Hey, great to hear from you Peter! Wonderful to know that folks in the UK are finding my little 'ole channel here. Thanks for the kind words and taking the time to comment. Neil
I’m here from watch Wes work I usually watch him alone . But me and my wife have taken a interest in your videos so I really enjoy us finding things to watch together.
I started watching your channel because I picked up my first john deere lawn tractor then I found out you are local so I started watching more love the content
I love the beginning of this the most. The drone shot of all the farm equipment parked across the road from our house and then flying back across the just harvested field to your house. Vey cool, and the new toy looks like a handy one!
Thanks! yeah, it sure is handy. Dad needs to give this one a test drive and see what he thinks. I thought all the equipment was pretty cool too. Thanks Mom!
I had the very same blowout issues with my 54 inch power flow unit I took a old set of mulching blades for my mower used the shop press and reduced the wing angle by about half got a much cleaner pick up much less blowout much happier with the unit real easy fix. Real nice unit always thought I’d like to have one of them good luck with it!
Wow you are so amazing my dream is to drive a John Deere 318 or John Deere 332 or a 755 I love all the tractors you drive I hope in day I could be like you.
Not sure you want good suction on the gravel. You may find yourself mowing and bagging rocks. I would recommend blowing the leaves onto the grass and picking up there. We are halfway through leaf harvest and have about twice the pile you have. 25 mature trees on just under an acre. Great video as always, keep up the great work.
You might be right about that Ken. My other tractor picks them up better off the driveway so that was the main source of comparison. But yeah, I don't want it to suck stones so I'll need to watch it. I don't envy having MORE leaves to pick up! Best of the luck with a successful "harvest" and thanks for watching!
You need high lift blades . They have fins on the back of them that create suction and lift . Also maybe add some rubber flaps along the sides of the deck to trap the air underneath it . We normally mulch our leaves right onto the lawn . The problem with mulching them is you have to not let the leaves get thick on the grass . We find that mulching the leaves gives the lawn some extra nutrients for over the winter. We also apply nitrogen to our lawn in the spring around late April and then in the fall around mid October. We use hay and pasture nitrogen from tsc it's cheap and effective as long as it is applied before it rains. Great video keep up the good work !
Thanks for the great ideas Anthony! We do N in the spring too. We do a fair bit of mulching too but I have to get the bulk of the heavy leaves up or we get mold on ours. Thanks for watching!
Second on the high lift blades, they are what's used when adding a mulching kit to your deck. To counter the issue Ken brought up, lift the deck higher off the ground. I leave the deck a good 4 inches high going over gravel and rarely grab a rock, when blowing leaves.
I started watching you first. Thanks for sending me to "Watch Wes Work." I live in the next county across the Ohio state line from you so I can appreciate all the weather and farming going on. Keep up the great videos. Love your shop.
Thanks a lot Jay! Glad to hear from another local as well as I know there's folks out there that can relate! Appreciate you watching and checking out Wes's channel.
Don't worry - we'll bump you up to a viewer level Wes would envy! The fuel solenoid issue footage was visceral - I could feel the wind biting as you questioned your life choices. Then there was that rush when you saw what caused it and that you could fix it in the video. This is what makes RUclips so fun for me - seeing how problems get fixed, but fast forwarding to the solution!
Thanks James. I really appreciate this comment as it is what I'm going for. I want to make it interesting and entertaining without getting boring. Appreciate your support.
Hi Neil, when your on the driveway/ stones, lower the idle of just the tractor, let the suction of the collection system pull up the leaves and keep the mower deck low and drive at slow speed. I do this all the time with my cyclone rake set up.
Fantastic, I’ve been wanting to see this baby go! She’s a keeper. That dump feature is enviable. Rube Goldberg would be proud!!! As you know, my system is totally different… but I have a few tips that might still apply: - When I have piles or windrows I do one of two things differently. Disconnect the intake from the mower and chop the leaves. This also spreads them out and reduces their volume. Or, raise the mower and take a pass over the top of the pile. This stops the bull dozing and reduces the high volume that causes clogs. With either method, the time spent in the extra pass will be made up by quicker travel and/or less hassle. - My volume of leaves is considerably higher. (I have a video coming out this week with a short clip at the end showing what I’m dealing with.). I’ve found that it takes me less time to mow and chop the entire yard first… then vacuum up the mess. It also reduces the volume by 75% and speeds up composting. However…. I can’t dump from my seat like you can! - The mower needs grass to stop it from blowing out the bottom. When you run it across the driveway it can’t seal and push it out the chute. The lift on your blades is creating more air than the bagger can handle. I change out my high lift blades with a flatter version for leaf work. My 60” deck is then perfectly matched with the 8” tube between it and the blower. Now, about throwing in every shot you can think of… Totally awesome. One would have thought that the producers of “Top Gun” had done that segment! Thanks Neil!
Excellent advice Mr. Dave. That all makes perfect sense it's a wonder I hadn't considered any of that, although I do love just bulldozing my piles into submission! Often times we will mow with the zero turn first and munch everything all up. I do like the idea of just unhooking the chute, making a few passes to grind, then sucking up the fines. However! Ground up leaves don't make nearly as good of a leaf pile as the large, intact leaves will create. Have you ever tried picking ground up leaf debris out of the hair of two little girls? :) They asked me if I could stop using the leaf "sucker upper" and rake them into a big pile so they're not all "munched up"! You see there have been years where the loader tractor has pushed windrows into very large piles just for the sake of seeing how high I could make them for jumping exercises. So, they're not big fans of the high lift MCS yet, although they did like the size of the pile. But unfortunately the amount of rain we had on it the day after made Momma veto the pile crashing festivities. There's a fresh crop of leaves that have fallen even since the last day of shooting here. I may need to pile up one last good one for those girlies before they age out of wanting to play in the leaf piles altogether. If I don't get it done, it sounds like I could head your way and find some nice piles at least! Thanks for watching! I'll look for your upcoming leaf video!
@@sassafrasvalley1939 I hope grandchildren are on the horizon for you. Your yard will be a buzzz of joy again and you will share your wealth with your children!!!
