Comment posted 2009 Craftsman 6 Bushel 2 – Bin Soft Bagger Update! by Alan Bell.

I’m wondering whether you could comment on baggers versus sweepers. I’ve never used a sweeper unit, but I’m buying a new tractor and came across it on the Sears website. It looks like it holds more than the baggers and costs less. I mostly used the bagger in the fall to pick up leaves rather than regularly using it for grass clippings.

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4 Comments to “I’m wondering whether you could comment on baggers …”

  1. Alan Bell says:

    I’m wondering whether you could comment on baggers versus sweepers. I’ve never used a sweeper unit, but I’m buying a new tractor and came across it on the Sears website. It looks like it holds more than the baggers and costs less. I mostly used the bagger in the fall to pick up leaves rather than regularly using it for grass clippings.

    • Paul says:

      @ Alan Bell,

      I personally don’t like baggers. They don’t hold enough, are too heavy when full, and if you have a lot of landscaping (bushes and trees) they easily get hung up in them. They also only really work well when the grass is dry and really won’t blow lawn clippings into the bags when it is wet out. (dew, rain, or wet leaves)

      A high speed sweeper like the High Speed Sweeper and the Professional Sweeper works great.

      The High Speed Sweeper has been around for many years and is a strong, reliable unit. My neighbor has one that is easily 15 years old and works just like new. You can pull it behind your tractor or ATV.

      The Professional Sweeper is new for 2009. You can slide the hitch to the right or left and actually pick up the discharge from your mower as you mow. It is built as heavy as the High Speed Sweeper.

      Both units are fast and you can sweep as fast as 10 mph with them. It takes no time to sweep a lawn. The hoppers for them are huge and hold a lot more than a two bin bagger. The only downside to the sweepers is they are fairly large and you need a place to keep them out of the weather. If you don’t keep them inside when you are not using them the hopper will rot after a few years.

      • Eric says:

        Still preach the same? I too am looking at the bagger vs. the sweeper. I have a little over an acre on a newer piece of property. That being said, there aren’t alot trees around so it is pretty open, but there are a couple of hills since I have a walk out basement (plus grading will always create some hills). I guess the problem I have is that I can just pull into the woods and dump my grass clippings/leaves. Is there an easier way then just pulling in the driveway to dump only to then pick up and put in a lawn bag? I’m on the fence between the two, even though I try to cut often enough with the mulching kit & gator blades. By the way I have the 46″ YT model with the twin cylinger engine. I believe it is 26 hp? Any suggestions are welcome.

        • Paul says:

          @Eric, Sorry I was out of town for the last two days.

          The bagger tends to give the tractor a higher center of gravity so if you don’t like mowing your hills….you will like it even less with the bagger full.

          In my opinion the sweeper does work best in open areas. And you have to go over the lawn after you mow to pick up clippings. The bagger let’s you do it in one pass.
          With a sweeper to put the clippings into a truck you will have to dump the clippings onto a tarp or the drive and then shovel them into the truck. An extra step in my opinion.

          I used 30 gallon rubber maids and/or garbage cans to dump the grass in from baggers into the pickup trucks. My guys could put lids on them to keep the grass clippings from blowing all over and they were reuseable. It saved me money because I didn’t have to buy bags.