Home Made Lawn Mower Leaf Collector

[@johnmichaelshearer2153]

Great Job you guys! Good old Father & Son teamwork.

[@HDHhomestead]

👌Clever idea! It solves my problem as we have 3 acres and I want the grass clippings for mulching my garden beds. It also keeps the tow-behind cart usable. Kudos

[@guyh.4553]

Love it Brothgar! I've been pondering over the same idea as well without a motor assisted blower. I especially liked the small "fixes" you added. And to answer others that "complain" about your not composting the leaves, you're like us. When the leaves get 3 inches deep, you just can't mow them into the grass without burying the lawn. Besides, you're leaving it to the city that collects them and compost them. Where I live in the West, we mulch up the leaves and pack them around the grapes and roses as plant protection from the cold winters. Great job!

[@Rebel9668]

I like your idea of using the trailer. I watched another video of a guy who used a trailer but he took the bed off his and built a bottom for the box and mounted it where the bed was. Your idea is better in that respect. What I did like about his was that he used a netting material called hardware cloth for the sides and front and rear of his box and had a hole in the front of the box's cloth for the chute. He used a 2x2 mounted to his box's frame for the chute to ride and swivel on as the mower turned. I think I'll combine your use of the trailer with his version of the netted box frame and see how that works.

[@azaleaacres]

My son is designing something similar for our mower. Thanks for the ideas.

[@rae1067]

This is a great idea. I ended up buying a similar bagger as yours and my leaves just got clogged in it. With nearly 5 acres to mow it leaves one looking for ideas such as yours.

[@billcenne7262]

I just bought a couple of used triple baggers and keep switching bags when they get full. Then I take all the full bags to the dump site and I'm done! Sometimes you gotta make two trips, but that's okay, you can use a break now and then anyway!

[@vikings844]

Bill Cenne I just bought a mesh tarp and lined my pickup bed with it. Dump leaves in the back and when I get to dump just open up tail gate and pull the tarp out.

[@olimurphy-y3o]

2:03 No. It moves in relation to the trailer, not the mower (fixed).

[@irrationalmoon]

All hail the dryer vent tubing. It's definitely an interesting setup.

[@bobbg9041]

You can save a trip to the curb by composting it in your back yard Compost is black gold to a garden or even the lawn.

[@stevefromthegarden1135]

I like it. I could build something like this for my mower and trailer. Would be a huge time saver and speed up getting all the leaves into my compost bins.

[@99lunalupis]

That's tight! Kudos to you and your father!

[@DrRetardo8600]

I know it's an old video but still: It's great to see that you're not just creative and engineering in video games, instead you figure out smart stuff in real life! That's so cool! I hope I'll do this at some point in my life too :D

[@philheese1728]

Very cool idea, a lot more capacity than the original set up. If I had a lot of leaves, I would probably make a copy of that. Good job.

[@bullfrogpondshop3179]

Great project! I'm doing some research before designing my own leaf collector to be used with a very similar mower and the same Craftsman trailer. Just one comment: My Craftsman always had problems with the regular chute clogging with grass. Many years later, when it was time to replace the blades, I noticed in the parts diagram that my blades were the "mulching" type. The diagram also showed the "regular", non-mulching blades, and they have little upturned flanges on the trailing edge (like a spoiler on a car). I could see that the regular blades were designed for throwing the grass with that flange. So I bought the regular blades and my clogging issues decreased substantially. If you have mulching blades, they will not throw the grass or leaves as well as the regular blades. My two cents... I'm leaning towards making a frame out of PVC, and wrapping the whole thing in chicken wire....I think it will be lighter and no need for an exhaust hole. I like your use of the semi-flexible metal ducting from the mower to the trailer.

[@moparguy37]

Great Idea!!! my rear leaf bagger on my cub cadet fills up in only 50ft of mulching leaves

[@anniegaddis5240]

I've been looking at leaf vac attachments and they all have some kind of engine on them, I'm assuming to suck the leaves into the bagging area. But there is no engine on yours. Those leaves just go into the tube and follow it into your box. Awesome. Makes me think I can do something like that with mine... and save a BUNCH of $$$'s. Thanks!

[@wildbill23c]

The engine usually has an impeller attached to it which not only creates a large amount of suction power to pickup all the leaves and grass, they usually have blades on those impellers to shred the debris to allow for condensing the debris into smaller pieces saving time dumping the vac attachments.

[@arthilliker4963]

You can add Gator blades to chop 'em up a little better if you like. Some people have the woods to throw 'em, some people put 'em out for city pick up, some folks take 'em to a land fill.... what ever. This idea makes it a WHOLE LOT EASIER AND FASTER any way you look at it. I made one very similar to this and it works GREAT.

