Stick & Branch cleanup on my lawn?

[CDN Farm Boy]

I've got about an acre of lawn and 1200 ft of lane with a ton of trees that like to shed their branches. Primarily maple, willow and poplar dropping branches from the size of a pencil to the size of my arm. Cleanup in the spring is a pain by hand. Ground is rough (I probably need a dozen loads of topsoil to smooth it out) but no slopes. Mowing is done with a 5' RFM behind my B3300SU.

Any suggestions on attachments and techniques? Don't bother suggesting cutting down the trees.

I've thought of
landscape rake
rotary broom, either loader mount or 3pt
wheel rake
chain harrows
screw it and mow over them

Other than the mower, I'd have to buy/build anything else.

 

[creekbend]

We live on 30 acres. There is about 5 acres in trees. The trees line he driveway and the trails through the property. Our Son and I take the inside dog for a run twice daily. The runs are 1/2 mile long, both morning and evening. We use the golf cart, take a couple of hand rakes with us, and place the limbs on the golf cart and take them to the burnpile. It took three days to do this after the big storm last week, but I "kill two birds with one stone" doing it this way. It probably won't be fast enough for you, but it works for me. Best wishes.

 

[32 chev]

A pine straw rake will pick up most snall sticks and small limbs.

 

[bigtiller]

We have a lot of old trees in our yard so nearly every time the wind blows I am out there picking up sticks. I pull a home-made miniature haywagon behind the Gator or mower. I pick up the downed and damaged stuff and haul them to the firepit. The pencil size stuff gets left for the mower to chew up and after a big storm my "pencils" get pretty big.

 

[boggen]

i mow over pretty much all small sticks, or less i am near house, near roadway, or near a window or someone is around. other words if there is a chance stick getting shot out like a bullet and destroy something, i will pick up the stick. other wise pedal to the metal and keep on going.

figure time spent picking up sticks, vs sharping blades, or getting new blades for finish mower. it is easier to deal with blades. (i think i am up to 5 to 8 acres here that get mowed here on the farm) so regardless for me, blades need to be sharpen regular basis.

on larger stuff, say 1" and bigger, i will pickup, (mower just does not like that bigger stuff) and will bend the blades and tear the blades apart, and can bend and dent the deck itself. but small stuff, it is mulched, in 1 to 3 mowings.

i have thought about running a rotatory mower (bush hog) set lower to the ground. to deal with big stuff, but it leaves to large of "chunks" that finish mower does not like.

they do make kinda of finish mower blade for bush hogs. that might be heavier duty blade, that might be able to handle larger diameter branches, but never seen the blades / tried in person. just what i have seen here on the forum.

you might check out Tractor And Skid Steer Attachments For All Tractor And Skid Steer Manufacturers and look at what they have, large selection of different types of implements. and variety of rakes and like.

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ya i do not have a golf course looking yard. but i am not shooting for that look, i am happy with less maintenance, keep it green, keep it walkable, keep the dirt covered up, and ruts out, and i am happy enough. the few areas that i want better walking areas, around cabin / fire pit, paths down to lake, i will pick branches up. so i do not get someone stepping on a sharp edge of a branch when mowed, or loose footing from a stick that decides to roll under there feet on the hill down to lake.

its all about location and selective picking up small stuff, and then picking up what ever may be to large that could damage finish mower (denting, bending, both blades and deck)

 

[Gary Fowler]

Big limbs you will have to pick up by hand, the small stuff, I just mow over them with my riding lawnmower. Leaves I do the same thing, just mow them back into the sod for fertilizer.
I think there is a rake called a pine straw rake with small tines that you can drag over the area to rake the stuff into piles. The other thought is to buy a yard vacuum that attaches to your lawnmower that will suck up all the debris if you don't want to just leave it, but you still have to pick up the large stuff that your mower cant mulch.

 

[oliver28472]

I have seven willow oaks in my front and back yard, then numerous hickory and poplar on the side. I use my Club Car Carryall and one of those grab sticks (tongs). Usually don't even get out of the seat.

 

[npalen]

I tried my York Landscape Rake on the lawn last Fall to clean up tree debris. It was just a small area but I must say that I was impressed with the job it did.

 

[BigE_]

I just hook the chipper up to the tractor and chip where they are. I used to burn, but that took a lot more time and was a lot more work.

 

[94BULLITT]

I just pick the stuff up by hand or rake in to piles and take a tractor around to gather it up. I have a fiskars rake that I like a lot.Fiskars 24 in. Leaf Rake 96605935J at The Home Depot