Lawn vacuums? Anyone with 1st hand experience?

[petek]

Do they actually work as good as you'd expect or are they a compromise of being a hassle/finicky etc.
Why I'm asking is because I can barely manage all the leaves anymore. We have 7 large oaks in the backyard alone, plus all the neighbors oaks etc.. I guess that's why our subdv is called Oak Acres. Raking or leaf blowing is out of the question for me because of my back problems so I mulch/mow them, then re-mow the lawn with the bag on. It works quite well but the lawnmower bag isn't that large which means constant emptying.. that's where my back gets hit.. shaking the lawnmower bag into the plastic bag mostly. . I see quite a number of them for sale on Craigslist but I don't want to buy another big piece of lawn equipment to look after if they aren't all they're cracked up to be..
As well, it will cost me near as much to have someone in to do the yard a couple of times as it would be to find a good second hand one. if not more.

 

[cleanteamofny]

Since I own both Riding Mower with Vacuum Attachment and the walk behind Vacuum Mulcher, they both are imperfect when grass and leaves are wet. When the two are dry as a bone the riding mower wins because I can cover more grounds faster riding than walking behind. No matter what, the bags needs to be emptied fairly regularly since I too bag them in plastic bags to take to my local dump.

Yesterday and the day before, I've done the front of my property including my neighbors and it was pure work!
I'm still recovering from doing the left side of the house which required manually raking and bagging.
Both machines failed because the leaves and grass were wet..... Bummer!

At this time, If you have the riding mower with attachments, do not buy this machine when the all in one is enough!

 

[petek]

Thanks Larry,, my yard isn't really big enough for a riding mower. Here's a link to someone selling one on Craigslist, a bit less than half the price of new.

Here's a pic of my neighbors across the street out working today.. His lawn care company failed to show and he's none too happy.



http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/grd/3360216542.html

 

[petek]

the rest of the front yard . As you can see, they're quite thick around here..LOL

 

[tolivac]

I get flyers for riding mower vacuums from Cyclone Rake and DR products.I have a riding tracctor-but where to dump the contents the vac picks up??For my yard it could pickup a large trash truck full of waste-instead have the shred plate on the mower and grind it up-or have Kevin the roving garden helper rake the stuff-cheaper than the lawn vacuum-he hauls the junk away in his old pickup&trailer.Just one raking fills em both-guess I will have to call Kevin after this storm!the rider mower vacuums generate more suction power than the mower deck blades alone.They have their own motors and blower-suction fan unit.The suction fan can shred the debris,too.

 

[mikeklondon]

Garden Vac's

Hi I use a Billy Goat vac and it to only works well if the ground is dry, but I don't think any vacuum will work in the wet

 

[mikeklondon]

Garden Vac's

Hi I use a Billy Goat vac and it to only works well if the ground is dry, but I don't think any vacuum will work in the wet

 

[maytagbear]

It might be better

to hire it done a few times a season instead of buying one?

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[rp2813]

I remember the old "Yard Vac" machines that all gardeners used before there was any such thing as a strap-on blower (!)

 

They worked well enough, but seeing the amount of leaves you're dealing with, you would still be emptying the bag a few times at the very least.

 

[wetguymd]

Cyclone Rake

I have a Cyclone Rake that hooks to the back of the mower. Its great and does a fantastic job. It has its own engine and grinds everything up into mulch. I also have a big hose that hooks to it that you can vacume out the flower beds or places that the mower won't go. They are pricy but over time make it worth it. I have had mine about 5 years and still going strong with no problems. They are easy to take apart and will fold up for storage. Here is the link but if it doesn't work Google Cyclone Rake...

http://www.cyclonerake.com/classic.htm?source=googleprod&gclid=CNCx1qrfprMCFYKK4AodL0UAAg

 

[tolivac]

wetguymd:
Yes,I get flyers from the Cyclone rake folks-it does seem like your machine works well.I would have the problem of hauling the stuff it picked up to the dump.Yours must have the optional hand held hose attachment-that would be sort of handy.I think I will stick with "Kevin" the yard care man.He can haul away the junk he rakes and picks up.If I had a wooded area nearby in the country-the Cyclone Rake would be good-you could just dump it in the woods.

 

[frigilux]

I'd love to have a lawn vacuum such as the Cub Cadet pictured above, but hauling the leaves away is the big issue for me. I have only the Mighty Geo in which to haul bags of leaves to the local compost site--whose hours are, inexplicably, 9:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. Don't know about you, but most people are working during that time.

