I have the same vac you have, I let my yard grow up a little around leaf time so the grass mixes with the leaves. It helps them compost faster. I'm lucky to have a small tractor to turn the pile. The dirt / compost it makes always comes in handy and free is a lot cheaper then buying it. Also try duck taping the gap. Good video. Thanks
Good video. I am thinking of getting the XL unit. and was debating about the attachment to blow the grass in the the woods. You convents me. Do you have any trouble with the screen on the top of the catcher getting plugged ?
Thank you for your review and its length was a plus in this case. I watched the whole video. I have seen what the rocks can do to damage the DR version of the Cyclone Rake. Those rocks may eventually to the same to your Cyclone Rake even though it is much more durable. A good blower can help dry out the leaves too once they are separated from the rocks in your drainage ditch with your rake. Separating the sticks to shred up in a machine should help you compost some great top soil to help fertilize your lawn as well as fill in any unlevel portions of your lawn.
Great video. I just purchase a Cyclone Rake Commercial PRO. Waiting for the delivery. I should have done this years ago but just didn't want to pay all the funds . Now 5 years later I'm paying about 400.oo dollars more. Thanks for taken the time out of your day to make this amazing video. From one retired Law Enforcement Officer to another, be Strong and stay Safe.
Thanks for pointing me to this - I am still on the fence. My issue is I have decorative rock and pea gravel in the airs that this will need to go... I am worried it will suck up those rocks. Thanks so much for the video and time covering it. really helped me.
GameDemocom If the rocks are small 1-2 inch diameter size gravel then yes, the Cyclone Rake will pick them up. Keep in mind that I purchased the largest engine. Perhaps a smaller motor won't pick those rocks up, not sure. You are very welcome. I'm here if you need more assistance. Thanks!
Just purchased Z10.... what about sliding with the dual wheels? Ground at times can be moist/wet. I don't want to rip up lawn . Your review has been great. thx
Hi Joseph! I'm so glad this was helpful for you. The only issue I have experienced with the wheels is one time when I kept riding with a full heavy load. It did make Cyclone Rake tire tracks in the yard. Lesson learned, empty it when you know it's full or heavy. Thanks bro!
+Flip Gravity Flip that's a good question. I'm not sure to be honest. I didn't notice it when it occurred so I'm not sure how moist the ground was. I noticed it several days later. I guess the best thing I could tell you is that I have the biggest Cyclone Rake and container, so when it's full, empty it. I can tell mine is full when it becomes hard to steer because the front tires are a little off the ground due to the weight of the leaves in the Cyclone Rake container. So pay attention to what you are picking up; wet leaves, dirt, mud, rocks, etc. I can also tell you that I have only damaged the grass once with the weight of the Cyclone Rake being full. I hope this helped bro. Please let me know if you need anything else. I'm here to help!
Adam one more thing. I have 2 properties that I did with back blowers last year (a lot of work)...The front yard is a rather gradual but steep incline up to the house. Logically I am telling myself that the cyclone can not be used. Fearful of coming/riding down property that the leaves collected would be to much weight behind my Ferris zero turn....
+Joseph Germano Joseph that is a good question. I don't know how strong your mower is. On a steep incline I would definitely want something like a heavy duty sub-compact or compact diesel tractor. There is a slight incline from the road to my house of about 200 feet and when the Cyclone Rake is full I can feel my mower having difficulty pulling. So on a steep incline I'd be sure to have a very strong mower/tractor. I'm super confident that the Cyclone Rake will do its job, just make sure the mower is strong enough for those hills. Hope this helps Joseph!
I recently bought a used cyclone rake, It had a deck boot adapter that I custom fitted to my deck. This was a bit tedious to do, but this eliminated the poor fit of the boot to my deck. I jigsaw was all I needed to make the fit gap free. Plus taking the boot on and off about 20 times only cutting the adapter a little at a time, so as to not cut off to much, Measure once cut it once.
i recently hitched a Cyclone Rake classic to a brand new John Deere X350 48'' deck It did well for heavy leaf clumps i raise the deck with the left pedal when its picked up i lower it and go over it one more time. i believe i need the Z10 model due to the deck size. 48 inches. the classic models can take smaller deck sizes and hitch to many rear engine riding mowers. as its more preferred for zero turn mowers as it follows with you when you turn. the new DR lawn and Leaf Vac and the Agri Fab Mow n Vac its just a single hitch design meaning have to be careful backing up. the cyclone rake is much better with caste wheels. and it breaks down for storage easilly. as i have a 17 year old classic model cyclone rake is what they have offered then when it came out in 1997 it had the welded frame caster wheels that went in the bearings welded to the chassis. since 2000 they have the caster pads to mount them. i had to replace both caster wheels as the bearings jammed as they used cart type forks the new design is inproved, i had to replace the collector bag as the zipper broke with a new type bag with velcro and latches. the deck hose and MDA for the JD X350 accell deep 48 in deck, a new deck hose and the engine replaced which was a Tecumseh Enduro it has a Chongqing Ratio Power MFG. Harbor Freight predator 212 cc 7 HP engine as i had to modify the pipe and move the muffler inwards, and an adapter for the 3/4 shaft to 1 inch as it works great as now i need to replace the impeller its loose and chunks out of it as i have to order the entire blower housing with the impeller and the engine mount that has the caster wheels as i want the impeller only as its the whole housing with the high flow Miracle impeller they put in as i have the orignial 4 blade Miracle Impeller. the chassis and frame are in great shape for its age and holding up saying its 20 years woodland Power Products made the Cyclone Rake it was first made in 1997 as the only model now the classic. and added 4 other models since and acessories i only have the power vacuum pickup but need the one hose so its an estate vacuum as the beds here are too much for me to reach as i have to move the mower to clear an area. i may consider upgrading to the Z10 model to have better performance with the new JD X350 lawn tractor.
