Can a Lawn Mower Pick up Leaves. Leaf collectors lawn tractors

27.05.2023 Beanrad lawn, leaves, mower, pick

Leaf collection systems

Has anyone here had any experience with leaf collection systems that will handle loads of chopped up leaves of a couple of cubic yards? I’m leaning towards the DR Power systems but would be interested to hear about other people’s experiences with leaf collection systems. We clean up an area of about 2.5 acres twice in the fall and again in the spring so we are want something that holds a lot of leaves and dumps easily, and can be pulled by our 1025r Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

2018 JD 1025r, 54″ mower deck, backhoe, front-end-loader, Braber Equipment post hole auger, 9 and 12″ augers, 1999 /- Craftsman lawn tractor, 46″ mower deck. 2022 JD Z530R D R Power Pilot 200 leaf vacuum system

Spartazoo

So with 1000’s of yards collected has the unit held up? These would seem like nice baggers to replace my MC519 but I worry about destroying it using it 100-150 hours a year. The 519 carts dont hold up worth a darn and im sure not interested in sticking huge money into something that will fall apart.

It works as well as the day I bought it. I use it every time I mow and/or collect leaves. I have a very nice one acre lawn so it gets used twice a week minimum.

TractorEd

2017 (HH) 1025R TLB. H120. 260. 60D iMatch Quick Hitch, Heavy Hitch Cart Toothbar, Artillian Forks, Numerous BoltOnHooks Mudd’s Customs Add-Ons

TJR345

I only have about 300 invested. Basically used what I have. The concept can work for any tractor that takes a power flow. Grass, leaves, or dethatching.

2019 X590 with power mulch control and PF bagger 30″ mechanical tiller 02 X595 with 62″ deck,front thatcher and powerflow PTO kit 3pt hitch with Heavy Hitch 45 JD loader 12 JD suitcase weights JD/Brinly 3pt plow Frontier SS1036 3pt pto spreader (2) JS63C walk behind mowers TS 105 JD weed wacker tow behind 15 gal. sprayer Turftime 60″ lawn roller Turftime 54″ 3pt core aerator

NotYourGrandfathersDeere

Thanks for all your posts. The DR is the one I am most interested in as the others are just plain too expensive especially when you consider the difference between the US and CDN dollar. If there is anybody else that has any experience with the DR line I’d like to hear your thoughts on them.

genesant

I bought the DR 9.59 Premier in 2017 and am happy with it. It does a good job of chopping the leaves to reduce the number of times that it has to be emptied. I did have to replace the 10″ hose after 2 years and will see if the new aftermarket hose lasts longer.

2015 1025r H120 Loader with w/53″ bucket and Piranha toolbar I-match 60D MMM Kens Bolt on Hooks Frontier AP12F 48″ Pallet forks

ejb69

Most of the cheaper collection systems are made for cheap box store lawn tractors. Even the ag fab and dr are in the 1200 to 2500 range and they are more or less junk. I think Deers systems are over 3k. I looked into getting a pto powered sweeper, I forget the brand, but it was around 10,000. it was meant for use in parks and golf courses.

2011 1026R / H120 / 60D auto-connect, independent-lift mmm / 54″ snowblower / 4′ KK Pro rotary mower / KK 4′ tiller

32Tudor

The DR works great and produces enough vacuum on a 48″ deck to do a really good job.
It holds a ton of material

It gets heavy when full and is a little hard to unload. I use ramps to elevate the wheels when trying to dump it and sometimes just drive the whole tractor and trailer up on my landscape trailer and dump directly at the township facility instead of dumping and raking.
The 8″ hose breaks if you turn too sharp. You have to make very wide turns.
It is very loud
It is heavy to move around when attaching and detaching it
It takes up a lot of garage/shed space

It works great for sucking up leaves
It is quieter than the DR Leaf vacuum
It is mounted on the mower, so you can turn as sharp as you want without issue

It fills up quickly
It leaves a little pile of debris each time you empty it
You get a lot of dust in your face when emptying it.

