Leaf vacuum time

[thebuildist]

It's that time of year to get out the leaf vacuum trailer and get it up and going.

The superglue tire repairs I did last year did not hold up. One of the tires literally split 12 inches along the sidewall. Luckily I had a saved Facebook search, and this spring I bought a set of wheels with tires that fit this for $50. Not brand new, but decades newer. So I got those put on.

But the trailer was harder to jack up than I expected because SOME MORON put the thing away for the season WITH A FULL LOAD OF LEAVES in it.
Seriously??? Who even DOES that? If it were my neighbor or a friend I'd be furious.

But it appears to have been me. I'm dumbfounded.

So those leaves had turned into moldy soil, which I had to work very hard to dig out.
And the weight of which stripped a gear on the winch that control the tilt-back of the trailer box.
So I got the leaves dug out, got a new hand crank winch installed, and the newer tires installed.

Now we just change the oil in the engine and --- wait a minute! WHERE IS THE FUEL CAP??????????


I don't know. I do know that the fuel tank and fuel pump and carb bowl sat full of water for the last 9 months or so.

So those all got removed and cleaned and reassembled. So help me, if I find the idiot that... made me vandalize my own equipment? That doesn't sound right. Nevermind.

THEN got the oil changed, and lastly got the ratcheting pull rope working again. I lost one of its 5 ball bearings when it fell in the dirt somewhere. But it still works bettter than before.

So, a mere 5 or 6 hours later, the engine runs fine, the trailer dumps fine, and it's ready to go.

Now I just have to change the engine and hydro oil in my tractor and I'll be all set.

[Spike188]

@thebuildist I am very sure that Johny Blum was at your house shortly after he left our place.

I had repaired a 41" flat-screen last year. The sreen cracked on it recently so it was salvaged for parts. Inside was a favorite screwdriver that had been missing since the last repair.

Johnny was a neighbor of ours 50 years ago. He was blamed for everything. He passed 35 years ago but still comes back to mess with use. It seems like he is showing up more often. Dang, I hate it when that happens.

[Toolslinger]

Ugh... That's no fun. I did manage to remember to get the franken vac out from behind the Diamond T before I put it back in the barn for the season. While the T has always started well, I didn't want to roll the dice on that in November...

That said, I haven't dealt with the yearly work on the old EZ Rake blower. It's a Kohler that has run amazingly well considering the abuse and neglect it has seen. That said, it will most likely need points cleaning, and possibly carb work if I didn't burn off the remaining fuel... I guess I should check that out soon considering it's the 26th now...

[thebuildist]

@thebuildist I am very sure that Johny Blum was at your house shortly after he left our place.

I had repaired a 41" flat-screen last year. The sreen cracked on it recently so it was salvaged for parts. Inside was a favorite screwdriver that had been missing since the last repair.

Johnny was a neighbor of ours 50 years ago. He was blamed for everything. He passed 35 years ago but still comes back to mess with use. It seems like he is showing up more often. Dang, I hate it when that happens.

Johnny Blum, huh? Sounds pretty likely to me. The skunk.

The thing is, it seems like he's been dropping by more and more often lately.

I'll keep an eye out for him.

[JSinMO]

@thebuildist I am very sure that Johny Blum was at your house shortly after he left our place.

I had repaired a 41" flat-screen last year. The sreen cracked on it recently so it was salvaged for parts. Inside was a favorite screwdriver that had been missing since the last repair.

Johnny was a neighbor of ours 50 years ago. He was blamed for everything. He passed 35 years ago but still comes back to mess with use. It seems like he is showing up more often. Dang, I hate it when that happens.

Johnny Blum, huh? Sounds pretty likely to me. The skunk.

The thing is, it seems like he's been dropping by more and more often lately.

I'll keep an eye out for him.

I’ll be darned if that guy hasn’t been through here too! He must have a circuit he travels between our places!
Glad you got everything working again Bob. And I sure know the feeling, self inflicted wounds hurt the most!

[thebuildist]

For anyone curious about the dumping experience with this trailer. This is my 3rd leaf collecting device, and the first two (consumer products) were a MUCH bigger hassle to unload than you might assume. You end up picking up and physically scooping out the gritty, dusty leaf/debris mixture, which really sticks to you, and is very uncomfortable.

So one of my goals with this trailer was easier unloading, and it's pretty good. You can easily prop the rear door open, and then when you unlatch the tilt lock and let the winch out, the bed dumps itself. And it can dump WAY over.

Having said that, the leaves do tend to bind. I suppose it could be improved by having no door frame restriction, and maybe even having the trailer be wedge shaped, bigger at the rear than at the front. As it is, you do have to bang and shake the dump bed to get the stubborn leaves to let go.

But once you get the stubborn leaves to dump, it's simple to winch the dump bed back up, then close the door and stow the prop rod.

You don't have to physically strain too badly, and you don't have to get filthy.

All in all I call it a win.

https://youtu.be/QIgBzWJ9uWo

[propane1]

Great video. Maybe add a hydraulic vibrator to the trailer. Just a thought. Nice to be able to move the tractor with out having to get on it.

Noel

[Spike188]

A cheap but effective vibration device is a windshield wiper motor with a large counter weight. An added feature is variable speed to control amount of vibration.

Hard mount it to the box and supply 12 volt.

[Toolslinger]

If I recall, the modern Trac-Vac units are wedge shapped to aid in dumping. My unit isn't, and it's that PITA process of having to pull out the packed leaves. The trailer is big enough that dumping it isn't really helpful sinve the angle is very shallow, and then it's just harder to get at the leaves to pull out.

This looks very nice in comparison.

After I hit a lotto, I have great plans for something better... Not so much for the expense, but man, I need the time to build things...

Tim - 2 loads in to leaf season so far... Managed to just clear the parking pad...

[JSinMO]

Looks like it works pretty well. I think you’re right, getting rid of the door frame lip would help. I wondering if putting some sort of slick material around the inside of the trailer would let them slide out easier. Maybe something like lexan or some such? Don’t know if it would help, just thinking out loud.