@@michaelcolford6817 My local grandsons have outgrown the thrill… the younger ones live in Florida and don’t like to visit when it gets cooler! Wanna loan me a couple to play in my piles?
@@sassafrasvalley1939 Got two grand daughters that love to play outside and they were in Kentucky for the Thanksgiving week. I think the opportunity has been missed to loan them out, as they are on their way home, but thank you. Watch a couple of your videos and enjoyed what I saw. Subscribed to see what you are are up to next. Noticed your 50th anniversary Shopsmith. I have my father's 25th anniversary Shopsmith, but it needs a motor and other parts. Also have his newer Mark V. Learned on those machines and have a great admiration for them.
for those of you who hate the leaves spitting out the sides get some baling rubber or used conveyor belt and cut skirts to carriage bolt onto the inside of the deck and leave 1/2 gap from bottom of skirt to the ground. you can go 3/4 of the way around the deck but the front always has to be open for best results in my experience to let leaves and sticks enter the deck i have found.
Neil, love the leaf vac system and fantastic 5 ⭐ video, and the hydraulic dump is awesome, now it's been my experience they do work better with a mulching deck or mulching blades, it been years since I used one hope that helps God bless y'all from Gaffney South Carolina viewer
I found you from Tractor Time With Tim. And the dog fence video. Pretty cool system wish I had it when I installed my fence. I had to rent a trencher. Enjoy your videos, we'll see you on the next one. Thanks
Thanks Kevin! I appreciate hearing how you found the channel. I really like working with Tim and Christy. Appreciate you watching and commenting. Have a good week!
Another great video. Great job saving the collection system. I watched a video about early cotton pickers. The hopper systems are very similar in design and operation.
Really appreciate the struggle moments being recorded. We all like to show just the successful bits. Nice to see the stuff we all face. Great montage footage
Great content Neil. I enjoyed the beginning the most, because it sheds light on the reality of projects not always going as planned. I just broke out my MCS yesterday and had to completely go through the fuel system. Tank, filter, lines and carb. So my leaf collection day turned into an engine maintenance day but that's how it goes. Too often most you tubers edit out the reality part and show the highlight reel and I think to some it can be discouraging when their project doesn't go as smoothly as it is portrayed on video. On a side note, one of the guide tubes on my MCS is bent. I do have a replacement. Looking at yours, can you think of the easiest way to replace that? Seems like laying it on its front would be the only sensible way and pulling it down out the bottom. Perhaps a project for AFTER I am done using it this season!
Hey thanks for the kind words Thomas. I feel like keeping in all the bad stuff (well most of it) helps keep it relatable so I'm glad to hear you say that. I'd have to take a closer look but I think you're likely right that laying it on it's front would likely be the best bet. It doesn't look really easy to take a part unfortunately. Best of luck!
I am in the process of getting my grandfathers 140 H3 back going. He made and sold extra heavy duty leaf collectors in the late 70's. I have the one he made for himself. If you do not have big trees you will never appreciate this video like you should. Thanks
Great video my Dad built a material collection system for his old wheel horse we found the blades they made for running the machine with a bagger worked best for leaf collection it created a lot more suction it worked well enough that it provided enough suction on its own to pick up his leaves clean from his yard and driveway
Way better than hand raking! The grass allows the machine to pull a better vacuum than the stone, not sure if there’s anything you can do about that, my walk behind bagger does the same thing. Stay safe, have a great day, and may God bless…
Diesel creek got me watching Wes and then your channel, I run a cyclone rake but from my experience gator blades mulch better so bagger fills less but the downside is less suction, hi lift blades work well but hardly mulch my oak leaves, the only way you can add more suction on gravel is lower your deck then your picking up rocks and could damage your bagger impeller, I’d recommend blowing leaves into grass, also found it better to back over large leave piles it shreds them or just take half a deck but run over from non discharge side
Hey Joshua, thanks so much for checking out the channel. Great advice on improvements for picking up those driveway leaves. My 318 was just better at it but I think the radiator fan is affecting this one on the stones a bit. It gets the job done but I can make some improvements I think. Appreciate you watching!
Have you ever just mulched them into the lawn? I have done this for years in the northeast where we get more trees. About every 3 days in peak leaf season I mow the bulk of it. Come spring you wouldnt even know they where there. Also adds nutrients to your lawn with out chemicals.
Thanks go out to Allis Chalmers for donating a vital part for this rebuild. LmAllisChalmerao. Good job and I love watching your channel!! P.S. don't throw out the steering wheel.
I have a Dixon Zero Turn and with clam shell power fan bagger. Just got it fine tuned and works good for leaves. Nearly hands free. Love your videos. Love your Deere’s 😜
Thank you for your awesome videos. My wife and I have been binge watching this week! Your editing and storytelling is superb! I have a lot to learn, thanks again, keep em coming 😀
Thanks for this video. There is a MCS for sale near me, and I've been waiting to see if it's worth the price. This was helpful to see it in action. Great editing as always!
Neil I run exmark mower what you need to do is what I did I cut a metal frame and a piece of lexan and cut the corresponding hole in the plastic housing up at the top so you can look over your shoulder and see when your collection unit is full it saved me a lot of plugged tubes you know when to go dump
The hydraulic dump is a dream alliance of mine maybe someday, great videos and good quality you always have good content in your videos please keep it up
I originally found your channel looking up firewood videos but have since fell in love with all your content. Im not going to lie I got alittle too excited when I saw your dump truck full of wood, so hopefully that means a firewood video in the future, but if not that's still fine with me. Im glad you got the leaf collection system working good!
Hey I love hearing stuff like that about how you found the channel. Well, I had the camera rolling when that truck got loaded and you can bet there's a few firewood videos coming this year! Thanks so much for watching!
Get a push blower and get the driveway leaves onto the grass then run the JD with the leave attachment. You will save a boatload of time. Edit: Or even blow the bulk into the cornfield surrounding the property?
Came across your channel the other day. Great videos! I love it when you don’t know what you are doing but slowly figure it out. That’s always rewarding.
I just found your channel an hour ago. I grew up on a farm outside Van Wert and ended up buying my own 80 acres. I had a 955 as my only tractor. It was way too small but I only farmed a small part of it. I found your place on Google maps. It looks great. My brother actually lived not far from you at one time.
