Wondering which would work best for clearing and cleaning up fallen oak leaves, pine needle rake or landscaping rake ? Opinions please
Cleaning up oak leaves
- Thread starter Steve67
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I think a pine needle rake would be less aggressive and damaging to the ground. I have both. Even better if your covering a large area and funds allow: PTO powered leaf blower such as our Agrimetal leaf blowers.
@B737 is the master oak leaf retrieval expert on OTT to answer your question. Betting he'll respond also.
@B737 is the master oak leaf retrieval expert on OTT to answer your question. Betting he'll respond also.
TheOldHokie
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L3901/LA525, B7200DT/B1630, G2160/RCK60, G2460/RCK60
I don't have either. I chop and bag them along with lots of other species using a G2160 and RCK60 deck with rear bagger. That was the primary reason I bought that machine.
Dan
Not the landscape rake!
No experience with pine needle rake.
What I do is mow over them a few times to mulch them and blow them into rows, then son comes through with the sweeper and takes them to the garden where I then til them in.
No experience with pine needle rake.
What I do is mow over them a few times to mulch them and blow them into rows, then son comes through with the sweeper and takes them to the garden where I then til them in.
Good Works Tractors has videos on a few options. Pull type tine rake, sweeper, and a PTO powered vacuum.
Creature Meadow
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2012 L4600, Disk, Brush Hog, GB60 Garden Bedder, GSS72 Grading Scraper
I use them in my garden so I have 4 piles around the yard and farm I blow them into.
After a good rain I go to each pile and rake them in the tractor bucket and carry them to the garden. I dump them out around the garden.
In the spring when my cover crop of oats gets about a foot tall I run my lawn mower over both the leaves and oats to put organic material back into the garden.
I use a combination of a back pack blower and a Little Wonder parking lot blower to make the piles.
I have lot of water oaks so plenty of small leaves, some maples, a few white and red oaks and plenty of pine straw mixed in. My system works for me but does require some manual labor which I don't mind.
Best of luck.
Jay
After a good rain I go to each pile and rake them in the tractor bucket and carry them to the garden. I dump them out around the garden.
In the spring when my cover crop of oats gets about a foot tall I run my lawn mower over both the leaves and oats to put organic material back into the garden.
I use a combination of a back pack blower and a Little Wonder parking lot blower to make the piles.
I have lot of water oaks so plenty of small leaves, some maples, a few white and red oaks and plenty of pine straw mixed in. My system works for me but does require some manual labor which I don't mind.
Best of luck.
Jay
NCL4701
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L4701, T2290, WC68, grapple, BB1572, Farmi W50R, Howes 500, 16kW IMD gen, WG24
I would very much like to have a PTO blower or, even better, some sort of large leaf vac system for the three yards I have to clean up every year. For many years I blew/mulched them with a mower as I’m just blowing them off the yards and into the surrounding woods. Problem is, I’m too cheap to put that much money into something I’ll only use once or twice a year.
Problem with the mower mulch/blow system was I had to do it four to five times every fall to keep them from getting so deep they overwhelmed the mower. We don’t live in a development so golf course perfection is not required. That, and my aversion to spending, led me to a pine needle rake. When the mower is overwhelmed, the pine needle rake takes over to make the mower piles into bigger piles. When the leaf rake piles get too big for the leaf rake to move, the grapple does a good job of picking up mass quantities of leaves to dump in the surrounding woods. With a hand held leaf blower to get the leaves right up next to the houses and in the gutters, mower, leaf rake, and grapple working together I now get up the leaves on all three yards, leafy part of the road, in front of the shed, and everywhere else ONE time a year in one rather long day.
I’m somewhat confident a PTO blower or serious vac system would work better. For my purposes, a cheap leaf rake is all I really need. Pretty sure a landscape rake would tear up the yards. The pine straw rake doesn’t tear up the yards. Most of my implements are quality stuff (IMO). My leaf rake is cheap Chineseum crap. I use it approximately 4 hours per year (even the one long day isn’t all leaf rake duty) so I don’t care if it’s not professional quality.
Edit: About 90% of our leaves are white oak. And the pic is in front of the shed. Our yards aren’t show home ready but they ain’t quite that bad.