I don't think many people get more leaves than I do. I am surrounded by 70-100 foot tall oaks, maples, beech, poplar, pine, the list goes on. When fall comes, it is leaf-pocalypse on my 1.5 acre property. If left unattended, some areas will get up to 1.5 foot deep of leaves. I have been using my tractor to mulch them back into the lawn for many years. Its scientifically proven to be great for your grass and its super easy to do. My lawn looks great and I never use fertilizer. I am always baffled as to why most people vacuum or rake up all their leaves. It's beneficial food for the grass, why waste all that effort?
I've been told that oak leaves are acidic and require lime to counter if left on the ground, mulched or whole. Have you heard that? Aside from that, I agree that the mulched leaves will rot over the winter.
Great review. Thanks for all the info. I'm planning on getting the Z-10 in a week or so and this solidified my decision. Are you still liking it as much now as you did when you made the video?
Sorry for the last response. Yes, I still have my Cyclone Rake and love it. I couldn't do the clean up job of my huge yard without it. Enjoy and thank you for watching and commenting.
Excellent review video, Adam. You answered a couple of my questions by example - one was how does the MDA fit onto the deck. I think I'd have to do a little banging on mine, as well. I guess you had to remove the spring-loaded safety shield from your deck? The Cyclone rake appears well engineered. All of the fittings and metal appeared heavy duty. I think it'll hold up to years of banging around. Like you, I use my equipment to the limit of what it was designed for. Sometimes more ... Anyway, thanks for doing the review camera work and narration on top of your yard work. Wish you were my neighbor!
Andrew thanks for the AWESOME comments! Yes I did have to remove the plastic spring loaded deck guard, or whatever it's called....lol. Have lots of fun with your Cyclone Rake!
Good video I got to see someone do some real work with one of these instead of a commercial I was really impress with the ditch cleaning wet leaves are a pain but it suck them right up cyclone rake ought to give you some commission because you sold me I fixing to buy one
I also have one of these and they are amazing. The pickup strength is incredible. I disconnect there hose from the deck to sweep piles of leaves into it. When moving leaves by hand, afraid it might suck the wedding ring right off my finger..
Hey Adam , I liked your video, and I have an old pull behind chipper model that was made in the '60 's ,would like to have a cyclone rake like yours , I compost all of my clippings and half the neighborhoods leaves and grass and use them on my garden, my question is, do you have a mulching blade on your mower, or a high lift blade, or standard and how does it do to chop them up or does in just suck them up whole?, like I said when you compost you want them chopped up as much as you can so they decompose faster, thank you for the video really enjoyed it
As a Owner of a Cyclone Rake I want to thank you for the extensive review you really covered some of the questions I was going to ask, Great Video well off to the yard wish me luck !
I have 3 + acres to take care of... now doing leaves... is well... fun!!!! I am not paid by cyclone rake (woodland products) from West Haven CT for this post.Luckily I live 20 minutes from West Haven Ct so the delivery fee was N/A All i did was walk in.. tell the great receptionist ( and she knew EVERYTHING about the product) what i wanted and i was in and out in 30 minutes!!!!.. The product speaks for itself... You get what you pay for.. and I have to say, this is the best $2000 I have ever spent. 12 month 100% return policy and a 3 year warranty... Its well worth it. People sell these things on craigslist for 75% of the original cost 8 years later!!!!!! Just buy it new, your better off!!!!
David Ayotte Awesome David! You are very welcome sir. It was a challenge editing this video seeing that it is the longest review I've done to date. Good luck with which ever you choose.
Thank you for taking the time and bother to make this video. It was very good and informative. I think you're loosing power with the poor fit of the mower adapter. Woodland Products makes an number of adapters, so when you have a permanent machine be sure to get a correct adapter. As Requested "Hi" Mrs. Adam!
Thank you so much for taking the time with this video; Woodland reminds me of Troy-Bilt back when they were built direct-to-consumer in Troy, NY, doing a good job of working with prospective as well as long-term customers. Nevertheless, there's nothing like a customer demo. Is there anything you wish you had bought with the CR, as well as changes you wish they'd make? Do you feel you got the right size? Is it too big? Thank you.
