Cleanups in the Rain?

[crew]

It's been raining here alot and I find myself wishing I could do some cleanups in the rain. Is it possible? What are some effective techniques you have used? Any ideas most appreciated.

[Toroguy]

I feel your pain crew. Im across the river from you and its been nothing short of a migraine with all this rain. I have been doing gutter jobs in the rain and trimming back shrubs and hedges. I dont know of any techniques short of erecting a circus type tent to keep the leaves dry.

It looks like a wash out until Thursday.

Catch a movie!

[awm]

The answer is to send the rain down to NC.
Hurting down here.

[Nathan]

You have got to be kidding. Over here in washington we work in the rain constantly. I can recall working for over 30 consecutive rainy days one year, no joking. What exactly is the kind of info you are looking for, I am sure that I have at least a few methods to help you out.

[bob]

We haven't had rain in over a month. Sucking leaves up with the mower is about the dustiest job you could have. Send some rain my way!

[thelawnguy]

Same here, bob. I took to wearing a dust mask today, heck there were times I couldnt see the front of the mower. On the plus side, its so dry everything grinds to powder, I have yet to make a trip to the leaf drop-off.

[Toroguy]

Nathan,
All of the leaves have fallen here and it has rained every weekday for awhile now. The leaves when saturated become "wet newspaper like" and present alot of trouble to vac or mulch. Throw in the stress of snow in the forecast, and you can imagine all the customers calls wanting their lawn done first.

One could rake the leaves in the rain, that woud take alot of time and be a nightmare bagging or tarping wet leaves.

Any suggestions?

[Charles]

You would know it. November has brought the rain in as usual here. Right when I need to be picking up leaves. BUt i dont try and do the leaf business in the rain or when its too wet. I know it will dry up soon. I have tried to do it when it is wet and it just added too much time to the job. Blowing wet leaves and wet drives extends the job time. Bagging wet leaves clog up the system too many times. Now i do work when the lower level of leaves are still soggy. Because yards never completly dry out after it rains

[powerreel]

Don't move to Seattle, it rains everyday here but 2 weeks out of the year!

[crew]

Nathan, I want to know how you pick up leaves when they are drenched without the problems noted in other posts in this thread. I really miss those dusty days of yore - me, my z and a cloud of pulverized leaves in my wake - smells like victory!

[eggy]

Well I know the feeling but most my lawns had the winterizer on and know the rain came...and well guess what we are going to be cutting more!!!!!

[Yardworks]

This fall was extremely wet for me to. I knew time was limited, so I did clean-ups in the rain. It was a pain in the butt, plugged up a lot at first, but after a while I learned a few tricks. I started taking just taking half the mower width or less at a time. This reduced plug-ups considerably. It took a lot longer then normal conditions, but I'm glad it's done. Customers are happy(the important thing.) And I'm lucky I got it done. We've had snow the begining of the week, and it sounds like measurable amounts for this weekend. Good luck.

[powerreel]

what he said for starters! http://nepenthes.lycaeum.org/Plants/Psilocybe/cyanescens.html try these and tell me how this works!

[Nathan]

to everyone who has asked about picking up the leaves in the rain, we usually have to suck it up and just do it. If we waited for a dry day our work would get so stacked up most of our customers would drop. Depending on how much has dropped we do a few different things. First of all we do not mulch and most of you probably already know that it is a waste of time to try when it is wet. Second, if the leaf drop is not extreme you can usually bag as long as you accept that it is going to go slower, a good trick is to lift the front tires and let the deck bounce with the blades off to knock the "chud" from the deck, move the mower back and toss the chud into the bag then move on. If the leaves are so heavy that there is no way you can bag we usually mow perimeters with the bag off. I know it doesn't look as professional as striping but it shreds the leaves to reduce volume as well as consolidating them into a very small area so they can be raked up quickly. Third, when you do pick up the leaves we don't use tarps, only garbage cans. The reason is that with wet leaves the volume capacity is a drawback because weight builds quickly, so the time saved by moving a lot at a time is offset by the time it takes to lug 5 million pounds of wet slop. Just toss the bucket down on it's side and staddle it as you gather big arm loads of leaves, you can usually quickly fill the bucket to the top.

I will say that living in WA is sometimes a downer it definitely keeps us in business. Most homeowners respect what we can do in the rain and are very happy to pay us so they don't have to be out there.
I would be happy to offer any other advice if anyone has any specific problems.

[crew]

Thats exactly the kind of tips I was looking for. Thanks alot Nate.We will be out tommorow with garbage cans walk behind and snowmobile suits.
Hey Washington cant be all that bad - Starbucks,good music,close to whistler- come on tell the truth!