"Must-Have" Clean Up Tools

Szajer

alive with pleasure
Joined
Feb 22, 2014
Messages
456
Location
St. Pete Beach
Mine is the pitchfork. Perfect for using in a raking motion to pile up all the debris which handles poorly manually. Then shovel it up, carry it to the truck and pitch it in.....

What's yours?

image.jpg
 
Two rakes Gorilla duct taped together. You won't be breaking my rake handle, or tearing up the tines.

I can't believe more people don't do this.
 
On a hard surface. Two rakes one in each hand turned upside down with the edges meeting to form one wide azz super sliding debris mover.
 
Good thread, Sz

Nice idea, MB. Does it get heavy over time or no big deal.?
 
BR600

That takes up too much room.

I don't think it's heavy, Cory. The added weight actually helps, IMO.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9
I can't picture in my mind what that is exactly.

Sorry, I'm not too good with abstracts.
 
It's the simple black metal tined rake sold at Ace for about 8 bucks, not expensive at all. Simply place one, flat on top the other, and connect them as you see fit. Gorilla duct tapes works very well but don't use any other brand. I'd use hose clamps.
 
This sling bag speeds up the cleanup process substantially when the chipper is a distance away. It holds a lot of rakings. Very easy to drag if you dont have a machine to forward material on site. Takes up very little space in the truck. It's fits folded behind the seat in the bucket truck. Works incredibly well if you have a mini or wheel loader. Just pickup with the grapple and you can actually just dump it right in the chipper chute. Also great for putting the excess soil in during tree planting. You shovel it right on the bag, it never touches the grass, and you only have to mess with it once. We will also put all of the tools needed for a tree in the bag at the truck, and take everything to the tree at once with the gehl when there is a long distance between truck and tree.

This picture is from forestry suppliers.

uploadfromtaptalk1393286393228.jpg
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #19
We used to use a 6x6 canvas tarp, like love nick suggested. Whenever we had a giant felled trunk to buck up, you'd slide the tarp under the log's edge, stand on it, then start cutting. Catches all the saw chips. Beats raking a ton of shavings from a lawn.
 
This sling bag speeds up the cleanup process substantially when the chipper is a distance away. It holds a lot of rakings. Very easy to drag if you dont have a machine to forward material on site. Takes up very little space in the truck. It's fits folded behind the seat in the bucket truck. Works incredibly well if you have a mini or wheel loader. Just pickup with the grapple and you can actually just dump it right in the chipper chute. Also great for putting the excess soil in during tree planting. You shovel it right on the bag, it never touches the grass, and you only have to mess with it once. We will also put all of the tools needed for a tree in the bag at the truck, and take everything to the tree at once with the gehl when there is a long distance between truck and tree.

This picture is from forestry suppliers.

View attachment 53512

We have three small ones .. Can be moved with the mini or dragged by hand if it is light rakings. Good for working slopes and gathering small prunings. Often I will just set the bag right next to me as I prune ornamentals or fruit trees.Just stick the prunings in the sack and it goes to the chipper. Empty bag returns. Keeps the clippings free from rocks and dirt too ;)
 
Been pruning in a friends citrus orchard on a hill, pulling an 8 HP limb shredder to each tree and leaving the surprisingly fine chips beneath each tree, like in nature.

Have you ever thought to yourself that home owners and tree services are both notorious thieves of the very thing that makes topsoil rich and nutritious for trees to grow strong and healthy in?

Sure you're here to help me, says the tree to the arborist, yu friggin thief!

Jomo
 
My favourite clean up tool is the good old spring tine rake, american style. I CANNOT find its equivalent in Tasmania, all their rakes are s**t...I brought mine with me from Bermuda
I used to swear by the flat sided 30gallon Rubbermaid trash bucket, flop it down, rake stuff in and swing it up on your back..ta-da..

Blower= lazy man's rake!
Prepare for blower rant, sorry, but it is directed more at landscapers, not tree work cleanup...

They are so misused in Bermuda, they blow EVERYTHING with them flowerbeds, lawns, borders, everything, and it removes all the fine soil, leading to erosion, exposure of roots, the list goes on, I can see using one for wood chips and hard surfaces but I actually hate them!
I often get asked why the grass is so thin and patchy under trees (trees with plenty of light getting through), but the landscrapers mow, then blow all the leaves, grass clippings away with no regard for the soil...it drives me bats!

One property where I work, every morning the flowers from the spanish oleander have fallen onto the flagstone path that is set in loose sand, precisely at 11 am the gardener comes with the blower to remove the flowers. He wonders why there is no sand left between the pavers...then the property manager broke her ankle because she turned it off the edge of the paver where the sand fill had been blown away.
Around the corner, lily turf is supposed to be growing between volcanic slab pavers...nope, eroded, moss covered soil with a few paltry sprigs of lily grass...F(*&king blower!

Give me the zen of a rake and a broom (unless there's a pile of leaves and twigs on a drive, then I'll ask to borrow yer blower mate :)
 
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