The little X324 gets an MC519 leaf cart

C-Range · Oct 19, 2011

Hi All,

After searching for the best attachment for northeast fall leaf collection, we've finally settled on an MC519 cart for the back of our X324. We first tried a Cyclone Rake Commander, but it was just too massive for this little tractor given the hills and obstacles on our property. After trying the 32 bushel Cyclone Rake, it was obvious that ANY self powered trailing collector would be too large for our situation.

Of course, the 7 bushel bagging system for these tractors would be ludicrously small for leaves.

The perfect compromise seems to be the Deere MC519. It only holds 19 bushels, but it is easy to empty (clamshells to the rear from the driver's seat). More importantly, it doesn't seem like it will be too much of a load for the X324 on the hills and I am already impressed with being able to get much closer to inside radius obstacles with this 3 foot long cart on the back than with the 6+ foot long Cyclone Rake.

I assembled the system in about 4 hours. This included the cart, cover/top, tractor mount, powerflow blower mounts, chute, and modifying the 48" deck as needed. We also added the Deere leaf kit on the mowing deck, which was a snap to install.

If we had more open areas and flatter land, the Cyclone Rake would have been an excellent machine to have with its large capacity and tremendous mulching capability. But for anyone with lots of leaves but tight and/or hilly property like us, consider the MC519 system for leaf collection.

As soon as I can get some daylight, I'll get some photos and add them.

CHDinCT · Oct 19, 2011

Was gonna say, "what, no photo's" but I see you anticipated that question. I know what you mean on the CR. I have one that I use behind my Wheel Horse garden tractor with a drawbar type hitch. I need to mow across some slight hills - nothing dangerous - but after 5 years of CR use in the fall, it broke the welds on my draw bar hitch from all the side pressure applied when mowing side long slopes. Anyway, with a load of wet leaves, that thing weighs a lot for any lawn tractor to pull.

beenthere · Oct 19, 2011

I can't say enough good things about my MC519 cart. And with the added hyd. cylinder to dump it, removing leaves is a breeze.

I found myself banging the bark on too many trees by not doing a good job of judging where the rear of the car was on a turn, so I added a block of wood with a 45 deg taper to the inside of the sides of the cart (at the rear). These blocks allow the cart to glance off of bark, without tearing into the bark.

C-Range · Oct 19, 2011

Yes, CHD, I know the drill on pictures at this point! :laughing:

Small town, thanks for the recommendation. Good stuff. I also read about someone laying in some ice & water shield on the inside of the top to repair a split. I'm going to add some in the high traffic areas while it's brand new to hinder such future wear. I was dying to try the machine out last night in the dark but held off for this reason.

And now it's downpouring so the Sports Illustrated centerfold photo shoot will have to wait another day at least.

C-Range · Oct 20, 2011

A couple of photos as promised! I'm really happy with this attachment so far.

cooper99 · Oct 20, 2011

Nice looking rock wall in the background :thumbsup:.

You will definitely get a lot of use out of the MC519 cart. When I'm not collecting leaves or grass clippings, it still gets a fair amount of use. Those tiny wheels and axles are very well built; I've hit several large obstacles over the years and they are still holding up just fine.

pilot-werx · Oct 25, 2011

Here is my sucker, literally.. Two engines seem to help!

C-Range · Oct 25, 2011

Wow, is there even a need to collect the leaf bits after going through two blowers? I would think you could just shoot them up in the air, ha ha. Heck, you could probably even keep a flame burning at the chute end and get some extra propulsion from the jet blast.

Getting back to topic, here's a little video clip of the MC519 in action