Oh, well. I have a guy who does a vacuum/mulch/haul-away for about $60. Worth it. I come home from work and (most of the) leaves are gone. Voila!

 

[petek]

I wish I could find someone who would do it all for $60, that ain't gonna happen here.

 

[Philip0603]

Don't waste them

Why not set up a compost heap in a distant corner of the garden (yard) and pile all you leaves into it. Then just let nature take it's course and one year later you have lovely compost to use on your beds as a weed suppressant.

I have a large garden and have one leaf pile and 5 compost bins dotted around the garden, all hidden from view. Far more environmentally friendly, not that I am an eco mentalist by a long chalk.

TTFN Philip.

 

[petek]

Our town has monthly pickups for leaves, grass clippings, twigs and brush etc depending on the season. All of it goes to a large municipal composting site where the public can purchase it pretty cheap. We also have our own compost pile hidden in the back corner most though it's for my grass clippings. Couldn't possibly compost the volume of leaves here without shredding them to powder first.

 

[countryguy]

Why not just put a mulching blade on the lawn mower and leave the mulch on the lawn?

 

Gary

 

[iheartmaytag]

Since fall leaves are a never ending story in my neighborhood. I clean up my leaves, then the neighbors who don't clean theirs blow over, so I clean those up then the ones from down the street blows in my yard and I clean those up. and then. . .

So what I do. The first batch I suck up with the might Snapper. I dump those on the garden to be tilled in and ready for the next planting season. Subsequent leaf disposal is done with the mulching blade as leaves have a high amount of potassium which is good for the grass. I just have to be careful with the Oak leaves as they can be acidic and cause problems if I don't check the PH in the spring.

Last year I was actually mowing/mulching on New Year's day.

 

[petek]

Gary.. There's just too too many leaves to do that. Some does get left when I go over it again with the bag, otherwise the grass would just be smothered if I didn't.

 

[mayguy]

I have used those in the past, and dose work well. best for small yard.

I have a great Snapper Hi-Vac mower, and i used the Ninja Mulching blade, and that pretty much makes the leaves turn into dust when I mow over it.

 

[tolivac]

All of my mowers have the mulching blades-and they can handle grass,leaves,pine cones with ease.--and the unusual-had an expired credit card-just wanted to see what the mower would do with the mulching blade-a Gater one-the card was reduced to powder.Same with an aluminum can flattened by being run over with a car-just wanted to see what it would do-the JD tractor-the can was reduced to aluminum flakes!I have Kevin rake the yard when there is a LARGE amount of pine cones-the mower struggles thru them.Pine straw is one of the toughest things to shred with a mower and mulching blade-takes several passes-sometimes the straw can wrap around the blade shafts in the JD.The hardest stuff to grind up.so--its easier to have Kevin rake the straw if there is a lot of it-Will be calling him soon to rake the junk Sandy blew down.

 

[sudsmaster]

I second the compost pile suggestion. My back yard has three big compost bins, which get filled once or twice a year, with leaves from the trees and/or clippings from the English ivy that covers about half the fences. Yeah, I'd love to get rid of the ivy completely, but I don't know that I could get the neighbors to go along with it.

I don't shred the tree leaves - mostly they are smallish pittosporum leaves. But shredding the ivy clippings is essential both to promote composting and reducing volume. For that I have a Patriot chipper/shredder.

I've tried my walk-behind mover with a bag for cleaning up the tree leaves from the courtyard, but it spits out so much dust I prefer to rake and sweep instead. And the bag fills too quickly anyway. I would guess that a lawn vacuum would also spit out a lot of dust. Since the courtyard is adjacent to the house, garage, and carport, keeping dust to a minimum is a good thing.

 

[tolivac]

Lawn vacuum bags have smaller pores than lawn mower grass-leaf catcher bags-so dust from the vacuum is less of a problem than the mower.The dust from the vacuum becomes apparent when you empty its bag.

 

[mrb627]

Oh Dear...

I don't know why, but this subject just speaks to the gadget freak in me. Now I wish I had a leaf problem so I could buy a new toy...

Malcolm

 

[mikeklondon]

Malcolm

HI if ever you chance try one they are grate fun to use, Ill have a look for a picture of my Billy Goat, it not only sucks up leaves it good after a party even coke/ beer cans get sucked up by US size I only have a small garden 150 feet / 20 but there is a lot of trees

 

[wascomat_kid]

Black & Decker Leaf Hog LH5000

I use mine & I think it does OK so far.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001ECQ4A8/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1352779448&sr=8-3&pi=SL75