I have a large yard of about 2 acres. I like to mow the grass very
short. The problem is, I can only mow once a week and I have terrible
quantities of grass clippings all over my yard.

I had thought about buying one of those canister collectors that fits
on back of the lawn mower but am afraid I will be emptying it every 5
minutes.

Do those yard sweepers you pull behind the riding mover with brushes
that scoup material up do a good job at catching grass clippings? At
least with those I can drive to the end of the field and empty it from
the seat of the lawn mower.

Is there a way I can make something myself that will effectively catch
the grass? I can weld and cut steel at my house.

By the way, I mow with a Craftsman riding lawn mower 48 inch. It takes
me about 2 hours to mow everything. (I hate to mow).

I whish I had a tractor and big finish mower but do not have the
money.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

(Don) wrote in message om...
I have a large yard of about 2 acres. I like to mow the grass very
short. The problem is, I can only mow once a week and I have terrible
quantities of grass clippings all over my yard.

I had thought about buying one of those canister collectors that fits
on back of the lawn mower but am afraid I will be emptying it every 5
minutes.

Do those yard sweepers you pull behind the riding mover with brushes
that scoup material up do a good job at catching grass clippings? At
least with those I can drive to the end of the field and empty it from
the seat of the lawn mower.

Is there a way I can make something myself that will effectively catch
the grass? I can weld and cut steel at my house.

By the way, I mow with a Craftsman riding lawn mower 48 inch. It takes
me about 2 hours to mow everything. (I hate to mow).

I whish I had a tractor and big finish mower but do not have the
money.

Thanks for any help you can provide.


The riding mowers they use here at work(former airbase, lots of lawn)
haul a big hopper around at the back, all the clippings go into it.
Maybe you could rig up a bin on a trailer and a chute from the mower
deck.

Stan

Don,

This is what you want:

http://www.cyclonerake.com/


I had thought about buying one of those canister collectors that fits
on back of the lawn mower but am afraid I will be emptying it every 5
minutes.

It would be more like every two minutes.

Do those yard sweepers you pull behind the riding mover with brushes
that scoup material up do a good job at catching grass clippings? At
least with those I can drive to the end of the field and empty it from
the seat of the lawn mower.

They do a fair job, but you will still be dumping every few minutes.

Is there a way I can make something myself that will effectively catch
the grass? I can weld and cut steel at my house.

Anything is possible if you want it bad enough. I don't know of any
plans for something like that.


I whish I had a tractor and big finish mower but do not have the
money.

The bigger tractor mount mowers are great unless you have a lot of
trees, shrubs, and etc to mow around.

-=- Steven Harris
Everson, WA

"Don" wrote in message
m

I've borrowed my brothers lawn sweeper and didn't find it very
effective. For sweeping up clippings it would be even worse because
you'd be pulling behind the mower and shooting the clips to the side.

Doug


--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

On 14 Apr 2004 12:19:40 -0700, (Steven) wrote:

||Don,
||
||This is what you want:
||
||http://www.cyclonerake.com/

I looked at that, watched their DVD video.
It would solve my leaf-collection problem every fall, for about $1000
Rex in Fort Worth

I have a large yard of about 2 acres. I like to mow the grass very
short. The problem is, I can only mow once a week and I have terrible
quantities of grass clippings all over my yard.

I had thought about buying one of those canister collectors that fits
on back of the lawn mower but am afraid I will be emptying it every 5
minutes.

Do those yard sweepers you pull behind the riding mover with brushes
that scoup material up do a good job at catching grass clippings? At
least with those I can drive to the end of the field and empty it from
the seat of the lawn mower.

Is there a way I can make something myself that will effectively catch
the grass? I can weld and cut steel at my house.

By the way, I mow with a Craftsman riding lawn mower 48 inch. It takes
me about 2 hours to mow everything. (I hate to mow).

I whish I had a tractor and big finish mower but do not have the
money.

Thanks for any help you can provide.
Don,
I have never had much faith in the mulching blades - regardless of how
"fine" the clippings are as they simply will not rot away fast enough
that they will not become a problem. If you have ever seen (or done)
a yard "thaching" you would be amazed at the truckloads of dead grass
that can be pulled up from the top of the soil - choking out the roots
of the grass from water, fertilizer, etc. Catching the clippings and
putting them in a "humus" pile will provide lots of use in flowerbeds,
etc. Catching them is about the only good answer - hauling around a
little cart behind you while you use a grass catcher/bagging system
will save you from running to the end of the yard every lap or two -
just stop and empty them into the cart and when the cart gets full,
empty the cart and the bags at the same time at the edge of the yard.
The bigger carts have a separate gas motor blower and a bigger cart
for holding more - but remember, clippings can get heavy and if you
have a small tractor, the weight can get to pushing you going down
hills, etc., which is dangerous. Use high-lift blades on the tractor
to help blow the clippings up the tube, keep the blades sharp, and
good luck.
Hope this helps.
Ken.

