tailgate leaf loader

[Schlepie]

Thinking about maybe getting one for next season. Tailgate loader seems to be a more economical option and is smaller than the hitched models. Does anyone out there use them or know anyone that does and is it worth the investment.

[LAWNGODFATHER]

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20079&highlight=leaf+vac

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19626&highlight=leaf+vac

I have used both sevral different ways, All have their perpose and you have to decide which one fits your needs and business.

[Grapevine]

One of the main drawbacks as I see it is you'll need another truck to pull your trailer with mowers, blowers etc.. If you have 2 trucks then it would work fine. Plus it's another big, expensive piece of equipment sitting until you need it. I like the tailgate loader because it's on, off and you can pull your trailer behind it. I could not do the volume of business I do without a truck loader, no way.

[mdb landscaping]

ive been researching this too, and am probably going to get one in the spring or next fall. i saw a really good idea the other day for mounting the sucker itself. a guy took a reese hitch, just the hitch part, nothing else(the box), and welded it to the front part of his trailer. that way you buy the reese hitch loader model, and you just slide it in and pop a pin in. if you want it off, just pop the pin off and away you go.

[thelawnguy]

Agree, a popular method with smaller operators around here is to mount the loader to the front of the trailer.

[kutnkru]

For the first time in many years this season I noticed that it was actually more productive to mulch leaves and vac some than it was to tarp them and suck them at curbside. We have been able to mulch most everything up and last week was the first full bagging week. The leaf conditions have been rather dry, and its just made things very smooth.

I agree that the way to do it is to hook the unit to your trailer and then devise a dump box for easier unloading. :)

Kris

[Craig Turf Management]

I'm going to buy one next year to suck up all of my leaves. I want to get some sub business from other lawn care companies, and have them bring the leaves to the curb for me to load and haul away. Is anyone else providing this service or utilizing a service such as this?
Bill!

[kutnkru]

Yes as a matter of fact we are, its called curbside pickup -LOL!!! http://www.theunholytrinity.org/cracks_smileys/contrib/corky/corkysm21.gif

I would think that if you could organize a service such as this to coordinate with the mowing crews (yours or otherwise) that it might be something of value.

I like the idea of not having to haul away debris which would mean more productivity for me, and I would also not have to incur the extra expenses associated with extra diesel costs (that would be incorporated in your package price) in the late fall which accompany hauling leaves.

This would also mean that in upscale areas that are limited to 9 bags at the curb for leaf removal that we could dump bulk at the curbs and your crews could follow-up in the afternoon/pm that same day.

Sounds like a win win situation to me.
Kris

[Lawn-Scapes]

How do you price curbside pick up?

[Mgardner]

:cool: Just commenting on the loader,I just bought an 11hp. with 8" flexhose and fabbed a swinging tailgate that it mounts on. Then built a plywood box and cut a hole at top with 2x2' expanded metal . It has amazed me at the amount I get on the truck bed.When full, the bummer is unloading with a fork out the back. Going to , when time allows , put a flatbed and hoist under it. With the big piles I unhook my trailer and drive right back to the piles and load.Use walk behind to shove the piles out to curb ,then blow the scattered remains.With two you can tarp them out effective but by myself I use the mower to shove the piles.

[General Grounds]

hey guys bought a 16hp Lesco loader last year and it was awesome, now i have a new rack truck to load the leaves into, last year i used my 10 mason dump w/ sides on it and i dumped every 2-3 days, can't imagine how much i'll fit w/ a 12ft rack. one of my most favorable pieces of equiptment. Tony, any questions fell free to e-mail


p.s. sucks a frozen leaf off the ground.

[beck]

I just recently bought a second truck. A 95 chevy diesel with a 12 stake body and hoist. I mounted the 16 HP billy goat leaf vac behind the passenger seat and it shoots into the back left corner of the truck. The sides are 6' high for approximately a 15 cubic yard box. I like having it on the truck, this way i do not always have to pull the trailer. For my 5-10,000 sq ft yards it takes a few days to fill up.

As Mike(Lawngodfather) and I found out it would be advantageous to have lights on the truck for the nighttime leaf vacuuming.

Depending on where you will be mounting the leaf vac, I would highly recommend looking into the electric start. I have mine mounted so the rope sits right above the bulk-head and I have to stand on the passenger door frame to pull it. Not very convenient so on short trips the vac stays running.

[cantoo]

I have a small loader that I bolted a 2" tube to, I welded 2 1/2 receivers on all 4 corners of my trailer so I can put it wherever I want. I also made a two wheeled axle with a receiver on it if I want to pull it around and use it as a blower.

[EJK2352]

I bought a used 11 hp. Trac-Vac off a friend of mine. The 11 Briggs was worn out so I replaced it with a 13 hp. Kohler Command. I have a Ford F250 w/ a dump insert and cab protector. Built the box with 2x4's and plywood. I used a trash tarp on the top to vent it and hold the leaves in. I mounted my loader on the cab protector at the front of my box,that way I don't have the loader taking up trailer space and I can do curbsides without pulling the trailer around. I mounted a light for night time pickups. I do some curbside pickups for another lco. I have a couple of friends that grow pumpkins and take all my leaves. Having a free dumpsite sure helps make it profitable.:) ;) :) ED

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Originally posted by TSG
How do you price curbside pick up?

