Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I am hoping that you guys can advise me on the best equipment to meet my leaf clean-up needs.  I live in a ranch house on a 50x200 ft property that has a lot of established trees that dump a ton of leaves (as well as pine needles and cones) this time of year.  I have sidewalks and cement patios that run the perimeter of the lot, a lot of bushes and large beds that pile up with leaves quickly, a sizable stretch of grass lawn in the front, and a smaller backyard.  I am currently raking and sweeping by hand, loading the yard waste into approved bags (urban Chicago area with alley waste disposal pick-up), and then mowing the grass with a bagless mower.  I've tried out an old electric blower and I had mixed results.  It was great for cleaning off the cement areas and for gathering leaves on the open lawn areas, but I was frustrated by the use of multiple extension cords that seemed to always be in my way and never reach where I wanted to go (not to mention that the cords fell out of the socket every few seconds), and by the lack of control when trying to blow the leaves out from under my long row of bushes that back up to a fence.  I would also love to be able to get up on the roof and blow off the debris, and I'm intrigued by the mulching, bagger, vacuum, and gutter attachment options.  I should also mention that I'm a 33 year old woman who is fairly strong, but probably can't haul around anything too incredibly heavy (especially if I'm climbing onto the roof!).  Anyway, any advice would be much appreciated. 

  with that big of a lot  get yourself a walk behind  blower/vac.   i have 2 in the shop right now,  so i know sears sells on as well as a cub cadet. 

Well,  I think you still may have to pick up needles and cones with a rake...  Cones are hard on equipment..  needles don't have much surface area for a leaf blower to move them... 

A walk behind mulcher/bagger leaf vaccum is nice.....  If you want to spend  $400 plus for a unit,  and still need a handheld blower for a round the edges and a rake for cones and buried in grass needles..

I have seen some vaccum/mulch walk behinds that can be made to blow.  (the use them to blow small rocks off the parking lots before the weather seal them with tar/ asphalt)..  They blow hard, but most will blow sod and rip soil....They will roll a pine cone and throw needles..

I suggest you take a picture of your lot or print one out from Google Earth, or Microsoft Terra server.   Take that photo in with questions that you have about needs and wants.

Go to a dealer in the area and discuss exactly what you could use,  Tell him what your budget is and they should be able to help you.

Just remember,  sometimes cheaper is not a deal.  I have seen a lot of people run to Kmart and buy a $99 blower..  Then have  to order parts from 3 states away to fix anything that comes up.   (gas cap,  rewind spring, handle).   Sometimes for $30 more you can have a MUCH better machine and have local parts and service..

Also,  If you go to someplace like HomeDepot they have a tool rental area in most stores...   Try renting the Equipment you want to buy ( or similar ) for a afternoon to see if it does the job for you...   It is so much cheaper than buying something you will not use or are not happy with or does not do the expected or promised job.

This concludes this public service announcement.

Good Luck,

Friiy

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I use an Echo ES210 Shredder/Vac.  It's a respectable unit.  LIght, powerful, effective and fairly quiet.  It's great for picking up leaves & small twigs that fall into our rock gardens.  Considering the volume of work and the type of tree litter you want to manage, I doubt that this would be the machine for you.  Pine cones in particular will be jambing the shredder blades regularly.  Leaves and even pine needles are processed nicely.  If you plan to harvest the pine cones, you're going to need something close to an industrial unit or continue to clean them up with hand tools.  As Friiy wisely said,  go to a rental outlet and see what gets the job done.