Billy Goat Lawn Vacs?

[John Deere]

What do I want? I was on alamia and looked at the Billy Goat Lawn Vacs and want to know what the difference are between them. I see the first one on that page goes for about $995 and then there most expensive one goes for $2295 or something like that. Obviously there is a difference, but I don't want to spend more than I have to, but I hate buying something and having it not be adequate. I mainly want it for thatch pick up after power raking and leaf pick up in the fall. Which one will work for me? Thanks!!!

[Runner]

A bagger on your mower does the same thing, but about 5 times faster.

[landscaper3]

I bought a 2001 Billy goat with the 10hp overhead valve motor and the new ajustable shoot for $750 plus tax. He also has 8hp ones for $699.00 and 8hp honda for $1169.00 and 11hp honda for $1379.00

[Runner]

Brian, you're talking about the blower, right?

[TLS]

landscaper3,

I think he is talking about push type vacs not a truck loader which I think you are referring to .

[landscaper3]

Yep my mistake, looked at it wrong vaccumes go from pro series $769.00 to 999.00 and the litter vacs go from 1399.00 to 2999.00 most have 11hp motors

[landscaper3]

you might want to look into a Trac Vac at http://www.tracvac.com

[Craig Jones]

We have two of the lower priced KDs. $799.00 and $999.00. They both have 5 hp engines, one an I/C and one quantum engine. They have large wheels which makes them pretty manuveralbe on lawns. We find them useful for picking up thatch since the felt bags keep down a lot of the dust. However in picking up leaves, they only shred them if they are really dry but will pick up the wet ones. We usually cannot use them if the leaves are real deep, we usually tarp them but they are great for smaller yards and cleaning up after we do bulk removal of leaves. One we bought used with the self propelled system which we found useless and we removed. Eventhough the bags hold 7 bushels of leaves, they fill up quick and take time to empty. In small residential lawns they really shine but for any yard of any size, they are not real time efficient. The replacement bags are pretty expensive, well over $100.00 We also found the hose kit not too effective and it clogs easily, especially if you have branches in the leaves. Hope this is of help to you.

[HOMER]

Why not spend the money on a good bagging system as mentioned above. Everytime I use my Trac-Vac (not promoting this particular system) I find that my leaf jobs go extremely quick. If you have a rider already then why walk???????? I couldn't imagine pushing something over my yards when I can ride as fast as normal and pick it up.

Homer

[John DiMartino]

Either drop her,or blow off her window ledges.She is the one that insisted that you bag the grass.What does she think-other baggers will put out less dust?they are all dusty in the leaves-it doesnt bother me because its behind me.I never had any complaints form using the trac-vac.I am amazed at how many people are willing to pay quite a bit more to have the lawn bagged in the fall.

[HOMER]

shes as good as dropped, I think she might be a little off her rocker anyway. I had just asked her a couple weeks before if everything was alright with our service. She said she was well pleased........then she calls to complain, and does it in a rude way. I try never to be rude to my customers and expect the same in return. I have to many "happy" customers to worry about one that can't be pleased.


Homer

[Skookum]

How much are you going to use it?

A few small thatch jobs, rake it. A few bigger, use a pull type lawn sweeper. More or bigger yards, use a bagger system.

Fall leaves, mulch as much as possible. If not allowed to mulch or they want leaves picked up use a bagger system like trac-vac, cyclone rake, etc...

A few years ago, I bought a Porter (I think, that was the maker) walk behind vac ($799.00) for leaves, huge bag just filled up in minutes and the felt inside the bag is like velcro to leaves. The bigger the bag, the more dust you will eat emptying it. Dealer and brochure said 8:1 mulch ratio, but I could find entire leaves to only 1/2 size leaves as the smallest. Took it back, for my money, after emptying five bags.

With not having a truck loader, I found it quicker on small yards that must be pickup clean, to blow or mow the leaves into small piles then use a Craftsman chipper/ shredder ($299.00) with a vac hose attachmanet ($99.00) to mulch the leaves. The collector bag is just the right size to dump into a 33 gallon trash can. 4 collector bags fill a trash can with dime size totally shredded leaves.

I just bought a commercial edition Cyclone ($2,200.00)rake to do the large lots I must pickup. I watched a guy with a Trac-vac trailer type flip it over twice. Small ones that are attched to the mowers seem too small.

[Craig Jones]

We also found the baggers cumbersome on the Billy Goat since we do not have a leaf loader. They work well on yards where we can dump the leaves in the woods. We also have a small Troybilt vacuum which has a smaller bag and is easier to dump. It also shreds the leaves real nice. We like to use it occasionaly but have had trouble with the amaller wheels (breaking) and the handle brackets. We use it more for the blower attachment and the hose kit. It is similar to the Sears unit and its advantage is its ability to mulch the leaves which saves trips to the dump.

[Rufur]

we use them for parking lots only..get the one with the plastic sheet under the bag and that empties like a 21' I wouldnt use them on lawns it'll tale 3 times as long to get up leaves etc than if using a blower

[turfquip]

Using a walk behind lawn vac commercially for fall cleanup is, in my opinion a major time waster. But if you or your customer get fuzzied up witnessing inefficient methods in action make sure you're getting your hourly.

// a note from your friend Ed

[lawnboy11]

A neighbor of mine gave me her old billy goat for free (was ex husband's!), but I would buy one know if she hadn't. I agree with most of waht's been said. I call him Billay. It's great for picking up small piles, curb side leaves, acorns, thatch. It's not for large amounts of leaves, but if there are areas that it's easier to suck the leaves up and be done with it rather than blow them around and pick up its great. I do mainly small properties so it's easier than blowing the leaves all over sometimes. It cleans the street really well if needed. Use a tarp for large amounts of leaves.

[Getmow]

The only good use I find for my Billy Goat lawn vacs are street cleanup after my truck vac has finished.