[@Rebel9668]

I'll just dump them at the back corner of my property and burn them there. I have a spot there where I pick up all the dead tree branches from storms, etc. in the yard and usually have a pretty good size brush pile by fall.

[@crossgrainwoodproductsltd9230]

I love this idea! And I just may make one for my trailer! Thank you for sharing your ingenuity with us.

[@kalrandom7387]

Nice idea I can see a few improvements I'm going to make but I'm going to use the basic design thank you

[@rosesarered3904]

I would love to see more leaves cleanup with your setup. Very cool!

[@reesecaprice3466]

Very enjoyable and beautifully narrated

[@rontrombley2596]

I'm still working on the moveable sock. At first I thought attaching the tube to the container would work better. A bent and or crushed tube caused by turning convinced don't otherwise. Do U find that right turns will still plug the chute? I've found that wide left turns keep the pipe extended and fairly straight. The mulching blades do a fine job of reducing the leaves to small pieces and throwing them up the chute. We have had a lot of rain here this year, so the leaves are wet and I was surprised that the mower still picked them up and fired them up the chute. Two full trailers of leaves to the recycling center today. Had to go a little slow to keep from plugging the chute, but it sure beats raking and bagging wet leaves. Thanks for sharing your novel idea with the rest of us.

[@ozboc]

Nice job I have been looking to buy some kind of commercial vac system to pick up leaves and sticks on our farm and to turn into compost . Just came across your video and love the simplicity of your design. I have a 20 hp husqvarna with 42 inch cutting deck.... will have a look at how I can use it instead of buying a commercial unit .thanks to your video and hello from Australia !

[@kenltron]

Am looking to do something like this (I have the same mower). Hint: Make 2 passes on the leaves. Don't pick up the first pass. The 2nd pass will pick up many more leaves because they'll be crunched up a bit.

[@amathonn]

Nice craftsmanship. Would be cool if you could blow leaves/grass right into big plastic or burlap bags for transport to a garden.

[@stevenjrrice5694]

I really like this idea! I have a pull behind trailer that I had thought about getting rid of, but now am rethinking that idea. Have you tried this for normal grass clippings? If you have, how did it work?

[@daryldettmer9160]

you should make a deflector so your leaves dont come out the front of the deck .. i made one out of plastic landscape edging and used plastic ties to secure it and it worked pretty good last fall ..

[@inspectormore-anonymous1259]

Yup I just made one out of rubber for the front of the deck!

[@daryldettmer9160]

Sounds good ,

[@wildbill23c]

My Craftsman lawn tractor has a baffle, but yeah, they throw debris out from under them especially in mulching or bagging modes. A deflector to keep that stuff under the deck is a great idea.

[@guyh.4553]

Suuuuuuuuuure, NOW I find your build after I got done taking care of leaves. The HARD way! Way Cool! Any design plans by chance?

[@chrisgore9700]

I think this is a pretty good ideal

[@janicedennis1193]

If you could set it up to slide on a truck before dumping it? Looks good and at a good price.

[@jkoravos]

Nice job. I just made something almost identical for my (almost identical) Craftsman mower to collect grass clipping and leaves. I like your dumping system. I found that the door I put on the back isn't sufficient to dump all the grass clippings with, I end up spending a bunch of time trying to get all the grass clipping out. It needs some modifications but it's worked well for the small amount of time I've put into it. I have the two barrel bagger system instead of three, i have to dump them on nearly every pass. With the tow behind catcher I can do probably 20X as much mower before dumping. Huge time saver. Have you considered mulching the leaves before bagging them? That's my plan for when my leaves fall. I figure the collection will be much more efficient if they are pre-mulched.

[@brianbowles1180]

Hey Brothgar I'd make it to where you can mount or take out that box but I wouldn't allow it to slide off the back spreads the leaves to far if it's mounted then you could just back up to each side and dumb another pile but cool invention think I'm going to build me one

[@englishmaninengland1451]

You call it a yard, us Brits call it a garden dude. Awesome video. Awesome, awesome awesome, awesome, awesome awesome.

[@johnmilner7603]

To get more leaves in the box you should cut the leaves up first without the box so they are in smaller pieces then go around and get the leaves.

[@David-yh5po]

Love it keeping it simple. Thanks for sharing this video with us.

[@hazzardlobotomy7904]

Where do you dispose of the leaves once you dump them all over your front lawn? It seems you could create a compost pile for all of this.

[@hazzardlobotomy7904]

+Brothgar No need for the service if people would stop throwing leaves away

[@M_J_Glide_22]

film the city picking up the leaves .....that would be something to see

[@daviddavis5689]

What is the idea in mulching your garage floor? When winds come and in wrong direction your neighbors hate you dumping them like that.

[@abrotherinchrist]

All that great compost... I'm building one similar to this just so I can compost my yard trimmings and leaves for my garden. Cub Cadet also has a nice system, but it's $400 and only fits a few mower types. I considered getting it and using it with a chute that fits my mower but it would be about $550 total. We only spent $800 on the mower, so that's not really worth it.