David DaveEA These are good questions David. I feel the size is perfect. I bought the largest motor because I didn't want any excuses about the job being too big for the equipment. Is there anything I wish I would have bought with it? No, I don't think so. I think I pointed out the upgrades I bought with it in the video. One of the important upgrades for me was the dual tires. Some critiques of the Cyclone Rake is one of the tires won't hold air longer than a day. I still have not addressed that issue with the company. I'm not sure if it's covered under the warranty. Another critique is the handle on the power vacuum and on the motor, I wish they used more lock tight or something because one handle on the motor completely came off over time, and one of the two screws to the power vacuum handle also came off over time. Those are certainly very minor concerns but, they are the most I can complain about. David thanks for watching and for commenting and asking questions. Feel free to ask more questions. I'm SUPER glad I can help!
Great video. Thank you. Don't burn the leaves. Pile them into a tall pile touching the ground. Leave them alone. Each year the pile will shrink and in about three years you will have nice compost. Just don't put wood chips into the pile, because wood requires nitrogen to break it down efficiently.
Just came across this video. This is probably the best review on the cyclone rake I've ever seen. I knew it is a good rake but I did not know it would pick up mud. I'm impressed. I'm just wondering on the clean up on it. Have you tried sucking water into it to help in the clean up on the inside of it? Looks like it should but don't know if it would do good as far as cleaning it. I've watched a lot of videos of different types of leaf pickups and this is the best by far. I used to have a leaf pickup on a tractor I had, a few tractors ago but when I traded, it went with it and I've never replaced it. It was the John Deere model for the 425 I had and it was a trailer like the cyclone rake. I'm also wondering, if you would have mowed it first and then gone over it with cyclone rake if it would have done better and not picked up as much mud because the leaves would have had time to dry out some and been chopped up some. I know the ditch would have been harder to do with your tractor but I have a 4x4 tractor (1026R John Deere) and it would have been easier to do with it and could have blown the stuff in the ditch up onto the lawn to be picked up. Just thinking out load here. Great review, Thanks!
Thanks for watching! I have not tried picking up water to make for an easier clean up job. I don't know, it may work since it does pick up mud. I like your idea to mow it first and to get the leaves away from the tight spots. Great idea! Thanks Again for watching and commenting!
I have been thinking about getting one of these for commercial use for some time now. My question is have you ever picked up anything else with it like trimmed fountain grasses or lavender. I am sure it would suck it up but does it clog it up constantly. When I ask the manufactures if it picks up fountain grass all they keep telling me is it has a lot of suction...Thanks for the great video, Good job!!
Thanks for watching the video Tom. I am not totally sure about the fountain grass and lavender. I've only picked up dry and wet leaves, and grass. My guess is that it will pick up fountain grass and lavender. The lavender stalk might be a bit much. Its really kind of difficult to speculate on that. I do however think that if it will pick it up, and I think it would, the engine would eat it right up with no worries. I have only had clogs in the tube (power vacuum pickup) and it was heavy clumps of wet leaves and mud, and clippings from bushes and shrubs. The shrubs had stalks that were the size of twigs or tiny branches about a half inch in diameter. That is one of the parts that I didn't post on TH-cam. If you'd like I'd be willing to post that portion if it will help. It wouldn't be a problem. Other than that I would agree with the statement the company told you. It is really strong, especially when using the power vacuum pick up. Keep in mind that I have the biggest model. Please let me know if I can help you more. Thanks again for watching Tom.
Great review! Thanks for taking the time to do that. Now that you've had your Cyclone Rake for a while how has it been holding up? It looks like when you went to unload it there were straps and Velcro on the back, how is the Velcro holding up? And lastly what would you do different if you were to buy a unit again? Thanks again
JAH Marine Thanks for watching and commenting JAH Marine. The Cyclone Rake is holding up great. I have not had to replace any parts on it so far, and I've even used it this year already at my dads house. It is currently June 9th, 2015 and I used it last around April of 2015. The velcro and everything else is holding up good so far. What would I do different? Good question. The only thing I can think of is I would have ordered it sooner....lol I would not have done anything different. I am still as happy with the Cyclone Rake now as I was when I first used it. Thanks again!
Hi, I'm not sure if the author is still responding to his video, but I'm wondering how that hitch holds up over the years, whether it puts wear and tear on the tractor, if the hitch holes that accept the pins get worn, or if raking on hills has been dangerous, I'm also wondering if the CR engineers have experimented with suspended rear wheels instead of just letting the air pressure in the wheels provide some protection to the frame (or if it's not really an issue).
I think you are cutting the grass too low, I mow mine at 3 inches and then when the leaves start to fall I raise the deck up to 3.5 inches. If you will run the rake once a week as they fall and get them before they get wet it will be a piece of cake.That way you are not picking up any grass or much dirt. I have the commercial pro for five years now and it works great.You mentioned the power un loader hose in the video, I have that and I don't think it is worth having, the material doesn't shoot as far as you would think. Good review !
G42355 Hey G42355, sorry for such a late response. It's amazing how much Google has managed to mess up TH-cam. Yes I had the cutting deck pretty low, and that was because I bought the house in the very late fall/early winter and the fall leaves sat there until the following spring. So as a new Cyclone Rake owner at that time I felt that I needed to have the deck low enough to pick up the leaves stuck down in the dirt. I appreciate the info about the unloader. I will probably not get it now, based on your comment. Thank you very much for your comment and for watching.
