how do you pick up leaves?

[turbo5560]

Around here most people use truck loaders to get rid of leaves from a property. I was wondering if anyone does something different? maybe uses some type of equipment like a city might use to get rid of leaves at the curb.

If you use a truck type loader I would like to know what brand and how big it is and your thoughts on your unit. We bought a 16hp little wonder last year... does it work? yes. Is it effecient, i doubt it. We are making it work, but it just takes too long! Should I invest in a bigger model?

Thanks in advance!

[ClassicLawnCareInc]

We use a John Deere 2305 compact tractor( the smallest compact they make), and have a 3 point hitch trac-vac unit on the back. We cut up the leaves with our 54 inch deck and gator blades, then it goes up a large tube and into a metal auger and then into (2) 50 gallon barrels. It has its own 6.5 hp motor to turn the auger and for sucking up the leaves. It does a great job I love it. This is the third season of me using it.

[thisismurph]

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[Mowbizz]

Around here most people use truck loaders to get rid of leaves from a property. I was wondering if anyone does something different? maybe uses some type of equipment like a city might use to get rid of leaves at the curb.

If you use a truck type loader I would like to know what brand and how big it is and your thoughts on your unit. We bought a 16hp little wonder last year... does it work? yes. Is it effecient, i doubt it. We are making it work, but it just takes too long! Should I invest in a bigger model?

Thanks in advance!

16 HP Lesco loader here and it's the balls...makes short work of leaves for me...don't know what you're doing wrong to say it's not efficient...:confused:
Of course if you want to spend $100k (or more) on a leaf machine like they use in the cities...i guess that would be a time saver :laugh::laugh::laugh:

[DLAWNS]

Our basic setup and method is to blow the leaves out of the beds, off the curb lines, and the perimeters, then we suck them up with a 52" Toro Z w/ a bagger and an Exmark Navigator. Then we dump the chopped up leaves in the road and one guy sucks them up with our Billy Goat 18 HP Vanguard leaf vac, while the other guy is doing any touch ups to the yard. This works for us and seems to be the most efficient way for us.

[grassman177]

yup, we do that too, did you see our leaf loader machine/trailer. it is great and you can pick up a curb line in like 10-15 min tops. 27hp and 12in tube. 10 cubic yard dump trailer. i got pics of it on here somewhere

[jtkplc]

First we blow out beds, perimeter, etc. Then we start blowing the leafs toward the truck. Once we get a windrow started we push the piles with the mowers. Then while one guy is sucking up with the 18hp Billy Goat, the other is bagging the lawn. Works awesome, very efficient.

[DLAWNS]

yup, we do that too, did you see our leaf loader machine/trailer. it is great and you can pick up a curb line in like 10-15 min tops. 27hp and 12in tube. 10 cubic yard dump trailer. i got pics of it on here somewhere

Yeah that thing looked pretty serious!

[lawnprosteveo]

Ive tried picking up leaves about every way I can think of. Rake and bag, rake and tarp, blower and tarp, bagging mower, mulching mower.....
This year I finally invested in a leaf loader. Billy Goat with a 16hp Vanguard. Its made life way easier! Also picked up a Shindaiwa EB802. Its great!

Next on the wish list is a dump insert, vac kit for my Toro Z, maybe a leaf plow, and a wheeled blower.

Theres so many different ways to do it...I just prefer the ones that cost the $$$$$$$$$$.

[turbo5560]

ya we do basically the same thing... the biggest thing is that we use the leaf plow to get them to the road and they get so packed together that it makes it hard to suck them up without fluffing them back up again. It also doesn't do good with wet leaves. it's awesome for dry fluffed leaves... but thats like asking for every snow storm to be 3 inches of light fluffy snow and having it be done by midnite... it just doesn't happen every place and i want to make picking up leaves faster.

[grassman177]

it is serious man, ran it yesterday for a job . i would not want to run itfor a very long period and once though. that hose is heavy. i am going to play with chains maybe this winter to help out a bit. i think the hangin length is too high on it. well we will see. i really want to utilize this in more ways next leaf season. we have never done much two truck operating and i want to see how that does. (one with the trailer and mowers etc, the other with this machine. other than getting a truck or otherwise mounted one like some of you have into the back of a truck with box)

[grassman177]

TUrbo, may i suggest getting a much bigger blower if you dont have a push blower or may i say the hurricane to really speed that part of the job up. if you already have a box and loader i only see that as a way to deal with the wet leaves better. leaf work here is ok, but we are working on that. i know if i had to do a very large amount of leaves and they were wet and such, i would want only the baddest blower out there!

[armyofgoodmusic]

Gator blades with chute blocker, mow the lawn 4 times and you have zero leaves, it turns most everything into powder. I honestly dont know why people use loaders....if i have any excess it will fit into at max 10 paper bags of which i leave for the city to pick up. Most lawns i dont bag anything at all. Its the cheapest way to do it and i ALWAYS have happy customers. Oh yea and there is no time spent dumping leaves somewhere else...which sometimes people are paying extra for a place to dump.

