[Toolin]

Driving home in the pickup with the wife the other day, spotted this on the side of the road. Gave her the "can I stop" look..:i_praying she gave me the "sigh, if you must" look:duh:.

Tossed it in the bed, now it takes up another 10 sq foot in the garage.:hide: It's pretty beat and doesn't have the handy "dump from seat" style bag, but hey, it was FREE. I think the previous owner's jury-rigged "swiffer" mop handle for a support bar is a quaint touch (the green-blue colored rod sticking out at the bottom of the photo.) I'll have to see if I can do something about that.

I still don't have a bagger for my new i-Series Cub -- I was planning on just mowing frequently and maybe getting gator blades so figured I didn't need a bagger. But this will help in a pinch. Mower deck is 50" and this sweeper is only 30" so we'll see if it leaves stripes.

Oh, the other funny thing is when I pulled the pickup off the road we were in a very slight ditch. The truck leaned sideways maybe 10 deg. Wife was in a state of sheer panic.. thought we were going to flip over. She leaned hard left the entire time I was out of the truck in order to "keep it from tipping". Anybody know at what angle your typical pickup will tip over sideways? I'm pretty sure it's a lot more than 10 degrees.:ROF

 

[scrat2]

If it's free and it works, your not out a thing. You could always use it to spot sweep between mowing. It's only 30" wide, so you'll have to overlap your passes. Hey, you get more seat time that way!

 

[simpleman]

looks good to me. id settle for it.

 

[LLigetfa]

IKWYM about the wife. Tell her she did a good job keeping the truck from tipping over.

 

[slkpk]

Nice find. slkpk

 

[markwb]

Looks good, are those training wheels in the back? j/k
Price is right!

 

[operator]

Nothing wrong with free, espesially when it is that good of condition.
Randy

 

[Toolin]

Looks good, are those training wheels in the back? j/k
Price is right!

Yeah, those wheels are pretty sad. One casters, the other one doesn't, and is at a slight angle, so if you push it by hand it wants to go in a large circle. So I guess I've got another project for some tinkering...

 

[LLigetfa]

Put the training wheel on the passenger side of your pickup for roll-over protection.:sidelaugh

 

[jeepersmitty]

Free is good. Nice find.

 

[simplicityguy92]

nice freebie

 

[jed12674]

Nice find Toolin.

I borrowed my brothers sweeper friday to see if it would be better than raking. Turns out that it is, saves on the hand blisters from the rake handle. :biglaugh:And it provides more seat time. :fing32:
Thats the first time I've ever used one.

 

[LLigetfa]

I use mine in the Spring to lift the matted wet thatch so it can dry and not form snow mold. All Summer I mulch mow but I will sweep if there are ugly clumps. Fall is when it gets the most use picking up leaves and grass clippings.

 

[Toolin]

I use mine in the Spring to lift the matted wet thatch so it can dry and not form snow mold. [...]

Thanks for the idea - A couple days ago I went out and did just that. After a couple passes I realized this thing needs some weight to give the drive tires some traction as well as keep the back end from floating up. Here's my lazy-man's solution. A box of wheelweights, a tub of drywall compound and a few bungies:

I was still debating what I was going to do about aerating -- I don't have an aerator but found that I could rent a core aerator for about $45 for 2 hrs or $65 for the entire day..

Then, as I was toolin' around on my tractor with the sweeper I noticed my neighbor had a lawn service crew over to do spring cleanup. I asked them if they could aerate and they said sure, had the equipment with them, could fit me in the same day, and would charge $30 (1/2 acre). Deal!

His aerator attachment wasn't quite what I expected... it did the job but probably didn't penetrate as far as I would like (between 1 and 2 inches). But for $30 I can't really complain.

After he was done I ran out there with some grass seed and a rake for the thin spots, like the area you can see in the foreground of the picture.

The timing was perfect because we're in for about 4 days straight of rain now (actually it's snow today!.. but goes back to rain tomorrow).

How long do I need to keep this watered daily? Would 15 days do it?

 

[JimD]

nice find on the sweeper. not sure on how long to water the new seed, but you really should cover the seed with some straw so the wind and birds don't remove it all before it takes. the straw will also hold moisture in to aid germination. when the grass is high enough to mow, simply mow and the straw will take care of itself.:thThumbsU

 

[markwb]

I'd say 15 days of watering would be adequate for this time of year, but I'm no expert.

 

[Grateful11]

Picked up one just like it a fews ago at yard sale for free, used it for while but it was in quite as good a shape as yours but it did work pretty good, might have done better with a weight on it.