[@maketaco6683]

so who picks up the leaves from the curb? Do the leaves simply blow back onto the lawn?

[@rontrombley2596]

Excellent job. I have been working on making one with my lawn trailer. The fact that you don't need a extra motor and assorted connections is a money saver. How did you rig up the disconnect for the hose when you unload? The video left it out as the focus was on the unloading procedure. I couldn't tell from the earlier part of the video how it is linked to the plastic canopy so you can unhook it from the trailer when unloading.. Great detail otherwise. Simple, compact and easy to build without spending hundreds on materials and you still get to use the lawn wagon for hauling.

[@Porkey]

Neat! :) Great idea! and it works well. The lawnmower companies should try this

[@Gail-w2y]

Does it work good while cutting grass?

[@billhendrickson5506]

Question. Where did you find that large tubing/piping I have been looking to build a similar trailer unit. But I am missing some parts. I like where you kept it simple yet it does the job.

[@salvadorosorio6877]

Love this idea.

[@THOMASTHESAILOR]

do you have Mulching Blades on the mower,? I have the same Craftsman tractor, the mulching Blades work great. It reduces the leaves and clippings quite a bit.

[@guyh.4553]

ThomasTheSailor Chubby, I was wondering the same thing. Somebody mentioned "Gator Blades" and I assume that those are mulchers.

[@raymondj8768]

get some gater blades there mulching blades like you never seen and they stay sharp a long long time trust me youll love them !

[@dirtbleepdigger9911]

You could make a good compost pile with this. Good deal....!

[@rontrombley2596]

How about a update on your leaf disposal system? Been a few years. Any improvements to the original design?

[@rosesarered3904]

@@brothgar Can you do more videos of leaves cleanups? Pls.

[@newwavepressure6478]

Nice job bro I made a mulch kit and thought I was the man LOL

[@theeasternfront6436]

Im suprised the deck has enough air flow/force to push the leaves and cuttings up that tube. Ive been thinking of building something like that but always figured Id need something to help the stuff get up the tube.

[@larrylewis1375]

Fan blades

[@frozenfirestix]

I am just curious why some people still bag leaves, I mean why not just make a mulch cover and mulch them up and keep all those nutrients in the ground for spring? Free fertilizer and much much easier! Good job with the setup tho

[@wildbill23c]

If you have a lot of leaves on your lawn mulching them won't work. A few leaves is fine, but you'll quickly plug up a mulching mower if you try to mulch too many leaves. I had to mow a few times a week, almost daily last year to keep up with the leaves and be able to mulch them, skip a day or more and you'll quickly find the mulching just isn't working. I think I had to rake leaves a couple times last year, but I did mulch most of them as I finally found a mulch plug for my lawn tractor, so that made cleaning up the leaves pretty easy.

[@billcenne7262]

good idea. then when the mulched up leaves get as high as the house windows, you can hire a payloader to remove them all!

[@nathanzupancic6528]

frozenfirestix if you leave to many over winter when spring comes they will be very wet and not die very fast then it kills the grass when spring comes around

[@billcenne7262]

you can't do that in city neighborhoods. everybody on your entire block has raked and bagged their leaves, you can't leave yours to blow onto their lawns. the mulch blows around also.

[@jman490101]

Just mulch your grass in the summer and your good.

[@jefferyk.spellerberg176]

You are my hero.

[@SS-vb7pp]

Good job guys !!!! I wish i had a dad to help me..... My dad left when i was 3 years old.

[@thomasritter3159]

:(

[@PabloCubarle]

WOW!!! I love this!!! I'm making one just like this :) Thanks!!!

[@TheJbertolino]

brilliant. i love this idea. i've a similar situation and this concept is exactly the fix.

[@brianshanahan3878]

Any followup or improvements?

[@IowaKim]

So, if you turned on the mower while dumping, would it help blow the leaves out?

[@stevehennings3869]

Well Done! With Dad- Awesome!

[@TBONENYC]

Nice build! But what do you do with the giant pile of leaves that you dump in the front lol

[@benr5742]

Some municipalities have trucks that come and vacume up leaves on the road.

[@cherrywrecker]

City takes them and uses them to replace the dirt that they dig up in their Tree Nursery.

[@jamessommer6077]

Fine job now try a bigger box that will literally go over the edge a few inches as it will have more stability and plus you'll have more leaves.

[@mapuiteauzumaki5398]

Wow this gameplay looks real.

[@022rty]

So you just dump a pile of leaves at the curb and the dpw comes pick it up?...

[@lesterchristensen4287]

Wow you just saved me 600.00 dollars. That's what need to build this coming spring.