[DLAWNS]

Gator blades with chute blocker, mow the lawn 4 times and you have zero leaves, it turns most everything into powder. I honestly dont know why people use loaders....if i have any excess it will fit into at max 10 paper bags of which i leave for the city to pick up. Most lawns i dont bag anything at all. Its the cheapest way to do it and i ALWAYS have happy customers. Oh yea and there is no time spent dumping leaves somewhere else...which sometimes people are paying extra for a place to dump.

Dude I would love to see you try to mulch the leaves up where I'm at. It's not physically possible.

[Ranger08]

I have beeen using a cyclone rake and it does a great job. I just bought a cheap mower with SD and then fit the attatchment to the deck and started mowin. The only bad thing is fitting into tight places with it but I just blow leaves out of the beds and fences and from around the trees then just run the cyclone rake over them. Two weekends in a row I started out doing one house in the morning and then the neighbors see how good a job it does and ask me to do theirs so I have ended up doing 4 to 5 houses next to the one I started.

[integrityman]

Gator blades with chute blocker, mow the lawn 4 times and you have zero leaves, it turns most everything into powder. I honestly dont know why people use loaders....if i have any excess it will fit into at max 10 paper bags of which i leave for the city to pick up. Most lawns i dont bag anything at all. Its the cheapest way to do it and i ALWAYS have happy customers. Oh yea and there is no time spent dumping leaves somewhere else...which sometimes people are paying extra for a place to dump.

Yup...grind, grind, grind.

I have a property with 4 huge white oakks and in excess of 30 hickorys and a few assorted other trees. I call it hickory hell.....I do add a little lime to help neutralize the acid from the oak leaves.

Did I mention that I hate leaves?

[kylecal91]

This may sound redneck but it's the cheapest way to do it. I use blowers to blow the leaves into piles then I push the piles with my zt mower onto the trailer and pack them in that way. Seems to be working efficiently enough for not having a dump or anything.

[mowerbrad]

I use one of my mowers with a bagging system on it. I bought a 20hp billygoat leaf loader last year and if I had a dump insert/trailer, that would have been perfect. But since I didn't have any of those and since it was only on a "home-made" trailer it didn't really work out as well as I would have liked. So I am back to using my mowers this year.

[Runner]

Yep. The mulching and grinding of leaves into the lawn work great. I have meny years that I've done it. the problem is, is besides clogging the lawn up, it throws thePH way out of whack and at all different levels for different areas of the lawns. For those guys that are mulching oak leaves or hickory leaves, these are some of the worst. They will drop the PH in the soil quicker than anything (besides sulphur). I know this first had by soil testing done over the years on lawns like this. Removal by far is always the best method for nice lawns.

[360ci]

I just hire a whole whack of my younger brothers friends for $10/hr to rake a few of my commercial properties. I borrow a motor coach from work, load the tools and such in the cargo bays, park on the street and in a few hours we're done. We collect the leaves in areas that they can't be placed curbside into plastic bags and take them to a leaf dump area a few blocks away and reuse the bags for a later date. Overhead is kept to a minimum and profit is still relatively good.

[grassman177]

yeah, i mulched only on my lawn one year, oak leaves in abundance, and it straight thinned my lawn in some areas for the next spring. good thing i did not do this everywhere. i do mulch when they are not bad, but remove when too much. this has proven ok

[blakerugg]

cyclone rake on a 25hp garden tractor. works amazing. in my opinion its the best thing for my needs, and the machine is very high quality. i have had mine for four years and it still starts first pull and the only thing ive had to replace was the replaceable wear flaps.

[snapper]

anybody ever pile them on your trailer and then grind them up with a mulch kit equipped walk behind?? Saw and guy do that and it worked pretty good. He was able to put alot on his trailer..

Later!!

[STIHL GUY]

i just bought a giant vac leaf vac with a 16 HP Vanguard. i blow everything to the truck and suck it up with that

[360ci]

When I was staying at a hotel for work in Bloombsburg, PA. I saw a guy with a Sprinter converted to a huge vac. It had a rooftop mounted engine and a vac hose that had to be a solid 8" diameter! I should've taken a cell phone photo but I thought it was the coolest thing...more than likely expensive, but very cool.

[integrityman]

Yep. The mulching and grinding of leaves into the lawn work great. I have meny years that I've done it. the problem is, is besides clogging the lawn up, it throws thePH way out of whack and at all different levels for different areas of the lawns. For those guys that are mulching oak leaves or hickory leaves, these are some of the worst. They will drop the PH in the soil quicker than anything (besides sulphur). I know this first had by soil testing done over the years on lawns like this. Removal by far is always the best method for nice lawns.

Runner- I'm not saying your wrong by the method you use. HOWEVER, the attached website (from YOUR state :rolleyes:) supports the method I use. In fact numerous university studies (Perdue, Va. Tech) all support my method.

http://www.grounds-mag.com/mag/grounds_maintenance_leaves_turn_litter/

[integrityman]

http://www.mlive.com/homeandgarden/index.ssf/2008/09/leaves_turned_to_mulch_give_ya.html

another post for you non believers!

[integrityman]

http://www.mlive.com/homeandgarden/index.ssf/2008/09/leaves_turned_to_mulch_give_ya.html

Another article for you non believers!

