[Fareway Lawncare]

Hello, anyone w/Trac Vac 470 for Walks tell me how well they suck debris off lawns...how much more will they pick up than a reg. catcher? I am speaking of matted down spring debris...leaves...twigs...keys...& other debris like acorns.

 

[Lake'Lawn Care]

Hello!

I have a trac vac 470 unit mounted on my exmark viking hydro and it works great for leaf pickup. It also mulches the leaves up quite a bit which helps to reduce the amount of space they take up if bagging or trailering. However, the machine will not suck up acorns or matted leaves or twigs. I don't believe any trac vac is going to do this. You may want to look in to the toro trail type vacumns? Hope this helps, [email protected]'s Lawn Care.

 

[Fareway Lawncare]

Yes it helps! Will it suck up debris on hard surfaces like a dedicated vac unit? How long would it take to remove the unit to get through a narrow gate?

 

[John Gamba]

Originally posted by Fareway Lawncare
Yes it helps! Will it suck up debris on hard surfaces like a dedicated vac unit? How long would it take to remove the unit to get through a narrow gate?

Your better off with a Accelerator's bagger and meg-mos. Meg-mos are great at sucking (up) pine needles and other things. The 470's Claim to fame is with the 6hp Kohler and the 16"Impeller It will suck up WET GRASS all day long with out clogging because there is no 90 Degree bend. For going threw a narrow gate you would have to take off the blower and boot. The blower is easy until you go to put the 6" hose back on. The boot is easy but all of this is time consuming. In the pic is a 2000 TT with a 6hp trac-vac.
John

 

[Shady Brook]

In my opinion the unit just plain sucks! Ok, it does pick up stuff pretty well as was enumerated above, but I have had mine clog with some frequency doing leaves. If the leaves are wet you have to slow down, and it will eventually clog in my experience. The unit is a monster, at takes up to much space for me, makes the machine so wide like John said, and is a hinderence to vision. I would do as John said and get a side bagger, it would give you more flexibility and hold nearly as much. Those cans really don't hold a bunch of material, and can be a big pain to put on and take off. I will never again buy a unit like this again for a walkbehind.

I wish you well.
Jay

 

[rodfather]

Fareway

I have 4 of them mounted on 52's and 61's. I love them. Only complaint I get is from guy's who are short and have a hard time seeing over them. The only other downfall I see is the dust that vents out of the top of the barrel. Other than that, I would never give them up...

 

[odin]

Originally posted by rodfather
Fareway

I have 4 of them mounted on 52's and 61's. I love them. Only complaint I get is from guy's who are short and have a hard time seeing over them. The only other downfall I see is the dust that vents out of the top of the barrel.

ditto we had them on 52 inch scag hydro fixed decks...ours was excellent for leaves ..schredded maple leaves like paper.

And like you the only problem we had was looking over the barrel and it could get weighted down with all that debrie packed in the barrel and make it hard for my nephews to lift the deck up when they wanted to go over bad humps and bumps in the lawn without scalping the hump.

We would have four barrels for each walkbehind ...one fill up grab another ....we loved em.

 

[John Gamba]

Oh i forgot! You cant go under anything, I mean anything. As far as seeing you WILL HIT well heads and other things that you cannot see.

Good luck. In the pic i have with this set up 1 more bushel then the trac-vac. 9 total.

 

[Fareway Lawncare]

J.G., I have Accelerator's & run them w/double gators. If you kept the double gators & Added the Shredding of the Trac Vac & the increased suction it provides won't you be able to Pack Allot More leaves into the container & Pick Up Allot more matted and or Wet debris?

 

[John Gamba]

Originally posted by Fareway Lawncare
J.G., I have Accelerator's & run them w/double gators. If you kept the double gators & Added the Shredding of the Trac Vac & the increased suction it provides won't you be able to Pack Allot More leaves into the container & Pick Up Allot more matted and or Wet debris?

No!! And the more you pack in the heaver it gets Then you dump on the ground and lift a tarp twice Oh i have over 700 dollars left over using the accelerator then the trac-vac.

 

[LwnmwrMan22]

Put a JRCO dethatcher on the front. Takes all the pine needles and twigs and brings them up to the top of the grass. You'll never go back to hand raking or blowing a yard.

 

[John Gamba]

Originally posted by LwnmwrMan22
Put a JRCO dethatcher on the front. Takes all the pine needles and twigs and brings them up to the top of the grass. You'll never go back to hand raking or blowing a yard.

It works for me!!

 

[Shady Brook]

John Gamba

Is that 9 bushel, or 9 cubic foot? Is that the 6.2, and how much is the volume of the extender? I thought they were measureing using cubic feet? I think you have considerably more volume to fill with that then the vac set up?

Jay

 

[John Gamba]

Originally posted by Shady Brook
John Gamba

Is that 9 bushel, or 9 cubic foot? Is that the 6.2, and how much is the volume of the extender? I thought they were measureing using cubic feet? I think you have considerably more volume to fill with that then the vac set up?

Jay

Its 9 bushles. The trac is 8. We didnt have the accelerators when i started or i would have never got the trac's. I forgot what size the extender is. You can go to the banner and ask peter about the size.
John

 

[JeffK]

Gentelmen,

I was wondering if I too could get an opinion on the trac vac as well.

I just purchased my first mower (Exmark TTHP 52") with the 17hp engine and the trac vac with the JRCO rake on the front.

Have any of you had any experience with using this unit for cleaning up thatch. When I saw thatch, I mean actually going over the lawn with a Ryan dethatcher and using this unit with the rake (in the up position) to pick up the debris. Is there enough sucking power to pick-up the thatch? Do you have to go over the lawn more than once? What type of blades are you using on this unit for clean-ups and also what blades are you using for mulching?

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[bottlefed89]

where do I find more info on those dethatchers??

 

[John Gamba]

Originally posted by bottlefed89
where do I find more info on those dethatchers??

jrcoinc.com

 

[John Gamba]

Originally posted by JeffK
Gentelmen,

I was wondering if I too could get an opinion on the trac vac as well.

I just purchased my first mower (Exmark TTHP 52") with the 17hp engine and the trac vac with the JRCO rake on the front.

Have any of you had any experience with using this unit for cleaning up thatch. When I saw thatch, I mean actually going over the lawn with a Ryan dethatcher and using this unit with the rake (in the up position) to pick up the debris. Is there enough sucking power to pick-up the thatch? Do you have to go over the lawn more than once? What type of blades are you using on this unit for clean-ups and also what blades are you using for mulching?

Thanks,
Jeff

Can you mount the jrco bar when you already have the trac-vac mounted???
John

Can you mount the trac-vac with the jrco bar also mounted???

 

[rodfather]

Yes, I have a 60 inch JRCO dethatcher mounted along with my TraC Vac 470 on a Ferris 61 inch WB...works great for Spring Clean ups and matted leaves and such.

I'd post a pic John, but I am done with them for this Spring for now.

 

[Fareway Lawncare]

J. Gamba, Please consider this hypothetical situation. If you were to run over an area w/small twigs, pine cones etc. w/ the Trac Vac 470 would it Suck up more than your Accelerator. Forget about leaf pick up... I use tarps, blowers & loaders for that...this would be used like a Vac for smaller Stuff.