LastGreenValley

I am using the Cyclone Rake Z-10 on approx an acre of lawn surrounded on all sides by 3 acres of trees. I was overwhelmed my first year here. No way can they be mulched in. 10HP sucker motor. Bag / cart is approx 4x4x3 (ft). It tilts for dumping. Not sure what volume that size equates to. The motor is on its own dolly, and the bin / trailer folds flat for easy storage on a wall. Cleans the yard real well. I have a constant battle with debris. As mentioned, you can detach the hose from your mower deck and hook up a separate vacuum hose. I think its about 20 ft. (comes in handy around the fenced in pool area)

My crappy LA105 pulls it. but I’m certain I’m killing it. It came with the house. 1025r is on the way.

CR is a bit pricey, but buy once, cry once.

These do Drive a bit weird as they don’t pivot like a trailer. They swing out like an implement so you need to watch the turns. I already took out a mailbox.

RalphVa

Had a horrendous leaf collection system at our church in NJ. Had a Sears underbelly mower discharging into a blower mounted right behind the seat which then discharged to a trailer with hooded top pulled behind. I just used the Scag ZT and made rounds discharging inward until it about conked out. Then reversed discharging outward a couple rounds and then back to discharging inward. Worked fine. A LOT less noisy and didn’t have to keep dumping the leaves.

Collecting autumn leaves with Mcculloch lawn tractor

Would have been bettter if the Scag had a mulching kit or just closed off the discharge like on the Ryobi e480.

My craftsman 917.27308

My crappy LA105 pulls it. but I’m certain I’m killing it. It came with the house. 1025r is on the way.

CR is a bit pricey, but buy once, cry once.

These do Drive a bit weird as they don’t pivot like a trailer. They swing out like an implement so you need to watch the turns. I already took out a mailbox.

But what is unique with the Cyclone Rake is you can back up and it won’t jack knife. That’s what I like about it. I have only a half acre with lots of mulch areas I have to back up a lot of times.

KHodges

The 519 carts dont hold up worth a darn and im sure not interested in sticking huge money into something that will fall apart.

I only have about 300 invested. Basically used what I have. The concept can work for any tractor that takes a power flow. Grass, leaves, or dethatching. View attachment 790868

Mine doesn’t look nearly as good as TJR’s does, but it’s still a work in progress, and it does work a whole lot better than it looks.

I had a X748 for quite a few years, and had a powerflow and MC519 collection system. Like quackaddict said, the MC519 doesn’t hold up well; the caster wheels fail after several years, and the cover for the cart wears out. But, I did like how the Powerflow didn’t need another engine to power it, and bought a blower to fit the 2520 I now have. I did not want to lay out the money for the bagging system, though, and figured I could fab something up. So, first thing was buy a Country Line 3-point carryall, and had the MC519 cart frame welded to it, giving me a nice little dump box/material tote for the tractor. That worked well enough by itself, but I figured if I built a hard cover for it, I could plumb in the chute and make a leaf collection system. I had a bunch of old, but serviceable, roofing tin, so I cobbled up a wooden frame and sheathed it with the tin. I cut the curved end off the Powerflow chute, ordered some 8″ flex hose from Cyclone Rake, and put it all together. I used a heavy web tarp I found at Northern Equipment as a back cover, screwed it down along the top and part of the sides, and hold the bottom in with bungee cords. It still needs some tweaking to support the hard portion of the chute, but it will fill up the box, which is 43 cubic feet, or 34.5 bushels. Once I figure out a quick release for the flex hose, I can dump the cart to empty it, but for now, I lift the webbing and use an old garden rake to drag out the mulched up stuff, only takes a minute or so, and allows me to spread it around, since I usually dump the stuff in my garden area. Since the collection box is on the 3-point lift, you can back up and not worry about jack knifing, and the box is easy to remove and install on the carryall/MC519. Drop it to the ground, release a couple of turnbuckles, and roll it off backwards.

