anyone find an easy way to dump clippings into their trucks??

[97Stroker]

OK guys here is another question...how many people here bag lawns, and are sick of duming the clippings into the back of the truck???
I know tomorrow we mow 35 lawn, and all of them are bagged. Yeah we can dump alotta the grass on property, but there are 20 that we cannot. And they are big lawns.
our 2 baggin machines are a John Deere Z 60 inch mid mount, and a John Deere Z trax 48 inch. Both of these machines have 9 bushell hoppers, that dump from the seat. As you can tell my boss and our company like things easy. So who here has come up with an easy way to get the green into the back of the truck???
We were seriously thinking of making a lify, with a big tray, that goes on the side of the truck. One that you can back right up to the truck dump the hopper into the tray, and then push a button and have it lift into the back of the truck.
We did at one time think about getting the hopper that already dumps into the back of the truck, but it sits too high for our enclosed trailer. We were also told they are kinda flimsy under pressure.

Anyone got any ideas, comments???



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[mdb landscaping]

http://www.championlandscaping.com/HydT12.html


if im correct champion landscaping, a member here modified his trailer so it would extend so he could back his walkers right up and dump right in the back of the dumper. it looked like a real nice set up .

[cantoo]

I don't have a solution but I have a comment. Better to spend money on the one lift for the truck than to spend it on 3 lifts for the mowers which will likely only fit on the 3 mowers. Take a look at a garbage truck that has the front lift on it and get some ideas from that. For the type of volume you are talking I would think you would almost need a dedicated truck for clippings and it would work for other jobs too like firewood, prunings etc. A big leaf loader would work but not really very quick.
A tailgate lift that was reworked to lift higher might be a cheap way also.

[Grapevine]

We've got 3 Walkers and dumping in the truck has always been a pain in the balls. Last winter I hooked up with a guy who retro fitted my trailer (18 ft) with 2 ramps in front. One goes into the dump and the other drops down into the trailer.
We now drop both ramps and drive the machines right into the truck and dump, it works nice and I'm glad I finally did it.
It's the best when doing large condos or the fancy neighborhoods where you have to take the clippings
If you are interested, email me and I'll send you a couple of pictures. I'd do it on the computer, but I'm not real sure how.
I know a lot of the guys on this site side discharge, but I still have to bag it, too many mulch beds and there's no way I'm
side discharging after laying 20 yards of mulch.

[Kent Lawns]

A trailer like North Shreve offers might be a good idea.

www.northshreve.com or 1(800) 423-7801

And they're not expensive: $3500 or so

[97Stroker]

I would love nothing more than to use a ramp set up, so easy, champion landscapin has it all hooked up. But we run our 4 mowers out of a 24 foot enclosed trailer. So I would either have to do the side set up off the truck, or like a front mount set up. Great ideas though, keep them coming

[mdb landscaping]

im pretty sure there is a company out there that makes lifts for bags on commercial mowers. i know a few local guys have them on hustlers and i remember reading or seeing online a company that makes lifts that can dump into trucks.

[thelawnguy]

Eliminate the bagging and you wont need to fret about loading the truck (or unloading for that matter).

[97Stroker]

you mean like mulchin blades????a couple people told us that they were not good for what we were doin. I don't know though, I mean we use those baggers in the fall to do clean ups. The fact that we live on a island, we work down by the water alot. So when we do clean ups we vac the leaves up with the tractor, no mulching.. I don't know, what are the advantages to mulching it. alot of the customers believe that bagging is the way, what are my selling points goin to be?

[ronslawncare]

thats easy your selling point will be that its a free fertlizer .i mulch all my lawns and they all look like they are bagged just make sure you blow all clumps of grass

[thelawnguy]

First do a search on mulching as its been discussed here many times.

I have not bagged a lawn since 96. As long as the lawn looks neat without obvious clumps the customer wont care where the clippings went. If it becomes an issue most municipalities and/or manufacturers have literature for the asking on the benefits of mulching vs bagging, most of it pretty convincing I might add.

This past season was the first season where I mulched more leaves in the fall than hauled. Two trips to the leaf dump total vs. twenty or thirty in past years.

Whether its mulching or double blading once you discover how much time and money you save not having to handle debris you will kick yourself for having bagged at all.

[lawnboy82]

why not get a small truck loader? find a place either on the truck, or on the tongue of the trailer, and mount it.

[LJ lawn]

there is a co. that makes trailers with the hydraulic dump and clipping box.i think they are called clipping king.there is also a co. that makes hydraulic lifts for the walker box so it will raise up to 6 ft and dump fight into the truck.i like the double gate idea,gonna have to do it to my trailer soon.