Problem with the mower mulch/blow system was I had to do it four to five times every fall to keep them from getting so deep they overwhelmed the mower. We don’t live in a development so golf course perfection is not required. That, and my aversion to spending, led me to a pine needle rake. When the mower is overwhelmed, the pine needle rake takes over to make the mower piles into bigger piles. When the leaf rake piles get too big for the leaf rake to move, the grapple does a good job of picking up mass quantities of leaves to dump in the surrounding woods. With a hand held leaf blower to get the leaves right up next to the houses and in the gutters, mower, leaf rake, and grapple working together I now get up the leaves on all three yards, leafy part of the road, in front of the shed, and everywhere else ONE time a year in one rather long day.
I’m somewhat confident a PTO blower or serious vac system would work better. For my purposes, a cheap leaf rake is all I really need. Pretty sure a landscape rake would tear up the yards. The pine straw rake doesn’t tear up the yards. Most of my implements are quality stuff (IMO). My leaf rake is cheap Chineseum crap. I use it approximately 4 hours per year (even the one long day isn’t all leaf rake duty) so I don’t care if it’s not professional quality.
Edit: About 90% of our leaves are white oak. And the pic is in front of the shed. Our yards aren’t show home ready but they ain’t quite that bad.
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I have the 60" pine needle rake from "pallet forks", it's been sitting outside unused for about 3 years. It would fill up way too quickly. Like a hand rake.
If you just need to get the leaves away from the house and deeper into the woods the PTO leaf blower is very effective. It used to take me about a week to clear my 3 acre property, now I do it in about 7 hours total. 3 hours of blowing the leaves into the woods or piles. Then about 4 hours of grappling the piles to the curb.
Other options: Terra King TVK20 material collection system for compacts and sub compacts. - Requires mower deck, complex system, huge storage footprint. Very Expensive.
PTO Leaf blower. Requires land to relocate leaves, very small storage footprint, simple system, expensive.
There are leaf plows too. less expensive, need space.
Pull behind broom things... dont know much about them, except they seem to fill up really quick.
If you just need to get the leaves away from the house and deeper into the woods the PTO leaf blower is very effective. It used to take me about a week to clear my 3 acre property, now I do it in about 7 hours total. 3 hours of blowing the leaves into the woods or piles. Then about 4 hours of grappling the piles to the curb.
Other options: Terra King TVK20 material collection system for compacts and sub compacts. - Requires mower deck, complex system, huge storage footprint. Very Expensive.
PTO Leaf blower. Requires land to relocate leaves, very small storage footprint, simple system, expensive.
There are leaf plows too. less expensive, need space.
Pull behind broom things... dont know much about them, except they seem to fill up really quick.
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TheOldHokie
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L3901/LA525, B7200DT/B1630, G2160/RCK60, G2460/RCK60
Local golf course uses a PTO blower similar to the one in your picture. They just blow everything into the surrounding woods. If I wasn't so cheap I'd buy one myself.I have the 60" pine needle rake from "pallet forks", It's been sitting outside unused for about 3 years. It would fill up way too quickly.
If you just need to get the leaves away from the house and deeper into the woods the PTO leaf blower is the way to go. It used to take me about a week to clear my 3 acre property, now I do it in about 7 hours. 3 hours of blowing the leaves into the woods or into piles. Then about 4 hours of grappling the piles to the curb. If I used the pine needle rake id be out there for weeks.
Other options: Terra King TVK20 material collection system for compacts and sub compacts. - Requires mower deck, complex system, huge storage footprint. Very Expensive.
PTO Leaf blower. Requires land to relocate leaves, very small storage footprint, simple system, expensive.
There are leaf plows too. less expensive, need space.
Pull behind broom things... dont know much about them, except they seem to fill up really quick.
Dan
I rescued a mist/sprayer/blower from the dump; it was a sprayer to blow into the air (apples/vines/who knows). Pump was shot and this was before I had hydraulics so I gutted it. I so wish I did not strip it down as much as I did... but it is what it is. Blowing leaves is the way to go... I blow them out of my ditch and off my road. It was the best "free" grab that I got... (...and yes, I only use it once a year).