[integrityman]

Here is a good article- although may need a microbiology refresher course to comprehend it. (May want to skip to the last sentence for the quick read!)

Abstract  The influence of tree leaf amendment and N fertilization on soil quality in turfgrass environments was evaluated. Our objective was to assess changes in soil quality after additions of leaf materials and N fertilization by monitoring soil chemical and physical parameters, microbial biomass and soil enzymes. Established perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) plots were amended annually with maple (Acer spp.) leaves at three different rates (0, 2240, and 4480 kg ha–1 year–1) and treated with three nitrogen rates (0, 63, and 126 kg N ha–1 year–1). Tree leaf mulching did not significantly affect water infiltration or bulk density. However, trends in the data suggest increased infiltration with increasing leaf application rate. Tree leaf mulching increased total soil C and N at 0–1.3 cm depth but not at 1.3–9.0 cm. Extracted microbial phospholipid, an indicator of microbial biomass size, ranged from 28 to 68 nmol phospholipid g–1 soil at the 1.3–9.0 cm depth. The activity of β-glucosidase estimated on samples from 0–1.3 cm and 1.3–9.0 cm depths, and dehydrogenase activity estimated on samples from 1.3–9.0 cm were significantly increased by leaf mulching and N fertilizer application. Changes in microbial community composition, as indicated by phospholipid fatty acid methyl ester analysis, appear to be due to seasonal variations and did not reflect changes due to N or leaf amendment treatments. There were no negative effects of tree leaf mulching into turfgrass and early data suggest this practice will improve soil chemical, physical, and biological structure.

[integrityman]

O.K. so everyone is probably sick and tired of my posts on this thread. I will try to contain myself and stop.

I advocate for the grinding method because it is very environmentally friendly AND cost effective. Moreover there are considerable benefits to turf.

I also advocate for soil sample testing and application of appropriate nutrients/ fertilizers and chemicals when needed. All the lawns I service utilizing this method are beautiful. I should add that I also like to aerate those properties that have heavy leaf loads that are ground up. I would submit that any process that adds to the organic and microbial of turf WILL improve your lawns.

[XLS]

we have different ways from crew to crew but in heavy leaf times we take trucks right throught the lawns and vac the rows up then dump them off the lawn and then vac it into larger trailers so we blow to rows and vac to trucks like large walkers and haul to big truck & trailers and vac it all up their to save on drive times between locations.
next year we may drop trailers of at location in the areas and when they get done just come pick then up to save $$ on multi-day jobs light leaf days just blow to road and vac into trucks and then walkers do the touch ups last year we hauled 1300 cuyds of triple mulched leaves

[Runner]

Yeah,...take into consideration this was Maple. If we were to look at the numbers from oak, walnut, ash, sycamore, and host of a few others that are high n acid, it is a whole different thing.

[lawncuttinfoo]

If you live in a large metropolis like MSP where they keep shutting down transfer stations and moving them further and further out to make way for housing developments. Consider asking your customers to dump onsite, many people have compost areas these days and you don't have to spend the time and fuel driving to the outlying transfer station or purchasing large vacs, unless you already have done so. :laugh:

[grassman177]

i dont mind small amounts of mulching and do it myself, but these yards always seemed to soffocate if i mulched too much at a time.

[lawnboy dan]

snapper hi vac mowers w/gators -makes the job easy

[integrityman]

Yeah,...take into consideration this was Maple. If we were to look at the numbers from oak, walnut, ash, sycamore, and host of a few others that are high n acid, it is a whole different thing.

Actually- the multiplicity of studies involved oak leaves and other hardwood leaves. NO impact.

[bobbything]

I blow the leaves onto either:

(a) the street, or
(b) the driveway

I then take the chute blocker off my Everride and go over the leaves a bazillion times, until they're 1/4th the size that they were (being mindful of muffler fires; learned that lesson the hard way). I built this sort of extended blocker that sits about 2 feet off my chute. It allows for the leaves to shoot out, but only about two feet before it hits the blocking system. I then put on my accelerator and vacuum everything, put it in the bed of my truck, and then take off.

I'm still looking for the best way to dispose of the leaves though. I hate paying $35-$45 to dump at the recycling center.

[QuadRacer041]

First we blow out beds, perimeter, etc. Then we start blowing the leafs toward the truck. Once we get a windrow started we push the piles with the mowers. Then while one guy is sucking up with the 18hp Billy Goat, the other is bagging the lawn. Works awesome, very efficient.

Thats pretty much what I do. I use an 18hp Fradan leaf loader. So far I like the loader, this is only my second season with it.

[XLS]

today was bullsheet all day on one job we dumped our lawn truck and magnum walker 13-14 times and we didnt get done so we will be back there tomorrow too.and yet again wednesday if not carefull

[Guinness56]

Oak and hickory means acorns and hickory nuts...so, while I'd love to mulch, I don't see how you can when it feels like walking on marbles in the turf. You'd still need to blow, suck, rake or shovel those damn things out...

[XLS]

hey guys not meaning to hijack the thread but are the leaf plows as good as some say ??? and do you use them on every job if not what is the determining factor on when to use and when not? sorry but thanks