This seems like my best option it is over 1000 dollars cheaper than getting a zeroturn with the bagging system and it does better I can just hook up a John Deere and go
Thank you for the video. You put in a lot of time, but are you in the city, or something like that? My usual leave clean up usually takes, (With Out) CR about 2 weeks of solid coverage of leaves where green lawn cant hardly be seen....lol I am considering the purchase, but can only wish a video with country type Fallage can be demonstrated. Thank for your input!
Hwoodification Thanks for watching and commenting. Yes I live in the country on a large piece of property, but my yard is only about 2 acres or so. Of course that's huge for city folks....lolol I have about 40 trees in my front yard, plus leaves fall from the neighbors property on to my property. I've discovered that if I put the mower deck all the way down that I am able to pick up some of the acorns. I'm not sure if I've answered your question. I have used the Cyclone Rake to pick up a light/thin layer of leaves and a huge/thick layer of leaves. It works great in either case. Some of the limitations of things really depend on your mower. For example, if the leaves are too thick/piled up too high your mower deck will have problems clearing the top of the leaves, therefore the leaves will get bunched up in front of your mower deck and you will be pushing leaves instead of driving over them. That is one of the reasons I have to clear all the leaves more than several times in the fall. Another reason I frequently clean the leaves in the fall is because of the rain. Wet leaves are more difficult to pick up, so if I know it's going to rain I try to clean the leaves a day or two before it rains. I have also used the Cyclone Rake at our family property where there is about 3 acres or so to maintain. That property in about 25 minutes from my house and is a bit more in a desolate country setting. It still works great. Let me know if I can help anymore. I'm glad the video was helpful. It motivates me to make more videos. In short, I think the Cyclone Rake is a MACK!!!
your lucky with that L100's 5 speed because all the new d series except the d 100 have tuff torq hydrostats and they're known for being poor quality, mine on my d125 is a TLA-200 or T40 and its the entry level trans, but Im hoping i can get my hands on a k66 trans before mine goes.
Adam,....Would it work if you don't want to use it with a tractor mower? I want it as a stationary machine with the hose attachment and move it by hand (it probably wouldn't be nearly as heavy as what you have there in your video) when I need to position it near a pile of leaves...leaving it standing on some blocks (the hitching side) to keep it level.
Todd Dolce Hey Todd. Sorry for such a late response. It's amazing how much Google has managed to mess up TH-cam. Anyway, I'm sure you could get this thing to work as you have described. Good luck to you!
The tractor's mower is what mulches the leaves. With the stationary vacuum hose, you only get a little bit of mulching effect from the impeller. CycloneRake recommends against using the system this way if you want the best mulching
One Adam Twelve, One Adam Twelve...two questions in progress....How do you fold the Bagger up to stow vertically and do you find the long hose gets clogged pretty often?
sagr 98 Haha, thanks for the humor....lol Folding the bag is pretty simple. At the rear of the bag, open all four flaps completely opening the rear as if to dump a load of leaves. This allows the bag flexibility by the flaps not being attached by the Velcro. As you're standing at the rear, lay the bottom flap inside the bag, fold the left side down flat and then fold the right side down flat. During the folding process the other flaps will be tucked in to the fold. After that I use a bungee cord wrapped around the folded bag to hold it together, and then hang it on the wall mounted hooks. Hopes that helps. Thanks for watching!
sagr 98 To answer your second question, no the hose does not get clogged often. In my video the clogs happen when I was picking up thick amounts of wet leaves, and the clogs were few under such rigorous circumstances. Thanks again!
My hangup with the clogging is sticks/twigs more so than leaves. They seem to constantly get lodged sideways and then the leaves build up the clog and always farther down one end or the other than I can reach. I'll spend more time dislodging the clogs with a rake handle or something than I do sucking stuff up. Other than that, this thing is pretty awesome.
sagr 98 I've only had a clogs from sticks two or three times, but you definitely want to be sure to clean up the sticks before the leaves start to fall. Thank you.
great video it seems like it make more sense to blow those leaves out onto the lawn with a backpack blower then run over them with the cyclone rake anyway excellent video
I have an older model,we do about 25 acres of lawn,it is a great machine but I don't like it on our john deere zero turn,,its better on a conventional tractor
don cannell Yeah, that sounds right. I've not used a zero turn but, it does seem easier on a traditional tractor. Thanks for watching and commenting Don.
I'm sure he's proud of his chosen profession. Why shouldn't he be? I'm a trucker and damned proud it!! Will Robinson, if you have an axe to grind get over it.
Hey Mike, sorry you had a bad experience. I still LOVE my Cyclone Rake. It's still going strong after four years. I hope they remedy your issue. Good luck!
Hi Mike - No need to demand...We have the best warranty/guarantee in the industry. If you purchased the unit from us and are using it at your home, we have a complete 1-year guarantee to get your money back. Or, if it's still under our 3-year warranty, we'll gladly replace it as long as it wasn't neglect or misuse that caused the failure. The housings have been in production for 20+ years and rarely have we seen a housing break. But if it happened and it's a material defect...no problem. Please give our support team a call at 888-531-7253 and we'll get this resolved.
wingzofsteel Thanks for commenting. Sorry for such a late response. It's amazing how much Google has managed to mess up TH-cam. I do not have acorns on my property. My dad does and I remember it doing well enough that I did not have any complaints.