Can a Lawn Mower Pick up Leaves?

Then you need a lawn mower. There have been a lot of different iterations of this machine ever since it was first invented. Do you remember the old reel lawn mowers? Old or not, they were able to cut grass, and this is what they were good at.

But with time and improvement in technology, these little machines became a lot more versatile.

And one of the things that everyone with a backyard has to deal with is not just the grass but the leaves as well. That is unless, for some reason, there are no trees nearby. In which case, I am sure some people would be very jealous.

So, can a lawn mower pick up leaves? Yes, lawn mowers can pick up leaves. The best way to pick up leaves with a lawn mower is to pass over them with the mower with the bag attached. Alternatively, leaves can be picked up and shredded with a lawn mower and used as mulch.

Interestingly enough, picking up leaves can be done in different ways, and they can also be used for various purposes. Check out the rest of the article if you want to find out more.

What Are the Different Ways You Can Pick up Leaves with a Lawn Mower?

You have several different options when it comes to picking up leaves with a lawn mower.

Picking up and Bagging the Leaves

The first method is the easiest one to do. Simply attach the grass catcher bag to the mower and proceed to mow your lawn as you usually do.

While you are cutting the grass, your mower will also be picking up the leaves off the ground and bagging them.

Alternatively, you don’t even need to mow the grass. You can try to adjust the mower at the top height position and see how well it goes. If the results are not as good as expected and the mower doesn’t pick up all the leaves, try lowering it down a bit.

This method is good if you have to deal with a lot of leaves.

Picking up and Mulching the Leaves

The second method is to use the leaves as mulch.

I really like using both grass and leaves as mulch because they provide vital nutrients to both the soil and the plants, allowing for a great looking backyard with little to no effort.

Mulching can be done both with or without bagging the leaves, depending on where you intend to use the mulch.

When mulching, you need to be careful not to leave big piles of mulch behind.

Leaving thick spots of mulch can damage the lawn and soil underneath by starving them from oxygen and sunlight.

So when you finish mulching, make sure to inspect the lawn and rake the mulch in order to have it evenly spread out.

Overall, mulching is great for leaf patches that are not too heavy. Go a couple of times over the leaves if you need to, until you end up with smaller coin-sized pieces.

I previously wrote an article about the optimal mower height settings for mulching leaves – you can check it out here if you are interested.

Picking up Wet Leaves vs. Dry Leaves with a Lawn Mower

Picking up or mulching your dry leaves is not only a good practice, but it is highly recommended by many.

Dry leaves will put less strain on the mower’s motor, but they tend to create more dust and debris, which we may end up inhaling while working. This is why it is recommended to wear a protective dust mask and goggles too.

On the other hand, picking up wet leaves will create very little to no flying dust particles, but they will be harder to pick up from the ground, and will place more stress on the mower.

Not to mention that there is a higher chance of the leaves clogging the mower, and let’s not forget the additional slipping hazard.

Wet leaves are going to really stick in the bag of the mower, making even the emptying of the bag a potential hassle.

What’s more, even if you decide against picking the wet leaves up and using them as mulch instead, they will not do well in that either. They will clump in big patches that will prove difficult to break down even with a rake.

I would recommend waiting until the leaves are somewhat dry before picking them up with your lawn mower (or using them as mulch).

How to Use Dry Leaves After Picking Them up with a Mower?

If you ever find yourself with so many leaves that you don’t know what to do with them, the good news is that they can be used for different purposes.

Leaves Are an Excellent Mulch Material

Using leaves as mulch is probably the number one way to put them to good use.

Mulch is used as a protective layer that covers the top of the soil. That way, it helps in the reduction of weeds, and it also maintains and keeps the moisture in the soil.

Using your very own leaves as mulch may save you a lot of money in the long run.