[@1awallace1]

I paid less than $300 for a 50 inch sweeper, that includes shipping. Walmart online Ohio Steel brand

[@meanjoegreen4925]

if you still have / use this on side put 2 hooks and carry a rake to unload all leaves , other than that looks good thanks 4 sharing

[@1ofhis518]

Will it pick up pine needles?

[@allenletizia321]

Were did buy the plastic ?

[@chrisgagnon457]

How do you bag them afterwards?

[@Daeon108]

Never seen this setup before in ONI. How much ore/power does that take?

[@frankletizia7835]

Were u buy the plastic?

[@ceedub7374]

Where did you get the heavy duty black plastic attachment that connects to the mower deck discharge opening?

[@ceedub7374]

Thanks ... I actually found one on EBAY

[@doseven]

I think a heavy duty shower curtain would work. Or vinyl window material from a uposltry shop.

[@willchoate7072]

Will it work for grass?

[@7viewerlogic670]

Good job.

[@sonnyblazer5504]

New LIKE and SUBSCRIBE!!! Thanks for sharing! I found the BEST PART was doing it with YOUR "DAD"!!!

[@paulschoenfelder7500]

does it work for grass clippings also

[@tomquimby4869]

Cool design. Exactly what I had in mind.

[@peterk73]

Brothgar what is the make, model, and/or Part Number of that black, hard plastic leaf chute that attaches to your deck? I have a 42" Craftsman almost exactly the same. I have been having a heck of a time trying to find on line. Please and thank you.

[@bowtiethirteentwenty8627]

It is usually part of the bagger system. It will have the deck part ,and another tube that goes into the top of the bagger. Maybe you could find a used one?

[@mikemallery913]

Nice work !

[@leacole5583]

product list? you dont provide much information on what we we need to build this thing :/

[@emergencygamer2246]

Hmm that voice sounds oddly familiar, checks who uploaded it. Oh damn its brothgar, well thanks youtube

[@mikeyoung5211]

Dryer vent line, it expands

[@butterscreen6694]

Idk how I got here brothgar, but I enjoyed the vid!

[@augustreil]

Nice job on the cheap !

[@jaceeckert8531]

what kind of plastic sock is this? thinking about making one myself, but im wondering what it is and where i can get one?

[@guyh.4553]

That's Visqueen plastic. Get it at nearly all Ace Hardware/True Value type stores. Get the heavier plastic; 6 - 8 mil.

[@joshdigh8307]

Great job

[@AnCoSt1]

That looks awesome!

[@johnnypare7426]

So cool great job

[@allanbow726]

GOOD JOB!!

[@bobbg9041]

Go look at dr unit it connects solid to the tractor with swivel wheels. Now i dont know about you but i built my dump trailer to hold 70 cubic yards but put on wheels like yours and its almost impossible to back it up in a stright line. Well the dr leafe collection system works like the frt end of a zero turn mower so if your trailers on swivel casters and soild to the tractor a 2 year old could back it up its park of the tractor. I said i built my from scratch using old bed frames and decking wood Looks like the old wooden dump trucks big M on the slide door it also dumps. Now for a hose im thinking 6" none perfrated drain tube thats flexable and just for fun instead of a gas blower motor one that runs off 120 volts for sawdust collection and a small power inverter i mean why waste gas with 2 small motors. Plus deal with making a blower. Ill take an old sheet to use as the air filter and cleat it on when im using the lawn tractor to pick up leaves or even grass clipping for that fact. 70 cubic yards that been cut up by the blades it would take forever to fill it, and i can still use it for other fall clean up like old plant materials i can chew up with the mower. Up and down the street side of the sidewalks. See i dont have a tree in my front yard just everbodys from up the streets friken leaves no one rakes them up.

[@Meenadevidasi]

Awesome. thanks so much

[@bigtruck147]

Nice build! How well does it work just for grass clippings?

[@rontrombley2596]

bigtruck147

[@gearjammer4779]

My favorite part of the video was at the end when he said “peace”. 😂

[@evchamo2]

mine was the beginning with the rhyme

[@frankletizia7835]

What size is ur pipe again?

[@thomasritter3159]

And during the night the wind comes up and blows that back into your front yard. Just kidding. Neat set up.

[@dhammon64]

Where you at? I'll come get your leaves before the town does so I can compost them...

[@rickdevault2535]

Great idea thanks.

[@DaffyOP]

i really should build something like this, thx for the idea.

[@dumper87]

Now I know what to do with that old mower trailer I brought home from the dump.

[@2tommyrad]

Just use a leaf-blower and send-em flying into the street, where the cars will eventually grind them into the pavement. XD

[@igoski1582]

No disrespect to the project on this video, but I have made a somewhat similar leaf collector trailer, but I have devised a much better inlet design for the leaf collection tube entering the trailer box. I guess I need to make my own video.