Are Leaf Rakes Illegal???

[Doug Kanter]

Rochester NY: We're being buried in leaves. My son and I raked up 40+ bags of leaves in about 2 hours this past Sunday. We seem to be alone in the use of that prehistoric tool, the rake. I'm surrounded by neighbors in their early 30s to mid 40s, in good shape, all of whom use leaf blowers and take all day to gather the same amount of leaves. And...cripes....the noise! Want an investment tip? Hearing aids - the Next Big Thing for an entire generation.

What's with these things? Is Home Depot putting guns to peoples' heads and forcing them to buy leaf blowers?

[Here to there]

Rochester NY: OK, Penfield. Close enough.

I spent about 3 hours with the leaf blower on Saturday. No idea how many bags worth, since we put them all in a compost pile on the back of the property this year, though in previous years we never had any fewer than 60 or so bags.

Personally, I don't see why some people have such an issue with leaf blowers. Sure, they're noisy. So are cars, lawnmowers, 390/490/590, electric hedge trimmers, etc. My arms sure as heck feel a LOT better after using the blower for a few hours than they do after using a rake for even half as long. And using a rake in years past took me the better part of the weekend to get those 60 bags filled.

Summation: I wish I had gotten a leaf blower YEARS ago.

- Rich

[E Gregory]

Personally, I don't see why some people have such an issue with leaves.

[Doug Kanter]

Maybe there's a trick to using the blower to get the leaves into the bags? Something my neighbors haven't discovered? All they seem to use them for is creating the initial pile.

[Doug Kanter]

They look good.....until they get matted down and turn the lawn into sauce. Before we raked, I had leaves a foot deep on most of my lawn. Realtors should remind buyers to check the prevailing winds before signing the purchase offer. :-)

[Curly Sue]

Best of both worlds- rake the leaves into a pile (quietly), then use a leaf vacuum/shredder for two minutes to suck them into a bag. Another advantage, 1/2 (or less) the number of bags. Save the shreds and use them for mulch in the garden.

Alternatively, just mow the leaves and let them disintegrate in place.

Sue(tm) Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Because they are noisy. I don't care how loud it is if it was just you that was hearing it, but I don't like to hear a couple of mowers going at 5 or 6 PM on an otherwise quiet Sunday while I'm trying to relax and enjoy dinner on the deck.

I don't complain during the week after work or Saturday. I use a power mower also. But I refuse to make noise during the weekend dinner time.

Yesterday I was raking my leaves. The neighbor across the street was blowing his and I had this constant whine in my ears from it and I was 400 feet away. I finished first though as raking was faster that the blower would move them.(there are probably higher powered ones) I considered getting one myself, but I can see they don't really save time. He was complaining that using the blower was causing some pain in the wrist.

[PrecisionMachinisT]

Me neither....

No big deal here......just blow em into the neighbor's yard.......

[Doug Kanter]

Just moved in. Not enough garden dug up yet for the volume of leaves I have. I tilled a 40x40 vegetable garden two weeks back, and it's already got 8 trillion bushels of a mowed grass/leaf mix mixed in and piled on. Next spring, I'm removing 1/4 of the total lawn area and creating enormous flower & shrub beds. Then there'll be a home for the leaves.

[xrongor]

if you build it, they will come.

randy

[PrecisionMachinisT]

Composting is kinduva art--probly best to mix the brown and green matter together in a pile.......the green ( grass clippings ) providing the nitrogen, and let it all break down good *before* you till it in.......

[m Ransley]

Most are too noisy, my Echo is too noisy. Consumer Reports may rate them.

John Deere make a nice unit, fairly quiet, light, and well balanced. The exaust is shot out the blower tube so it is low to the ground and doesnt get into your lungs.

[willshak]

I spent a couple of hours using a rake today. Big green plastic thing. I rake mainly to get the leaves away from fences and other structures so I could then mulch them with a garden tractor, then use the tractor to sweep them up so I could throw them into the compost heap. There are still some trees with leaves hanging on for dear life, so I may have to do it again before winter sets in.

[Minnie Bannister]

I mowed our lawn (last time this year?) and simultaneously shredded the leaves on Saturday while our neigbors were raking theirs, and after I'd finished I found the gardening column in the local paper with a recommendation to shred insted of rake or blow.

[Art]

Trick is to use the blower to blow them onto a tarp and move them where you want to.

[Art]

Your worried about leaves? Wait till it snows. Glad I left Rochester 20 years ago.

[Doug Kanter]

I don't know what one of my neighbors has, but at 100', it's as loud as standing right next to a table saw.

[Doug Kanter]

Yeah, but I want to start small. I have a corner lot, so the place where I'd like to put multiple compost bins is where it would be visible to two neighbors. I'm waiting for delivery of a Soilmaker (your basic tall plastic box - a model I've used in the past). I'll probably add 3 more in the spring. In this neighborhood, an open pile or a chicken wire thing would look out of place, even though they'd be beautiful to me.

Or.....plant a hedge to surround the compost factory. We'll see. I have more ideas than I have time and cash at the moment.

[Doug Kanter]

Great, but a lot of mowers (including mine) won't shred large volumes of leaves effectively. Bring yours over!

[Doug Kanter]

I followed a woman here to get married. Left Long Island, which had advantages and disadvantages. I don't miss the traffic, or the fact that women there put on 12 pounds of makeup just to run to the grocery store for a gallon of milk. But the beach....at least there was the beach.