Hey thanks Don. Glad to hear from you and thanks for checking out the channel. The 955 is a great tractor and I'd like to find one some day. Thanks for saying hi!
Hi Maude I like to watch Wes. I tell people i have a love/hate relationship with my JD MCS14 and power flo collection system. It is supposed to be dump from the seat but the hopper doesn't always empty. The dump is only about 1 foot off the ground so leaves cannot be stacked. At 1 point the dealer suggested I try mulching blades.
The girls will be excited that someone mentioned Maude! Thanks for watching us both BG! I've seen those collection systems and always wanted one of those for my 318s as well. I'm gonna try some mulching blades.
I know it’s a old video but this is how I do my lawn I’ll chop the leaves first then suck them up no shoot getting clogged and the hopper will hold a lot more leaves , try a high lift blades that made a big difference on my machine
I have a rider with a bagger but not as much capacity and I have to unload by hand, am I a little jealous? I am happy to see you are getting more subscribers, you deserve them (you put a lot of work into your videos). WatchWesWork is a great channel as well!
John Deere makes leaf blow out kits for some of their mower decks or maybe I should say use to. I had put one on my x495 deck some years ago and it did help. Keep up the good videos enjoy watching them.
You got lucky finding that loose connection so fast! I was driving Dads John Deere 770 out the road one day and the fuse blew for the fuel shutoff solenoid mid stream. Luckily I had a bungee cord to tie it open with to get on out to our house. I don’t know if there is a perfect solution for leaves, but that thing did good overall! Take care!
Thanks Ben! Yes, I was certainly glad to find it so fast. I thought I was in for an entire day of figuring it out. Wasn't bad at all. Thanks for watching bud!
When going from grass to dirt, stone, or cement/pavement you need to drop the engine throttle/RPM to almost an idle the vacuum engine stays full throttle. I vacuum approximately 3,000 bushel of chopped leaves every year
I've used one of those set ups before and it worked about the same as yours did. I also watch Wes, he's always interesting to watch and I enjoy his humor too. Thank you Neil for all your great videos as well we always enjoy watching.
This channel is awesome just because of the toys you have just for a homeowner. I have an exmark zero turn with a dump from the seat bagger. It makes a lot of jobs easier, only some are easier to just blow it all.
You never mentioned, for those of us that are newer to your channel, what the pile of leaves and grass are for? As a gardener, you got the brilliant makings of a compost pile, but you’ve got some serious acreage. Surely not enough compost for the fields your drone was zooming over.
Oh man I love that hydraulic dump. By the end I was raising it as I was backing to the pile and pulling away as I lowered it down. Really makes dumping a fast process. I can't go back now. Thanks Aaron!
pro tip your debris/clippings piles make great erosion control for bad spots in your feild & does a better job after it gets tilled in the preceding year
I don’t know why, but that was fun to watch. Definitely gonna save you time each year. Foul tape to the rescue again. Going to check out wes and probably have to work faster for more video time. Waiting for the next video. Thanks Neil
More great videos Neil - I've been working on my JD and not watching enough RUclips. Hard to tell if you are wearing ear protection, I got a pair of bluetooth 3M earmuffs for my birthday, and they are amazing - I can listen to a podcast at a reasonable volume while my diesel just hammers away. You might want to consider some "ears" to protect your hearing...
Absolutely beautiful place you have. I made my leaf sucking machine , looks like a track vac, has a 22hp Honda engine for suction attached to a trailer. My Moto is, don’t buy it, build it
16:53 check the baggers impeller fins. poor suction means the fins are bent over &/worn down. the fins need to be as close to the housing wall as possible for good suction, but you don't want pure fin going to the housing for clump s that will bog/shut down the machine/plug it and damage the fins. the edge of the find that propels the debris up should have saw tooth design of 1/2" 3/4" which helps chew up clumps and sticks and other debris that tries to bind there, like dirt that is going to build up there or wet grass that sticks to the walls in this nice freezing cold. i got a picture of a brand new dr horton truck tow leaf loader with a brand new impeller like this , that the edges where the tube pulls in debris from is already rounding over and it is over 3/8ths thick steel and has only loaded a grainer truck about 8 times so far this week. that frosted clumped grass is the worst offender at making the clumps destroying it.. this is why lawncare companies end their contracts nov.1st so they don't destroy their equipment on frozen debris which is the absolute hardest on these machines and rain soaked the 2nd worst.
Neil, you might want to look into motorcycle chain lubricants for loosening any throttle cable. Chose one which goes on wet and then becomes a solid lubricant. My experience with WD40 is that it works fine for the short term but it soon evaporates and you are back in the same situation as when you started. It also work fine for bikes ATVs etc..
Good job troubleshooting the solenoid... And I think that is a badass sweeper. Just install mulch blades to chop up those leaves and your vacuum should preform much better. I love this channel!!!
I have a MCS like yours on my 318. The difference is the blower run off of the rear PTO. I just bought it in early winter so I didn’t have a chance to test it. I do have a leaking cylinder on it.
Have you looked into a towed sweeper? They work quite well,but fill up quickly. I have a push type that I used to use on my city lawn. Might be better than your mower for the leaves on stones. These days,I clean up leaves with a battery mower and catcher.
So Neil, my question is? Your I guess essentially mowing while your picking up leaves? ......... WOW!!! Do you know what kind of compost your potentially making? Does your wife like to garden? I will mow my grass and pull my lawn sweep behind my mower in the fall and mix my green and brown together and generally by garden season I have this nice black soil that I use around all my plants! It does wonders. Keep up the great content look forward to seeing the comparisons with your other units!
Thanks Travis! Yeah, mixing the grass in with it. Most of this all ends up getting blown out into the field by the wind. She does garden a bit but not enough these days. I like some good compost though so that would be nice to have around. Thanks for checking out the video and appreciate the great comment!
Man I have to get off mine and go through about a 10 step process to dump (Cyclone system). 10 acres of trees thats about 50 times per mow! Mine needs grass to seal the deck to the ground to make suction if that makes sense. It won't do much on the pavement or gravel (yours did way better) I wondered if I put something on the deck to like a sweep to cut down on the air around the deck... Probably just need to go deal with it instead of watching RUclips lol! Great video Neil!
