[Marcintosh]

When I was a kid the old man bought one. He had some idea that this would replace the weeks of raking every fall. It never lived up to the promise. The bristles of the brush would get clogged with dried leaves and none of the leaves would ever enter the hopper. Being the smaller of us at 7, it was my job to pull the leaves out of the brush so he could return to pushing the sweeper, spearing leaves instead of raking them.

I see that they're still being made and I was just wondering if perhaps the design had changed in the past forty years or was made better or even if the blasted things work at all or are still a dismal failure. Looking at a marathon leaf season in the yard.
Thanks

 

[420deere]

My .02 worth, I really like the ones I have had. I wore out a craftsman and have a lot of hours on current JD. I think they are both made by Brinly. The brush speed is higher on the sears, works better on pine cones, but will blow the leaves out if you travel too fast. I like the wheels and longer tongue on the JD.

420 Deere

 

[Enginerod]

I have one from tractor supply, it works great, it has turned days of raking into hours of tractor time!

 

[Marcintosh]

Okay, I believe you. In my experience though, the leaves get stuck on the bristles and I had to pick. each. and. every. one. out of the bristles.
I'll be picking up Maple, Chestnut, Oak, Ash (what ever's left of it) and some Willow. Because I was curious, 420, I looked up to see what kind of tree's are thereabouts in Georgia land. Pretty much the same as here - and now E-rod is from about the same locality or brands of trees so I wonder what could be different between the way my old man did it or the way they're built different.
:dunno:


It just occurred to me - are you mowing the leaves or just pulling the sweeper?
:fing20:
Is that the difference? Chewing up the leaves into bits works better than trying to sweep them in whole?

 

[OttawaChris]

I bought a second hand Craftsmen from Kijiji. I love it. Maple, Oak, Poplar and nothing gets stuck in the bristles. It even picks up sticks and even apples. You should have no problems.


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[zionview]

I wore out 2 Parkers. I currently have a Huskee 44" and really like it. It has taken a lot of use and still works like new.

 

[neo71665]

I rake with a box of strike anywheres.

 

[tom ferraro]

i always have owned one not as good as a lawn vac but better then raking/ i have gator blades on my deck then made a plug with a scrap piece of steel over the mowers chute, i mow first then pick up whats left now a little history the best sweeper i owned was a john deere 24 i bought for $50 at a tag sale it was from the 70s and bilt by parker i used it for 10 years it was shot so i bought an heavyduty agrifab and every year the ring gear that is plastic and part of the wheel wore out the spur gear is steel the wheels are over $50 each after a few years the repairs were as much as i paid for the unit, i tossed it and did with out 1 season then bought a yardtuf from northern not bad for the money in the future i will go for a towable vac lots faster

 

[pctdavis]

I picked up a craftsman 42" this summer and it has been priceless. The only thing I want to change is the sweeper depth. Its manual and an electric adjuster would be awesome.

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[jb10]

If storage is an issue . . . we rent ours from Menards. I only need it once, maybe twice a year. It's pretty cheap to rent and it would take 20 rental years before it pays for one.

 

[Dirtymax716]

Bought my first one this year. I must say with pine and maple trees it picks up well. It is a Brinly and so far I am quite pleased.


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[Paranoid]

Sears high speed, use it a lot.

 

[butchs_hobby]

I've had a Craftsman 42" 8.5 to 1 for several years now and wouldn't do without it. Biggest thing with a sweeper is to get the height set right. Mine has pickup grapefruit from the neighbors tree! I did make a swing boom lift for the three point hitch so that I can pickup the sweeper (or aerator). That way I can go to the dump site without the sweeper still trying to overfill an already full basket and it makes backing up a breeze too.

 

[nobones]

Had a Sears for a long time as a kid, used it maybe every other mowing of 3 acres each summer. I believe my Pop still has it - it is in need of its second or third set of gears. Was priceless for picking up an abundance of grass clippings and recycling it in our gardens. Just got an OhioSteel TSC for myself to pick up leaves on 1 ac. Worked well picking up leaves but will work better with less height adjustments when the lawn comes in to a consistent length. I'm curious if anyone has a review of the dethatchers that mount to these sweepers? Might allow a higher settting and less adjusting. 3 days later, the leaves are back. I'm guessing I will run it at least a half dozen times each fall. It is important for me to get the leaves up while we are trying to get a new lawn established. Will also see use in the summer to pick up dry grass so the dog doesn't track in the house which plays havoc on my wife's grass allergy.

 

[CubCadetAC]

I've been using my Sears Hi Speed lawn sweeper for eight years now. It's been a great sweeper! :thThumbsU

 

[Grandpas-Panzer]

I bought a 42" Craftsman "high performance" on CL pretty cheap and it works great. I know the better half wouldn't go back to not having one. The one I have is made by Agri-Fab and has a small chain drive system, much better than raking.

 

[Dpashe]

I have a 42" Craftsman rake and it works great. Last year, I mulched the leaves first then ran the rake over the lawn. I reduced the number of trips to the dump site from about 150 trips to about 10 trips, however, the full basket was HEAVY.