Opinions BCS 40" sweeper attachment

   / Opinions BCS 40" sweeper attachment #1  

jcraftenworth

Silver Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2016
Messages
148
Location
Hawley, MN
Tractor
Ford 9n, BCS 737
There's a used one 200 miles from me. Bristles look to be in good condition. He's asking $100. It uses the 3 dog pto so to use on my 737 I gather I'll need the 60 dollar pto converter, and I'll have to buy some caster height adjustment wheels as from the pic I got of it they appear missing. So with gas, pto converter and the wheels I figure I'll ultimately have around 200-250 into it. At the moment my landlord provides a bobcat snowblower for the farmyard snow removal, but who knows what the future may bring, and it looks like for sidewalks and paved driveways there's really nothing better even with access to the big blower.

Worth it??
 
   / Opinions BCS 40" sweeper attachment #2  
I'm guessing it's a Caravaggi sweeper with a BCS sticker. There's a guy up by red Wing that has a fleet of BCS-made sweepers, and he has had a lot of problems with the sweeper wrecking knuckles. The knuckles are very expensive because they are custom made and have to be bought from a dealer. I think they swing too far in offset, whcih burns them up pretty fast.

I have two Caravaggi sweepers. They're pretty good for sweeping gravel out of lawns at the end of winter, but they work best if you set them straight and drive forward and backward perpendicular to the road. They also work pretty well for cleaning driveway in small snowfalls. I don't think they'll do very well in heavy snowfalls. I also use mine when I'm cleaning out chicken barn. They work pretty well for sweeping up the last of the manure after cleaning it with the skid steer.
 
   / Opinions BCS 40" sweeper attachment
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Yeah if I didn't have the bobcat I'd probably look into a bcs snowthrower or maybe a truck with a mounted snowplow. But I figure the sweeper is the polisher and complements either of those machines in their work.
 
   / Opinions BCS 40" sweeper attachment #4  
Hi ;)

There has been very few posts in the 2-wheel tractor forum over the years, that has featured a sweeper for our tractors. In order to help users who might consider getting a sweeper themselves, I would like to share the experience that I have had with my sweeper during the last 11 years.

Early 2011 I was looking for a 2-wheel tractor with a sweeper, to help me keep my 250 m2 (2700 sq. ft) driveway free from snow in the winter. After a lot of research, I finally decided to purchase a BCS 740 with a BCS sweeper with a working width of 100 cm (40’’).

At the time, there were to my knowledge 2 brands of sweepers available for the BCS. The one was/is produced by the Italian company Caravaggi, but was/is in some markets sold with a BCS sticker on it in stead. The other brand was/is produced by BCS themselves to my knowledge, and is the one I will refer to in this post.

DSC06272.jpg IMG_1098.jpg

The left photo above shows part of my driveway, just before the sweeper has finished the job. Sweeping my driveway in the summer usually takes about 35-40 minutes, with the tractor in 1st gear and using half the working width. Driving this slowly and with this much overlap, gives a very nice finish, and also removes quite a lot of weed and moss between the concrete pavers, as the joints between the pavers are swept twice - and in opposite directions. When sweeping in the summer, I remove the two caster wheels supporting the sweeper. This way the brushes work the joints a bit harder, as all the weight of the implement rests on them. Secondly the sweeper follows the contours of my driveway better, and leaves no patches unswept.

The right photo also shows part of my driveway, but this time in winter and with the job completely finished. The sweeper works well in snow up to 10 cm (4’’), and can handle up to around 15 cm (6’’). I have found, that when sweeping snow, a part of the snow is carried over the broom, and ends up behind the sweeper - the deeper the snow, the more so. As I saw a lot of snow accumulate on the inner side of the front rubber lip, I decided to remove it. This helped quite a lot, and I haven’t used it ever since. Depending on the amount of snow, I use 30-45 minutes to clean my driveway.

The BCS sweeper is not build as heavy-duty as the Berta and Zanon implements that I have, but it is well designed, well build and nice to use. The broom can be angled around 15 degrees to the left or to the right, from its center position. This works very well with the long handle, which gives you a lot of leverage. Engine power is transmitted through the PTO to a gearbox in the center of the sweeper, and from there to the two halves of the broom. This means that there is a small gap between the two halves, where there are no brushes, and where the ground is not swept. This is most visible when sweeping snow, and the result can be seen on the right photo above, in front of the parked sweeper. Where a perfectly clean finish is needed, you need to sweep half working width, like on the left photo.


Best regards

Jens
 
   / Opinions BCS 40" sweeper attachment #5  
Hi ;)

There has been very few posts in the 2-wheel tractor forum over the years, that has featured a sweeper for our tractors. In order to help users who might consider getting a sweeper themselves, I would like to share the experience that I have had with my sweeper during the last 11 years.

