Leaf Removal

[TimberXX]

Whats your favorite attachment for getting rid of leaves?

 

[Toddao]

The wind! It blows them away.

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[Streetcar]

Mower

 

[oldballs]

Since the mower is off and the FEL/RB/Chains are on, the leaves have been piling up especially in the front of the place. Thus I spent a couple hours yesterday with the leaf blower (it was dry and the wind in my favor) corralling them to blow under the hedge row along the road. But sometime I'll have to rake them out and run them thru the shredder because they are about two feet deep along about 400 feet. In the summer they become a fire hazard. Yet, for the time being, they won't smother the lawn as snow buries them for the winter. I wish I had a better way....or some hired help...or..some willing grandkids. I ran out of time to get the old tractor, with a mower attached, ready to work. Geeze.

 

[amaxwell]

Whats your favorite attachment for getting rid of leaves?

A mulch plate to cover the discharge on the mower, and mow them wet so they don't blow away.

 

[jlgurr]

A match...

 

[MikeInEburg]

Leaves are free fertilizer - I'd highly recommend running over them with a mower and letting them benefit lawn and garden.

 

[Katahdin]

My toro z420 mower with the mulch kit.

 

[TimberXX]

Does anyone have issues after mulching that the leave mat down and kill the grass in the spots.

 

[2458n]

Flail mower really does the job on a couple of extra lots with a large number of oak trees. When they are dry the leaves disappear.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

I've got about 1 1/2 acres here at the house. The leaves are so deep I can't just leave them or mulch and forget. They have to be burned.

I mulch with my JD or Husqvarna while pulling a lawn sweeper. It takes ALL DAY to get this burned.

 

[Halftrack]

I tend a 3 acre lot in a wooded subdivision. In the past I have spent a day per weekend mulching leaves with a zero turn and a 25 horse compact with a 5' deck. The zero turn was used to blow leaves together and the 5' deck with a discharge cover was used to mulch. It took all day and only covered the level areas.

I had been looking for an alternative and bought a used 6' Mathews Company Lawn Genie to try. After windrowing the leaves into strips about 6' wide with the zero turn, I went over the windrow with the Lawn Genie with the hopper chute closed. Two trips with the chute closed reduce the volume to 1/4 of what it was before and then a trip with the hopper chute open collected the leaves for transport. 20+ trips and with my brother running the zero turn and I running the LG we had cleared about 2 of the level acres in about 3 hours. We were both surprised how well it mulched and then cleared. Now the draw backs- that machine is HEAVY!!!! I don't have a loader on my TC 33 so I have had to add front weights just to pick it up. Add a hopper full of leaves and I need another front weight. Then, what do you do with all those leaves? I hate to burn them, like all the neighbors, so I am anticipating hauling them away and spreading them on a local farmers field.

This LG was in very good shape considering it's age but I would hate to think about the cost of replacing blades, etc. For that reason alone it may sit in the barn the rest of the year. Sorry, no pictures but we may use it one more time, weather permitting, and I'll try to get some then.

 

[Tompet]

Raking leaves is one thing I have a lifetime of experience. Favorite tool is an old Cub Cadet pulling a large Trac Vac and a back pack blower. I pile them in the woods and rotate the prior year's pile to use as mulch around plantings and in the garden over one layer of old newspaper. It was something my dad did years ago when he had a huge vegetable garden. It works great on the garden and for the most part eliminates weeding the rest of the season, though now with me the garden is tiny! Using the lightly ground leaves as mulch around planting beds, IMO looks and works as well as bark mulch. BTW, I think the best mulch is small pine bark nuggets, but that is another story. By the third year, usually turning once or twice with the FEL the leaves are almost like peat moss and I usually mix them in with a compost pile.

I'm all for mulching or leaving them on the ground, but depending on the lawn and if it is flat or low wet areas, a heavy layer of leaves, in my experience, can not only hurt the lawn but make for a muddy yard that does not dry out very well.

Over 30 years ago my neighbor told me to stop by and see what he inherited. It was a Trac Vac. First time I saw one and prior to that it was rake leaves on a tarp or rake a bunch of piles and pickup with a yard trailer. When I was little it was a family affair. I had used a push blower at someone's property but the Trac Vac wowed me. So I said where do they sell them and how much. Well, I just got my first charge card. First purchase was a Trac Vac. I remember I talked them down to $900. out the door unassembled. That was a huge amount to me back then. I took it to my buddies house and we put it together, hooked it up to the Cub Cadet and still remember the smile my dad had when he saw me drive across those leaves the first time.

