To avoid raking around the trees, ya may want to consider a leaf blower. Nice video. I'm in search mode for taking care of leaves in the fall. I'm taking care of my folks property now. Right now it's tall grass season, since it's been raining and the grass got up to about a foot high. I got a lawn sweeper. That worked wonders over raking, but it doesn't work to well on wet grass. So then I got a riding mower with a bagger. That clogs up when it's wet. It's miles better than raking, but I'm frequently unclogging it. Today it was so high that in parts I took the bagger off and just raked it due to it clogging every 20 feet or so. That also needs to be dumped a lot. For that matter, so does the lawn sweeper. Both are a lot better than raking, but I don't think either is the best solution.
I've never been able to use my bagger on tall grass without clogging in 1 pass....I have to take the bagger off and mow it regularly and then let the grass dry out a day or two (like hay) and THEN use the bagger and remow....Works way better but you have to mow twice this way but clogging is minimal once it dries out.....Best solution I've found without buying a secondary vacuum/mulcher like this unit....I do have a Dr Power walk behind brush cutter that works amazing....
I have this same vac. I have had it 3 years now. I love it. I can’t imagine my life without it! like you I have a ton of trees and a lots of leafs. My Shute did get a hole in it at about 20 hours of use. I just cut A piece of aluminum silicone and riveted it in place then wrapped it with black duct tape. Just so he did not look repaired from a distance. I now have 36 hours on it. I also had to replace my 8 inch hoses as well. Like I said I could imagine going back to my old way of cleaning up leaves. I also use it in the summer if the grass gets to tall. I bought the hand held hose for doing the beds and places I can’t get to with the tractor I rarely touch a rake anymore.
I've had mine about 3 years also. So far I haven't had any problems with it. I was surprised to find out it charged its battery. I also got the extension for the hose. This last year I broke down and got the Sthil BR800 leaf blower. Now I don't even get the rake out.
Thanks Jimmy for the input. My father told me, "it used to take me a week of raking for what we just did in 2 hours" Since he is 87 years old it is a valuable tool for him. Best to you. steve
I have a wooded property. I own a DR leaf vac and a echo pb80t blower , I’ve found it faster to just blow all leaves into open areas in piles. Then use the vac to shred them and dump in the woods. The hoses don’t last on the vac’s it seems if using it attached to the tractor .
Well, this is the exact review I was looking for. I have the exact same mower as well right down to the push bar!. My father in law and I had the agri fab version for about 8 years and it really wasn’t bad. The solid body was a bit time consuming to clean out... but it was better than raking. We both are surrounded by oaks and it takes days to clean up by hand... which we have done the last 2-3 years since our agri fab died. you definitely sold me on this sir, thank you so much for the through review
Mid, Glad you found this helpful. I have been generally very pleased with the DR vac. One thing I found was that with this particular tractor, the 8 inch hose was just a little too short, causing it to split and fail the first year. I bought an extension kit that I used the second year and no hose problems yet. If you would like me to measure the total hose length I could do that when I get it out in a week or so. Also, I found that where the leaves hit the back of the canvas it is deteriorating the canvass and I plan to glue on a sheet aluminum "bang board" in that area to take the punishment that the leaves and sticks are doing to the canvas.
flyboyslc1 , thanks for that sir.. If it’s just an extension kit that DR sells.. I don’t know you have to go through the trouble of measuring. But if you do I won’t mind. And I completely forgot to ask you about the canvas top where the leaves sticks acorns etc. will be beating it up. That was my biggest concern with the canvas top. The hardtop unit we had before that was not a concern. But the entry point on that unit wore out quick because it wasn’t a heavy canvas for the shoot it was almost a thin plastic. Definitely let me know how that works out if you think of it. The leaves really haven’t started falling here yet but the Pineneedles have and I already miss a machine like that LOL. Thanks again
@@midliferc1165 When you call up DR to order, they will walk you through ordering and should ask you about hose length. They thought that I would be OK, but I found that making sharp left turns stretched the hose and eventually it failed. I think I added about a foot and a half extension and last year it worked just fine. One thing takes getting used to is all that hose on the right side. You need to plan how you are going to do the job for all the turning you have to do. The canvass top holds up well, other than the area that the debris chute launches all the stuff at the back. I am going to cut a piece of aluminum sheet metal and contact cement so that the debris hits the aluminum instead of the canvass.
