Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I use the lawnmower to chop up the leaves to collect in the bag. I then dump the bagged leaves into the composter, the tree beds, raised beds, and flower beds. If I time the clean up for the day before a rain storm, the water will mat down the leaves into the beds and starts the decomposition process. I do this every fall and by spring time, there'd be a nice layer of mulched leaves for new plantings.
Don't do this if you have walnut trees, though.
Best trees to make mulched leaves from is maple. Their leaves tend to dry out fast which allows the mower to chop them up into finer pieces. Sycamore too, albeit larger. Oak leaves tends to still be slightly green so they keep their shape even through the mower.
You might also try some of the expensive leaded fuel that they sell in the hardware stores. There is also the possibility that it is getting vapor locked from the ethanol - but I do not think so. The weather is not that hot outside right now.
Anyway; what I would like you to do is, if it starts to die, then immediately crack open the gas cap and see if it again runs. Usually, when the gas cap is a problem, the engines die slowly so you might catch it before it finally stops. That way we will both know (if you tell me) what the problem is.
will do. hopefully it will be dry out there for the weekend, the property is flooded right now from rain yesterday carrying into today.
I use the lawnmower to chop up the leaves to collect in the bag. I then dump the bagged leaves into the composter, the tree beds, raised beds, and flower beds. If I time the clean up for the day before a rain storm, the water will mat down the leaves into the beds and starts the decomposition process. I do this every fall and by spring time, there'd be a nice layer of mulched leaves for new plantings.
Don't do this if you have walnut trees, though.
Best trees to make mulched leaves from is maple. Their leaves tend to dry out fast which allows the mower to chop them up into finer pieces. Sycamore too, albeit larger. Oak leaves tends to still be slightly green so they keep their shape even through the mower.
If you take your mower and always circle so the discharge goes into the center and you constantly re-mulch the same leaves (clockwise mowing); then you end up with considerably less leaves to move. Of course sometimes the leaves are so thick and heavy that your mower might not be able to do this re-mowing. Even without a mulching blade your mower does a great job mulching.
I also use my mower as a leaf blower. By constantly mowing around my house in a counter clockwise direction (most discharge chutes are on the right side of our mowers) and starting close to the house and working outward; you can pretty well clean up your lawn. Of course that only works if you have lawn on all sides o your house. However; you can still use the mower as a leaf blower even if you only have lawn on one side of the house. Then you simply have to go forward as far as you can go and then back up and repeat the process working away from your house. Sometimes I will chase my leaves to a particular bush or shrub that I want to mulch. It takes a little practice since the discharge chutes throw the leaves out at a 45% angle; but it does work.
I also have leaf bagging attachments. sometimes it is just so much easier to forget bagging and simply grind the leaves up. Or to grind them up first and then bag - which means far fewer bags of leaves.
so who is mulching those leaves? i bought a lawn tractor and a lawn sweeper that i tow behind collecting lives. i am doing both mulching and collecting. its pretty awesome.
i am having a bit of an issue with my leaf blower. i can start it and run at idle but when i open up the choke, it stops working. id like to be able to use it this coming weekend to finish the job but im not sure how i can fix it. id rather fix it vs taking it to a shop which may not have it ready for this coming weekend.
Presumably you mean a 2-cylcle hand-held blower and not one of the big tow-behind kind. Mine did that. The problem was that the spark arrestor screen needed cleaning. They get choked with carbon after a time.
Get deck as far up as it goes, do few runs over same area. It leaves darker brown stain on the lawn that is GONE in 2 weeks. I see no need to bag etc. Excellent natural food for lawn.
I'm mulching leaves now. I have a 25-30 foot tree out front that is still full even though we had snow yesterday. It looks like I'll be mulching into the end of the month.
Location: Was Midvalley Oregon; Now Eastside Seattle area
13,070 posts, read 7,502,913 times
Reputation: 9796
^My blower (chainsaw) had a clogged spark arrestor screen. Pretty easy to get too, remove and then easy carbon from screen by propane torch. See youtube for procedure.