Haha! The struggle is real. Makes perfect sense as mine works better on the grass too. My 318 vac system works better on the stones but doesn't hold very much in the bags. Thanks for checking it out!
10:30 mulcher blades such as gator & or the mulch plug for the deck air trap zones helps prevent that plugging from happening. smaller particulate doesn't trap together velcro like as easily.
I came to you from Kleeman’s channel after the bucket mod. Found Wes’ channel from Dirt Perfect. Enjoy all of them. Watching Neil work is up there with the best of them.
The power dump feature is awesome, but the plugging up was no good. I have a regular JD powerflo 3 bin system on my X7, and pushed way more leaves than you did and it never plugged up. I was impressed! Having high lift blades and the blower right at the deck makes all the difference. You might try to find a way to get more suction out of your blower motor, that would help, or take smaller bites.
The deck on my 316 has terrible suction as well. I'm used to modern machines that allow me to"blow" the driveway and road with a quick pass. I guess I might try the 325 deck under it.
I hate leaves. 8” vacuum tube on my belt driven triple bagger attachment gets clogged if the leaves are in any way damp of if grass has grown. I call it quits the weekend after Thanksgiving even though the oaks aren’t done yet.
Hi Neil, on the little briggs n stratten motor instead of pulling to start, how about an electric start. front edge of cutting deck should that be open up a bit to increase leaf n air inflow
![FNAF Into the Pit has A LOT of Unused Graphics | LOST BITS [TetraBitGaming]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/6YhZCRdipl4/mqdefault.jpg)
Dodgy electrical connections, foil tape repairs, and diesel in a gas can. This video really pulls at my heart strings...
Hey I'm not spending hard earned money on a yellow fuel can when my nose works just fine!
😁😂🤣
Hi Wes, what video title on your site has the interview with Neil?
@@SemiReTired It's called E-350 7.3 Powerstroke Hard/No Start. You can find it here: ruclips.net/video/-q01JWTWRhU/видео.html
Thank you Neil, I'll check it out,,, Joe Bee
Hi I'm from the UK I found your channel by chance and I must admit I really enjoy your videos keep them coming all the best Peter 🇬🇧
Hey, great to hear from you Peter! Wonderful to know that folks in the UK are finding my little 'ole channel here. Thanks for the kind words and taking the time to comment. Neil
Just started watching your channel after Matt’s Recovery. Enjoying your channel, learning a bunch - keep up the good work. Thanks
I really appreciate that. Mitchell! Glad to have you on board sir.
I’m here from watch Wes work I usually watch him alone . But me and my wife have taken a interest in your videos so I really enjoy us finding things to watch together.
I appreciate hearing that and I thank you for giving this channel a chance. Hope you and your wife have a great week and thanks for watching!
I started watching your channel because I picked up my first john deere lawn tractor then I found out you are local so I started watching more love the content
Awesome Jacob! Where are you from? Thanks for watching!
Fort wayne but I got family in harlen I'm out there all the time for work as well
I love the beginning of this the most. The drone shot of all the farm equipment parked across the road from our house and then flying back across the just harvested field to your house. Vey cool, and the new toy looks like a handy one!
Thanks! yeah, it sure is handy. Dad needs to give this one a test drive and see what he thinks. I thought all the equipment was pretty cool too. Thanks Mom!
I had the very same blowout issues with my 54 inch power flow unit I took a old set of mulching blades for my mower used the shop press and reduced the wing angle by about half got a much cleaner pick up much less blowout much happier with the unit real easy fix. Real nice unit always thought I’d like to have one of them good luck with it!
Great tip! Thanks 👍🏻
Wow you are so amazing my dream is to drive a John Deere 318 or John Deere 332 or a 755 I love all the tractors you drive I hope in day I could be like you.
Great video, amazing shots at the end, too! You are the hardest working man, and you never give up in spite of of all the set backs!
Thank you so much 👍
Not sure you want good suction on the gravel. You may find yourself mowing and bagging rocks. I would recommend blowing the leaves onto the grass and picking up there. We are halfway through leaf harvest and have about twice the pile you have. 25 mature trees on just under an acre. Great video as always, keep up the great work.
You might be right about that Ken. My other tractor picks them up better off the driveway so that was the main source of comparison. But yeah, I don't want it to suck stones so I'll need to watch it. I don't envy having MORE leaves to pick up! Best of the luck with a successful "harvest" and thanks for watching!
You need high lift blades . They have fins on the back of them that create suction and lift . Also maybe add some rubber flaps along the sides of the deck to trap the air underneath it . We normally mulch our leaves right onto the lawn . The problem with mulching them is you have to not let the leaves get thick on the grass . We find that mulching the leaves gives the lawn some extra nutrients for over the winter. We also apply nitrogen to our lawn in the spring around late April and then in the fall around mid October. We use hay and pasture nitrogen from tsc it's cheap and effective as long as it is applied before it rains. Great video keep up the good work !
Thanks for the great ideas Anthony! We do N in the spring too. We do a fair bit of mulching too but I have to get the bulk of the heavy leaves up or we get mold on ours. Thanks for watching!
Second on the high lift blades, they are what's used when adding a mulching kit to your deck. To counter the issue Ken brought up, lift the deck higher off the ground. I leave the deck a good 4 inches high going over gravel and rarely grab a rock, when blowing leaves.
@@digdrivediy its a lawn, who cares about mold on it
@@alexrogers777 some people care about their things. Including their lawns
I started watching you first. Thanks for sending me to "Watch Wes Work." I live in the next county across the Ohio state line from you so I can appreciate all the weather and farming going on. Keep up the great videos. Love your shop.
Thanks a lot Jay! Glad to hear from another local as well as I know there's folks out there that can relate! Appreciate you watching and checking out Wes's channel.
You got it going!! It works pretty well. Loved the video. Great job!!
Thanks a lot Jeff!