Beck and I are using $100 an hour.

Another LCO around here we talked to is charging $300 and hour.

Last year I was curb-side vaccing for sevral LCO's and charged them the same as the customer price of $100.

[Schlepie]

LGFather, do you charge a minimum if it is less than an hr. Some may only take you 30 min?

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Started picking curb side and did a few at 11-13 minutes and decided to put a 15 min. charge on it. Haven't let the customres know yet.

[gogetter]

Originally posted by Craig Turf Management
I'm going to buy one next year to suck up all of my leaves. I want to get some sub business from other lawn care companies, and have them bring the leaves to the curb for me to load and haul away. Is anyone else providing this service or utilizing a service such as this?

Hey Bill. There are a couple companies with ads in my local paper advertising this service. I just called one today to get a price on one lawn with a lot of leaves because tarping and putting on my trailer just wasn't going to work. I have a 5'x10' open trailer so it doesn't hold much.
I told him I'll get leaves to curb and I just need someone to suck 'em up.
I told him the size of lawn. He gave me an estimate of $40.
Considering the time it would take me to get the leaves on tarps, get tarps on trailer, drive to dump TWICE at $15 each, get leaves off trailer, etc. it made the choice clear.
I'm gonna use this guy for a few more lawns, maybe get a discount for the extra business I'm giving him.

[Turfdude]

We use a hitch mount giant vac 16HP electric start for F-350 dump. With extra height on sides & breathable tarp ontop, will hold about 8 cu. yds of very well shreded leaves. Send one man to dump, swing unit to side, raise bed & watch large cube come out. Saves a lot of time vs. tarping & 3 men loading and not fitting as many leaves of course. Holds at least 2.5 conventional truck loads and up to 5.

[landscaper3]

We run a pair of Billy Goats hitch mounts on our 1 ton dump trucks 4WD, we use to mount it on the plow frame on our trucks but had a local welder install a 2" reciever on our existing trailer hitches so we can tow our trailers and have the vacs on back of the trucks which require less tubing then the way we had them mounted on plow frames. We put a 8" drop reciever turned upside down to make it over the trailer rails so the wont hit on full turn.

[Tomslawncare1]

Turfdude,
Sounds like we have the same equipment. Mine is an 86 F-350 diesel w/ 16hp Swing away. I used to have an 8hp tailgate loader and used to get angry at all the clogs. Especially with damp or wet leaves. I'm toying with the idea of a larger tow behind unti because I don't tow my trailer with the dump.

[gene gls]

If you want to get serious check out the leaf loader at this site:www.tracklessvehicles.com/enter.htm

Gene

[gogetter]

If one wanted to be able to have a tailgate loader on AND be able to still tow thier trailer, would this be the kind of thing you would need?

http://www.northerntool.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=492929&prmenbr=6970

[LAWNGODFATHER]

How about this one. A Giant Vac 3001

CLICK HERE (http://www.geocities.com/lawngodfather/Equipment_.html)

Or you could get bigger.

CLICK HERE (http://www.giant-vac.com/literature/70510.html)

[thelawnguy]

Here's what our town uses for curbside collection-fills a 10 yard box in 5-10 minutes.

http://www.tarrantmfg.com/Products/windy.gif

[BerksLawn]

No matter how big u get dont try to suck up brush, the town tried to at one of our customers...... it was one of the funniest things ive seen .

[kutnkru]

They do look extremely comical and remind me of Keystone Cops when they try to do crazy things like this. :laugh:

If they took a minute to step back and watch themselves in action they just might figure it out if they were to put the brush aside for a minute and continue thru the leaf piles they would get it done that much faster. Especially on a day like today when the wind chill was up and the wind was kicking. :eek:

[dfor]

I just bought one about 3 weeks ago. A 16 hp Billy Goat that I mounted on the tongue of the trailer. Saves a lot of time. Definately worth it.

[Craig Turf Management]

For those of you that don't have a dump set-up of some sort, how do you get the leaves unloaded? Can you discharge with the leaf loader, or does it take too long?
Thanks, Bill!

[little green guy]

A feind of mine lets me use his leaf vac to pickup my leaves. He has a f550 w/ a 12 grain body and a 25hp giant vac towbehind (kinda like lawngodfathers) It can hold about 15 yards of leaves. The inclosure is a mesh tarp that goes over metal pipes that arch the top and on the back their is a part piece of the tarp that goes around the pipe instead of just a hole. The tarp was all professionally installed by some company, it's a realy nice setup.

I'm thinking about next year making my own setup, I want to get a dump trailer, build a box on the trailer and mount a vac on the tront of the trailer near the tong, i want to get atleast a 20+ hp engine, maybe a 30hp. I'm not suer exactly how i'm gonna go it yet but it's gonna be sweet.

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Like this Little green guy

[kutnkru]

That look really sweet Mike :rolleyes:

LOL!!! You forgot to post the link. ;)

[LAWNGODFATHER]

NO. My PC locked up on me while posting it, and I found out the pic was too BIG, so I compressed it and will try again now. I didn't think it posted since PC locked up.

Nope said to big still