I have Husqvarna's strongest backpack blower, and it's the same as the Redmax, and I agree that's an effective way to clear a lawn, I guess I am thinking of having both (the blower gets used all year round, even when there's light snow to blow off the driveway).
David DaveEA Thanks for the comment David. I'm sure both products will get the job done however, the leaves in the ditch were soaking wet and I'm not sure if a Redmax blower can handle that job. Maybe it can. I have not seen it in action. The other thing to remember is if you are blowing leaving you still have to pick them up and dispose of them, unless you blow them in to the woods. In either case have fun cleaning. It is that time of year again. I will be going outside in a few minutes to clean my yard with my Cyclone Rake.
I have the same vac you have, I let my yard grow up a little around leaf time so the grass mixes with the leaves. It helps them compost faster. I'm lucky to have a small tractor to turn the pile. The dirt / compost it makes always comes in handy and free is a lot cheaper then buying it. Also try duck taping the gap. Good video. Thanks
Good video. Sold me. I’m buying one.
Good video. I am thinking of getting the XL unit. and was debating about the attachment to blow the grass in the the woods. You convents me. Do you have any trouble with the screen on the top of the catcher getting plugged ?
Thank you for your review and its length was a plus in this case. I watched the whole video. I have seen what the rocks can do to damage the DR version of the Cyclone Rake. Those rocks may eventually to the same to your Cyclone Rake even though it is much more durable.
A good blower can help dry out the leaves too once they are separated from the rocks in your drainage ditch with your rake. Separating the sticks to shred up in a machine should help you compost some great top soil to help fertilize your lawn as well as fill in any unlevel portions of your lawn.
You are so welcome Christfollower! I appreciate you watching, commenting and leaving me a good tip. Thank you!
Great video. I just purchase a Cyclone Rake Commercial PRO. Waiting for the delivery. I should have done this years ago but just didn't want to pay all the funds
. Now 5 years later I'm paying about 400.oo dollars more. Thanks for taken the time out of your day to make this amazing video. From one retired Law Enforcement Officer to another, be Strong and stay Safe.
Thanks for pointing me to this - I am still on the fence. My issue is I have decorative rock and pea gravel in the airs that this will need to go... I am worried it will suck up those rocks. Thanks so much for the video and time covering it. really helped me.
GameDemocom If the rocks are small 1-2 inch diameter size gravel then yes, the Cyclone Rake will pick them up. Keep in mind that I purchased the largest engine. Perhaps a smaller motor won't pick those rocks up, not sure. You are very welcome. I'm here if you need more assistance. Thanks!
Just purchased Z10.... what about sliding with the dual wheels? Ground at times can be moist/wet. I don't want to rip up lawn . Your review has been great. thx
Hi Joseph! I'm so glad this was helpful for you. The only issue I have experienced with the wheels is one time when I kept riding with a full heavy load. It did make Cyclone Rake tire tracks in the yard. Lesson learned, empty it when you know it's full or heavy. Thanks bro!
+Adam is this issue only in wet ground I mow lawns "commercially" and I don't want to wreck a lawn
+Flip Gravity
Flip that's a good question. I'm not sure to be honest. I didn't notice it when it occurred so I'm not sure how moist the ground was. I noticed it several days later. I guess the best thing I could tell you is that I have the biggest Cyclone Rake and container, so when it's full, empty it. I can tell mine is full when it becomes hard to steer because the front tires are a little off the ground due to the weight of the leaves in the Cyclone Rake container. So pay attention to what you are picking up; wet leaves, dirt, mud, rocks, etc. I can also tell you that I have only damaged the grass once with the weight of the Cyclone Rake being full. I hope this helped bro. Please let me know if you need anything else. I'm here to help!
Adam one more thing. I have 2 properties that I did with back blowers last year (a lot of work)...The front yard is a rather gradual but steep incline up to the house. Logically I am telling myself that the cyclone can not be used. Fearful of coming/riding down property that the leaves collected would be to much weight behind my Ferris zero turn....
+Joseph Germano
Joseph that is a good question. I don't know how strong your mower is. On a steep incline I would definitely want something like a heavy duty sub-compact or compact diesel tractor. There is a slight incline from the road to my house of about 200 feet and when the Cyclone Rake is full I can feel my mower having difficulty pulling. So on a steep incline I'd be sure to have a very strong mower/tractor. I'm super confident that the Cyclone Rake will do its job, just make sure the mower is strong enough for those hills. Hope this helps Joseph!
I recently bought a used cyclone rake, It had a deck boot adapter that I custom fitted to my deck. This was a bit tedious to do, but this eliminated the poor fit of the boot to my deck. I jigsaw was all I needed to make the fit gap free. Plus taking the boot on and off about 20 times only cutting the adapter a little at a time, so as to not cut off to much, Measure once cut it once.