It’s a great system, makes picking the leaves a lot easier and fun 😉👍🏻. Have a great Sunday Neil 🙋🏼♂️🙂👍🏻
Thank you sir. We had a full day of basketball today and had a great time. I did have a good time with that new leaf vac too BTW! :)
Don't worry - we'll bump you up to a viewer level Wes would envy! The fuel solenoid issue footage was visceral - I could feel the wind biting as you questioned your life choices. Then there was that rush when you saw what caused it and that you could fix it in the video. This is what makes RUclips so fun for me - seeing how problems get fixed, but fast forwarding to the solution!
Thanks James. I really appreciate this comment as it is what I'm going for. I want to make it interesting and entertaining without getting boring. Appreciate your support.
Hi Neil, when your on the driveway/ stones, lower the idle of just the tractor, let the suction of the collection system pull up the leaves and keep the mower deck low and drive at slow speed. I do this all the time with my cyclone rake set up.
That's not a bad idea. I'll keep experimenting. Thanks Joe!
Fantastic, I’ve been wanting to see this baby go!
She’s a keeper. That dump feature is enviable. Rube Goldberg would be proud!!!
As you know, my system is totally different… but I have a few tips that might still apply:
- When I have piles or windrows I do one of two things differently. Disconnect the intake from the mower and chop the leaves. This also spreads them out and reduces their volume. Or, raise the mower and take a pass over the top of the pile. This stops the bull dozing and reduces the high volume that causes clogs. With either method, the time spent in the extra pass will be made up by quicker travel and/or less hassle.
- My volume of leaves is considerably higher. (I have a video coming out this week with a short clip at the end showing what I’m dealing with.). I’ve found that it takes me less time to mow and chop the entire yard first… then vacuum up the mess. It also reduces the volume by 75% and speeds up composting. However…. I can’t dump from my seat like you can!
- The mower needs grass to stop it from blowing out the bottom. When you run it across the driveway it can’t seal and push it out the chute. The lift on your blades is creating more air than the bagger can handle. I change out my high lift blades with a flatter version for leaf work. My 60” deck is then perfectly matched with the 8” tube between it and the blower.
Now, about throwing in every shot you can think of… Totally awesome. One would have thought that the producers of “Top Gun” had done that segment!
Thanks Neil!
Excellent advice Mr. Dave. That all makes perfect sense it's a wonder I hadn't considered any of that, although I do love just bulldozing my piles into submission! Often times we will mow with the zero turn first and munch everything all up. I do like the idea of just unhooking the chute, making a few passes to grind, then sucking up the fines.
However! Ground up leaves don't make nearly as good of a leaf pile as the large, intact leaves will create. Have you ever tried picking ground up leaf debris out of the hair of two little girls? :) They asked me if I could stop using the leaf "sucker upper" and rake them into a big pile so they're not all "munched up"! You see there have been years where the loader tractor has pushed windrows into very large piles just for the sake of seeing how high I could make them for jumping exercises. So, they're not big fans of the high lift MCS yet, although they did like the size of the pile. But unfortunately the amount of rain we had on it the day after made Momma veto the pile crashing festivities.
There's a fresh crop of leaves that have fallen even since the last day of shooting here. I may need to pile up one last good one for those girlies before they age out of wanting to play in the leaf piles altogether.
If I don't get it done, it sounds like I could head your way and find some nice piles at least!
Thanks for watching! I'll look for your upcoming leaf video!
@@digdrivediy Oh how I long for the days where a pile of leaves brought excitement snd laughter to my yard! You sir are a wealthy man!!!!
@@sassafrasvalley1939 I hope grandchildren are on the horizon for you. Your yard will be a buzzz of joy again and you will share your wealth with your children!!!
@@michaelcolford6817 My local grandsons have outgrown the thrill… the younger ones live in Florida and don’t like to visit when it gets cooler! Wanna loan me a couple to play in my piles?
@@sassafrasvalley1939 Got two grand daughters that love to play outside and they were in Kentucky for the Thanksgiving week. I think the opportunity has been missed to loan them out, as they are on their way home, but thank you.
Watch a couple of your videos and enjoyed what I saw. Subscribed to see what you are are up to next. Noticed your 50th anniversary Shopsmith. I have my father's 25th anniversary Shopsmith, but it needs a motor and other parts. Also have his newer Mark V. Learned on those machines and have a great admiration for them.
for those of you who hate the leaves spitting out the sides get some baling rubber or used conveyor belt and cut skirts to carriage bolt onto the inside of the deck and leave 1/2 gap from bottom of skirt to the ground. you can go 3/4 of the way around the deck but the front always has to be open for best results in my experience to let leaves and sticks enter the deck i have found.
That would be worth a shot for sure. Thanks!
Neil, love the leaf vac system and fantastic 5 ⭐ video, and the hydraulic dump is awesome, now it's been my experience they do work better with a mulching deck or mulching blades, it been years since I used one hope that helps God bless y'all from Gaffney South Carolina viewer
I found you from Tractor Time With Tim. And the dog fence video. Pretty cool system wish I had it when I installed my fence. I had to rent a trencher.
Enjoy your videos, we'll see you on the next one.
Thanks
Thanks Kevin! I appreciate hearing how you found the channel. I really like working with Tim and Christy. Appreciate you watching and commenting. Have a good week!
i was one of those who subscribed due to watch wes work. i very much enjoy your channel.
Hey thanks William. Thanks for giving this channel a chance and appreciate you watching!
I really miss hand raking the old way...NOT! Good video Neil.
Haha! I agree! Thanks Rick!
Another great video. Great job saving the collection system. I watched a video about early cotton pickers. The hopper systems are very similar in design and operation.
Ohh yeah. I can see that comparison. Makes sense. Thanks a lot Gordon!
Really appreciate the struggle moments being recorded. We all like to show just the successful bits. Nice to see the stuff we all face. Great montage footage
Thanks. I really am grateful for that kinda feedback. I thought it made it relatable. Thanks for watching and glad you like the montage!
Awesome 👌 I've got a MCS on a 425 aws and love it
Nice! Always wanted to try an AWS!
