On Sat, 05 Nov 2011 07:36:36 -0400, Tom Gardner mars@tacks wrote:

On 11/4/2011 9:30 PM, Larry Jaques wrote:
On Fri, 4 Nov 2011 12:24:16 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Nov 4, 1:05 pm, wrote:
Steve B wrote:
I need to build a vacuum with a 4" or 6" hose to pick up leaves. My smaller
Ridgid and other vacs clog too easily with leaves. Anyone know of a site
with simple directions and basics on such a thing? Might I use a big
barrel, and buy TWO smaller shop vacs and use TWO suction motors on it?

Other ideas for a simple effective vacuum? Doesn't have to be that
powerful, just for leaves. Just a big hose to avoid clogging.

Steve

Where is the clog?
Clogging should be reduced if the size of the initial opening is the
smallest
diameter in the system. But if the leaves won't fit in that hole,
it'll clog at the mouth. But, at least, you can easily unclog that
on the fly.
Other thing to look for is discontinuities in the system. Joints with
protrusions that can catch leaves. Ditto for deflectors. My shop vac
has a right angle bend right inside where the hose attaches. BAD, BAD, BAD
for clogs.

I've thought about putting some kind of shredding blade right at the input.

You're gonna need a HUGE air volume for a 6" hose.
And don't under-estimate how unwieldy a big hose can be.
If it's stiff, you won't be able to maneuver. If it accordions
wildly with changes in pressure, it'll be equally unmanageable.

I think this is why people use BLOWERS to manage leaves.
Another management technique is a chain saw.

The groundskeepers had a giant vac that mounted on the back of their 4
wheelers at our old building at work, had a pickup area of about
2x3'. Vac fed into a big dump bin under the vac. No hose, just a big
chute into the bin. So there's commercial equipment to do just that,
how well it works with wet or packed leaves I don't know. There have
also been some light rotary brushes mounted in front of a canvas
catcher for sweeping up leaves, probably less noisy, another approach
to the problem.

I removed the grass catcher from my old riding mower and am going to
modify it to fit the new one. Both are Murrays, but I'll have to add
brackets at the rear to fortify the frame bars. I think the mower will
pick up the leaves pretty well. It really blows grass. We'll see
soon.

How big is your lawn? I cut my rolling acres (8' x 10') with a line
trimmer in 3 minutes. The dogs like to poop on grass, the rest of the
courtyard is brick, gardens and river stone.

My estate is considerably larger than yours, Tawm. I have a huge
front yard and small side yard. Then there's the West 40. All in all,
my grounds take up -over- 1/3 of an acre, almost 1/3 of it is covered
in (weeds and) grass. As soon as I take out the trees in the front
yard (I've already planted an Oregon native willow there), I'll be
putting in bark and perennials, and maybe a dwarf apple tree.

The maple, birch, and sweetgum in the front yard all drop ****loads of
leaves. The small pin oak out on the West 40 isn't too bad. But the
Doug fir and coastal redwood drop all sorts of crap in the back yard,
too. Leaf detritus are a pain, but the main reason I'm taking out the
trees: I don't want tons of danger hanging over my roof at night.

--
The unexamined life is not worth living.
--Socrates