Leaves Can Be Added to a Compost Pile

When managing your compost pile, you should be following the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of 30 parts brown for every 1 part green.

The good news is that dry leaves are one of the best brown ingredients that you could use. Shredding them will make the leaves decompose even faster, but that is not absolutely necessary.

Composting your leaves is a very simple way to provide yourself with some organic fertilizer free of charge.

The soil that is created as a result of composting can be added to the landscape to fertilize and enhance the soil.

Leaves Can Be Used to Insulate Younger Plants

Leaves are an excellent insulating material.

This means that you can use them to protect some of the younger plants from freezing during the winter.

Leaves Can Be Used as Fuel

Leaves and twigs are a great kindling for starting a fire if you are making a campfire or having a fireplace, for example.

What you can do is store a bag filled with leaves in a dry and cool place and use them whenever you need to start a controlled fire.

What Happens If You Don’t Pick up the Leaves?

Even if you skip a few days or a week or two and end up with a lawn covered with a colorful little blanket of fallen leaves, it will not necessarily damage your lawn.

Leaves are a natural product. As natural and bio as one can get, really.

Small amounts of leaves will not damage your lawn. On the contrary, as the leaves break down and decompose, they will provide a readily available source of nutrients for the plants and the soil to use.

You can end up with a very vibrant looking and thriving lawn, while at the same time you will be using a lot less fertilizer than before — two birds with one stone.

You are going to be facing potential problems only if there is a very thick mat of leaves that prevents the air and sunlight from reaching the lawn.

If the leaves are left like that for a few weeks and you don’t do anything to alleviate the issue, the leaves can end up suffocating the grass and soil underneath.

What you will discover once spring comes is that there may be a lot of bare patches on your lawn that will need reseeding.

Another problem with having a thick layer of leaves is that they can potentially introduce fungal disease to the lawn. And additionally different species of rodents, and even snakes like hiding in that kind of area.

Are There Alternatives to Picking up Leaves with a Lawn Mower?

Even though I have tried different things throughout the years, I still feel like the best way to pick up leaves is with a lawn mower. But there are some other viable alternatives, so let’s take a look.

Raking and Picking the Leaves up by Hand

Raking the leaves can be a tremendous job, both very physically demanding and time-consuming.

And a lot of us do enjoy mowing our lawns, but raking on the other hand, not so much. But if you have no other choice, raking your leaves into big piles which then you can pick by hand is still a good way to do it.

Using a Leaf Blower and Picking up the Leaves by Hand

Leaf blowers can make the whole job of collecting the fallen leaves go a little faster compared to raking.

Making a big pile of leaves is going to be much easier, and you will only need to worry about collecting them.

Using a Leaf Vacuum

There is a type of leaf blower that can essentially be used as a vacuum.

These are going to make the whole job super easy for you.

Use the blower to make a few piles of leaves and then use the vacuum option to pick them up. It really doesn’t get any better than that.

Hi! I’m Peter, the owner of BackyardGadget. Working around the house has always been a big part of my life. I’ve created this site to share my experience, and to help people choose the right tools for the job. Thank you for stopping by!

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Do Lawn Mowers Pick Up Leaves? This one does!

Taking care of your home and garden requires a lot of work but when it comes to household chores, raking is one of the worst. It seems like it would be simple (leaves do not weigh very much) but after only a few minutes your arms start aching, your back starts to cramp from being hunched over, and you start to wonder, do lawnmowers pick up leaves?

Lawnmowers will shred and pick up leaves. A mower with a large engine, a high lift blade, and a large grass bag is best for collecting leaves.

Keep reading to learn more about leave removal including how you can remove leaves from your lawn with a lawnmower and the best mower in the business.

Can You Remove Leaves from Your Lawn with A Mower?

Unlike your common vacuum, lawnmowers do not have any suction power. This means that although you can use a mower to help you in your battle against the leaves, it may not work the way you were hoping. Still, you have a few options, and which one will work best depends largely on how many leaves you have on your lawn.

