How to catch grass clippings in yard

[Don]

I have a large yard of about 2 acres. I like to mow the grass very short. The problem is, I can only mow once a week and I have terrible quantities of grass clippings all over my yard.

I had thought about buying one of those canister collectors that fits on back of the lawn mower but am afraid I will be emptying it every 5 minutes.

Do those yard sweepers you pull behind the riding mover with brushes that scoup material up do a good job at catching grass clippings? At least with those I can drive to the end of the field and empty it from the seat of the lawn mower.

Is there a way I can make something myself that will effectively catch the grass? I can weld and cut steel at my house.

By the way, I mow with a Craftsman riding lawn mower 48 inch. It takes me about 2 hours to mow everything. (I hate to mow).

I whish I had a tractor and big finish mower but do not have the money.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[m Ransley]

If you hate to mow have you ever tried letting it grow a bit taller , maybe 2 inches taller and mulching, you will need less fertiliser , less weed killer and grass is more drought and disease resistant. Clippings are good for the lawn

[NorMinn]

Why fight mother nature? Mowing it very short is trying to kill it - too short is not good for the grass plant, wastes water by letting the soil dry faster, promotes weed growth. The cuttings mulch and smother the grass. Mulching mower or reduce the amount that is planted as lawn. I wouldn't want to spend that much time mowing. You could reduce mowing by planting shrubs and ground cover that require less care, and may also save water.

[William Morris]

Rule of thumb: landscape anything you don't want to mow.

[Stan Schaefer]

The riding mowers they use here at work(former airbase, lots of lawn) haul a big hopper around at the back, all the clippings go into it. Maybe you could rig up a bin on a trailer and a chute from the mower deck.

Stan

[Steven]

Don,

This is what you want:

It would be more like every two minutes.

They do a fair job, but you will still be dumping every few minutes.

Anything is possible if you want it bad enough. I don't know of any plans for something like that.

The bigger tractor mount mowers are great unless you have a lot of trees, shrubs, and etc to mow around.

-=- Steven Harris Everson, WA

[Rex B]

||Don, || ||This is what you want: || ||

I looked at that, watched their DVD video. It would solve my leaf-collection problem every fall, for about $1000 Rex in Fort Worth

[Ken Sterling]

Don, I have never had much faith in the mulching blades - regardless of how "fine" the clippings are as they simply will not rot away fast enough that they will not become a problem. If you have ever seen (or done) a yard "thaching" you would be amazed at the truckloads of dead grass that can be pulled up from the top of the soil - choking out the roots of the grass from water, fertilizer, etc. Catching the clippings and putting them in a "humus" pile will provide lots of use in flowerbeds, etc. Catching them is about the only good answer - hauling around a little cart behind you while you use a grass catcher/bagging system will save you from running to the end of the yard every lap or two - just stop and empty them into the cart and when the cart gets full, empty the cart and the bags at the same time at the edge of the yard. The bigger carts have a separate gas motor blower and a bigger cart for holding more - but remember, clippings can get heavy and if you have a small tractor, the weight can get to pushing you going down hills, etc., which is dangerous. Use high-lift blades on the tractor to help blow the clippings up the tube, keep the blades sharp, and good luck. Hope this helps. Ken.

[Roger Martin]

or

[Roy]

Check out my home brew vaccum trailer for just this purpose, but I use it mainly for leaf clean up most of the time. It was pretty easy and cheap to make and I will put it up against the Agri Fab or Cyclone rake anyday. I can suck up debris without the mower deck running.

Its on my projects page...........

Regards

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[Bob Engelhardt]

I made a similar cart, using 6" corrugated PVC (?) highway drain pipe for the intake hose. It is too stiff, but free. It proved the concept, and now I need to get real hose, but I'm up against the cost. Where did you get yours, and at what price? Thanks, Bob

[Roy]

Have you ever seen the type of hose that comes on the Cyclone rake? Its a polyurethane hose with a plastic spiral molded into it, and the inner portion of the hose is smooth, all corrugations on the outside. This is the type of hose I have for mine. Its about $8.00 a foot, and I bought it at the local industrial supply which also sells and makes hoses and gaskets, so they have a pretty good inventory of stuff like this. Its just called material handling duct, and IIRC its made by Goodyear.

Problem with some of the hoses out there such as is sold on Crapsman carts is they have some corrugations in the inner portion and its nothing but restrictions and dirt catchers.

Regular rubber type hose is not too good either as its too much resistance and slows down the flow pretty good. I guess it would be different if it had a good air supply to drive the debris through, but its mainly the mower deck lifting it and giving it a start with vac from the fan impeller taking up the slack.

Regards

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[Phisherman]

Mowing short is usually bad practice. Use a mulching mower to return the nitrogen to the grass. Mow more often, if that means paying someone to do it.