Early 2011 I was looking for a 2-wheel tractor with a sweeper, to help me keep my 250 m2 (2700 sq. ft) driveway free from snow in the winter. After a lot of research, I finally decided to purchase a BCS 740 with a BCS sweeper with a working width of 100 cm (40’’).

At the time, there were to my knowledge 2 brands of sweepers available for the BCS. The one was/is produced by the Italian company Caravaggi, but was/is in some markets sold with a BCS sticker on it in stead. The other brand was/is produced by BCS themselves to my knowledge, and is the one I will refer to in this post.

View attachment 755284 View attachment 755285

The left photo above shows part of my driveway, just before the sweeper has finished the job. Sweeping my driveway in the summer usually takes about 35-40 minutes, with the tractor in 1st gear and using half the working width. Driving this slowly and with this much overlap, gives a very nice finish, and also removes quite a lot of weed and moss between the concrete pavers, as the joints between the pavers are swept twice - and in opposite directions. When sweeping in the summer, I remove the two caster wheels supporting the sweeper. This way the brushes work the joints a bit harder, as all the weight of the implement rests on them. Secondly the sweeper follows the contours of my driveway better, and leaves no patches unswept.

The right photo also shows part of my driveway, but this time in winter and with the job completely finished. The sweeper works well in snow up to 10 cm (4’’), and can handle up to around 15 cm (6’’). I have found, that when sweeping snow, a part of the snow is carried over the broom, and ends up behind the sweeper - the deeper the snow, the more so. As I saw a lot of snow accumulate on the inner side of the front rubber lip, I decided to remove it. This helped quite a lot, and I haven’t used it ever since. Depending on the amount of snow, I use 30-45 minutes to clean my driveway.

The BCS sweeper is not build as heavy-duty as the Berta and Zanon implements that I have, but it is well designed, well build and nice to use. The broom can be angled around 15 degrees to the left or to the right, from its center position. This works very well with the long handle, which gives you a lot of leverage. Engine power is transmitted through the PTO to a gearbox in the center of the sweeper, and from there to the two halves of the broom. This means that there is a small gap between the two halves, where there are no brushes, and where the ground is not swept. This is most visible when sweeping snow, and the result can be seen on the right photo above, in front of the parked sweeper. Where a perfectly clean finish is needed, you need to sweep half working width, like on the left photo.


Best regards

Jens
Thanks for your post. I have an older 40” Caravaggi sweeper than is having issues and and I looking to get a new one or a BCS brand. I use it mainly for sweeping dead grass and debris off grass. It dries really weak but I can’t use it at an angle at all or it will dig in and twist the machine and bend the adjustment bar. I see the BCS is built differently and might work better in That situation. Have you ever used your sweeper on grass on an angle, if so how does it work?
 
   / Opinions BCS 40" sweeper attachment #6  
Hi again jrpeterson05 ;)

I’m glad that you found my information helpful. In my post I did try to share all of my experience with the sweeper, so I really haven’t that much to add.

The sweeper has served me well for more than 12 years now, and I haven’t found any weak points at all, and I can therefore only recommend it (y)

Compared to the sweeper from Caravaggi, the one from BCS is basically build as one „solid“ unit, and does therefore not have as many moving parts as the Caravaggi. To change direction the sweeper will pivot as shown below:

1706447847788.jpeg 1706447882024.jpeg

I took the photos in my garage where all my implements are parked when not in use. On the left photo the sweeper is turned to the left, and on the right photo it is turned to the right. When connected to the tractor, the entire sweeper of course will move, and the coupling stay fixed in the straight ahead position.

I have no experience sweeping on grass, but I sweep at an angle almost all the time, and with no problems at all. My wife took this photo a few weeks ago, when I was sweeping 2-3’’ of snow in our driveway. Here the sweeper is angled to the right:

1706447767026.jpeg

As the sweeper rotates in the opposite direction of the tractor wheels when driving forward, the sweeper will exert a backward pressure on the tractor when working. If the tractor has enough grip, this is hardly felt at all, as the tractor will easily push the sweeper forward anyway. When sweeping at an angle though, the sweeper will exert a backward pressure in the opposite direction in witch it is turned. This can clearly be felt at the handlebar, and must be counteracted by the operator. Depending on the amount of snow, and how close to the ground the sweeper is working, one need to put more or less sideway force on the handlebars to drive straight ahead.

The BCS power sweeper is a good implement I would say, but sweeping dead grass put quite a lot of stress on any sweeper I would think. Compared to my photos, you probably would need to adjust the sweeper to its highest setting, to avoid that it will dig in.


Best regards

Jens
 
 
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