You might also try some of the expensive leaded fuel that they sell in the hardware stores. There is also the possibility that it is getting vapor locked from the ethanol - but I do not think so. The weather is not that hot outside right now.
Anyway; what I would like you to do is, if it starts to die, then immediately crack open the gas cap and see if it again runs. Usually, when the gas cap is a problem, the engines die slowly so you might catch it before it finally stops. That way we will both know (if you tell me) what the problem is.
so i start using my leaf blower this weekend and after 10 minutes or so it shut down. i tried to take it off and get off the gas cap before it fully turned off but wasnt able to in time; it was off within a couple of seconds. this morning, i dropped it off and a place that services yard equipment, so we will see what they do.
i ended up borrowing my neighbors leaf blower. guy has a 20+ year old echo leaf blower and i asked him what he does when he has issues and he said he hasnt had any yet. he inherited it from his dad so im not sure how long he has had it but he has been living at this house about 7 years. so here i am problems after 1 year and his 20+ year old one is working perfectly fine. it even has a longer tip with a little curve at the end which i think was better than my straight little round tip.
so i start using my leaf blower this weekend and after 10 minutes or so it shut down. i tried to take it off and get off the gas cap before it fully turned off but wasnt able to in time; it was off within a couple of seconds. this morning, i dropped it off and a place that services yard equipment, so we will see what they do.
i ended up borrowing my neighbors leaf blower. guy has a 20+ year old echo leaf blower and i asked him what he does when he has issues and he said he hasnt had any yet. he inherited it from his dad so im not sure how long he has had it but he has been living at this house about 7 years. so here i am problems after 1 year and his 20+ year old one is working perfectly fine. it even has a longer tip with a little curve at the end which i think was better than my straight little round tip.
I have three leaf blowers. One Poulan hand held gas, one electric, and one back pack gas (I think it's an Echo). I don't use the back pack that often. The reason is that I try to use my mowers to mulch or bag the leaves and I only have the blower on long enough to move the leaves out from close to my house. So it is just easier to grab the handheld gas one for these small jobs. The backpack I haven't used in maybe two years. I should start it up just to make sure it works.
The electric leaf blower is handy for many jobs. It does not produce fumes. So I can blow out my truck (both back and passenger compartment) instead of vacuuming it out. I can blow out my garage without getting fumes in the house. I like it to blow myself off when I get very dusty outside or get sawdust all over me. I also use it to blow out anything that is dusty and that I can carry outside to where I can use the blower - like my PCs (it really beats a can of compressed air and the dust goes flying). You can get a plugin electric very cheap. I keep it plugged to an extension cord by my garage door and will even blow off the lawn tractors and mowers before I park them.
I have three leaf blowers. One Poulan hand held gas, one electric, and one back pack gas (I think it's an Echo). I don't use the back pack that often. The reason is that I try to use my mowers to mulch or bag the leaves and I only have the blower on long enough to move the leaves out from close to my house. So it is just easier to grab the handheld gas one for these small jobs. The backpack I haven't used in maybe two years. I should start it up just to make sure it works.
The electric leaf blower is handy for many jobs. It does not produce fumes. So I can blow out my truck (both back and passenger compartment) instead of vacuuming it out. I can blow out my garage without getting fumes in the house. I like it to blow myself off when I get very dusty outside or get sawdust all over me. I also use it to blow out anything that is dusty and that I can carry outside to where I can use the blower - like my PCs (it really beats a can of compressed air and the dust goes flying). You can get a plugin electric very cheap. I keep it plugged to an extension cord by my garage door and will even blow off the lawn tractors and mowers before I park them.
im a fan of electric if i can get away with it. i am very happy with my worx chainsaw. i dont really mind the extension cord. i also have a small electric leaf blower that we bought for blowing leaves out of the garage.
guy at the repair place said that it will take at least a week because he is so busy servicing snow blowers. i guess lots of people preparing for the winter now. i just got a snowblower, im not entirely sure how i would get it to the place for service. there is a guy around here that comes to your house. costs a bit more but probably what ill do.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
