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Some pine needle ideas.

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HydroHarold

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
'Tis the time of the year again where some evergreens do their needle/straw drop. I made a short film strip so please be seated.:D

L. to R.

#1. First pass of 2 around one white pine. JDGX335, 48"C 3 blade deck, Gator blades, PowrFlo/7 bu. 2 bag bagger.

#2. Area after 2 complete passes.

#3. Completely jam packed bagger full of complete length pine needles.

Continued next frame:
 

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Discussion starter · #2 ·
L. to R.

#1. View of "Hydrolyzer" mulch plate added for second part of demonstration. PowrFlo blower and chute removed for grinding.

#2. Entire front yard area with second pine tree droppings minus 2 previous passes.

#3. Resulting contents of bags (entire front yard) shows at least 6 times more needle collection without emptying bags.

This concludes our program. Refreshments will be served by Ya-ya's Canteen just outside the main entrance.
 

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#3 ·
That is impressive. Very nice vacuum on your unit.
 
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#4 ·
Nice job MacGyver !! Your always thinking and sharing your great ideas with us :thThumbsU

BUT .. your pulverizing them there needles .. They sell that stuff in garden centers to use as mulch ... you could be making some extra $$
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
They sell that stuff in garden centers to use as mulch ... you could be making some extra $$
Click to expand...
KA-CHINGGGGGG.... I just socked $29.95 into my "bank jar" paying myself (at slightly inflated prices) for the pine straw mulch dust I put along the back stone wall! I'll have another $20 worth at least when they're all down and I clear off the roof. Thanks Ken!:)

Hummm... Now how much you figger I can skim off the house account for my "Genuine Clippings/Leaf Compost" and cat litter plastic pail "planters"?:sidelaugh

SAFETY NOTE: I really don't recommend anyone else fabricating a mulch plate out of multi-laminated 1/2" hardware cloth. It's not the best material for the job like cast iron or 5/16" molybdenum polyperfiliated stainless steel. It is on it's 4th season so when it finally does crap out I'll make a sturdy one out of plywood, Masonite or some lids from cat litter buckets. :bannana:
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
Argee, left is "before" grinding, just bagged full sized needles. The right pic is after the grind and then bagging 'em, it equals about one single bag full. There are a few needles that made it by the grinder and were picked up but the entire front yard crop is in the bags in the right pic from one go-round.

With the Gators and plate on and turning to the right each pass pine needles will reduce to almost a dusty powder. Works best when dry but I've done them in past years a day after a rain with similar results. Pine stuff is pretty waterproof.
 

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#8 ·
I've noticed the neighbors yards and my uncle mentioned his pines really dropping the needles this year. I'm also seeing some brown spots on our blue spruce and another pine next to it. Kind of has me worried a bit about them. I suppose it could be just that it has been so dry here the later part of the summer. There's not much grass under the other trees as the roots have pulled out the moisture and most of the rains were too light to wet the ground much under them.
 
#11 ·
Fwinters - That is a good question- im thinking it would actually- make it nice n chopped up for the mulch pile. One way to find out....

I used to have to deal with a ton of fruit trees- now all i have is leaves, my 85 mastercut should be able to suck up them leaves....i dont have quite that much debris on the yard, but its worth a shot.
 
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#12 ·
That mulching system seems to work really well. I might want to fabbricate something like that for my Bolens. With 30 pine trees I'm geting burried out here. The sweeper works great. But chopping them up would reduce the amount greatly.
 
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#13 ·
fwinters said:
Will that work for leaves also? Is that the best way to get rid of fallen leaves?
Click to expand...
you know I bet it will work for leaves. I have noticed that when I plug my bagger while bagging leaves (often) that the deck mulches the remaining pass up nicely. Which makes for easy vacuuming.

I just happen to have some hardware cloth lying around. I need to Hydrolize my sears with bagger.
 
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#16 ·
I dont like pine needles for mulch, they are acidic. I have pines all around me, and I hate em. If I could get rid of all of them I would!
 
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#17 ·
CraftHorse said:
I dont like pine needles for mulch, they are acidic. I have pines all around me, and I hate em. If I could get rid of all of them I would!
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Sounds like you're living in the wrong area....you could move to where there is no trees or get out the chain saw.:D

We use the needles to mulch around the blueberries and other acid loving plants.
 
#18 ·
How does it do the pine cones? Normally my mower just spits them out or cuts them in half. I must have a thousand of them on the ground and in the trees waiting to come down.
 
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#19 ·
Bring them over to my place. My wife needs them for the blueberries and some acid-loving flowers. She used to use something called Miracid (from Miracle-Gro) but appears to no longer be available in these parts.
 
#20 ·
CraftHorse said:
I dont like pine needles for mulch, they are acidic. I have pines all around me, and I hate em. If I could get rid of all of them I would!
Click to expand...

like everything else in life, use the pine needles in moderation. Pine needles mixed with grass mulch will be just fine.
 
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HydroHarold
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