[OBRYANMAINT]

klipping king trailers --------well built ,, i researched them but too expensive for the amount of clippings that i collect

vac loader sounds like a good solution

[gogetter]

[i]I don't know, what are the advantages to mulching it. alot of the customers believe that bagging is the way, what are my selling points goin to be? [/B]

Wow, that's alot of grass to bag and remove! Everything I've read says that mulching is the way to go. The small, mulched grass clippings break down and are good for the lawn. I'd find something on the net, or a book (Ortho has a book on "Lawns". It's part of a whole series of books they make), and show it to the customers if they don't seem to buy it when you tell them.
As someones else already mentioned, check with your local municipality to see if they have some sort of information packet. Heck, I seem to even recall commercials on tv when I was younger promoting mulching over bagging.

[Runner]

Ask yourself this. Do they pick up clippings on golf courses?(other than on the greens) Do they bag Wrigley field, or Yankee stadium? The answer is no. Tell that to your customers too. Also tell them about the proven studies that up to 1/3 of the total nitrogen content can be depleted from the soil if the clippings are all bagged up all the time.

[ADLAWNCUTTERS]

HELLO EVERYONE WE HAVEN'T BAGED IN YEARS.WE MULCH EVERYTHING. YOU MIGHT WANT TO USE MULCHING BLADES AND AT THE SAME TIME YOU CAN BAG. IT WILL CUT YOUR CLIPPINS DOWN.WE USED TO LAY A CHEAP BLUE TARP DOWN ON THE GROUND AND DUMP THE CLIPPING ON IT. WHEN YOUR DONE CUTTING YOU AND A CO-WORKER CAN WRAP IT UP THE A GIANT TACO AND PUT IN THE BACK OF YOUR TRUCK AND DUMP IT. IT'S QUICK AND CHEAP. PEACE...;)

[Grapevine]

There's definitely a time and a place for side discharge and I wish I could do more of it, but I don't have the time to be mowing these lawns twice or running around with a backpack blowing off clumps of grass. Have been using the rear deflector on the Walker more, but it's still not a big part of what we do. There's a guy in my area with a Clipping King, but he can only fit 1 Walker on it, too small. In terms of Golf courses or Fenway Park or Wrigley, you can't compare weekly mowing with daily mowing. If I were mowing my customers daily or even twice a week, I'd mulch constantly, but that's not the case

[thelawnguy]

"I don't have the time to be mowing these lawns twice or running around with a backpack blowing off clumps of grass. "

Funny how you find time to stop, empty the bag, load the truck, stop, drive to the dump/transfer station, stop and wait for the attendant to finish picking his nose, et al.

You will probably find, as I did, that the occasional double cut (only areas that need it) or quick walk around the yard with a blower takes less time than you are already spending handling clippings.

[Eric ELM]

Thelawnguy, I agree with you 100%. I haven't bagged a thing since 1994. I also don't mulch, all side discharge and an OCDC is all you need along with double blades. I think most of you have seen the lawns I mow and they are not trashy lawns that we do. I have had Zero complaints on how we do this.

[MOW ED]

When I need to bag and haul I have double gates on the trailer.

[HOMER]

If you have to bag then use one mower to do it. We sometimes find it easier and faster on certain properties to just pull out the bagger mower. We always run one of the Choppers over it first to actually make the cut and then do a quick run with the Trac-Vac to pick up some of the clippings. It works great and at the most we have 1 bucket to dump, usually less than that. I don't haul the clippings off except at 2 places IF we need to bag them. The rest of the places I dump it on site. If your running 2 mowers and bagging everything then I would think that there is a tremendous amount of clippings to deal with. You could reduce it by 1/2 just by vacumming remnants vs. actually cutting and collecting.

In the fall this is generally the way we do our leaf cleanups too, one mower mulching and the Trac-Vac collecting. Really makes the job quick. The only extra time is in the backpack work.

[RMDoyon]

Mow Ed,
That is a SWEET set up.
How does your ramp deal with your trailer jack?
Is it one of those fold-up types?

Roger

[lawnboy82]

i find that sometimes bagging is faster, however it depends on what kind of machine you are using. because i remember last year when we got all that rain. just me cut 1 lawn, without trimming, in the time it took 4 guys from a local lawn company to cut, trim and blow the next door house. because they had to double cut and blow. that was at an every other week basis. if you bag there is not that much blowing left or trimming in some cases.
as for putting clippings on a tarp and lifting them. i have one thing to say. i cut a lawn every week where the clippings must be removed. the lawn is about 20M sq. ft. i remove a lot of times, about a yard to a yard and a half of clippings. so that is a lot of weight to lift on a tarp, even with 2 people.

