Leaves - what to use

[milanmark]

Leaves get harder the older I get (71) what do you guys use? I have a B2601 with FEL looking for ideas for something to use, have a lot of oak leaves in the fall.
Right now I use my ATV to pull my old Sears lawn sweeper and that does ok but then you dump the leaves and unless I get ideal weather to burn them I still have a mess of leaves! Just looking for ideas of what you guys use, thanks!

 

[pjoh784350]

In the fall I mow over my heavy leave areas with the bagger chute off to mulch them up and shrink them down. then put bagger back on and mow them up. They make great garden amendment when tilled in.

 

[ctfjr]

Related to this. . . I planted a new lawn last year and was pretty anal about cleaning the leaves off in the fall. Yet during the winter leaves continued to fall from the many oaks in the woods. Now I find there are leaves packed down on the ground in spots killing small sections of grass.
I am about to do my first mowing this season and mulch everything. I don't see how the mower will pick up these packed down leaves. . .

For the OP I am surrounded by woods so just dumping in there solves my problem. From what you say it doesn't sound like you have that option Is it possible to have a compost bin to dump yours in?

 

[B737]

Im on a tiny 3 acre wooded parcel that is all mature oaks. Surrounded by many many acres of the same. I am a fanatic about leaves because removing the leaves is the only way I have stopped the deer tick infestation on my property.

I use a PTO leaf blower, blow into piles, scoop them with the grapple, move to the curb for city pickup. It was once an impossible task, now I can usually get it done in about a day.

happy dog (and humans), without ticks.

 

[Elliott in GA]

Agree with the PTO Blower. The golf courses (6 courses) in our development use their MXs with giant turf tires and PTO Blowers to keep the courses leaf free; the golf courses are lined with large oaks.

On a much smaller scale, I use my Stihl blower to keep my yard leaf free; it really fluffs up the embedded leaves for the lawn mower to collect them.

In North GA (where our property and Kubota are), I use the Finish mower to clean them up, but it is just a field - not a yard.

 

[lynnmor]

I used my loader to build a C shaped burn pit so that I can safely burn. Over the years, the ash and decomposing material is scooped and added to the height for even more protection. I am lucky that I have a place and burning is still allowed.

I have a garden tractor with a rear discharge deck pulling a 50" lawn sweeper for fall cleanup. I just dump near the pit and then push it in and pile it with the loader.

 

[milanmark]

Related to this. . . I planted a new lawn last year and was pretty anal about cleaning the leaves off in the fall. Yet during the winter leaves continued to fall from the many oaks in the woods. Now I find there are leaves packed down on the ground in spots killing small sections of grass.
I am about to do my first mowing this season and mulch everything. I don't see how the mower will pick up these packed down leaves. . .

For the OP I am surrounded by woods so just dumping in there solves my problem. From what you say it doesn't sound like you have that option Is it possible to have a compost bin to dump yours in?

Usually stuff them in lawn bags and take and dump on my 20 acres aways from my home... labor intensive! I have a compost pile but dislike oak leaves for compost, too acidic... I guess I'm looking for something to be able to pickup and load my trailer then I could tarp it and drive out and dump it... my grapple is a Work Saver 48" and leaves it cant pick up much! Going to buy another but not sure how it will do on leaves...

 

[TheShadyKubota]

Im on a tiny 3 acre wooded parcel that is all mature oaks. Surrounded by many many acres of the same. I am a fanatic about leaves because removing the leaves is the only way I have stopped the deer tick infestation on my property.

I use a PTO leaf blower, blow into piles, scoop them with the grapple, move to the curb for city pickup. It was once an impossible task, now I can usually get it done in about a day.

happy dog (and humans), without ticks.

I thought my leaf situation was bad... you have me beat tenfold to the extent you customized your grapple to keep the leaves in. Great work!

 

[Henro]

Leaves? Are they those brown things that seem to disappear before Spring comes about when new ones appear?

Glad I coexist with them and they don't worry me...life in the world of short weeds rather than grass I suppose...LOL..but actually very true...

 

[RalphVa]

The church where we went in NJ had about 5 acres with mature oak trees on it. They'd been collecting leaves for years with a ridiculous setup of engine behind seat powering a blower that took suction on the underbelly mower and discharged into a covered trailer behind.

I finally got some relief from my travel schedule and told them that I'd do it again (had done it way back before I started travelling) if they'd purchase a ZT. Got a Scag.

I'd just mow with the Scag with the discharge inward while going around the property. When it would barely run due to too many leaves, I'd reverse for a round and then reverse again until it choked. Worked fine.

Early research on leaves said they acidify the soil. Further research years later, they found that the leaves eventually went neutral and did not acidify the soil. Just need to knock them into small enough pieces so the grass can stick up above the leaves. Good compost.

On my own grass and leaves, I've always used a mulching mower or just a mower with discharge plugged off. Basically, that's what the Ryobi ZT480ez does, e.g. provides a blank. I just removed the discharge flapper and put the blank in place.

 

[JimmyJazz]

Stihl backpack blower. The biggest one they make. Its a beast. Good luck.

 

[radas]

I mulched with the ZTR for the last two seasons but the volume of shredded leaves has killed my lawn in some spots. This year, I'm going to get a cyclone rake to much and vac all the leaves off of the yard and in the woods, then blow the mulched leaves back into the woods to amend the soil there as they have been for many years. Good thing is, mulched leaves will decompose much quicker so the woods will be relatively tidy year after year.

 

[Outnumbered]

I have an older DR Leaf vac that I have used for years. I take the shredded leaves and put most of them in the garden and turn them under. The rest go in a pile up in the woods where my wife grabs some of hte old compost to add to her flower beds.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Related to this. . . I planted a new lawn last year and was pretty anal about cleaning the leaves off in the fall. Yet during the winter leaves continued to fall from the many oaks in the woods. Now I find there are leaves packed down on the ground in spots killing small sections of grass.
I am about to do my first mowing this season and mulch everything. I don't see how the mower will pick up these packed down leaves. . .

For the OP I am surrounded by woods so just dumping in there solves my problem. From what you say it doesn't sound like you have that option Is it possible to have a compost bin to dump yours in?

Dethatching blades before the first mowing needs to be done, cleans then right up.

 

[motionclone]

My Exmark laser z came to me with a leaf and grass vac attachment. just mow right over them and it sucks them up and bags them. Problem is I have to dump the bags every 5 minutes. No raking for me though.

 

[bird dogger]

AgriMetal pto blower still going strong after 30 years on our 12+ wooded acres. But what is this thing called "rake" some of you speak of?

 

[DaveFromMi]

I use a Redmax backpack blower to move the leaves in clear spots outside my yard. I run over the piles with the bush hog several times to chop them up and make sure they don't blow back.

 

[mikester]

Gator blades mulch leaves well. I use my ZTR with high lift blades to blow the dry leaves into the fence lines.

 

[hodge]

I have a friend who would bale them. It was a job, but not as bad as raking them all up. He had a LOT of trees around his house, so he would blow the leaves into rows, and bale them. A baler isn't designed to pick up leaves, so we would help him by raking the rows into the baler as he slowly drove forward. It is amazing how many leaves would be compacted into a bale- easily enough to loosely fill a truck bed to overflowing. Those bales would weigh well over 120 lbs each, and he typically got 70+ from his yard. It worked well, though, and he would give the leaves away to friends who would put them on their gardens. They were heavy, but easy to handle and transport.

 

[jhschlak]

Cyclone Rake. I've got lots of leaves.