You can pick up a lot of anything in a sweeper, some on MTF pick up what their dog leaves behind, I believe! Probably ease of hook up and capacity are major benefits of a sweeper. If you have a place to dump a sweeper works well. Baggers work well too and I actually prefer a bagger over a sweeper, it is just neater/cleaner for me. :goodl:
Lawn Sweeper versus Bagger JD X300
I have a need to get grass clippings off of my lawn!! Just planted some new bermuda and had to fertilize to get it to grow....so alot of clippings.
Have a JD X300. Had a JD116 with bagger for years and it worked great with leaves as well. Now need something for new JD....don't have alot of leaves/trees in my yard, but aging parents do. Does lawn sweeper do the job for clippings and leaves? Or should I just purchase another bagger? Or is the sweeper mainly for leaves? Price is around $500 for bagger and JD lawn sweeper is around $260....:greendr:
Have a JD X300. Had a JD116 with bagger for years and it worked great with leaves as well. Now need something for new JD....don't have alot of leaves/trees in my yard, but aging parents do. Does lawn sweeper do the job for clippings and leaves? Or should I just purchase another bagger? Or is the sweeper mainly for leaves? Price is around $500 for bagger and JD lawn sweeper is around $260....:greendr:
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If time is an issue, the bagger has an advantage in that everything is done in one pass. The sweeper would require another pass over the entire lawn. Twice as much time and more fuel burned.
Twice as much time and more fuel burned.
Yes, but twice as much fun!
You wouldn't need to go over the complete lawn with the sweeper.
Has anybody cut, raked and baled hay or straw?
If you mow pointing your grass exit side of the mower towards the uncut part of your lawn and keep doing that, you will keep cutting your clippings as well as make a nice row of cut grass. You can then pickup the row of grass with your sweeper with just a few passes.
Has anybody cut, raked and baled hay or straw?
If you mow pointing your grass exit side of the mower towards the uncut part of your lawn and keep doing that, you will keep cutting your clippings as well as make a nice row of cut grass. You can then pickup the row of grass with your sweeper with just a few passes.
I actually saw on a farm sale around here that a guy had built what looked like a hay rake for his lawn mower so he could rake his clippings before sweeping them. Ah, the joys of retirement. :fing32:You wouldn't need to go over the complete lawn with the sweeper.
Has anybody cut, raked and baled hay or straw?
If you mow pointing your grass exit side of the mower towards the uncut part of your lawn and keep doing that, you will keep cutting your clippings as well as make a nice row of cut grass. You can then pickup the row of grass with your sweeper with just a few passes.
I think my method with the sweeper is much faster than messing with dumping the collection bins over and over while you're trying to get the grass cut. They can fill up pretty fast. Plus I think you would have a lot more cut grass to deal with.
Well your not giong to be hooking up a 14bu bagger on a x300. Each have their advantages but a IMO since you will have a small bagger a sweeper would not be a handicap at all. For the leaves cut them up with the deck 1st so you can get more in the sweeper.
For me it comes down to the area where you will be dumping the debris. My dump pile is a challenge to get a tow behind sweeper into and out. With a bagger on the tractor I can back up to the dump pile and pull the bags of and toss the stuff where I want it. With the sweeper I can drive up and dump but then have to back up 25-30' or take the sweeper off and reposition the whole rig. So I think you need to consider the dumpsite as a driving factor in your decision. The extra $$ spent on a bagger may pay off insaved aggravation in the long run.
I like to mow back and forth, so that every other pass is blowing grass onto mowed lawn. That means I can get away with about half as many passes with my sweeper. When I have time and supportive weather forecast, I like to let the lawn set a day. That wilts the grass clippings making them easier to sweep (they are lighter) and it requires about half as many dumps as the wilted clippings take up less room.
As mentioned in this thread kind of like making hay, cut it, rake it (or in my case just blow it out the side on every other pass), let it wilt, come back later and bale it. I haven't had a bagger in quite a few years, but my memory is of frequent trips to my dump area, and too many chute clogs needing cleaned out.
I have a nice JD 42" sweeper and it works great until the heaviest leaf fall, then I go for the serious debris tool, my TracVac.
As mentioned in this thread kind of like making hay, cut it, rake it (or in my case just blow it out the side on every other pass), let it wilt, come back later and bale it. I haven't had a bagger in quite a few years, but my memory is of frequent trips to my dump area, and too many chute clogs needing cleaned out.
I have a nice JD 42" sweeper and it works great until the heaviest leaf fall, then I go for the serious debris tool, my TracVac.
Not to mention the fact that the sweeper is much larger than the bags are. My neighbor has a sweeper and he really struggles when he has to empty it and he's a pretty good size guy. In the end, him yard just doesn't look as good because he doesn't get all of the grass picked up.For me it comes down to the area where you will be dumping the debris. My dump pile is a challenge to get a tow behind sweeper into and out. With a bagger on the tractor I can back up to the dump pile and pull the bags of and toss the stuff where I want it. With the sweeper I can drive up and dump but then have to back up 25-30' or take the sweeper off and reposition the whole rig. So I think you need to consider the dumpsite as a driving factor in your decision. The extra $$ spent on a bagger may pay off insaved aggravation in the long run.
You also have the issue of storage of then sweeper.
I use a bagger with power-flow , I think 6 bushel on my 185 hydro, I need the bagger as I live in the woods , I wouldn't be without it , cant say about the sweeper , never had on .
I have on order an X500 with 14 bushel collection bagger , will post pictures when its in .
TEDMI,
I have on order an X500 with 14 bushel collection bagger , will post pictures when its in .
TEDMI,
I have had both the power flo bagger and a lawn sweeper. I sold my power flo only because with all the tree's I would have to empty it 30-40 times in the fall.
You can't go wrong with either one. Not saying one is better than the other but in my case the sweeper works better it will pick up almost anything and you can dump it on the fly without getting on and off tractor. YMO
You can't go wrong with either one. Not saying one is better than the other but in my case the sweeper works better it will pick up almost anything and you can dump it on the fly without getting on and off tractor. YMO
Sorry to hijack, but is there any reason I couldn't pull a sweeper behind my GT235? It's not listed as an attachment on the JD site.
No reason at all. My mother pull one with a JD rider with a 8hp that is 25 years old and it does a great job.Sorry to hijack, but is there any reason I couldn't pull a sweeper behind my GT235? It's not listed as an attachment on the JD site.
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