DGersic
Well-known member
It’s not here yet, but my least favorite season is rapidly approaching. I don’t mind most yard work, but I’m not a fan of raking.
The back yard has large old trees. A locust (drops seed pods), and a ginkgo. Here’s what it looks like the day after the ginkgo drops.

Deceptively easy looking, what falls from these two trees is pretty much impervious to leaf blowers. The locust pods are heavy enough that they don’t move much, and the hook shape tends to make them get caught on the grass, each other, and everything else. The ginkgo leaves are flat, and they stack well. A blower will move some, about 12” or so, then the pile gets too heavy and it just stops. There are also the cherry sized fruits from the ginkgo, which the blower won’t do anything with.
I can usually get the area under the trees cleared out with the blower. That takes a day. Some goes out the back (there is an alley) and some out the front in to the yard. Then a day or two of raking the rest in to lines. And a day or two of shoveling the lines in to my truck

and hauling them to the local yard waste drop site. It’s usually around 15-20 truck loads.
There has to be a better way to do this. Last year, around truck load 14, something popped, and I spent most of the winter in major pain with physical therapy. Official diagnosis was sciatica, but not the kind that’s in the back. Mine is in my left hip, and made my whole left leg hurt. I’m mostly better, but there is still a twinge deep in my hip promising pain if I annoy it.
The other change this year is that the city is eliminating the yard waste dumps due to abuse and problems. They want all “leaves” in the front yard by the street for pick up. They run big vacuum trucks along the street. 15 or so yards of “leaves” dumped in the front yard from the back yard isn’t great for the grass, but it’ll have to survive it. I am not going to put 15 yards of yard waste in those little brown paper bags, my other remaining option.
I’m looking for suggestions on cleanup. I don’t have a riding mower, the yard isn’t that big, and I don’t really have the space to store one. But, if it’s find space for a mower or end up in pain again, I’ll make space somewhere. I need something that will pick up and move stuff, that won’t get easily overloaded or jammed with the weight of this stuff.
Taking the trees down is not an option.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
The back yard has large old trees. A locust (drops seed pods), and a ginkgo. Here’s what it looks like the day after the ginkgo drops.

Deceptively easy looking, what falls from these two trees is pretty much impervious to leaf blowers. The locust pods are heavy enough that they don’t move much, and the hook shape tends to make them get caught on the grass, each other, and everything else. The ginkgo leaves are flat, and they stack well. A blower will move some, about 12” or so, then the pile gets too heavy and it just stops. There are also the cherry sized fruits from the ginkgo, which the blower won’t do anything with.
I can usually get the area under the trees cleared out with the blower. That takes a day. Some goes out the back (there is an alley) and some out the front in to the yard. Then a day or two of raking the rest in to lines. And a day or two of shoveling the lines in to my truck

and hauling them to the local yard waste drop site. It’s usually around 15-20 truck loads.
There has to be a better way to do this. Last year, around truck load 14, something popped, and I spent most of the winter in major pain with physical therapy. Official diagnosis was sciatica, but not the kind that’s in the back. Mine is in my left hip, and made my whole left leg hurt. I’m mostly better, but there is still a twinge deep in my hip promising pain if I annoy it.
The other change this year is that the city is eliminating the yard waste dumps due to abuse and problems. They want all “leaves” in the front yard by the street for pick up. They run big vacuum trucks along the street. 15 or so yards of “leaves” dumped in the front yard from the back yard isn’t great for the grass, but it’ll have to survive it. I am not going to put 15 yards of yard waste in those little brown paper bags, my other remaining option.
I’m looking for suggestions on cleanup. I don’t have a riding mower, the yard isn’t that big, and I don’t really have the space to store one. But, if it’s find space for a mower or end up in pain again, I’ll make space somewhere. I need something that will pick up and move stuff, that won’t get easily overloaded or jammed with the weight of this stuff.
Taking the trees down is not an option.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Mine's 25 years old...