Thanks for the tip Mary. I certainly would like to eliminate that gap. thanks again!
i recently hitched a Cyclone Rake classic to a brand new John Deere X350 48'' deck It did well for heavy leaf clumps i raise the deck with the left pedal when its picked up i lower it and go over it one more time. i believe i need the Z10 model due to the deck size. 48 inches. the classic models can take smaller deck sizes and hitch to many rear engine riding mowers. as its more preferred for zero turn mowers as it follows with you when you turn. the new DR lawn and Leaf Vac and the Agri Fab Mow n Vac its just a single hitch design meaning have to be careful backing up. the cyclone rake is much better with caste wheels. and it breaks down for storage easilly. as i have a 17 year old classic model cyclone rake is what they have offered then when it came out in 1997 it had the welded frame caster wheels that went in the bearings welded to the chassis. since 2000 they have the caster pads to mount them. i had to replace both caster wheels as the bearings jammed as they used cart type forks the new design is inproved, i had to replace the collector bag as the zipper broke with a new type bag with velcro and latches. the deck hose and MDA for the JD X350 accell deep 48 in deck, a new deck hose and the engine replaced which was a Tecumseh Enduro it has a Chongqing Ratio Power MFG. Harbor Freight predator 212 cc 7 HP engine as i had to modify the pipe and move the muffler inwards, and an adapter for the 3/4 shaft to 1 inch as it works great as now i need to replace the impeller its loose and chunks out of it as i have to order the entire blower housing with the impeller and the engine mount that has the caster wheels as i want the impeller only as its the whole housing with the high flow Miracle impeller they put in as i have the orignial 4 blade Miracle Impeller. the chassis and frame are in great shape for its age and holding up saying its 20 years woodland Power Products made the Cyclone Rake it was first made in 1997 as the only model now the classic. and added 4 other models since and acessories i only have the power vacuum pickup but need the one hose so its an estate vacuum as the beds here are too much for me to reach as i have to move the mower to clear an area. i may consider upgrading to the Z10 model to have better performance with the new JD X350 lawn tractor.
I don't think many people get more leaves than I do. I am surrounded by 70-100 foot tall oaks, maples, beech, poplar, pine, the list goes on. When fall comes, it is leaf-pocalypse on my 1.5 acre property. If left unattended, some areas will get up to 1.5 foot deep of leaves. I have been using my tractor to mulch them back into the lawn for many years. Its scientifically proven to be great for your grass and its super easy to do. My lawn looks great and I never use fertilizer. I am always baffled as to why most people vacuum or rake up all their leaves. It's beneficial food for the grass, why waste all that effort?
I've been told that oak leaves are acidic and require lime to counter if left on the ground, mulched or whole. Have you heard that? Aside from that, I agree that the mulched leaves will rot over the winter.
Great review. Thanks for all the info. I'm planning on getting the Z-10 in a week or so and this solidified my decision. Are you still liking it as much now as you did when you made the video?
Sorry for the last response. Yes, I still have my Cyclone Rake and love it. I couldn't do the clean up job of my huge yard without it. Enjoy and thank you for watching and commenting.
Excellent review video, Adam. You answered a couple of my questions by example - one was how does the MDA fit onto the deck. I think I'd have to do a little banging on mine, as well. I guess you had to remove the spring-loaded safety shield from your deck?
The Cyclone rake appears well engineered. All of the fittings and metal appeared heavy duty. I think it'll hold up to years of banging around. Like you, I use my equipment to the limit of what it was designed for. Sometimes more ...
Anyway, thanks for doing the review camera work and narration on top of your yard work. Wish you were my neighbor!
Andrew thanks for the AWESOME comments! Yes I did have to remove the plastic spring loaded deck guard, or whatever it's called....lol. Have lots of fun with your Cyclone Rake!
Good video I got to see someone do some real work with one of these instead of a commercial I was really impress with the ditch cleaning wet leaves are a pain but it suck them right up cyclone rake ought to give you some commission because you sold me I fixing to buy one
Thank you Leroy! I do love my Cyclone Rake! Thanks for watching and feel free to give me an update after you use yours.
I also have one of these and they are amazing. The pickup strength is incredible. I disconnect there hose from the deck to sweep piles of leaves into it. When moving leaves by hand, afraid it might suck the wedding ring right off my finger..
Haha, right! Thank you so much for commenting.
Hey Adam , I liked your video, and I have an old pull behind chipper model that was made in the '60 's ,would like to have a cyclone rake like yours , I compost all of my clippings and half the neighborhoods leaves and grass and use them on my garden, my question is, do you have a mulching blade on your mower, or a high lift blade, or standard and how does it do to chop them up or does in just suck them up whole?, like I said when you compost you want them chopped up as much as you can so they decompose faster, thank you for the video really enjoyed it
excellent video. very helpful. thank you
Taylor Siegert You are very welcome Taylor. My pleasure! Thanks for watching.
Glad to see what the CR is capable of. You definitely put it to the test
As a Owner of a Cyclone Rake I want to thank you for the extensive review you really covered some of the questions I was going to ask, Great Video well off to the yard wish me luck !
That's awesome Rom! I'm so glad I could help! Good luck!..... lol
I have 3 + acres to take care of... now doing leaves... is well... fun!!!! I am not paid by cyclone rake (woodland products) from West Haven CT for this post.Luckily I live 20 minutes from West Haven Ct so the delivery fee was N/A All i did was walk in.. tell the great receptionist ( and she knew EVERYTHING about the product) what i wanted and i was in and out in 30 minutes!!!!.. The product speaks for itself... You get what you pay for.. and I have to say, this is the best $2000 I have ever spent. 12 month 100% return policy and a 3 year warranty... Its well worth it. People sell these things on craigslist for 75% of the original cost 8 years later!!!!!! Just buy it new, your better off!!!!