Great content Neil. I enjoyed the beginning the most, because it sheds light on the reality of projects not always going as planned. I just broke out my MCS yesterday and had to completely go through the fuel system. Tank, filter, lines and carb. So my leaf collection day turned into an engine maintenance day but that's how it goes. Too often most you tubers edit out the reality part and show the highlight reel and I think to some it can be discouraging when their project doesn't go as smoothly as it is portrayed on video. On a side note, one of the guide tubes on my MCS is bent. I do have a replacement. Looking at yours, can you think of the easiest way to replace that? Seems like laying it on its front would be the only sensible way and pulling it down out the bottom. Perhaps a project for AFTER I am done using it this season!
Hey thanks for the kind words Thomas. I feel like keeping in all the bad stuff (well most of it) helps keep it relatable so I'm glad to hear you say that.
I'd have to take a closer look but I think you're likely right that laying it on it's front would likely be the best bet. It doesn't look really easy to take a part unfortunately. Best of luck!
I watch wes and he is the reason I'm watching ur channel he is a dam good mechanic and makes good vid too enjoying urs too👍
Really appreciate it Paul!
Great job on getting everything working! I wish I had half of your mechanical skills. BTW, your lawn looks fantastic!
Thanks Richard! I'm lucky my wife helps keep up the yard!
I always forget to tell Neil how envious I am of his lawn.
I am in the process of getting my grandfathers 140 H3 back going. He made and sold extra heavy duty leaf collectors in the late 70's. I have the one he made for himself. If you do not have big trees you will never appreciate this video like you should. Thanks
That sounds cool. Best of luck getting that 140 back into service!
Fuel shut off solenoid. You can manually turn on and off with a choke cable.
Great video my Dad built a material collection system for his old wheel horse we found the blades they made for running the machine with a bagger worked best for leaf collection it created a lot more suction it worked well enough that it provided enough suction on its own to pick up his leaves clean from his yard and driveway
Sometimes homemade is the best! Thanks for sharing Shane!
Way better than hand raking! The grass allows the machine to pull a better vacuum than the stone, not sure if there’s anything you can do about that, my walk behind bagger does the same thing. Stay safe, have a great day, and may God bless…
Very true on the grass comment. And yes, MUCH better than raking! Thanks Donald!
Thankmyou formsharing, I learn a lot, always a pleasure watch your project 👍👍👍👍
If MacGyver were a country boy, his name would be Neil Koch! Keep it up Sir!
Ha! Thanks a lot Andrew. I looked up to MacGyver as a kid so that is quite a compliment!
Diesel creek got me watching Wes and then your channel, I run a cyclone rake but from my experience gator blades mulch better so bagger fills less but the downside is less suction, hi lift blades work well but hardly mulch my oak leaves, the only way you can add more suction on gravel is lower your deck then your picking up rocks and could damage your bagger impeller, I’d recommend blowing leaves into grass, also found it better to back over large leave piles it shreds them or just take half a deck but run over from non discharge side
Hey Joshua, thanks so much for checking out the channel. Great advice on improvements for picking up those driveway leaves. My 318 was just better at it but I think the radiator fan is affecting this one on the stones a bit. It gets the job done but I can make some improvements I think. Appreciate you watching!
Have you ever just mulched them into the lawn? I have done this for years in the northeast where we get more trees. About every 3 days in peak leaf season I mow the bulk of it. Come spring you wouldnt even know they where there. Also adds nutrients to your lawn with out chemicals.
I mulch over half of them into the lawn all through the fall until the very last big maple leaf dump and then there's too many to mulch up.
Thanks go out to Allis Chalmers for donating a vital part for this rebuild. LmAllisChalmerao. Good job and I love watching your channel!! P.S. don't throw out the steering wheel.
Haha! Thanks Bruce. No, I'll certainly keep the wheel! :)
I have a Dixon Zero Turn and with clam shell power fan bagger. Just got it fine tuned and works good for leaves. Nearly hands free. Love your videos. Love your Deere’s 😜
That sounds cool Verle! Anything that works nearly hands free is just fine by me!! Appreciate you watching!
Thank you for your awesome videos. My wife and I have been binge watching this week! Your editing and storytelling is superb! I have a lot to learn, thanks again, keep em coming 😀
Thanks, I really appreciate hearing those kind words. I am so glad that you and your wife find them enjoyable to watch!
Thanks for this video. There is a MCS for sale near me, and I've been waiting to see if it's worth the price. This was helpful to see it in action. Great editing as always!
Thanks much! Best of luck if you get it!
Neil I run exmark mower what you need to do is what I did I cut a metal frame and a piece of lexan and cut the corresponding hole in the plastic housing up at the top so you can look over your shoulder and see when your collection unit is full it saved me a lot of plugged tubes you know when to go dump
That's a great idea. I thought of that exact same thing. Makes perfect sense. Could get a little LED light in there too! Thanks for the suggestion!
The hydraulic dump is a dream alliance of mine maybe someday, great videos and good quality you always have good content in your videos please keep it up
Thanks I really appreciate the kind words Kent!
I originally found your channel looking up firewood videos but have since fell in love with all your content. Im not going to lie I got alittle too excited when I saw your dump truck full of wood, so hopefully that means a firewood video in the future, but if not that's still fine with me. Im glad you got the leaf collection system working good!
Hey I love hearing stuff like that about how you found the channel. Well, I had the camera rolling when that truck got loaded and you can bet there's a few firewood videos coming this year! Thanks so much for watching!
Get a push blower and get the driveway leaves onto the grass then run the JD with the leave attachment. You will save a boatload of time. Edit: Or even blow the bulk into the cornfield surrounding the property?
Agreed, Watch Wes Work is a fine channel.
You bet Tim! He's a great guy too!
Came across your channel the other day. Great videos! I love it when you don’t know what you are doing but slowly figure it out. That’s always rewarding.
Thanks a lot Chris!
I just found your channel an hour ago. I grew up on a farm outside Van Wert and ended up buying my own 80 acres. I had a 955 as my only tractor. It was way too small but I only farmed a small part of it. I found your place on Google maps. It looks great. My brother actually lived not far from you at one time.
Hey thanks Don. Glad to hear from you and thanks for checking out the channel. The 955 is a great tractor and I'd like to find one some day. Thanks for saying hi!
Hi Maude
I like to watch Wes.
I tell people i have a love/hate relationship with my JD MCS14 and power flo collection system. It is supposed to be dump from the seat but the hopper doesn't always empty. The dump is only about 1 foot off the ground so leaves cannot be stacked.