It actually makes the chore enjoyable. I have a larger Trac Vac now, but it is the same 1968 Cub from when I was a kid. Btw, just put a new engine in it this year. That is all it is used for, picking up leaves. It works great without all of the safety switches!

 

[joemd11]

Been using my new Cyclone Rake. Seems to do a really nice job even on the Oak leaves and it is easy to dump. Not sure about the durability of the fabric body and the Velcro fasteners. Time will tell.

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[pmsmechanic]

I tend a 3 acre lot in a wooded subdivision. In the past I have spent a day per weekend mulching leaves with a zero turn and a 25 horse compact with a 5' deck. The zero turn was used to blow leaves together and the 5' deck with a discharge cover was used to mulch. It took all day and only covered the level areas.

I had been looking for an alternative and bought a used 6' Mathews Company Lawn Genie to try. After windrowing the leaves into strips about 6' wide with the zero turn, I went over the windrow with the Lawn Genie with the hopper chute closed. Two trips with the chute closed reduce the volume to 1/4 of what it was before and then a trip with the hopper chute open collected the leaves for transport. 20+ trips and with my brother running the zero turn and I running the LG we had cleared about 2 of the level acres in about 3 hours. We were both surprised how well it mulched and then cleared. Now the draw backs- that machine is HEAVY!!!! I don't have a loader on my TC 33 so I have had to add front weights just to pick it up. Add a hopper full of leaves and I need another front weight. Then, what do you do with all those leaves? I hate to burn them, like all the neighbors, so I am anticipating hauling them away and spreading them on a local farmers field.

This LG was in very good shape considering it's age but I would hate to think about the cost of replacing blades, etc. For that reason alone it may sit in the barn the rest of the year. Sorry, no pictures but we may use it one more time, weather permitting, and I'll try to get some then.

I use a Lawn Genie too. I always watched the neighbour use his and I thought it would make a great leaf pickup tool. When the neighbour passed away his grandson didn't realise what he had and I bought it for $200. One of my better deals. I had to replace the bearings on the rear roller, the tires, one rim and a few flails. Flails are not that expensive. Operators manual was a free download complete with parts diagrams. I like your idea of shredding the leaves several times before picking them up. I usually just wait until they are good and dry. One thing that going to happen yet is a hydraulic cylinder to unload with. It was an option when they were new. I have a few cylinders lying around and that crank thing is just annoying.

 

[Wolfy]

I see a lot of people using backpack blowers, and trac-vacs. Those $300 leaf sweepers you pull with a garden tractor actually work decent, but they are time consuming.

 

[bd53bz2]

I am less than a acre of lawn (luv it when u guys talk about multi acres!) I use a Snapper tractor with their 'Ninja' blade , chute blocked. Multch where they stand. I don't wait until they are all down. Probably did it a half dozen times, but with a brew in the cup holder, didn't mine riding around. I have been doing it this way for about 4 seasons and hasn't hurt the lawn yet.

 

[Baby Grand]

We have a Cyclone Rake - it's close to ten years old now. It's now on it's 3rd tractor - our Kubota G5200 mower.
Does a great job clearing the lawn in one pass. Chops & reduces the leaves quite a bit.
We do like Tompet and bank that brown gold for use on our vegetable garden.
It's greatly reduced weeding and improved the soil quality.
Lots of worms working within a month, wherever we put down a good layer of that leaf mulch.
If you can let the grass get a little on the long side before you suck up the leaves you get a good mix of green grass clippings with the brown bits and that seems to make for a very fast acting breakdown.

 

[Baby Grand]

We have a Cyclone Rake - it's close to ten years old now. It's now on it's 3rd tractor - our Kubota G5200 mower.
Does a great job clearing the lawn in one pass. Chops & reduces the leaves quite a bit.
We do like Tompet and bank that brown gold for use on our vegetable garden.
It's greatly reduced weeding and improved the soil quality.
Lots of worms working within a month, wherever we put down a good layer of that leaf mulch.
If you can let the grass get a little on the long side before you suck up the leaves you get a good mix of green grass clippings with the brown bits and that seems to make for a very fast acting breakdown.

 

[Jkott]

When I bought my half acre wooded lot, the first year or two I tried to just use the riding mower and bag them and take them to the town leaf dump. That took way too much time, so I eventually bought a Brinkley hardy leaf vac that hooks up to the discharge chute on the little JD STX38 mower.

Over the years, I have found mulching them frequently as they fall, before they get too thick to make it under the front lip, works quite well. I use normal lift blades with the mulching kit on (restricts the side discharge). One of the last mowings of the season I use the leaf vac to pickup the leaves. A good amount stays on the ground, but any excess that would choke out the yard gets picked up. Those get composted in the back corner or put into the garden and tilled in the next spring.