Leaf Planning - is a sweeper enough?

dalola · Aug 25, 2017

smstonypoint said:
IMO, the least costly solution (in terms of money and time) would be to add a chute blocker to your mower. The red maples and oaks (red and white) on the two + acres that I mow produce prodigious amounts of leaves. I added a chute blocker to my ZTR and mulch all of the leaves. The leaves are mulched so finely that I leave them in place. Of course, my lawn isn't "estate quality."

My blocker is similar to this:

View attachment 519730

Steve

Addendum

I forgot to mention that I also use "Gator" blades.

Could not agree more! Not only the cheapest, easiest solution, but the best for your soil as well. Mulched up leaves are great organic matter to go back into the soil. The key is the gator blades, or full length (sharpened) mulching blades, and good tip speed. I have a 3 acre yard full of sycamore trees, which the leaves are like leather. I start mulching when they are about half bare, up until early December, when they're all down. If they get ahead of me, I just go over the center path (mowing both directions) a third time, usually nothing bigger than the size of a quarter by then. I prefer NOT blocking the discharge opening, to maintain good underdeck suction to pull the leaves in. As mentioned, I mow "up & back" to create a bit of a leaf windrow, then hit the windrow a third time to really pulverize the last bits. Been doing it this way for years, with great results.

Gary Fowler · Aug 25, 2017

I don't have a lot of leaves but the ones I do have, I sweep up with my lawn sweeper, dump them in my garden then use the mower to run thru the piles to mulch them in place. IF I Mulched with the mower first they don't pick up well if at all with a lawn sweeper.
For light leaf covered areas I just run in circles mulching them up till very fine then make a couple passed to spread them evenly over the area. I don't do raking at all and don't have enough to justify a leaf vacuum.

CalG · Aug 25, 2017

Gary Fowler said:
I don't have a lot of leaves but the ones I do have, I sweep up with my lawn sweeper, dump them in my garden then use the mower to run thru the piles to mulch them in place. IF I Mulched with the mower first they don't pick up well if at all with a lawn sweeper.
For light leaf covered areas I just run in circles mulching them up till very fine then make a couple passed to spread them evenly over the area. I don't do raking at all and don't have enough to justify a leaf vacuum.

The amount of leaves makes so much difference. If I were to just "mulch in place", No grass would be able to grow through the cover.

The photos of the yard with the tractor and bagger and the mower results included the comment "I don't usually let it get this bad". The fallen leaves shown could easily appear in just one day at my place. ;-)

Dealing with filled hoppers before one even makes it around the yard is what makes the task so frustrating. (And tossing the leaves over the bank so enticing ;-)

Texasmark · Aug 26, 2017

I use a DR leaf vac. Actually I have 2 now. One attaches to a riding lawn mower. When full I drive over to my manure spreader and dump the hopper. When the pile is of sufficient size, I use the other one (motorized impeller and hoses) to suck the leaves out of the pile and into the manure spreader which is attached to a tractor. When full the spreader goes out to one of my hay patches and deposits the leaves in a strip. When time and weather permit, I incorporate the leaves into the soil.

Stubee · Aug 27, 2017

I've got leaves about like that at two places. One is mostly red oak, and mulching bushel after bushel of those in doesn't do much for my grass. I need the grass what with 5 grandkids & a dog running in and out; keeps the dirt load off the floors a bit.

I used to rake into a tarp then haul--drag is more accurate--100+ yards up a mild grade to the woods. I bought a used JD LX176 with a bagger about 16 years ago: best decision I ever made! That's blowing a lotta oil finally so I bought a JD X300 with bagger and took the 176 to the place with a bit less leaves.

The baggers work well IF you get the high lift blades & take your time.

cj1 · Sep 3, 2017

AHHH my shoulder! My back! Enough of that! I have 1.5 acres. Not a lot of land, but covered with trees. When we moved in we tried the leaf blowers, mulching, and lawn sweepers.

Lawn sweepers - if you have more than one tree, they aren't worth your time. Leaves tend to fly past the hopper or don't even get picked up. Setting the unit properly takes some time. They don't work well on varying terrain.

Leaf blowers - we have started off with a hand held cheap unit from our previous property. Ya, that melted! I have a Husqvarna backpack now. A little heavy, plenty of power, but still takes longer than I like and the back and shoulder pain is too much.

Mulching - we did this a lot and sometimes still do when the leaves start falling or after the majority have been picked up. This isn't a good option for us when there are a lot of leaves on the ground.

We now have a DR leaf vacuum. I love it now, but it was a little tedious to get it setup just right and you have to understand how to use it. Unlike the Cyclone Rake, the DR does pivot like a normal trailer. I like that idea because I don't want my trailer swinging in tight spaces. I think determining if a pivot/no-pivot is better for you will be based on your yard. The DR has plenty of suction and even will pick up smaller sticks. Big sticks may get stuck in the chute. The DR unit does mulch the leaves a bit just like most units. I dump the leaves in a low area of the yard and by the end of the following summer they are back to dirt. Works great! What do I not like? It is heavy. A lot heavier than I expected. In fact, deliver it on a pallet heavy, but when you look at the construction you notice that it is built tough. So I can live with that. It does break down for storage, but maybe not as easily as the Cyclone Rake. The DR bed tilts and can be used for other yard work. I chose to buy an all metal discharge boot from another manufacturer vs. using the discharge boot from DR. DR customer service is great!

All in all we went from spending a whole day with 2-3 family members cleaning up leaves to just myself spending 2-3 hours on a weekend. The wife is happy!