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"bitter sweet"

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I don't rake leaves...I don't see the point in raking until mid November when all the leaves have fallen..or just leave them and let the snow cover them..
 

frozencorn

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Haven't started yet. Need to get out at the end of this week and cut the grass and suck up leaves with the ol' tractor, which limits the need for raking, thank goodness. Of course, I do need to empty the bag every 10 minutes, but hey, no raking.
 

Greg

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I'll wait until they are all down. Last year I bought a sweeper contraption I can pull around with the tractor to gather the leaves. I also just got a bagger for it so I'll run that around to grab what's leftover. We have a lot of oaks that don't fully drop their leaves until mid-November or later. I've often been skiing already before I've done the final leaf clean-up.
 

hammer

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flatlands of Mass.
I just mow my lawn at regular intervals into the first week of November. I usually bag my clippings so the leaves just get ground up with them.

Had a lot of leaves this weekend, mowing took a good 30-45 minutes longer than usual.
 

frozencorn

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We've got 2 acres of land, almost all of it mowable. Even with the tractor, it takes 2 1/2-3 hours to get it done.

Add leaves, and it's a 4-hour job. That's why I usually wait, however, we've got the annual flag football game this weekend, and painting the field is a little easier without the leaves there. Alas, so goes my job for the week.
 

billski

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I have to bag my leaves, too many and too little room for composting. 200 compressed bags. Used to be 250 bags till we cut a few trees down.
I do it in November when the town picks up the bags. quite a production, I'm quite exhausted each weekend in November.
 

o3jeff

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I have to bag my leaves, too many and too little room for composting. 200 compressed bags. Used to be 250 bags till we cut a few trees down.
I do it in November when the town picks up the bags. quite a production, I'm quite exhausted each weekend in November.

Wow, that must suck to have to bag that many. All I have to do is blow them out to the curb into a pile.
 

Glenn

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I bought a new leaf blower...so I'm out there weekly playing. The last two used ones I had blew up...I can bore you all with details if you want. So I went out and bought a brand new BillyGoat with a 6hp Subaru engine. The thing flat out rips. I love it.
 

billski

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Wow, that must suck to have to bag that many. All I have to do is blow them out to the curb into a pile.
It does. I try to rationalize it off as exercise for ski season, (but not all the right exercise). Landscapers make a huge amount of money off of me when I hired them. One year, the landscaper came back at the end of the year and said it was 'too much' and declined to come back again. I guess it tied up five guys for 1.5 days.... So I'm saving some money, getting the wrong kind of exercise and wasting four weekends.

I don't have/want a truck and nobody here has one to let, and the landscapers won't "suck up the leaves" for a fee. I guess they make too much doing the whole job. That's the prob with this town....
 

billski

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Remember those doomsday movies where the guy become self-sufficient out the the sticks. Anyone who approaches his house get shot. Boy, that would be a lot of fun, being the last man standing (he said sarcastically.)
hmmm. who would run the lift?
 

frozencorn

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I bagged my leaves the first year I moved into my house, then realized I missed the dates to drop them off at the town locale.....So I stored a good 50-75 bags in my shed for the winter. Had to dump each and every one come spring. That was fun.

Since then, I've never bagged and just dump em in the woods.
 

roark

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Oct 28, 2005
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I just mulch them in with the mower, saving a trash can's worth for supplmenting the compost bin.

When I lived in Sacramento we had a tiny yard completely fenced in with gigantic deciduous trees all around. Within a week you would literally be knee deep in leaves. Freaking ridiculous. At least all we had to do was get them out to the curb.
 

Hawkshot99

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Poughkeepsie, NY
Mulch blades ftw! I just mow my lawn every few days and there is no sign of any leaves! Takes me 10 mins to mow the lawn. For the driveway, and patio we have a big walk behind vacum to suck them up.
 

gorgonzola

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Bleu Mt PA
combo - i'm mulching now til its too much, then i'll use the sweeper with the tractor to get to the curb. It takes about 2-3 hrs every saturday from now til december....mtb 7:30-10, leaves/yard 11-2, some kid stuff usually in there, dinner and a few beers and pass out
 

Mildcat

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I just mulch too. It's great for the lawn and I don't have to fertilize come spring time. But the main reason is raking leaves cuts into my beer drinking, football watching time.
 
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