Extra large leaf sweeper

[Hay Dude]

Been looking around at leaf clean up options for large acreage on a limited budget. Blowers, vacuums/mulchers and sweepers seem to be the majority of options.
Running a Kubota ZD331 with 72 commercial deck.
Large area blower is pretty much out because of the complexity of the buildings, beds, parking areas, etc. too many objects to blow around in this housing complex. It would be a push type and not looking forward to doing all that pushing :laughing:
Vacuum/mulcher seems pretty good, but thousands of dollars. This will be the eventual way to go in the future, but as of now, I think it has to be a sweeper.
I do this housing complex 2X per year and a few other small places, so only talking about maybe 6 days a year of usage.

I have the ordinary large (48”) Agri Fab yard sweeper. I grind up the leaves and simultaneously pull the leaf sweeper. Works ok, but homeowners + at best build quality.
Do any of you have a larger, say 60 or 72” sweeper, with a commercial build quality I can pull behind a ZD 331 to pick up leaves?
I would think this would be an inexpensive, relatively good results way to go. Cheaper by quite a bit than a vac system where a second gas powered engine is required (can of gas, engine maintenance, more moving parts) as compared to a sweepers simplicity.

 

[RjCorazza]

I've never seen a sweeper that large. I have the same mower, and generally mulch leaves with gator blades and a discharge chute cover.
The Kubota baggers come up on the used market occasionally, but are still expensive used.

 

[PA hayseed]

I would love to find one 72" or bigger, never found one. Maybe EA could make one, have you contacted them? I did see one about 10 years ago but it was some cheap garbage I would never buy and almost looked hacked together. I was looking at vac systems but they are too pricey for what I would use it for. I just need it in one section of my field that grows 2x as fast as the rest. The best vac system I found was made by agrimetal, but that is some pricey stuff, unless your using it for a bunch of commercial accounts.

Wish you luck, if you find one please post back here.

 

[Ford850]

The Ohio Steel and AllFit Heavy Duty 50" sweeps at Home Depot were the heaviest and largest capacity (26cu.ft.) I could find. I bought the AllFit since that's what they had in stock locally. They are both made by Ohio Steel and are identical in every spec that I could find. I liked them because they used ball bearings, a larger brush, and were a little heavier than the others. I pull mine behind my 60" Grasshopper and it does fine, but boy it's a heavy load to dump if I collect chopped leaves and grass combined. The brush works great too. If I drive too fast it will sling the leaves up so fast they go over the bag instead of into it.
I've had mine for maybe 5 years, store it inside, and it's like new yet. I use it most to collect leaves for my leaf mulch pile, which is used to mulch peppers and tomatoes in the garden the following spring. I'm guessing I collect 30 large loads or so for that pile, each fall.

 

[DJ54]

If you have any local Spring consignment auctions around, I'd suggest going and look for one of these. I bought this one, complete with universal boot for the deck for $140. Brought it home, checked the oil, put some gas in it, and it started and ran on the second pull.

With that being said, due to my not removing the engine shroud until after the fact, the Intek Briggs engine only lasted the first round of vacuuming up grass from the lawn, which I use for mulch around plants in the garden. A mouse had built a nest next to the cylinder jug. I'm assuming the heat build up caused a piston ring to break, gouging the cylinder wall, ruining the engine. As luck would have it, a buddy had a chipper/shredder he bought for cheap to use the L-head Briggs re-power a garden tractor. It also had the MTD tapered shaft, like this Mow & Vac. I gave him the $20 he'd paid for the barely used engine, and had it switched out in about an hour. I did pull the shroud on this engine, to make sure there were no debris underneath. Used it all last summer to pickup grass, then my leaves in the Fall, plus 3 of the neighbors yards, to "harvest" the leaves, also for mulch for the garden, and it never missed a beat. I also bought an old Cub Cadet w/deck for $200, that needed some TLC. Ended up with less than $300 in it, to use with the Mow & Vac as a dedicated unit. She's not pretty, but works great..!!

 

[shooterdon]

I cannot see a sweeper being very practical as it fills up quickly with unmulched leaves. I have about 1 1/2 acres in the woods to deal with. Using a bagger on the rider I could not make one loop without needing to empty it. After that experience I did not even consider a sweeper.

This year I purchased a set of Gator blades and they did a good job. Not great but good enough for my needs. I cannot let the leaves buildup too much but riding around a few extra times beats having to dump stuff. Plus the leaves should help fertilize the lawn. For what they cost, it is worth a try. YMMV

 

[Hay Dude]

I cannot see a sweeper being very practical as it fills up quickly with unmulched leaves. I have about 1 1/2 acres in the woods to deal with. Using a bagger on the rider I could not make one loop without needing to empty it. After that experience I did not even consider a sweeper.

This year I purchased a set of Gator blades and they did a good job. Not great but good enough for my needs. I cannot let the leaves buildup too much but riding around a few extra times beats having to dump stuff. Plus the leaves should help fertilize the lawn. For what they cost, it is worth a try. YMMV

I chop up the leaves first with mower, then sweep. Reduces the amount of times the vac fills up and has to be dumped.