Leaves
Elder User
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 512
Likes: 0
I have a contractor-grade backpack blower. It wasn't cheap, but it moves leaves like nobody's business... which is nice when I have 1/2 an acre of leaves to move... I pile them on the street, then set up green snow-fence to keep them from being blown back into the yard until the township comes to pick them up.
Far too many leaves to be mulched into the yard and I don't have a garden.
Far too many leaves to be mulched into the yard and I don't have a garden.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 4,447
Likes: 0
From: Georgia
I use an electric leaf blower that doubles as a vac. When you use it as a vac it reduces the volume of the leaves 16:1. Gas blower/vacs reduce them even more. I usually save the chopped up leaves for a compost or a garden. If you are a fisherman why not use the leaves in a worm bin (if they are oak) red wigglers love them.
Elder User
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 883
Likes: 0
From: Bel Air, MD
Originally Posted by 70blue
I usually save the chopped up leaves for a compost or a garden. If you are a fisherman why not use the leaves in a worm bin (if they are oak) red wigglers love them.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,413
Likes: 14
From: cape may county NJ
I just use my little robin hand held blower most of the leaves are from my neighbors red oaks,I only have one small cherry tree in my yard and until yesterday most of the leaves were still on it but I just did my yard saturday because I have family coming up for thanksgiving now it dosn't look like I did anything its been raining and windy since yesterday what a mess!
Postmaster
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,043
Likes: 4
I use this:
http://www.nhlawn.com/ingersoll/vac.jpg
Then I collect the leaves and save them for composting next year. Lawn clippings and leaves make great compost. The problem is finding dry dead leaves in July. I have a 10x10 wire composting bin I put the leaves in to store them till summer.
This year I'm trying something different. In addition to the compost bin, I'm collecting leaves and spreading them on my garden as a mulch. I'll let them rot over the winter then in the spring, I'll till just the rows I need for the garden. The leaves will form a layer to choke out the weeds. Sort of a no-till approach to gardens.
http://www.nhlawn.com/ingersoll/vac.jpg
Then I collect the leaves and save them for composting next year. Lawn clippings and leaves make great compost. The problem is finding dry dead leaves in July. I have a 10x10 wire composting bin I put the leaves in to store them till summer.
This year I'm trying something different. In addition to the compost bin, I'm collecting leaves and spreading them on my garden as a mulch. I'll let them rot over the winter then in the spring, I'll till just the rows I need for the garden. The leaves will form a layer to choke out the weeds. Sort of a no-till approach to gardens.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 2,007
Likes: 0
From: Oregon
I have a huge Oak and three Maples+ on my tiny lot. I've been filling a low spot in the property since the late 70's and it's almost up to the grade I want now. After it's all piled for the year, I throw a bag of lime on it and water every once in a while. I probably spend around 20 hours a year raking.
I usually rake to get the majority, then clean up with the blower. I think my Oak is getting old or something. I don't get near as many leaves off it as I used to, and what I do get seem to be smaller. Any Oak experts know if this is normal? I don't know how old the thing is. The trunk has about a 48" diameter.
I usually rake to get the majority, then clean up with the blower. I think my Oak is getting old or something. I don't get near as many leaves off it as I used to, and what I do get seem to be smaller. Any Oak experts know if this is normal? I don't know how old the thing is. The trunk has about a 48" diameter.
Elder User
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 799
Likes: 0
From: State of Misery (Missouri
Originally Posted by CowboyBilly9Mile
Just do like my neighbor does, rake them into a tall pile close to the street and let the wind take care of it. Odds are there's a 75% chance the wind will blow them over to my place and I get to rake them up for him (a family of five). Never be responsible and throw away your own yard waste, make someone else do it for you 
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Postmaster
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 2,680
Likes: 1
From: Montreal Canada
Originally Posted by 70blue
I use an electric leaf blower that doubles as a vac. When you use it as a vac it reduces the volume of the leaves 16:1. Gas blower/vacs reduce them even more. I usually save the chopped up leaves for a compost or a garden. If you are a fisherman why not use the leaves in a worm bin (if they are oak) red wigglers love them.
Posting Guru
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,139
Likes: 0
From: fremont ohio
I'm not sure if I can look at another leaf. Workin for the city, we started our annual leaf pickup a couple weeks ago. In a city of approx. 17,000. I'm the lone guy on bagged leaf duty. The other guys are all on sucking duty, we got huuuuuge vacuums that suck em up. These suckers are serious, we love finding pumpkins buried in the leaves, talk about a noise. So far as of today, I've picked up 3500 bags of leaves.
Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 24,418
Likes: 3
From: San Francisco, Ca.
I sweep them into the street sunday night.
The street sweeper truck brushes and vacuums them up the next day.
If you're parked on the street, at a certain time, on street cleaning days, it's going to cost you $40.00 for that ticket.
The street sweeper truck brushes and vacuums them up the next day.
If you're parked on the street, at a certain time, on street cleaning days, it's going to cost you $40.00 for that ticket.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 4,447
Likes: 0
From: Georgia
Originally Posted by websthes
does the shredding help the composting come along? last year i made a circle out of a length of wire fence filled it with leaves to compost. when it got full i'd have the kid stomp around in there so it was stuffed pretty full. over the summer it reduced to maybe 1/3 but didn't look like it was composting much.
Last edited by 70blue; Nov 22, 2005 at 07:55 PM.
Post Fiend
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 14,582
Likes: 12
From: 21791
since part of our fall line of work, is cleaning leaves, i have some input. we have a 4x4 garden tractor that is like a gecko on hills. it has a 62'' deck, and mower-belt driven bagger system. we picked up alot of leaves that way. we also have a hand held "shred-n-vac", which is basically a hand held leaf blower, with a long pickup tube, some turbo-like shredder blades, and it blows it into a bag that you tote around. good for flower beds and sort. we also have a big leaf vac that we pull around with one of our JD gators, and that is mostly good for doing curbs, and when they are collected in large areas. the past few days, we have been converting tractors to snowblowers, and we didnt have the baggers. so we used our backpack blowers to blow large areas of leaves to a huge pile, and then come with the trailer vac and then suck them up. it is amazing, some of the stuff that the vac will suck up.
Postmaster
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,043
Likes: 4
Originally Posted by websthes
does the shredding help the composting come along? last year i made a circle out of a length of wire fence filled it with leaves to compost. when it got full i'd have the kid stomp around in there so it was stuffed pretty full. over the summer it reduced to maybe 1/3 but didn't look like it was composting much.
I got a Compostumbler. Expensive but it works very well. If you load it with the proper ratio of green to brown, you can easily turn the pile a couple of times a day and have compost in 14 days.
Posting Guru
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 1,931
Likes: 1
From: N. Mississippi
I live out in the county, between two towns on two acres so I don't rake leaves. It would be a never ending job because of all the trees around me so what the wind doesn't blow away gets chopped up with the mower come spring. The chopped pieces are recycled back into the ground over time.
The top 8 inches of soil in my yard is black and rich from all the leaves that fell over the years when this was an active pecan orchard.
The top 8 inches of soil in my yard is black and rich from all the leaves that fell over the years when this was an active pecan orchard.