[Currier]

I hd the same problem (getting grass into the truck) My brother invented and built a unit that fits in the bed of my truck that has sides that lower and lift and then the whole unit turns into a dump bed at the end of the day. It has saved countless hours and tons of backaches!

[MOW ED]

RMDoyon,
Thanks for the compliment. Yes the jack is a fold up model. It holds the tounge weight just fine. It doesn't have a wheel. That picture was taken in the spring before I started up this year. I usually put a tarp in the bed and it doubles as a cover for the load. When I get to the dump I can pull a very large load of grass or leaves or thatch out by pulling the tarp out using my weight on the bumper.
It would be nice if I had a dump box but then I would start to get fatter. :D

[mdb landscaping]

i side discharge 100% of the time. i just got a lazer this year so i may get an ultra vac for spring and fall cleanups, but i rarely need to double cut and all my lawns look fine w/o complaints.

[TFL]

i have seen john deere mid zeros with jd's 17 bus hydro dump lift high enough to reach dump truck talk to your dealer.

[dmk395]

You can always do what I do. Have one mower as dedicated mulcher and one as a bagger. If you get cluster%$^&^* with rain then you arent in too bad a shape. If the grass doesnt grow to much you can then have one machine side discharge and the other mulch. Basically you have a lot of options this way.

[Fine Lines Lawn]

Bagging and disposing of grass clippings are services that I don't offer. It's unnecessary, makes no sense, unprofitable, and a waste of time and equipment.

Was I too opinionated on this one? LOL

[jnjnlc]

Hughes Manufacturing has some neat trailers.

Hughes Manufacturing (http://www.hughesmfg.qpg.com/page2.html)

[MOW ED]

Bill,
I have to disagree with you for many reasons. You don't know my clients and I don't know yours.
I own a Walker GHS and a Toro Proline 44 walkbehind. The Walker bags the Toro is SD.
The following is MY examples to try and MAKE SOME SENSE for you.
I have a small client base and some of my clients require that I bag clippings because of swimming pools or areas that discharging is not always practical as under pine trees that have high acidity. I do not bag many and my Walker is set up with a no catch deflector so I can discharge. Unnecessary-NO.

My clients require that I bag and remove thatch from the yard in the spring. I do not remulch all of the thatch that I dig up out of the lawn as I know some guys do. I also bag and remove leaves from properties in the fall. I average between 75 and 100 per hour doing this.
Unprofitable -NO.

When it is time to bag there is nothing better and faster. There is no double cutting, hardly any slowing down and the end result is a clean lawn.
Waste of time-NO

My equipment is set up for me and it is very profitable and easy for me to bag if I have to. Not many other Z's can do it as easy or as well as my Walker can without adding oversized blowers and extra motors to drive them. My clients want a high level of service and this is there idea. Yours may have different ideas but then again we are in different markets.

Oh ya, I hope I wasn't too opinionated also.

[lawrence stone]

I have not bagged since 1991 when I bought a gear drive Toro with a 48" recycler deck. That unit was superseded in 1995 buy a 52" SD deck. The SD decks mow cleaner and faster than the dedicated recycler.

The main reason that people still bag it that their equipment just can't cut it. Or they are stuck in some time warp or maybe they can't admit they have made a $10k mistake when they could have bought a used walkbehind for $700 that can do a better overall job in ALL conditions.

[Grapevine]

Anyone relying on used equipment is clearly not doing this for a living, and if you think that a Walker is a 10 K mistake then you should not give up your day job.

[charrod]

Go to walkermowers.com and read recent "walker talk". They discuss several methods and systems for managing clippings....and they have PICS showing these in operation!

[jcoat]

Here's the article Charrod's talking about: http://www.walkermowers.com/index.htm1?section=walkertalk The link won't open the specific article, but goto the "Collecting Clippings" article in Vol 10. There are several dumping techniques shown.

[jeffyr]

Originally posted by lawrence stone
I have not bagged since 1991 when I bought a gear drive Toro with a 48" recycler deck. That unit was superseded in 1995 buy a 52" SD deck. The SD decks mow cleaner and faster than the dedicated recycler.

But here is a quote from a different thread posted on 6/5/2001 http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=16030&highlight=clippings

"I just bag 3 small homes every week with a 21" in one stop. Most of the time I don't fill a 45 gal plastic garbage can on wheels.

It's easier to deal with 2-3 bags of clippings then the mess on the sidewalks esp. if wet."

????


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