Thanks for taking the time to make this extensive review. I'm considering this or /the DR model,.
David Ayotte Awesome David! You are very welcome sir. It was a challenge editing this video seeing that it is the longest review I've done to date. Good luck with which ever you choose.
Thank you for taking the time and bother to make this video. It was very good and informative. I think you're loosing power with the poor fit of the mower adapter. Woodland Products makes an number of adapters, so when you have a permanent machine be sure to get a correct adapter. As Requested "Hi" Mrs. Adam!
Thanks for the comment. I have since remedied the issue with the adapter. It works great now.
Thank you so much for taking the time with this video; Woodland reminds me of Troy-Bilt back when they were built direct-to-consumer in Troy, NY, doing a good job of working with prospective as well as long-term customers. Nevertheless, there's nothing like a customer demo. Is there anything you wish you had bought with the CR, as well as changes you wish they'd make? Do you feel you got the right size? Is it too big? Thank you.
David DaveEA These are good questions David. I feel the size is perfect. I bought the largest motor because I didn't want any excuses about the job being too big for the equipment. Is there anything I wish I would have bought with it? No, I don't think so. I think I pointed out the upgrades I bought with it in the video. One of the important upgrades for me was the dual tires. Some critiques of the Cyclone Rake is one of the tires won't hold air longer than a day. I still have not addressed that issue with the company. I'm not sure if it's covered under the warranty. Another critique is the handle on the power vacuum and on the motor, I wish they used more lock tight or something because one handle on the motor completely came off over time, and one of the two screws to the power vacuum handle also came off over time. Those are certainly very minor concerns but, they are the most I can complain about. David thanks for watching and for commenting and asking questions. Feel free to ask more questions. I'm SUPER glad I can help!
Great video. Thank you. Don't burn the leaves. Pile them into a tall pile touching the ground. Leave them alone. Each year the pile will shrink and in about three years you will have nice compost. Just don't put wood chips into the pile, because wood requires nitrogen to break it down efficiently.
Thank you very much Darryl for your comment, and for watching!
Hiii
That is a pretty neat thing right there. Nice review.
Haha, thanks Greg! It is a pretty cool thing. Especially with such a huge yard like mine. I love that thing. Thanks again Greg.
Just came across this video. This is probably the best review on the cyclone rake I've ever seen. I knew it is a good rake but I did not know it would pick up mud. I'm impressed. I'm just wondering on the clean up on it. Have you tried sucking water into it to help in the clean up on the inside of it? Looks like it should but don't know if it would do good as far as cleaning it. I've watched a lot of videos of different types of leaf pickups and this is the best by far. I used to have a leaf pickup on a tractor I had, a few tractors ago but when I traded, it went with it and I've never replaced it. It was the John Deere model for the 425 I had and it was a trailer like the cyclone rake. I'm also wondering, if you would have mowed it first and then gone over it with cyclone rake if it would have done better and not picked up as much mud because the leaves would have had time to dry out some and been chopped up some. I know the ditch would have been harder to do with your tractor but I have a 4x4 tractor (1026R John Deere) and it would have been easier to do with it and could have blown the stuff in the ditch up onto the lawn to be picked up. Just thinking out load here. Great review, Thanks!
Thanks for watching! I have not tried picking up water to make for an easier clean up job. I don't know, it may work since it does pick up mud. I like your idea to mow it first and to get the leaves away from the tight spots. Great idea! Thanks Again for watching and commenting!
I have been thinking about getting one of these for commercial use for some time now. My question is have you ever picked up anything else with it like trimmed fountain grasses or lavender. I am sure it would suck it up but does it clog it up constantly. When I ask the manufactures if it picks up fountain grass all they keep telling me is it has a lot of suction...Thanks for the great video, Good job!!
Thanks for watching the video Tom. I am not totally sure about the fountain grass and lavender. I've only picked up dry and wet leaves, and grass. My guess is that it will pick up fountain grass and lavender. The lavender stalk might be a bit much. Its really kind of difficult to speculate on that. I do however think that if it will pick it up, and I think it would, the engine would eat it right up with no worries. I have only had clogs in the tube (power vacuum pickup) and it was heavy clumps of wet leaves and mud, and clippings from bushes and shrubs. The shrubs had stalks that were the size of twigs or tiny branches about a half inch in diameter. That is one of the parts that I didn't post on TH-cam. If you'd like I'd be willing to post that portion if it will help. It wouldn't be a problem. Other than that I would agree with the statement the company told you. It is really strong, especially when using the power vacuum pick up. Keep in mind that I have the biggest model. Please let me know if I can help you more. Thanks again for watching Tom.
