Cyclone Rake

Hi everyone,
I have been looking at cyclone rakes for the past year. I am getting closer to buying one in the next year or two. They are a pretty good chunk of change, so I guess my question is does anyone on here have one, what model, and do you like it Pros/Cons. Seems like it will work really well for leaves and grass.
Thanks in advance, Eric

I do not have a cyclone rake, but I have an Ingersoll tractor with the grass collector with a hydrolic pto vacuum. Works well if the leaves are dry. If the leaves are heavy,wet the hose will clog up. The style I have does not have the trailer to pull, I could convert to that type. Look on ebay, track vac's have been around for a long time. I used the track vac's in the past for a landscaper, they work well but are bigger to store, the cyclone would be compact to store. When you need a new lawn tractor, check out the Ingersoll, their is a ton of accesories for them (vacuum,log splitter, chipper, roto tiller,rear field mower,snow blower,plow, and anything you can pull with a 3 point hitch) I do have a log splitter and it works well.

Thanks AA130fireman,

I have used bagger systems before, not impressed with leaves if they are damp or heavy. On the flip side I have use a friends Ferris with the triple bagger system, that thing had a 1100cfm blower(I think) and that you could bag at full speed with wet leaves, i was very impressed, but that was a $12,000 unit, a little much to just mow and bag leaves.

My uncle has a trac vac and that is slow as well it has a small suction hose that is long, since it hitches up like a regular wagon it needs the long hose to pivot. The one thing I like about the cyclone rake is that I could use it on any tractor in the future. I am just wondering if they live up the the hype.

Thanks again, Eric

I've had one for three years now. Several friends have older units, the original smaller bag with 5 hp blower, in use for many years. Mine is the mid size with the 6.5 hp blower. I have mostly hills to navigate so I got the dual wheels and upgraded to the urethane hoses. I pull it with a 40 year old MF-10 (10hp) and it does well hooked to such an old deck. I've use an older echo backpack unit since the mid 80s. Shoulders are shot so it was something like this or hire someone. I blow everything in tight areas out into the open then vac it up. One guy I know raves about the extra hose for vacuuming the flower beds and tight places. If you decide to go with one, get the bigger (yellow) hose. I have some extra pieces for it that I don't need.

I've got a Grasshopper brand zero turn mower with the vacuum attachment. Works well, especially on dry leaves. Works less well on wet leaves but still gets most up. What's unique about the Grasshopper is the blower assembly is mounted on the mower deck. Power to the blower impeller comes from an extended spindle on one of the three blades. The "sucking path" is very short unlike other designs. Leaves and grass are blown into a metal box on the back of the mower. What's also really nice it can be emptied without the operator getting out of the seat. Just reach back and operate the dump handle.

The bad news is it's all expensive, especially for the diesel model I have. It's all built tank-like. Heavy power coated metal. The good is it will outlast me, the bad is it's heavy and will leave ruts in lawns under certain weather conditions. I'd buy another one, but I'm certain I will not need too. It's just to well made for me to ever wear it out.

I do like the grasshopper, someday $$$. This is my workhorse, bought it with 200 hrs ,now around 500hrs.