RE: (ET) Vacuum or Sweeper?

["Trice, Phillip Coling" <pctrice mgmt purdue edu>]

Hump,
        I can pitch in my 2 cents worth. I did build a vacuum, using
Dennis' prize as inspiration. Mine is actually a poor shadow of his, and
was built with the primary goals of cheap and fast.
        I started with a utility cart from Walmart, picked up on
closeout last year. I then bought one of those push vacuums made by
Sears that was abandoned at a local mower repair shop. For $50, I got
the blower, powered by a three horse engine. 
        I built a doghouse out of OSB on the cart to hold the clippings.
*Very* rough looking. I mounted the vacuum on the front of the cart
(with the exhaust directed to the top of the 'box', and connected the
intake to the mower deck using a section of 8" flexible duct that is
made for such a purpose. Impressions:

-It works. The suction is adequate, though it can clog.

-It's OK to run the debris through the blower. Mine has an impeller made
of formed steel, and likes to chew on the occasional acorn.

-The leaves and grass are reduced in volume a tremendous amount. That's
the best part for me, along with not having to rake!

-I put this on a Sears ICE tractor, out of necessity. I will adapt this
for my electric when the tractor is done. I'll swap out the engine for a
deck motor, which should work just fine.

Hope this helps.

        -Phil Trice



-----Original Message-----
From: elec-trak-bounces cosmos phy tufts edu
[mailto:elec-trak-bounces cosmos phy tufts edu] On Behalf Of T Humphrey
Sent: Monday, November 03, 2003 3:19 PM
To: elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu
Subject: (ET) Vacuum or Sweeper?

Greetings Folks.

Well Autumn is upon us for a couple days b4 the snow season sets 
in.

Does anyone have an opinion one way or the other concerning the 
pick-up of leaves. Should I build a vacuum or buy a sweeper.

A vac would be kind of like Dennis Pestka's 
http://www.elec-trak.org/gallery/DennisPestkaVacuumCart/index.html

A sweeper would be one like can be had from any hardware or box 
store.
http://www.agri-fab.com/lawnsweep45_0326.html


If I build a vac, it would be different from Dennis'. I was 
thinking of using a blower or fan but it would be downstream of 
the filtering so no crap goes through the blades. Much like a shop 
vac. Of course no mulching gets done as with Dennis' set-up. Does 
anyone know if a blower or fan would be the best choice in such a 
set-up to develop vacuum? 

Of course a sweeper would use less power but a vac would do 
a "better job" I believe. But I have no experience with either.


TIA
Hmup 


 
                   

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