@@flyboyslc1 thanks so much for all the updated info after years of use! This is exactly how RU-vid reviews should be done, outstanding work!! I'm just about to order mine, and I absolutely cannot wait! I'm frankly pretty sick of raking my leaf-swimming pool of a yard. Great video!! Can I make a request? I'd love to see a follow-up video with your aluminum reinforcement on the canvas, and the hose extension, and anything else you've done or noticed since buying the machine. I'd also love to see, or hear about, exactly how you did the aluminum sheet reinforcement. Thanks again!
@@tokillamurderer well. I may make another video but probably won’t be soon. Pretty busy right now. There is a canvas reinforcement installed at the factory where the leaf debris hits the back of the container. It wore out and I just contact cemented a piece of .020 aluminum sheet in place of it. Just slightly oversized it. Seems to be working fine. For hose length, just make the hose long enough to do a sharp left turn without over stressing the hose at the vacuum end. Either way a hose is a wear item and will need replaced probably every two or three years depending on use.
Crazof, Just ran ours over my fathers and my lawn today. Worked awesome once again. I did need to by the hose extension kit. Wore out the hose due to turning sharp left turns. Assembly is pretty easy other than getting the canvas stretched over the steel framework. Anyway, I think you will really like it. Huge time saver. Post back your experience once you have used it for a while. Steve
Thanks for the thorough review. I live in the foothills of the sierra nevada mountains and have raked, hauled, and burned about 2 acres of leaves every year for the past 13 years. I'm over it and my shoulders are screaming for a change. I think I'm going to pull the trigger on this one. Now that you've been using it for a few years do you have any other thoughts or recommendations? Thanks again.
Matt, thanks for the nice comment. I did do a 3 year review video. It is here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Vya82SQNP2M.html. I think any leaf vac is going to take a beating. It is just tough on a machine. All in all, I am happy with it and would buy it again.
I’ve got a bunch of hickory trees. Any experience with it dealing with harder nuts like that? I’m not looking to vac them up, just concerned they might jamb the impeller something.
N8. I have lots of acorns and no problem with them. It sucks some of them up and the impeller shoots them right on through. If you are talking hickory nuts with husk on, I dont think it will pick them up. Husk off, no problem at all. The acorns do beat up the canvas enclosure though.
just be mindful it is possible to set a tractor on fire if the leaf pile pushed up under the front of the deck manages to contact the exhaust, depends on how well protected the exhaust and muffler are ...
I did indeed try it with the top snapped down. it still works OK, but I found that I started to split open the sewed seems on the canvas enclosure. So I have reverted back to leaving the top at least partially open. I did a 3 year review where I showed how to repair the seem split.
Matt, while it would pick leaves off of a gravel or crushed stone driveway very well, it would be hard on the mower deck blades. It will have enough suction to lift small rock and dust off of the driveway. I would suggest using a leaf blower or rake to move the leaves into the grass next to the driveway and then grab em with he leaf vac.
@@flyboyslc1 Just got one of these & I went to their site & bought a 28' Hose that come w/ a handle. The q and a says it's 14 ft but I called & they said that's an old anwer. Mowed yesterday & it worked great!
Cool video...I am also looking for a vac for my little tractor. I also live in Iowa. Home of the Hawkeyes to be exact. What part of this great state do you live? I see you like Dogs on Ski's as well. I believe they are playing here in a week or two. Thanks for sharing the info. You can pm me on my facebook if you like. or on here works as well... Thanks again...
Mike, I am sorry and apologize for missing your post. I live near Central City here in Iowa. Like Dogs on Skis a lot. Best to you, and again sorry i missing this. Steve
Absolutely hate my DR Power. The hose wont work properly with a zero turn, used mine for the second time and the hose already has holes in it from dragging and rubbing the wheel. The claps broke also. It's just really poorly designed
WinV. I have no experience with a zero turn. That said, I question how something hitched to it would work? You would know better than me. I can tell you that hitched to a conventional lawn tractor, the DR leaf vac works well for me. I am happy with it and it has proven to be a great time saver. I would buy it again. The hose is probably the weak link. I bought an aftermarket hose that I will try next year.
Me too. I dont have a zero turn but i have to repair the hose at the deck and at the impeller every time i use it. PVC tape for drainage pipe is the best. My neighbors have the cyclone rake which is a way better design. two point hitch and the vac has swivel wheels. So it spins around with the mower and those hose stays stationary. No stretching turning left or binding turning right. My neighbors are done in half the time due to im always patching up my hoses.
