Grass Catcher Solution For PT425

[MossRoad]

I never used a grass catcher, preferring to mulch. The rear discharge 60" mower on our PT425 does a pretty decent job, leaving a small windrow on the right side. By mowing in a clockwise direction from the outside of the yard towards the center, the windrow can be eliminated with each consecutive pass.

However, this year, I wanted to pick up the clippings to use as mulch in my garden around my tomatoes and peppers. I did not want to mess with a hose, powered sucker, cart, etc... so I went and bought a Brinly 42" lawn sweeper that is powered by its own wheels.

Assembly took a little less than one hour. The instructions had nice pictures and clearly labeled parts. The best thing was the hardware packaging. They took a thin sheet of carboard and printed 10 boxes on it. Each box corresponded to one of the 10 steps in the instructions. Each nut, bolt, wash, etc... was labeled on the cardboard and set above its label. Then it was shrink wrapped with thin plastic. There was a hole in the cardboard under each piece. This made each piece easy to either push through the back of the cardboard or pull up through the thin plastic. Very nice touch.

I ran it around the yard tonight and it tows just fine and does a fine job on the clippings. I can hardly wait for leaf season.

 

[MuncyBob]

The dethatcher/sweeper combo looks good also.....but I can wait for the leaf season!!

The sweeper would come in useful now for me...I also normally let the clippings lay but I decided to experiment on an area with corn gluten meal to control weeds and the grass is now very thick and growing at a rapid rate requiring me to mow it more frequently or I'll spnd a lot of time raking up lots of windrows.

 

[woodlandfarms]

The dethatcher/sweeper combo looks good also.....but I can wait for the leaf season!!

The sweeper would come in useful now for me...I also normally let the clippings lay but I decided to experiment on an area with corn gluten meal to control weeds and the grass is now very thick and growing at a rapid rate requiring me to mow it more frequently or I'll spnd a lot of time raking up lots of windrows.

Corn Gluten and a weed controller?

Going to have to research this...

 

[MossRoad]

Corn Gluten and a weed controller?

Going to have to research this...

It keeps seeds from sprouting.

 

[cqaigy2]

I've seen the corn gluten thing for sale for several years now. I'd give it a try, but I'm allergic to corn.

 

[KentT]

I've seen the corn gluten thing for sale for several years now. I'd give it a try, but I'm allergic to corn.

Know what you mean... it give's me a splitting headache, and I feel terrible the next day... Oh, I guess it depends on what kind of "corn" you're talking about.

 

[3238dpw]

Hey Moss, I am not sure what you call them but I have a bunch of those gum balls (the ones with the spikeson them) that fall in my yard every year. The word bunch is an understatement. Anyway do you think this sweeper would pick those up.

 

[MossRoad]

Hey Moss, I am not sure what you call them but I have a bunch of those gum balls (the ones with the spikeson them) that fall in my yard every year. The word bunch is an understatement. Anyway do you think this sweeper would pick those up.

Sweetgum?

I don't know. When I started towing it, I had it on the lowest setting and the brushes stopped the wheels from turning. So I put it on the highest setting and it ran fine. I dropped it down about two notches and like it there. It picked up sticks and maple spinners very well. I don't know how it would do with sweetgum seeds or walnuts, acorns, etc... While reviewing it before purchase, one person said they bought it to clean up under their pecan tree and it did very well for that.

 

[pajoube]

I bought one two months ago after a bad leaf season last fall. Have used it to pick up grass this spring and it works very well. If grass is wet and clumped up you will have some problems.
PJ

 

[MossRoad]

My lawn is not too thick anymore, since I stopped the neighbor's lawn service company from doing my lawn instead of his. As I may have mentioned before, all of the mailboxes are on my side of the street. My mailbox is at the end of my driveway. His mailbox is directly across the street from the end of his driveway, which just happens to be right in front of my front door.

 

[MossRoad]

I got to use my Brinly lawn sweeper to pick up leaves for the first time last night. I towed it behind the PT425 with the 60" mower deck running out front. I started on the outside and kept turning right so that the windrow that occurs under the right side of the mower was overlapped by a foot or so on each pass. It worked just fine. Only a few scraps of leaf shreds left here and there. Perfectly acceptable for me and a lot less mess VS just mowing the leaves and leaving them lay.

I also ran a long rope from the center of the rear of the hopper up along the left side of the engine compartment and tied it to the engine compartment lift handle. Just enough slack to make turns but not enough slack to get tangled in the left rear wheel or the broom. It was nice to be able to back up to a pile and just pull the rope and drive forward to dump the hopper. Never had to get off. Dumping spread the leaves forward about 10 feet, but I found if I just let the hopper back down and back up, it back-plows the leaves up into a nice pile. I had the whole yard mowed and leaf free in about 40 minutes.

Supposed to get lots of rain and wind this weekend, so next weekend after it dries out I'll try to take some pictures of it in action.

 

[Marks481]

I do find the lawn sweeper a worthwhile (and relatively inexpensive) attachment.

The only thing is that I feel like I am driving an 18 wheeler truck when I use it while I mow.... although I am starting to get good at driving backwards with it on.

The only downside is that the faster you drive, the better the lawn sweeper works. But when I hit tall grass, I tend to slow down to get a better cut and not bog down the engine... maybe time to put a hydraulic motor on teh sweeper so it always spins real fast?

Also, the lawnsweeper wheels tend to dig ruts in soft dirt, which played havoc with my last "lawn" which was 30% weeds, 20% rocks, and 50% dirt despite my dumping of seed and fertizler on it dedicatedly for 3 years. It works liek a charm where I live now with it's lush grass/clover lawn.