reviewer
skmsw
Boston, MA

It Works

4 star rating


DEC
1
2008
I bought this hoping it would be an effective alternative to the three-bag grass-catcher. I was attracted to the larger capacity, and the advertised ability to pick up pine needles, acorns, and wet leaves -- things that mostly get left behind when mowing and using the grass-catcher. I'm pleased to say that it really works. And it really does pick up everything in its path, without damaging the lawn. It takes some practice to get the sweeping height and towing speed right. But once you do, it works well and is easy to use. It is not easy to dump while remaining on the tractor. It is not possible to adjust the sweeping height without getting off of the tractor. And there is no way (that I've figured out) to disengage -- if the tractor is moving then the sweeper is sweeping. But I did not find any of these things to be more than very minor inconveniences. I find that it works best to not just tow the sweeper -- but to mulch in front of it. If there are a lot of leaves, just sweeping them leads to the bin filling very, very quickly, and the sweeper can jam pretty easily. If you mulch while sweeping, it sweeps up pretty well, and holds a LOT. The sweeper does leave some mulched particulate behind -- I do not mind this, and suspect that if I lowered the sweeper setting it would clean it up more thoroughly. When mulching the leaves and grass while sweeping, the extra capacity really was noticeable -- many passes and a very full, heavy payload before needing to empty. I was able to mulch and sweep the full autumn's worth of leaves off of my ~2 acre yard all by myself in just a few hours. With just a little help I bet I could have done it in 2 hours flat -- all the leaves of the season on a large, partly-wooded lot. It is very easy to use, easy to tow around fairly precisely, and easy to dump -- but NOT easy to maneuver the dumping right where you want. I was hoping to dump my sweepings right into my compost pile, but the sweeper simply is not maneuverable enough to get it all in a pile, or to back out of a confined space. I suggest you have a 10x12 tarp handy -- drive near your destination in a spot still easy to turn around -- then dump your payload onto the tarp and drag the tarp to your final destination. This is where just a little help would have made a diff -- if my kids hauled and dumped the tarp so I could empty the sweeperf and then get back to it, things would have moved quicker. Mine was missing a few pieces of hardware -- all easily and inexpensively obtained at my neighborhood hardware store, but would have been a pain if I were assembling after hours -- do yourself a favor and check (during business hours) that all parts are present before starting to assemble. Overall I was pleasantly surprised by how effective the 42" lawnsweeper is.



I_thumb_up Craftsman 42 in. High Speed Sweeper is recommended by skmsw

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I_comment_shdw24 Comments about skmsw’s Review

 


5 star rating
"Saves the shoulders"
More Craftsman 42 in. High Speed Sweeper reviews
Buy it on Sears.com for $299.99
5 star rating
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