What is the tried and true method to efficiently get leaves bagged? I have almost got it done this year, but am looking for a better way for next year. I've been looking at the blowers. Are the mulching vacs worth anything? Also I have seen the larger bag attachments for the mulch vacs. Do they work? Looking to save a lot a hassle in the future. Thanks!
best method to clean up leaves
rb_in_va
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What is the tried and true method to efficiently get leaves bagged? I have almost got it done this year, but am looking for a better way for next year. I've been looking at the blowers. Are the mulching vacs worth anything? Also I have seen the larger bag attachments for the mulch vacs. Do they work? Looking to save a lot a hassle in the future. Thanks!
Kind of broad questions, but how large is your property, and are there a lot of trees??? What sort of equipment do you have now?
I have a vac attachment for a handheld Stihl blower...I use it really only for places like stairways going down to basements/cellars and other very hard to work in areas. If you plan to suck up large piles of leaves, you can do it, but it is a looooong process.
I have a vac attachment for a handheld Stihl blower...I use it really only for places like stairways going down to basements/cellars and other very hard to work in areas. If you plan to suck up large piles of leaves, you can do it, but it is a looooong process.
My property is only .3 acre, not very big. Plus it is a 2000 sf ranch house, so it has a large footprint on the lot. I do not personally have any large trees, but all of my neighbors do. They haven't offered to rake any leaves for me, lol. Equipment? Just two rakes, and a device that holds bags open to dump leaves into. The bag holder is a big help. To give you an idea, I have bagged up about 90-100 39 gallon bags and I have probably 20 to go.
It would be great of there was a system that would vac and mulch, then blow it right into the leaf bag but I realize that is unrealistic.
Have you tried using a grass collector on a mower? If it fills up really fast, you also can try mowing over the leaves (mulching them) with the collector off, and then going back over them with the collector on. Mulching the leaves first greatly reduces their volume.
As Hoolie posts, the hand-held blowers with vac attachment are slow. They are best for doing "detail" work, including cleaning out gardens.
When you say "mulching vac", I assume you mean the push-type lawn vacuums? Like a Toro or similar? They do work, but again they aren't fast. I would kind of lean towards a push mower with grass collector. But, the push vacs also usually come with a vacuum hose attachment, which lets you reach into tight spaces and gardens. I have one customer who has one of those, and he likes it. He also "vacuums" his lawn every few days during the "leaf fall", so that the amount of leaves doesn't build up on him.
Do you have any friends or neighbors that have a push vac that you can try first?
As Hoolie posts, the hand-held blowers with vac attachment are slow. They are best for doing "detail" work, including cleaning out gardens.
When you say "mulching vac", I assume you mean the push-type lawn vacuums? Like a Toro or similar? They do work, but again they aren't fast. I would kind of lean towards a push mower with grass collector. But, the push vacs also usually come with a vacuum hose attachment, which lets you reach into tight spaces and gardens. I have one customer who has one of those, and he likes it. He also "vacuums" his lawn every few days during the "leaf fall", so that the amount of leaves doesn't build up on him.
Do you have any friends or neighbors that have a push vac that you can try first?
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I might would consider mulching some of them to add back to your soil. Then mybe a bagger on your mower, Im not sure what kind of mower you have now. I have a cyclone rake and Im well pleased with it. They can be made to vac and place the leaves in bags. Do a google or yahoo search for cyclone rake and check them out.
wayne
wayne
Actually I meant this type.
http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDU....0&CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=misc/searchResults.jsp&MID=9876&N=2984+5234&pos=n20
With this type of attachment.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Oversize-Leaf-B...QitemZ220068608468QQihZ012QQcategoryZ79671QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Anyone every tried that? I have considered the push mower "lawn vacuum", but it seems like a big expense for the amount of leaves I have. At least it seemd like a big expense before I started bagging all these leaves.
I just have a 21" push mower now. If I had a riding mower I would no doubt get something like that cyclone rake. But with my small lot it's hard to justify a riding mower. I have been looking for a decent used rider though.
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3,319 Posts
I haven't raked a leaf off of a lawn in years. They all get mulched back in. One of the best things you can do to your lawn is add (free) organic matter to it.
I did that when the leaves first began to fall, but then the leaves got to be too much to mulch. I'll just try to stay on top of it better next year.
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164 Posts
You should be able to rent a leaf vac to try. Most rental yards carry them. If your Home Depot has a rental dept I know they carry them.
There's no real 'easy' way to get the leaves into bags...if you had a leaf-vac machine and could use it every day or other day when the leaf drop is heaviest it wouldn't be so bad, but who has that kind of time??
120 bags is quite a bit...if you have side discharge on your mower, try mowing the lawn in circles to blow the leafs into one general area. A lot of them will get chopped up and take up far less volume. Then you can either bag them or if not too deep, mow with the bagger...it'll fill up every 5 feet unfortunately but less raking...
120 bags is quite a bit...if you have side discharge on your mower, try mowing the lawn in circles to blow the leafs into one general area. A lot of them will get chopped up and take up far less volume. Then you can either bag them or if not too deep, mow with the bagger...it'll fill up every 5 feet unfortunately but less raking...
I have a side discharge mower. I found that mowing the leaves into one general area worked well. Then I just mowed over them again and again until they were chopped up into small pieces. I guess I'll just have to stay on it better for next year.
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