Re: (ET) Thoughts on fixing a lawn sweeper

[Steve Shore <steve housewiz com>]

If you are physically able, a good rake can't be beat to rustle up those 
fall leaves.  And if you really go for it, it's great exercise.  Ditto for 
snow and a shovel.  Now plowing/'tilling a garden is another story.

Sent from my iPad

> On Nov 18, 2013, at 10:34 PM, CZ Unit <cz alembic crystel com> wrote:
> 
> Finally got the parts for my Elec-trak powered sweeper on Friday, and 
> spent a good chunk of Saturday putting them in.
> 
> I'm glad I ordered new bolts for the wheel spindles, because they are an 
> odd size and thread. Well worth the money.
> 
> I'm glad I bought a new spindle as well; one of them was badly rusted, 
> so I just replaced it.
> 
> The new bearings are nice; the rod now spins without vibrating much, and 
> the brushes are a lot more smooth. Bought some new brush clips as well; 
> it's nice to get all of them on there.
> 
> Overall though I can see why the bearings failed: They are under a lot 
> of stress, it's a lot of mass to spin, and they are not sealed bearings 
> so they will get leaves, dirt, and crud in there eventually.
> 
> It's a lot quieter (got a new master link for the chain) especially when 
> you put oil in the oil port for the pulley/gear shift. Makes some noise, 
> but not nearly as bad. And yet.
> 
> It stinks at picking up leaves. The big problem is if you hit a lot of 
> leaves; if you have the metal guard on the motor/chain part, then leaves 
> and debris get picked up by the spinning chain and become deposited in 
> the gear teeth on the top pulley. They stretch the chain till it falls 
> off, then you have to take the whole thing apart. Running it without the 
> guard keeps this from happening a lot, but man that is a lot of stuff 
> that could catch fingers and such.
> 
> I think it's designed for grass catchings; I have used it on that and it 
> works well. But for serious leaf work I'll stick with my old Craftsman 
> gas tractor+dual bagger option with 55 gallon drum liner bags. I can 
> fill two of them in a few minutes with chewed up leaves, then I dump 
> them in the back pile and keep going...
> 
> Just thought I would report in. Worth it, but not for leaf work.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Elec-trak mailing list
> Elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu
> https://cosmos.phy.tufts.edu/mailman/listinfo/elec-trak