Lawn sweepers

[hm12460 53]

Making some changes in my choice of outdoor power equipment. I have a John Deere 216 with a power flow bagger that i am selling. It works great for picking up leaves. My B-80 has a rear discharge deck and i'm wondering how well do those tow behind sweepers really work, for leaves especially? What is a good brand name to look for? I have a very large yard with a lot of beech leaves and have to have something. Am also considering a trac vac type lawn vacuum, but would need a side discharge deck for that.

[Sarge 3,464]

I have the heavy duty 46?" Craftsman, it does work really well if the height is set right, sometimes even picks up pretty good sized sticks. Be aware though that it doesn't use ball bearings in the drive wheels, they are more of a nylon bushing and I've worn out one set already. Not hard or expensive to change ( less than $20 for 2 sets) but seems to be a steel ball bearing would be better. Then again, I have WH equipment that seems to set the standard a bit high....

Sarge

[mr.pipes 4]

I used a friends lawn sweeper a year ago and loved it. His was a craftsman with bad tires so it needed weight on it for traction. The brushes only spin if the wheels are spinning obviously. I had seen Parker Lawn Sweepers before and after looking at others they seemed to be the highest quality sweepers available. But you have to pay for this quality, they cost at least twice what most others cost $650-$750. Just keep your eye out for a used one that was taken care of. I was able to find one that was just a few years old.

Ariens bought them a little over a year ago and I know at first my local wheelhorse dealer said he was having trouble getting parts for one. Hopefully they have this all sorted out by now.

The only problem is that the leaves are light and pile up quick in the hopper because they have no weight to pack themselves down. If you have a big area, dumping the hopper all the time could get old quick. Do you know anybody who would let you borrow one so you can try it out?

What about a WH SD with a power flo bagger?

Parker and WH sweepers are the only ones I have seen with rear casters so the bag doesn't drag and wear out.

[Lane Ranger 11,125]

I use an Agri-Fab Lawn Sweeper thqt is 32 inches wide. I use it on my B-80 and Lawn Ranger.

The sweeper works great when leaves are dry and I like that it is not as wide as many of the other sweepers.

Here is a photo :

Here is a video from last Fall:

[sorekiwi 761]

I have the Craftsman "High Speed" 42" lawn sweeper, which I bought several years ago after reading a lot of opinions about various different models.

I forget all the details now, but the "High Speed" part comes from taller gearing than most to drive the brushes faster. But as a result the wheels tend to lock a little on turns if the grass is the least bit damp, and it will leave skid marks. On dry grass it works great. It will handle grass, leaves, walnuts, apples, pears.

Search for "Lawn Sweeper" at www.mytractorforum.com and you will find a lot of threads.

[Redbirdman 7]

:) I must have conjured this topic up!

I just rejoined Red Square after finally shaking the 'go green' habit.

The real job my RJ58 does is provide transportation for me around our private airport. And my 701 is being groomed to tow some light aircraft back and forth.

But I have another project I am working on and that is 'sweeping' the taxiways of blown sand and small gravel that blows in from the desert after high winds.

I never considered using a 'lawn sweeper'. In fact here in Arizona I have never even seen one!

But I wonder if 2 or 3 bolted together would sweep blacktop good enough to clear sand and gravel? I'm sure a 701 could yank it around, after all it should be less resistance than grass..................whadda u all think?

Has anyone used a lawn sweeper on blacktop..... :thumbs:

[TT-(Moderator) 1,147]

:)

A lawn sweeper won't work for sand & gravel on blacktop. A rotary broom would work much better, but doesn't cover much width per pass.

You might be better off finding a tow-behind debris blower like the Buffalo Turbine or Toro Pro Force machines. I've been seeing more used machines advertised lately, but they still aren't cheap. They will definitely get things cleaned off in a hurry.

http://www.buffaloturbine.com/

http://www.toro.com/golf/utility/debris/blower/proforce.html

[Redbirdman 7]

Thanks Terry!...........I really REALLY like the blower idea but I don't think it will "FLY" here.

I already proposed using a runout Lycoming Radial engine with a pusher prop towed behind a pickup to blow the stuff off the taxiway but I met with a lot of opposition because the flying debris might just get into some lawyers eyes and then we would be up shoots creek.

The other possibility I am thinking is a tow behind leaf blower/sucker.....or also called a lawn vac?

The runway itself is not a problem because the planes taking off do a good job. :thumbs:

[persof 14]

Harold,

I have a Ohio Steel leaf sweeper (purchased at Tractor Supply) and a 42" rear discharge deck and the combo works very well.

Francis

[mr.pipes 4]

RedBirdMan, I think this might be what you have in mind.

[jimbotelho 1]

the sweepers work fine with a rear discharge deck I have used one for a long time they do a decent job :thumbs:

[Kelly 1,030]

My son pulls a sweeper that I got for free, behind a $25 tractor and it does a good job.

[mavfreak 11]

My mower had some issues this year and I went around a month with out cutting. Once I did it was like I needed to bring the farmall up and bale it. I borrowed a friends brinly 40" man it was great I had the yard done in no time and sure beat the hell out of raking. I mow around 2 acres and it worked great and the rear discharge deck was working great for chopping up the long grass until the belt broke about have way into this, but it had no problem picking up whatever it went over, even dog poop! (don't tell my buddy cause he hardly ever uses this and would be pissed about the poop) I want one now!

I would stay away from the cheaper craftsman ones. My dad had one and the brushes are not replaceable so his is basically not working anymore cause the brushes a worn and can't seem to get close enough to the ground to pick up anything.

[MikesRJ 555]

I have a 1973 10hp 8 speed with 42" deck pulling a 36" Wheel Horse sweeper. This setup combination does a great job picking up the leaves from my 3, and the three neighbor's 15, oak trees. Using the deck to grind up the leaves before sweeping them up does quite well in that the sweeper will hold a lot more of the leave than not using the deck.

[wh1257 226]

http://s881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/wh...ent=Afb0805.jpg

[WH854 44]

From my experience with doing leaves, I have tried all the above mentioned gear. I would go with a power bagger. I use a three bag grass catcher on my craftsman. I have leaves falling from the last of august till they are all down. Some oak trees stay on untill the spring time. some times when the weather

does not cooperate, they get pretty thick,a lawn sweeper will not pick them up

at all. And I have been doing leaves from 50 t0 60 years . that is my opinion

Chas

[Retired Wrencher 5,648]

A lawn sweeper won't work for sand & gravel on blacktop. A rotary broom would work much better, but doesn't cover much width per pass.

You might be better off finding a tow-behind debris blower like the Buffalo Turbine or Toro Pro Force machines. I've been seeing more used machines advertised lately, but they still aren't cheap. They will definitely get things cleaned off in a hurry.

http://www.buffaloturbine.com/

http://www.toro.com/golf/utility/debris/blower/proforce.html

AHHH Terry I think I disagree with this statement I do all of the yard and the street with mine. it does a good job on all surfaces. Gary B.

[TT-(Moderator) 1,147]

OK, Gary...... I'll bite.

Post a video or pictures of your lawn sweeper picking sand up off of pavement and then I'll believe you.

The surface must be clean when you're done.

[Retired Wrencher 5,648]

OK, Gary...... I'll bite.

Post a video or pictures of your lawn sweeper picking sand up off of pavement and then I'll believe you.

The surface must be clean when you're done.

B)if I only had a video camera. It works very well the brushes turn 6 to 1 on the wheels. with lots of adjustment.T/Care Gary B.