At 1 point the dealer suggested I try mulching blades.
The girls will be excited that someone mentioned Maude! Thanks for watching us both BG! I've seen those collection systems and always wanted one of those for my 318s as well. I'm gonna try some mulching blades.
I know it’s a old video but this is how I do my lawn I’ll chop the leaves first then suck them up no shoot getting clogged and the hopper will hold a lot more leaves , try a high lift blades that made a big difference on my machine
That's a good plan Chuck!
I have a rider with a bagger but not as much capacity and I have to unload by hand, am I a little jealous? I am happy to see you are getting more subscribers, you deserve them (you put a lot of work into your videos). WatchWesWork is a great channel as well!
Thanks so much Richard. I really like the hydraulic dump. I can't go back to the bagger now :)
Old tractors, gotta love em.
You bet Byrd man!
Thanks, Neil for your content. Here because of WWW. You both have great entertainment. Cheers from Australia 🇦🇺💯
Thanks so much! I'm always impressed with hearing from folks in Australia! Appreciate you watching.
Check the switch under seat safety precaution the leaning on seat breaks connection and mower will not run bypass switch
Fortunately the previous owner bypassed the seat switch on this one.
John Deere makes leaf blow out kits for some of their mower decks or maybe I should say use to. I had put one on my x495 deck some years ago and it did help. Keep up the good videos enjoy watching them.
I should check into that Paul. Thanks for the tip.
You got lucky finding that loose connection so fast! I was driving Dads John Deere 770 out the road one day and the fuse blew for the fuel shutoff solenoid mid stream. Luckily I had a bungee cord to tie it open with to get on out to our house. I don’t know if there is a perfect solution for leaves, but that thing did good overall! Take care!
Thanks Ben! Yes, I was certainly glad to find it so fast. I thought I was in for an entire day of figuring it out. Wasn't bad at all. Thanks for watching bud!
The 755 looks much nicer these days! Great content thanks very much!
Well thanks. That's actually my second one and it looked like that when I bought it. The other one is a bit rougher. Thanks for watching!
When going from grass to dirt, stone, or cement/pavement you need to drop the engine throttle/RPM to almost an idle the vacuum engine stays full throttle. I vacuum approximately 3,000 bushel of chopped leaves every year
Exactly… the same thing applies in areas where the grass is sparse.
Good advice. I did slow it down a bunch on the gravel. Even tried with the deck off. Thanks Kent!
I've used one of those set ups before and it worked about the same as yours did. I also watch Wes, he's always interesting to watch and I enjoy his humor too. Thank you Neil for all your great videos as well we always enjoy watching.
Really appreciate you saying that! Glad to have you watching and this setup has been really sweet for me now that I kinda got it figured out.
@@digdrivediy , you're welcome sir, it's always good to see equipment being used and enjoyed.
This channel is awesome just because of the toys you have just for a homeowner. I have an exmark zero turn with a dump from the seat bagger. It makes a lot of jobs easier, only some are easier to just blow it all.
I am lucky to have some pretty fun toys. That dumping from the seat is absolutely the best! Thanks for watching!
taryl fixes all is another good lawn mower repair channel.
Yes, I've watched plenty of his vids as well.
You never mentioned, for those of us that are newer to your channel, what the pile of leaves and grass are for? As a gardener, you got the brilliant makings of a compost pile, but you’ve got some serious acreage. Surely not enough compost for the fields your drone was zooming over.
We unfortunately don't do much with it. It gets blown into the field in the spring as mostly compost.
Morning Neil! I noticed the ozone layer diminished considerably recently. Watched the video and realized why 😂😂😂. Jk. Great job, Have a great Sunday!
Haha! Maybe I should name this one "Smokey". They both smoke quite a bit. Thanks for watching Troy!
Hands free dumps! Dag on! That does sound awesome! A clean get away!
Oh, it is fantastic. I was grinning every time I dumped it!
So much better than pulling the trailer behind the mower. You definitely got to love the hydraulic dump.
Oh man I love that hydraulic dump. By the end I was raising it as I was backing to the pile and pulling away as I lowered it down. Really makes dumping a fast process. I can't go back now. Thanks Aaron!
pro tip your debris/clippings piles make great erosion control for bad spots in your feild & does a better job after it gets tilled in the preceding year
I'll try to keep that in mind. Thanks for the awesome tips!
You snagged a really nice unit especially with a Kawasaki 210 engine
Another great video Neil! Stay safe my friend.
Hey thanks a million!
I don’t know why, but that was fun to watch. Definitely gonna save you time each year. Foul tape to the rescue again. Going to check out wes and probably have to work faster for more video time. Waiting for the next video. Thanks Neil
Always appreciate your comments John. Thanks for the support and say Hi to Wes but be sure to come back!
Hello from the Netherlands thanks for the video Neil
Thanks so much my friend!
nice crop rows and fields there mr farmer, looks like a good harvest despite the drought and flood conditions all at the wrong times this year.
Ha! Well thank you much April. I thought it looked nice and clean afterwards. Thanks for watching!
More great videos Neil - I've been working on my JD and not watching enough RUclips. Hard to tell if you are wearing ear protection, I got a pair of bluetooth 3M earmuffs for my birthday, and they are amazing - I can listen to a podcast at a reasonable volume while my diesel just hammers away. You might want to consider some "ears" to protect your hearing...
Very good point. I'm almost always wearing something. During this I was wearing noise cancelling earbuds and listening to Pandora!! Thanks Eric 😁
Anything that makes life easier is a great thing! Nice job. I need to build some kind of lawn sweep for my 3pth
You got it Stephen!
Win for the John Deere repair that didn't require proprietary software!
Absolutely beautiful place you have. I made my leaf sucking machine , looks like a track vac, has a 22hp Honda engine for suction attached to a trailer. My Moto is, don’t buy it, build it
Thank you. I like your motto!