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They are a little spendy up front. But I've had my Agrimetal blower since the early '90s. Before that blower, it would take me weeks and weeks of raking and collecting leaves with a pull behind lawn sweep. Now it's done with a few hour long sessions sitting on the tractor. Closing in on 30 years old and never an issue with the blower.
When I bought mine (early version of B737's) it was well under $2000 at the time. It's probably still worth the same amount today. In the long scheme of things, it's pretty economical and the time and work saved is enormous. Even if you can't just blow the leaves back in the woods or into a field or garden, blowing them into a pile to be loaded up and carried away is still a great time saver.
You just have to decide when you have enough leaves or difficult areas to clean in order to make the best use of one.
Here's what mine looks like after nearly 30 years:
David
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Regarding the pine needles: We had pine and spruce trees in our Michigan back yard. At first, I was hauling about 20 garbage cans of pine needles out every year. Even after that, I still had difficulty getting grass to grow around the trees. I got a wood stove and started spreading the white ash around the area, leaving the pine needles in place. The ashes from the wood stove neutralized the acid soil and grass grew fine in the back yard after that.
Lime would probably give the same results.
Lime would probably give the same results.
NCL4701
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L4701, T2290, WC68, grapple, BB1572, Farmi W50R, Howes 500, 16kW IMD gen, WG24
That would be ideal for my situation. After researching and pricing them I decided I didn’t want to buy one. What I wanted was to talk one of my friends or relatives into buying one so I can borrow it once a year. You’re not close enough to have any concern I’ll be PM’ing asking when you might have a day you’re not using it.I have the 60" pine needle rake from "pallet forks", it's been sitting outside unused for about 3 years. It would fill up way too quickly. Like a hand rake.
If you just need to get the leaves away from the house and deeper into the woods the PTO leaf blower is very effective. It used to take me about a week to clear my 3 acre property, now I do it in about 7 hours total. 3 hours of blowing the leaves into the woods or piles. Then about 4 hours of grappling the piles to the curb.
Other options: Terra King TVK20 material collection system for compacts and sub compacts. - Requires mower deck, complex system, huge storage footprint. Very Expensive.
PTO Leaf blower. Requires land to relocate leaves, very small storage footprint, simple system, expensive.
There are leaf plows too. less expensive, need space.
Pull behind broom things... dont know much about them, except they seem to fill up really quick.
Actually my brother and I did that with the chipper. Went in halves because we both need it. But not all that often. Haven’t talked him into a PTO blower yet.
I use the time-tested method... G_d put them there, let him take them away. Every year, but in the springtime, they are all gone. Some disintegrate and others just wind up in the woods, where they originally came from.
bbxlr8
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L2501 w/R14s, LA525, BH77, SGC0660, CL 5' BB, CL PHD, WG24 + Ford 1210 60" mmm,
This
I have heavy woods and just did my fall "clean-up" last weekend. I modify my patterns a bit in this instance and work them into the edge of the woods in very thick areas. Takes about 2X the time but super easy as I am way past raking & moving them.Great suggestions from everyone. I think for my situation the pine needle rake will be the way to go and within my budget
bbxlr8
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Equipment
L2501 w/R14s, LA525, BH77, SGC0660, CL 5' BB, CL PHD, WG24 + Ford 1210 60" mmm,
I see you are in St. Louis - Born there and love the area but haven't been back in a while
I bought a Cyclone Rake leaf vacuum. I use a zero turn mower to pull it around, but rethinking that idea. Think lots of wheeleys when going up a grade. On my BX2380 I can get the deck adaptor to 8 inch opening and a three point hitch attachment to make it fit it. I will most likely do this next year.
The reason I bought it was it can fold up when not in use, does a great job of getting even he wet leaves off the ground. I have two attachments one for getting into flower beds and the other to bypass the bagging and just toss the leaves into the woods. Check out there bundles for the XL.
The reason I bought it was it can fold up when not in use, does a great job of getting even he wet leaves off the ground. I have two attachments one for getting into flower beds and the other to bypass the bagging and just toss the leaves into the woods. Check out there bundles for the XL.