Mulching

In addition to cutting the grass, lawnmowers can shred any leaves they drive over. If you only have a few leaves scattered around your yard, this can be a quick way to eliminate them. Once you have finished, you can either rake the clippings into piles or allow them to decompose into nutrients that can help your lawn to grow.

However, you should be careful not to leave large clumps of clippings around your yard, which can happen if you have a lot of leaves, or the grass is high.

Large clumps can cause the grass underneath to die and create patches in your lawn. If you notice heavy lines of clippings, you can either rake them up, spread them evenly around your lawn, or use the next method.

Mulching With a Grass Bag

Once upon a time, someone got fed up with raking, and the grass bag was born. The bag attaches to your mower and allows you to pick up the clippings as you go. They do not “suck” the leaves up but as the mower cuts the grass, the air from the blades pushes the cut grass and leaves up into the bag (which is typically mounted near or on the back of the mower). When the bag gets full, simply dump it into your compost pile.

This is a better choice for people who have a thick layer of leaves on their lawn or for people who want to avoid raking altogether.

Best mower for collecting leaves

Mower blades have evolved. Once when choosing a mower you chose a mulching mower or a bagger. What is the difference?

The mulching mower – It was typically a small engined mower that didn’t have a power drive or grass bag. It was inexpensive and its best asset was its ability to clip grass very finely and drop the clippings back onto the lawn. Meaning you didn’t have the extra labor of emptying a grass bag or raking the grass.

The mulching mower used a specially designed stepped blade to chop grass clippings several times before dropping the grass onto the lawn.

Now the downside to the mulching mower – It leaves fine clippings on the lawn and so you get clippings on your shoes when walking on the lawn not ideal for small families then. In addition, a mulched lawn doesn’t look as green although mulching, in the long run, is better for the grass.

And perhaps the biggest disadvantage with the mulching mower is the grass must be cut regularly, skip a week a mulching mower is going to struggle.

The bagger – The bagger is a much larger mower and of course has a bag and collects the clippings, in addition, baggers are usually power-driven makes sense as these mowers are typically heavier. But the real difference between these two mowers lies under the mower.

The deck shape and the blade are different. The deck is shaped so as to funnel the grass clippings to the grass bag and the blade is what’s known as a lifting blade.

A lift blade has wings which when rotating at over 200 mph create a sucking action that causes the grass to stand upright before being cut and transferred to the grass bag.

Modern mowers are a cross between the two, the blades they use are a hybrid using the best of both blade technologies. The hybrid blades are stepped and winged and they do a pretty good job at both mulching or bagging whichever the operator desires, they need simply add an attachment.

That said there is one mower that excels at the job of either collecting or mulching. Honda’s twin blade technology is a masterpiece and the best I’ve used. It picks up grass and leaves cleanly, no second pass is needed once the mower is maintained and the grass bag keep clean. I’ve been repairing mower for years and if you take care of a Honda, it can easily last 15 plus years. I wrote a post about the Twin-cut Honda and you can check it out here “Best mower on hills”

Top Tips For Easy Leaf Collection

Clean grass bag – a matted grass bag prevents airflow and then prevents easy leaf collection. Use a power washer or stiff brush to clean the inside of the grass bag. If using a stiff brush use a dust mask.

Good blade – Despite blades being made from hardened steel and grass made from…well…grass. Cutting blades do wear out and you will notice a big difference in both performance and quality of lawn finish when you fit a new blade.

I advise my customers to change their blades every 3 to 4 years depending on how much and often they cut grass. The lower you like to scalp your lawn the more wear your blade will suffer.

Mower fully serviced – Seems obvious I know, but it’s true, a well-maintained mower will produce more power and will make the job seem almost easy.

Can You Pick Up Wet Leaves with A Lawn Mower?

