIL and I split the cost. He used it all last Fall and the weather changed too quickly for me to use here on my 5 acres. This Spring I got my chance an echo his praises of the machine. Well thought out and superbly engineered. A small advantage of having to wait til Spring is that the leaves are already somewhat broken down and mulch to very small pieces in the process. My garden has never received so much organic matter. This machine has given my old riding mower new purpose. The only problem for me is that I waited too long by debating if it would be worth it!

 

[Aquaman]

Does anybody know how good they are at picking up acorns?

 

[Old Paths]

Did not get pics today, my wife asked what time we were leaving for the wedding. I replied that I was already married, and once is enough! Apparently, I should talk more about the plans for the week. A family friend was married today, I forgot about it. I went to the wedding, no CR today. I also forgot my daughter was serving at the reception, so she took the camera. I was also informed that we have another wedding next Sat. So, I looked at the forecast, Rain (over an inch between Mon and Tue). Glad the CR is so fast. I did plug it up once though, my son pulled cattails from the pond, I usually chop with the mower into the woods. They were still wet. Wet cattails chopped into a paste will plaster anything in a hurry. Wet, swampy paste!. By the way, I have no acorns, but lots of the little tiny pine cones. They are a challenge, as they are small enough that the mower misses them, but I would guess that it gets 3/4 of them the first pass. I also have to agree with BabyGrand, gen into a pile or row, pull hose from mower chute, suck up piles. I will be looking at the long hose, it seemed a bit pricey at the time.

 

[Aquaman]

Thanks for the answers. Told me what I needed to know.

 

[Wildbill34]

I use a 854 Trac Vac and it picks up anything that isn't nailed down. I have to be careful what I am driving over. I have picked up more than one or two rocks before. However, if I drive too fast over a large pile of leaves the hose will get clogged. Either I shake the hose or I have to shut down the tractor and get off and pull the hose to clear it. Can be a pain once in a while.

 

[CHDinCT]

Looks like you made up your mind already, but if not, I agree with the other posters. The cyclone rake is well designed and made and greatly reduced my fall leaf clean up - 2 acres of trees. Mine is 5 years old and came with the 7" hose and a Tecumseh engine. They're now all 8" hose and Briggs Vanguard engines - nice improvements. On the hose, I've never had a problem with the stock hose material and I suck up acorns, hickory nuts, sticks of all sorts, rocks, and small brush. Only time it clogs is if a stick get stuck sideways, which is seldom.

I bought the 17" extension for doing beds, etc. I have some landscaped natural areas I can't get into with the tractor, so I use my back back blower to blow everything into a pile, then lay the hose extension down at the edge of the pile and use a rake to keep feeding material into the hose. Works great.

Oh, they are loud and can be dusty if the material being vac'd is dry. If the leaves are real wet, they won't mulch as much since the wetness seems to make them slide past the impeller more easily.

 

[bialecki]

I now had my CR for two years, I compared it to DR Power's vacuum. Dr's seemed a bit heavier duty, however, I could not store it nearly as neatly and compact as the CR. Both are very loud, you will need hearing protection, this is a must. The CR creates a lot of dust, so what I did was I went to Home Depot and bought the cheap blue furnace filters, sized to fit the air vent opening on the top of the CR bag and I wire tired the filter in the corners to the CR bag, this greatly improved the dust situation. The vacuum really performs as shown in their video and makes short work out of picking up the leaves and grass clippings. The thing that sold me aside from the performance was the way the unit folds down and the motor lifts off the unit for compact storage.

Bottom line, would I recommend this to a friend? Yes.

 

[akadave]

I posted this question over 15 years ago and since I know new searchers stumble across these old threads while researching I decided to update.

I did buy a CR and while pleased with the quality and function I was not pleased with the results. It did suck up the leaves but filled so quickly it took forever to make any progress. I also had problems with the lawn mower riding up on the leaves and losing steering ability. Both of these issues were probably more specific to my situation and the amount of leaves I was dealing with.

I quit using the CR after a couple years and started burning huge piles of leaves all around the yard. That's how I do it to this day. The CR hasn't left my shed in over 10 years. It was a failure in my experience and a waste of money for my application.

Again, the quality of the machine was fine and I give most of the blame to my particular situation. Just want guys to consider this before spending that much money.

 

[iptman]

What mower were you using? My CR has given me 10 years of flawless service and I have tons of leaves. I have experienced some of your issues but are all avoidable by slowing down or using it more often. I do find it's more effective behind my 42" Craftsman than my 61" Scag.

 

[texas42]

I've had a Cyclone Rake for over 10 years - pull it behind a 24 HP CUT with mid mount mower. Very good machine, it does what they say it will do, excellent customer service. But it is dusty and loud

 

[ultrarunner]

I’ve looked at CR thinking the extended vacuum hose would be a real time saver but each year I manage without taking the plunge.

It’s the protected oak tree leaves that depending on time of year require daily blow and go if not collecting to dispose.

 

[Racer4]

I had a CR for several years on my Wheel Horse 314-8. It worked very well. I made a bracket to support the hitch and distribute the forces to the factory bolt on snow plow mounts, in addition to the tongue mount. I upgraded to the urethane hose, which was good quality. Getting the leaves out was a bit of a challenge if they weren’t completely dry.

Mice got into the folded up unit when I hung it on my shed wall and ate some holes in the fabric.

Ended up selling it when I bought my Timecutter HD with the powered bagger. Much more maneuverable and easier to dump. Even if I have to dump every few minutes.

 

[RjCorazza]

My excuse for not getting the short listed Cyclone Rake over the years has been no storage space. I now have space, so I'll have to read up on the subject again.
Currently I have (2) large oaks in my fenced yard, and I mulch the leaves in place every day or two in the fall. I want to try a relatively new flail mower on leaves this year, particularly on several customer's lawns with a lot of leaves.

 

[iptman]

I have 2 and half acres of yard surrounded by oaks, poplars and maples. I get pummeled with leaves every year. 10 years ago I was quoted $2000 to have a yard company do my leaves that season so the CR has more than made up for its cost. I've had a couple holes in the bag that I've patches using their patch kits and they've held up. With how well the mower and CR mulch the leaves they get super compacted in the bag. I have the bigger unit and when that thing is full it's a tail wagging the dog situation when using the 42" Craftsman LT1000. It's just too light. This doesn't happen when using the Scag. When the bag gets full it's impossible to just tilt and dump. The leaves are packed in there, especially when they're wet. My method is to back up where I want to dump, open it up and use a hard rake to pull out about a third of the leaves, then tilt the bag up and whip-tail the mower and sling the rest of the leaves out. It's not ideal but I can't figure a better way and haven't seen a better option on the market. There's no great way to tell how full the bag is getting until it's so full the leaves are spitting out the bypasses above the impeller but once you do it a couple times you get the feeling for when the bag is getting there and just keep a look behind you. If you can reach your hand back you can feel for higher velocity and volume of air coming out of them which tells you the bag is getting full. The smaller the volume of the mower deck the more suction you'll get and the better it'll pick up the leaves. I get 100% of the leaves up with the LT1000 and probably 95% of them with the Scag. And really what's left with the Scag are chopped up leaves from the mower blades. Not terrible but not a super clean look like I like. My LT1000 is on its last leg so I'm considering looking for a JD X5xx to replace it. I think the heavier mowers with a 48-54" deck would be the sweet spot for the CR, especially if it has a locking rear diff. My problem is spending $2-3k on a used mower that'll only get half a dozen uses every year.