View Full Version : Sweeper question
Mickey
10-13-2005, 03:37 PM
I have a sweeper and it does OK for a lot of things but ain't worth a dang on pine needles. The needles get caught on the lip of the catcher and plug up the opening in SHORT order.
Anyone have or know of a sweeper that does a decent job on pine needles?
Mickey,
I'm looking at this one from Sears...
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=LAWN&pid=07124211000
It says it will pick up "pine straw", what we in the PNW call pine needles... It also has a de-thatcher attachment you put on the front, so you can de-thatch and sweep up at the same time.
I believe one member, maybe Paul (Ingersoll) has one. I don't know if he as the same problem, though.
Mickey
10-13-2005, 03:49 PM
THanks Greg.
Your welcome, Mickey... A question back at ya. Have you used your current sweeper on an asphalt surface...driveway? Does it wear the brushes down?
rwairforce
10-13-2005, 04:11 PM
Mickey,
Thanks for the link to the video. That looks like it works great! I think I'll get one of those real soon, especially since it's on sale!
simple_john
10-13-2005, 04:21 PM
mickey What kind of sweeper do you have?
ive got a brinly.. it does a pretty good job... i dont have a lot of pine needles but it does great on leaves.... one of the nices features is the way it folds up for storage...
I just got the dethatcher unit for it.. but its too wet to use it still...
heres a few pics:
http://www.brinly.com/images/sweeper/sts42lxtall.jpg
http://www.brinly.com/images/sweeper/stdk42lxstorage.jpg
Also nick: www.thesmartfarmer.com (http://www.thesmartfarmer.com) sells agri fab sweepers....
Argee
10-13-2005, 04:59 PM
Mickey, I have the Brinly and it does an excellent job on pine needles..and believe me I live in the middle of a stand of white pines. I'll probably pick up 60 - 80 bushels before I'm through this year.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/Argee/My%20Tractors/1020e299.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/Argee/My%20Tractors/Sweeper.jpg
Argee
10-13-2005, 05:03 PM
Brinly Sweeper Review (http://www.mytractorforum.com/showthread.php?t=148) Here's a review I did on it back in March
wanna_be_farmer
10-14-2005, 01:08 PM
Hey those fold? :fing20: I have one that came with the house, been fighting storing it for four years! But I don't have any Pines. Rory
simple_john
10-14-2005, 01:23 PM
Hey those fold? :fing20:
Its real simple.. remove the 2 support posts in the hopper, pull a few pins and it disconnects and/or folds....
very easy storage...
oh.. and rory, your shirts went out yesterday too (FYI)
Mickey
10-14-2005, 07:21 PM
My sweeper is an older Agri-Fab 38" wide. Take a look at the pic to see what the problem is.
The opening from the top of the sweeper to the top of the catcher is 3". The pine needles avg 8" long.
The needles get caught over the lip of the catcher and in the pic this is what happen in less than 50" of travel. Pull a little more and it get worse until nothing gets past the caught needles.
Greg, I'm an old farm boy, all gravel drives. Over the yrs the brushes had gotten bent over some but I don't know how worn they are. Still have more than enough adj on the brush heigth to drag bottom.
When I bought this sweeper I think I gave about $50 for it so you can tell I've had it a while.
Mickey, uhhhh My pine "needles" are the little 1~1 1/2" guys. I loose tons of them, and they really stick to the asphalt drive.
I just pick up my unit at Sears, and am assembling it right now.
Argee
10-14-2005, 11:22 PM
My sweeper is an older Agri-Fab 38" wide. Take a look at the pic to see what the problem is.
The opening from the top of the sweeper to the top of the catcher is 3". The pine needles avg 8" long.
I see what your saying. Is there any way to modify the opening...like moving the hopper down??
You might consider trimming the edge of the hopper shorter. It would decrease your capacity, but it might be worth it.
Mickey
10-15-2005, 10:49 AM
Have thought of increasing the opening heigth but have also been giving thought to adding a flange to the top leading edge of the catcher so these needles can't straddle the thin lip it now has. Shouldn't take too long to give that a try.
Was hoping there might be a design that could handle these pine needles without any modifications.
Argee
10-15-2005, 11:52 AM
Right now my front lawn is gold with pine needles. I'll be picking up needles next week and once I get the sweeper ready I'll take a look at the distance on my leading edge. My needles are from the White Pine which is relatively short compared to the ones you pictured.
Mickey,
Another thought. Do you have a mulch plug for your mower? How about mulching as you sweep. It just might make the needles small enough so they won't bunch up like they are now...
Uncle Greg
Mickey
10-16-2005, 08:50 PM
Mickey,
Another thought. Do you have a mulch plug for your mower? How about mulching as you sweep. It just might make the needles small enough so they won't bunch up like they are now...
Uncle Greg
No multch plug as I normally don't see a need but a few days ago Duc offered to give me his as he has never mounted it or see's a need to. :trink40:
Got too many things going right now but maybe mid-week I can spend some time on the problem. Wind blew all night Fri and all day Sat. Got plenty of leaves and pine needles to practice on.
As you said in another post, a blower is still a desireable tool. I've got an electric one and it does reasonably well but the 100' cord just isn't quite enough to reach everwhere.
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