What have you done "WITH" your Wheel Horse

[squonk 48,294]

A fine day to plow leaves!

 

 

 

 

Edited November 4 by squonk

[Bar Nuthin 3,476]

Picked up some MORE leaves today. The garden is pretty well saturated, so these went to the street.

And the Fat Lady hasn't even came on stage yet. 

 

[pfrederi 21,276]

Yeah I have 3 stubborn trees that haven't dropped yet.  Then i can be done with the cyclo vac

 

[Sparky-(Admin) 26,633]

  Pushed back the leaf pile today with the C-145 auto.
  Not loving that motion control lever, doesn’t stay in position so I find I’m holding it with my right hand almost all the time. 
 

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 81,059]

8 minutes ago, Sparky said:

  Pushed back the leaf pile today with the C-145 auto.
  Not loving that motion control lever, doesn’t stay in position so I find I’m holding it with my right hand almost all the time. 

 

 

That's adjustable.

My own '75 C160 Automatic does not hold and I leave it that way on purpose. I actually like the need for constant adjustment .. it helps me pay attention while plowing snow.  

 

My Ole Man's "Ugly Bruce tractor" does hold.... BUT.... the hilly terrain dictates the need for constant adjustment anyways....

 

 

 

 

[953 nut 70,124]

Well today i got to use four of my herd.  The A-60 electric hauled my crippled old body from the house to the shop, something it does nearly every day.

The 310-8 ground up some more leaves, much like @pfrederi I am on my second round of leaf grinding and this will go on well past Thanksgiving.

The 418-C has the leaf blower mounted on it and we cleared the driveway for about the tenth time this season, Oh by the way we live in the forest.

The GT-14 with FEL moved last years leaf compost piles in preparation for leaf sweeping 2026. I will probably use a 953 to pull the sweeper , but which one?

[Handy Don 17,645]

Anticipating rain overnight and knowing that moving dry leaves is a LOT easier than moving wet ones, I used a blower to bring them closer together at the back corner and then, like @953 nut, chopped them with multiple passes with the 854 and 36” gear deck. Then the blower put the minced remains into a pile that will be composted. 

[ebinmaine 81,059]

10 hours ago, Handy Don said:

Anticipating rain overnight and knowing that moving dry leaves is a LOT easier than moving wet ones, I used a blower to bring them closer together at the back corner and then, like @953 nut, chopped them with multiple passes with the 854 and 36” gear deck. Then the blower put the minced remains into a pile that will be composted. 

 

 

Do you have a special place on your property for that pile? Do you reuse them later?

 

 

[SylvanLakeWH 32,787]

10 hours ago, Handy Don said:

Anticipating rain overnight and knowing that moving dry leaves is a LOT easier than moving wet ones, I used a blower to bring them closer together at the back corner and then, like @953 nut, chopped them with multiple passes with the 854 and 36” gear deck. Then the blower put the minced remains into a pile that will be composted. 

 

7 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

 

 

Do you have a special place on your property for that pile? Do you reuse them later?

 

 

I pile them in our planting beds and then run over them with the mower. They make fantastic mulch... mow them right where i want them...

Edited 8 hours ago by SylvanLakeWH

[ebinmaine 81,059]

6 minutes ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

 

I pile them in our planting beds and then run over them with the mower. They make fantastic mulch... mow them right where i want them...

 

 

BBT has talked about running our leaves through my chipper and laying them in the garden.

 

[702854boy 1,197]

30 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

BBT has talked about running our leaves through my chipper and laying them in the garden.

My grandpa mulches his leaves up and puts them on the garden and for us it makes the soil a nice looking dark brown color. Might be worth a try for you guys

[953 nut 70,124]

52 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

 

 

Do you have a special place on your property for that pile? Do you reuse them later?

 

 

Yes, I have an area on each side of the creek and it takes about four years to complete the process. Kitchen scraps are added to the first year leaf mulch piles all year.

The first year's composting reduces the bulk of the pile to about 25% of the original volume, The finished pile after four years is used to enhance the soil in the yard, the third year pile is turned over and moved to the place the four year had been, same process for the second and first year piles. I also turn the piles once or twice a year in the summer. I also have a pile for wood composting

I have them on both sides of the creek because it would be too much work moving that many ground up leaves out to the road, then on to another road, down the driveway and another 500 feet to the larger composting area. 

59 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

 

 

BBT has talked about running our leaves through my chipper and laying them in the garden.

 

I did that until our deer population got out of hand and having a garden just wasn't working for us. Ground leaf mulch will prevent the early weeds from getting a foothold and can be tilled into the soil to loosen and enhance the soil.        

[rjg854 13,415]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

 

 

BBT has talked about running our leaves through my chipper and laying them in the garden.

 

Are you saying "SHE" hasn't done that yet?  

[Handy Don 17,645]

3 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Do you have a special place on your property for that pile? Do you reuse them later?

Yes and yes.

Putting them into the compost pile all at once isn’t especially effective (mixing all sorts of organics is a better strategy) so I keep them piled in an out-of-the-way corner initially. 

Over time, I use some to layer into the compost and some to augment mulch in various beds and under shrubs. If I had a garden, I’d spread a one- or two-inch layer there to till in. 

I’ve used the chipper/shredder in the past, but after turning a bunch of damp leaves into a mushy mess which tended to clog the shredder screen, I've switched to using mowers. I find it easier to collect the mown shreds than to handle the un-shredded leaves. 

Edited 4 hours ago by Handy Don

[ebinmaine 81,059]

1 hour ago, rjg854 said:

Are you saying "SHE" hasn't done that yet?  

 

 

 

 

I can't even begin to describe the amount of work that this woman has done in the last 4 months plus.

 

When the dog was injured she needed 24-hour care for several weeks. That was an incredibly massive undertaking that many people could not or would not do.

 

 And then Just when that was starting to level out a little bit I severely injured my ankle...

I was restricted from any movement for two weeks. Less so, for the next two. But unable to do much at all.

 

At this point we are so far behind with normal daily living chores that we won't catch up till next year or the year after.