Craftsman 42 in. High Speed Sweeper Review

This piece of equipment performs incredibly well for the price.

We've got 3/4 of an acre of lawn and towed behind our ********** LA125 lawn tractor the lawn was completely cleared in just over an hour and a half -- not much more time than it normally takes to just mow the lawn. Before I started, I couldn't see the grass since there were so many leaves on it -- This at a FRACTION of the price of a lawn vacuum.

It picked up virtually everything: oak leaves and acorns, maple leaves and seeds, hickory leaves and hickory nuts.
Overall, the lawn looked incredibly well-groomed, though it left some pine needles behind.

Be careful about the height adjustment when operating:
If set too low, the wheels skid and dig trenches in your lawn trying to gain traction against the friction of the brushes.
If set too high, it doesn't pick up well.
It's easy to re-set the height adjustment, but keep looking over your shoulder as it sweeps.

Rough calibration marks on the adjustment bar to give an idea of the height of the brushes would be helpful.
I wound up measuring the brush clearance in my garage and made marks with a permanent marker on the bar to give me some sort of guide.

The tires have a shallow tread and tend to slip on even slightly dewy grass - a beefier tread would be better.

I read previous reviews of this product and have to clarify some things:
--This model DOES disengage the brushes when operated in reverse.
--Assembly is much easier than others may have made it - though it's still not a cinch:
I put mine together in about an hour: If the instructions don't make sense, use your sense, follow the pictures and trust the force!
--MAKE SURE ALL THE PARTS ARE IN THE PACKAGE - I was missing a few minor things and didn't bother to call the toll-free number, I just used bolts and nuts I had hanging around. But you might not, so it's worthwhile checking the parts list BEFORE you start assembly.

Last thing to keep in mind:
This is not a small piece of equipment and the collection bag doesn't collapse without dissasembling it. It's gonna take up some room in your garage - tool shed - wherever.

Nevertheless, if you have a half an acre or more to clear, you should consider this sweeper.
It's not a lawn vacuum, but it doesn't cost nearly as much.