Yes, you could pick up wet leaves with a lawnmower. However, using your mower in very wet conditions is generally not recommended and could cause more harm than good. Users risk damage to their lawn, machine, or themselves. For these reasons, we would recommend waiting until the leaves have dried.

Some of the risks of using a mower in wet conditions include:

Electrocution: If you are using an electric mower, you run the risk of being electrocuted. This is especially true if the cord you are using has any unseen damage, allowing the internal wires to touch the wet ground.
Falling: Wet leaves are slippery and pushing a mower in slippery conditions increases your risk of falling. Even though most new mowers have safety features that turn the machine off when the user lets go of the handle, it is not worth the risk.
Lawn Damage: Leaving large clumps of wet leaves and grass can damage your lawn. Additionally, big piles of wet clippings are a perfect place for lawn damaging mold to form.
Wet Grass: There are many ways that wet grass can pose a hazard to your mower. First, wet grass sticks to everything and if it gets stuck in areas that you cannot see, it could increase the chance of rust forming in those areas. For example, under the deck. Also, the wet clippings could form clumps, blocking air from flowing freely to the engine or blocking the blade from working correctly. Leaves may be worse than grass because they are larger. Finally, if you are using a grass bag, you will have a tough time trying to dump the wet clippings out of the bag.
Difficulty: Wet leaves are much harder to chop up than dry, brittle leaves, and instead of mulching into fine pieces, they may rip into larger pieces.
Ruts and Mud: When the ground is saturated, the mower will sink into the dirt and could cause ruts to form. Besides being unsightly, the raised edges may cause problems in the future. Hitting clumps of dirt could bend your blades and fling rocks that could damage anything they hit.

What Should I Do With The Leaves After I Pick Them Up?

If you decide to leave the mulched-up leaves on the ground, your work is done. However, if you picked the leaves up with a grass bag, you might be left wondering what you should do with them. Luckily, there are quite a few surprising ways that you can use the fallen leaves.

Composting

One of the most common uses for dead leaves is to use them as compost or mulch. People will often have a compost pile somewhere on their property and they simply dump the grass bag onto the pile. Compost can be used as fertilizer in gardens and around plants and trees.

Mulch

In addition to using compost as a fertilizer after the leaves have broken down, you can pile the shredded leaves around plants and flowers to keep weeds at bay. Using the dead leaves as mulch is great because the leaves will also decompose and add nutrients to the soil throughout the winter.

Town Cleaning

If you do not have any use for compost or mulch but want to dispose of the leaves, you can check with your city/town to see if they have any special times/days when they pick up lawn debris. Typically, towns will have a few days a year where they will come around and either pick up bagged leaves or vacuum up any leaves that were raked into a pile by the street.

Burning

If you live in a rural area or your town does not help with debris removal, you can burn the leaves. However, if you choose to do this, make sure you follow any laws or regulations in your area. For example, some areas require individuals to get a burn permit before burning anything, while other places may place stipulations on what the leaves can be burnt in.

BEST RAKE! Gardena Leaf Collector

Insulation

Have you ever seen a house with black trash bags piled all around the foundation? They were using leaves as insulation. While this is not as common as it once was, people still do this, especially in rural areas. Individuals bag the leaves and then line those bags along the outside of their home to help keep heat from escaping through the foundation/basement.

Decoration

Another fantastic way to utilize dead leaves is to use them as decorations for the fall/Halloween season. For example, you can fill an orange trash bag full of leaves, draw some eyes, and you have a super cheap pumpkin adorning your lawn. Alternatively, you can fill some old clothes with the le and you have a lifelike scarecrow. The best part is when you are done, you can simply throw them away.

You may find the following posts helpful:

Sources:

https://www.greentractortalk.com/threads/leaf-collection-systems.209405/page-2
https://backyardgadget.com/can-a-lawn-mower-pick-up-leaves/
https://www.lawnmowerfixed.com/do-lawn-mowers-pick-up-leaves/