And once again, I’ve been sweeping but it’s not going to be the pain it has been. (Well, that’s relative, I guess. I bagged 30+ loads of leaves, roughly 600 cubic feet of leaves, over the weekend.) I’ve ordered a leaf vacuum to attach to my mower. It consists of a small motor (6 hp) on a cart that runs a vacuum and attaches to the mower deck.

And I’ve learned several things in researching these gadgets. First, deciding which one to get is a decision you need to make before you buy the mower itself. You see, since it’s got its own motor, it is heavy. Your mower (somewhere in the manual, will have a tow rating. These gadgets basically weigh in the neighborhood of 200 (or more ) pounds and your mower has to be rated to tow that much. Most mowers aren’t designed to tow this much. Mine isn’t. And I’m not going out to buy another new mower just for this gadget. Note that this is the weight of the vacuum when it’s empty, not full.

Mind you, most of the vacuum manufacturers won’t tell you this. They normally say things like “if your mower has a 12 HP motor” or “check with your mower manufacturer” or “we’ve not had any issues reported by people with that mower.” It’s not in their best interest to tell you that your mower won’t pull their gadget, now is it?

I looked at four different leaf vacuums. The DR Power Equipment people make one that’s got a huge hopper to collect the leaves (and they make one with a built-in chipper as well. It has a shipping weight of 350 pounds. They also seem to be the most expensive. Northern Tool sells one too (and the TSC store carries the same thing). Then there’s the Cyclone Rake people. (That’s the one I bought). They have several models, most of which are heavier than my mower is rated for even when empty.

Then there is the Trac-Vac company. Unlike every other one of the vacuum manufacturers, this guy (I think I actually talked to the owner but I’m not sure) was completely and totally honest with me. He told me what my mower could handle and he actually told me he wouldn’t sell me the model I was interested in because it wasn’t right for my mower. I learned a lot from him. However, I didn’t take his advice - I’m banking on the tow rating for my mower being a conservative one - and I want more than a 30 bushel capacity. If I end up having to replace the transmission on my mower, I’ll see if it can be upgraded then.