"Steven" wrote in message
om...
Don,

This is what you want:

http://www.cyclonerake.com/


or
www.lta.org/images/goats.jpg

On 14 Apr 2004 10:36:27 -0700, (Stan Schaefer)
wrote:

(Don) wrote in message om...
=== I have a large yard of about 2 acres. I like to mow the grass very
=== short. The problem is, I can only mow once a week and I have terrible
=== quantities of grass clippings all over my yard.
===
=== I had thought about buying one of those canister collectors that fits
=== on back of the lawn mower but am afraid I will be emptying it every 5
=== minutes.
===
=== Do those yard sweepers you pull behind the riding mover with brushes
=== that scoup material up do a good job at catching grass clippings? At
=== least with those I can drive to the end of the field and empty it from
=== the seat of the lawn mower.
===
=== Is there a way I can make something myself that will effectively catch
=== the grass? I can weld and cut steel at my house.
===
=== By the way, I mow with a Craftsman riding lawn mower 48 inch. It takes
=== me about 2 hours to mow everything. (I hate to mow).
===
=== I whish I had a tractor and big finish mower but do not have the
=== money.
===
=== Thanks for any help you can provide.
===
===
===The riding mowers they use here at work(former airbase, lots of lawn)
===haul a big hopper around at the back, all the clippings go into it.
===Maybe you could rig up a bin on a trailer and a chute from the mower
===deck.
===
===Stan


Check out my home brew vaccum trailer for just this purpose, but I use
it mainly for leaf clean up most of the time. It was pretty easy and
cheap to make and I will put it up against the Agri Fab or Cyclone
rake anyday. I can suck up debris without the mower deck running.

Its on my projects page...........
www.frugalmachinist.com

Regards

Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

Doug Arthurs wrote:
"Don" wrote in message
m

I've borrowed my brothers lawn sweeper and didn't find it very
effective. For sweeping up clippings it would be even worse because
you'd be pulling behind the mower and shooting the clips to the side.

Doug


My Grandfather bought a sweeper years ago I think it had a 5 HP Brigs on
it . Sorry I do not recall the brand but more then likely was Sears .
Basically it was a waste of money . Equally lousy at clippings or leaves
Ken Cutt

Roy wrote:
Check out my home brew vaccum trailer ...
Its on my projects page...........
www.frugalmachinist.com

I made a similar cart, using 6" corrugated PVC (?) highway drain pipe
for the intake hose. It is too stiff, but free. It proved the concept,
and now I need to get real hose, but I'm up against the cost. Where did
you get yours, and at what price? Thanks, Bob

Have you ever seen the type of hose that comes on the Cyclone rake?
Its a polyurethane hose with a plastic spiral molded into it, and the
inner portion of the hose is smooth, all corrugations on the outside.
This is the type of hose I have for mine. Its about $8.00 a foot, and
I bought it at the local industrial supply which also sells and makes
hoses and gaskets, so they have a pretty good inventory of stuff like
this. Its just called material handling duct, and IIRC its made by
Goodyear.

Problem with some of the hoses out there such as is sold on Crapsman
carts is they have some corrugations in the inner portion and its
nothing but restrictions and dirt catchers.

Regular rubber type hose is not too good either as its too much
resistance and slows down the flow pretty good. I guess it would be
different if it had a good air supply to drive the debris through, but
its mainly the mower deck lifting it and giving it a start with vac
from the fan impeller taking up the slack.

Regards


On Thu, 15 Apr 2004 12:00:08 -0400, Bob Engelhardt
wrote:

===Roy wrote:
=== Check out my home brew vaccum trailer ...
=== Its on my projects page...........
=== www.frugalmachinist.com
===
===I made a similar cart, using 6" corrugated PVC (?) highway drain pipe
===for the intake hose. It is too stiff, but free. It proved the concept,
===and now I need to get real hose, but I'm up against the cost. Where did
===you get yours, and at what price? Thanks, Bob

Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.