Pull behind lawn vac questions

[rfuerst911sc]

Hey guys we moved into our retirement home a little over two years ago . It is 2.5 acres with many trees on the land and surrounded by tons of trees . So when the leaves start falling it's a lot of work to manually rake and transport .

I have a chance to purchase a used pull behind lawn vac . It is all metal with manual tilt/dump. It has a 5 hp B&S engine . Visually it is in great shape and the seller says the engine fires right up . Any of you guys use one of these ?

I know they may be cumbersome in tight spots but for the majority of our lawn that's not an issue. I will be pulling this behind a John Deere 16 hp diesel garden tractor with a 50" deck . Because the vac is all metal storage will be a minor issue but I can work around that. What things do I need to know ?

[stevej37]

I have a Trac-Vac that I've used for at least 25 years now. My most valuable lawn tool.
Works great, takes up some room while in storage, but worth it.
Just drive over leaves, picks up grass, makes the lawn look pristine.
If leaves are dry...you only need to get near them to pick them up. Because of the high volume of air that the vacuum makes.

[stevej37]

Pic from last year.

[wayner]

I was really impressed with a leave sweeper I tried once

It’s a pull behind with a counter rotating brush

Inexpensive and mechanically simple

[wdfifteen]

If it's an Agri-Fab POS from Tractor Supply - pass.

[masraum]

What's this got to do with coronavirus?



Very cool. Beats the hell out of raking, which in the right/wrong time of year gives you a very short time with a clean yard.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by masraum

[ Beats the hell out of raking, which in the right/wrong time of year gives you a very short time with a clean yard.

I harvest the leaves for compost, so cleaning the yard isn't really an issue for me. We do have a lot of trees, so by November I have a compost heap the height and length of 2 pickup trucks. It cooks down to about 1/4 of that by spring, and I put it on my garden.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I harvest the leaves for compost, so cleaning the yard isn't really an issue for me. We do have a lot of trees, so by November I have a compost heap the height and length of 2 pickup trucks. It cooks down to about 1/4 of that by spring, and I put it on my garden.

I do the same with the Trac-Vac. When the leaves go through the mower and get blown into the cart, there are none any larger than a postage stamp.
Makes the composting faster. I have over an acre of lawn with many trees. At the most, I've had to empty the cart twice in one mowing.

[VincentVega]

I have a cyclone rake behind a x520. Plenty of ass to get the job done. The cyclone is rigid mounted to the frame of 'tractor' so tight spot maneuvering takes a little practice. I looked for a used version for a while and always struct out. At least around here used stuff was beat up or sold so quickly and prices werent exactly zero. So I bought new. Seems I could sell it for more than half what have in it in a day or 2. Cyclone is nice since the hopper folks up and doesnt take up much space. If buying used make sure you have the adaptors/fitting/hoses. Replacement parts arent cheap, similar for ~10" hose.

[rfuerst911sc]

At 5:00 I pulled into my driveway after a 390 mile round trip to pick up the vac . My diesel needed a long run anyway so a win win 😁 The unit is an all metal EZ Vac brand and it is in fantastic shape . When I got to the sellers home he had it sitting outside .

He said he last started it about a week ago . He set the choke and gave a half pull and she fired right up . Ran perfect . I can't imagine what an all metal vac would cost today , I bought this one for just under 500.00 .

I took one pic I will post tomorrow . I will have to see how close the mowing deck " boot " fits my John Deere deck . He had a Wheel Horse tractor . But the boot is metal so I can shape/weld to fit . Can't wait to use it 😁

[rfuerst911sc]

As promised here's a pic of the vac . Looking forward to grinding some leaves