Gumballs

[Richard Martin]

How do the rest of you clean up gumballs?

There are a couple of ways to do it here.

One of my competitors cuts the grass real short and drags a lawn sweeper behind his Scotts 20-48. He tells me the sweeper gets real heavy because of the dirt it picks up.

I use my backpack blower to blow them into piles and then I put them into a trashcan and finally in my truck.

For those of you who are wondering gumballs are the seed pod that falls from Sweet Gum trees all winter long and into the spring. The pods are about 1-1/4 inches around (hence the name gumball) and very woody. Each tree grows to about 70 to 80 feet tall and can contain hundreds of these little devils. These trees are everywhere in my area.

[geogunn]

I don't clean them up unless I have an agreement with the owner to do so. and in that event, he pays extra for his special request. raking is the only way I collect them.

GEO

[MikeGA]

I collect them up between the belt and the pulleys on my mower deck, then it feels like all He11 is breaking loose when the deck starts shaking.

[JML]

My grasshopper sucks them up with no problem..

[Getmow]

It seems to me that most mowers don't do a good job. The gumballs get packed into the turf by the wheels. I used the backpack, then walk behind blowers to collect them in a pile. Then we vacuumed them into the truck.

[bob]

Thank goodness that rhe only gumballs that I have to deal with are on my own property. Suckem up with the Grasshopper or blow them into the stream.

[lee b]

I just bought a lawnsweeper last week and sweetgum-balls where the first things it was used on. You know for such a cheap and out-dated peice of equipment, it did a great job. Worked really good on leaves and pine-cones too, and only cost $200.00.

[accuratelawn]

Wait until it rains and the ground is soft. Drive over the gum balls to push them into the ground. Bill the customer for aeration and clean up!

[Grateful11]

Accuratelawn, I love that one. If I just had something heavy enough to mash one of my customers 500-1000 pine cones into the ground I'd have it made. These are the nice 3-6inch jobs. After all the wind we've had in the last 2 weeks they're everywhere.
Grateful

[lawnboy82]

what do you do for all those nuts? the hickory nuts that the squirrel's chew up and leave in pieces all over the yard?

[lsylvain]

I'm not sure what they are called but there is a tool specially made for this sort of stuff. They look like a lawn roller with comb teeth all around them. The nuts, acorns, what have you get stuck beween the teeth and then fall off into a container. I saw it on HGTV. The thing looked like it worked real good. (of coarse it was tv)

[jeffyr]

I don't know why, but as a kid we used to call them itchy balls. which is even funnier as an adult.


I've always blown them.


jeffyr

[lawnboy11]

I HATE those F-in things. Those things are the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked. (paraphrased from Homer Simpson). I have a large account I picked up last summer and when I drove by this spring they were freakin EVERYWHERE. I hate that house even more now. I think they might get the boot just for that reason alone. I love giving crappy customers the old heave-ho, see ya later, don't call me no more!

[1stclasslawns]

I can go yall one better. I dont just hate the lil beggers. I dispise them, they cost me $265.71 last year.

I have a nursing home with a couple of trees and LOTS of odd sized sliding glass doors! We ALWAYS mulch to prevent throwing any thing, weellll, my brother hit one, and WHAM, a %&^%&$$%&*^(&*&%&^$&%*^(&()&)&(^%&$%$@!#!% GUMBALL broke a sliding glass door! YES it was a &^&%&^$@$@&^^(&*)(*)^&*% gumball!

It hit the safty glass just right and a million pieces of glass. I saw it happen or I wouldnt have belived it I was right there weedeating. To make a bad story worse the dinning hall at lunch time. Thank goodness for the curtins.

Jim

[Grateful11]

The nut picker upper is called Bag a Nut. I saw it one the Gary Allen Show on HGTV. http://www.baganut.com/ Try this.
Grateful

[VLM]

Jim you said %&^%&$$%&*^(&*&%&^(&()&)^. I think you meant to say &$((#@&)*%$#)*@)_*(!^#@*%!!!!!! or something to that effect. I'm pretty sure cause I checked your spelling. Well, ok I could be wrong. LOL

[Mark]

My last job today was a 1acer yd full of them,I did what Bob does i used my backpack and blew them into a ditch. Those little guys a a pain in the butt,but i do get a good price on the yd. Marks Mowing Service

[eslawns]

First, at the mention of the word gumball :mad: , I curse, throw things, gripe, grumble, and then curse again. Then I break out a metal tined thatch rake and a plastic tined leaf rake and the trusty Redmax BP. I blow all the loose ones into a pile, rake the others up, and put them in a clears plastic bag. If there are a lot, I run them through my chipper, and dump the catcher in the mulch trailer.

I did one job this winter where I removed 4 yards of shredded leaves and pine straw and 3 yards of chipped gumballs. Took almost 2 days to clean this yard.

&$((#@&)*%$#)*@)_*(!^#@*%!!!!!! gumballs. VLM, I copied that from your post, thanks for the correct spelling of
&$((#@&)*%$#)*@)_*(!^#@*%!!!!!! :)