16:53 check the baggers impeller fins. poor suction means the fins are bent over &/worn down. the fins need to be as close to the housing wall as possible for good suction, but you don't want pure fin going to the housing for clump s that will bog/shut down the machine/plug it and damage the fins. the edge of the find that propels the debris up should have saw tooth design of 1/2" 3/4" which helps chew up clumps and sticks and other debris that tries to bind there, like dirt that is going to build up there or wet grass that sticks to the walls in this nice freezing cold. i got a picture of a brand new dr horton truck tow leaf loader with a brand new impeller like this , that the edges where the tube pulls in debris from is already rounding over and it is over 3/8ths thick steel and has only loaded a grainer truck about 8 times so far this week. that frosted clumped grass is the worst offender at making the clumps destroying it.. this is why lawncare companies end their contracts nov.1st so they don't destroy their equipment on frozen debris which is the absolute hardest on these machines and rain soaked the 2nd worst.
Agreed. I need to check that impeller for sure. Thanks for the insight as I haven't checked it yet.
Neil, you might want to look into motorcycle chain lubricants for loosening any throttle cable. Chose one which goes on wet and then becomes a solid lubricant. My experience with WD40 is that it works fine for the short term but it soon evaporates and you are back in the same situation as when you started. It also work fine for bikes ATVs etc..
Good job troubleshooting the solenoid... And I think that is a badass sweeper. Just install mulch blades to chop up those leaves and your vacuum should preform much better. I love this channel!!!
Thanks a lot Mowerman! I'm gonna look into those mulching blades for sure!
More fun than waiting for a windy day and driving old greeny in circles and let the gator blades send tiny pieces to where ever the wind takes them
It's pretty fun actually. That dumping action never gets old!
I have a MCS like yours on my 318. The difference is the blower run off of the rear PTO. I just bought it in early winter so I didn’t have a chance to test it. I do have a leaking cylinder on it.
You'll love it once it get it all straightened out.
Have you looked into a towed sweeper? They work quite well,but fill up quickly. I have a push type that I used to use on my city lawn. Might be better than your mower for the leaves on stones. These days,I clean up leaves with a battery mower and catcher.
So Neil, my question is? Your I guess essentially mowing while your picking up leaves? ......... WOW!!! Do you know what kind of compost your potentially making? Does your wife like to garden? I will mow my grass and pull my lawn sweep behind my mower in the fall and mix my green and brown together and generally by garden season I have this nice black soil that I use around all my plants! It does wonders. Keep up the great content look forward to seeing the comparisons with your other units!
Thanks Travis! Yeah, mixing the grass in with it. Most of this all ends up getting blown out into the field by the wind. She does garden a bit but not enough these days. I like some good compost though so that would be nice to have around. Thanks for checking out the video and appreciate the great comment!
Man I have to get off mine and go through about a 10 step process to dump (Cyclone system). 10 acres of trees thats about 50 times per mow! Mine needs grass to seal the deck to the ground to make suction if that makes sense. It won't do much on the pavement or gravel (yours did way better) I wondered if I put something on the deck to like a sweep to cut down on the air around the deck... Probably just need to go deal with it instead of watching RUclips lol! Great video Neil!
Haha! The struggle is real. Makes perfect sense as mine works better on the grass too. My 318 vac system works better on the stones but doesn't hold very much in the bags. Thanks for checking it out!
10:30 mulcher blades such as gator & or the mulch plug for the deck air trap zones helps prevent that plugging from happening. smaller particulate doesn't trap together velcro like as easily.
I'm gonna look into some gator blades for this. Good idea!
Good job man that’s awesome! Your 755 is beautiful! I’m 38 grew up mowing on a 420 but love the 7_8_955s
Thanks Adam! I need to paint that Grille and it would look even better!
Another great video, nice montage It was so long the corn was gone in the last 2 dumps lol
Haha! Yeah, the harvest was going on all over in this video! Thanks Doug.
I came to you from Kleeman’s channel after the bucket mod. Found Wes’ channel from Dirt Perfect. Enjoy all of them. Watching Neil work is up there with the best of them.
Thanks a lot Paul. I really appreciate you coming over to give DDD a try. Those are all great guys too! Thanks for watching!
Future tip. When those shutoff solinoids go bad thay can kick out like that.
IED put some kind of a rubber around the bottom of the deck so it won’t let stuff blow out as much if anything worth a try maybe
Not a bad thought. I'll look at that and see. Thanks Gary!
The power dump feature is awesome, but the plugging up was no good. I have a regular JD powerflo 3 bin system on my X7, and pushed way more leaves than you did and it never plugged up. I was impressed! Having high lift blades and the blower right at the deck makes all the difference. You might try to find a way to get more suction out of your blower motor, that would help, or take smaller bites.
It was a little too wet too. I had better luck on a drier day. I want to try new blades too. Thanks for watching!
Who gives thumbs down!?!?
Good stuff again.
I’ll go check out Watch Wes Work 👍🏽.
There's always a few in each crowd! :) Thanks for watching Tim!
The deck on my 316 has terrible suction as well. I'm used to modern machines that allow me to"blow" the driveway and road with a quick pass. I guess I might try the 325 deck under it.
That's not a bad idea. Yeah, I agree. My in-laws newer mower does a better job of blowing. Thanks David!
Neil the deck should have skirting around the perimeter of the deck & uplift blades
I wondered if some kinda skirting could help. May not let any leaves in though? Thanks Sean!
I’ve been waiting to see the leaf collector in action, pretty cool
Boy I have been waiting too! Thanks a lot Tony!
For mowing on a normal ride on mower you need to rev the tractor up to full throttle
nice job Neil....great video!!
Thanks John!
Sweet man weve got a kabota 3130 with a custom life vacuum
I like the custom units! Thanks for watching Twinstick!
I hate leaves. 8” vacuum tube on my belt driven triple bagger attachment gets clogged if the leaves are in any way damp of if grass has grown. I call it quits the weekend after Thanksgiving even though the oaks aren’t done yet.
I'm with ya Jim. I'm about done too. Once the grass is cut short for the last mowing of the year I let the wind do a good bit of the remaining work.
I'm glad the foilage is right!!
It was just perfect :)
Hi Neil, on the little briggs n stratten motor instead of pulling to start, how about an electric start. front edge of cutting deck should that be open up a bit to increase leaf n air inflow
High lift blades is a must
I need to try some Wayne!