Tom S. I
Great review! Thanks for taking the time to do that. Now that you've had your Cyclone Rake for a while how has it been holding up? It looks like when you went to unload it there were straps and Velcro on the back, how is the Velcro holding up? And lastly what would you do different if you were to buy a unit again? Thanks again
JAH Marine Thanks for watching and commenting JAH Marine. The Cyclone Rake is holding up great. I have not had to replace any parts on it so far, and I've even used it this year already at my dads house. It is currently June 9th, 2015 and I used it last around April of 2015. The velcro and everything else is holding up good so far. What would I do different? Good question. The only thing I can think of is I would have ordered it sooner....lol I would not have done anything different. I am still as happy with the Cyclone Rake now as I was when I first used it. Thanks again!
Hi, I'm not sure if the author is still responding to his video, but I'm wondering how that hitch holds up over the years, whether it puts wear and tear on the tractor, if the hitch holes that accept the pins get worn, or if raking on hills has been dangerous, I'm also wondering if the CR engineers have experimented with suspended rear wheels instead of just letting the air pressure in the wheels provide some protection to the frame (or if it's not really an issue).
I think you are cutting the grass too low, I mow mine at 3 inches and then when the leaves start to fall I raise the deck up to 3.5 inches. If you will run the rake once a week as they fall and get them before they get wet it will be a piece of cake.That way you are not picking up any grass or much dirt. I have the commercial pro for five years now and it works great.You mentioned the power un loader hose in the video, I have that and I don't think it is worth having, the material doesn't shoot as far as you would think. Good review !
G42355 Hey G42355, sorry for such a late response. It's amazing how much Google has managed to mess up TH-cam. Yes I had the cutting deck pretty low, and that was because I bought the house in the very late fall/early winter and the fall leaves sat there until the following spring. So as a new Cyclone Rake owner at that time I felt that I needed to have the deck low enough to pick up the leaves stuck down in the dirt. I appreciate the info about the unloader. I will probably not get it now, based on your comment. Thank you very much for your comment and for watching.
This seems like my best option it is over 1000 dollars cheaper than getting a zeroturn with the bagging system and it does better I can just hook up a John Deere and go
I've not checked out the zeroturns with the bagging system. It sounds like you're gonna be a Cyclone Rake man!!!
Thank you for the video. You put in a lot of time, but are you in the city, or something like that? My usual leave clean up usually takes, (With Out) CR about 2 weeks of solid coverage of leaves where green lawn cant hardly be seen....lol I am considering the purchase, but can only wish a video with country type Fallage can be demonstrated. Thank for your input!
Hwoodification Thanks for watching and commenting. Yes I live in the country on a large piece of property, but my yard is only about 2 acres or so. Of course that's huge for city folks....lolol
I have about 40 trees in my front yard, plus leaves fall from the neighbors property on to my property. I've discovered that if I put the mower deck all the way down that I am able to pick up some of the acorns.
I'm not sure if I've answered your question. I have used the Cyclone Rake to pick up a light/thin layer of leaves and a huge/thick layer of leaves. It works great in either case. Some of the limitations of things really depend on your mower. For example, if the leaves are too thick/piled up too high your mower deck will have problems clearing the top of the leaves, therefore the leaves will get bunched up in front of your mower deck and you will be pushing leaves instead of driving over them. That is one of the reasons I have to clear all the leaves more than several times in the fall. Another reason I frequently clean the leaves in the fall is because of the rain. Wet leaves are more difficult to pick up, so if I know it's going to rain I try to clean the leaves a day or two before it rains. I have also used the Cyclone Rake at our family property where there is about 3 acres or so to maintain. That property in about 25 minutes from my house and is a bit more in a desolate country setting. It still works great.
Let me know if I can help anymore. I'm glad the video was helpful. It motivates me to make more videos. In short, I think the Cyclone Rake is a MACK!!!
Very good video sir, I counted 38 cars that drove by hehe
Steven G Richardson Haha, very funny! Thanks for watching and counting all those cars....lololol
your lucky with that L100's 5 speed because all the new d series except the d 100 have tuff torq hydrostats and they're known for being poor quality, mine on my d125 is a TLA-200 or T40 and its the entry level trans, but Im hoping i can get my hands on a k66 trans before mine goes.
classic gamer Hey bud, thanks for watching and commenting. I appreciate you watching my videos. Thanks again!
Adam,....Would it work if you don't want to use it with a tractor mower? I want it as a stationary machine with the hose attachment and move it by hand (it probably wouldn't be nearly as heavy as what you have there in your video) when I need to position it near a pile of leaves...leaving it standing on some blocks (the hitching side) to keep it level.
Todd Dolce Hey Todd. Sorry for such a late response. It's amazing how much Google has managed to mess up TH-cam. Anyway, I'm sure you could get this thing to work as you have described. Good luck to you!
The tractor's mower is what mulches the leaves. With the stationary vacuum hose, you only get a little bit of mulching effect from the impeller. CycloneRake recommends against using the system this way if you want the best mulching
Wow nice review, this helped me out a lot
groudon4616 Awesome groudon4616! I am so glad this helped. That's why I do these videos.
Small branches pruning & litter fragmentation
One Adam Twelve, One Adam Twelve...two questions in progress....How do you fold the Bagger up to stow vertically and do you find the long hose gets clogged pretty often?
sagr 98 Haha, thanks for the humor....lol Folding the bag is pretty simple. At the rear of the bag, open all four flaps completely opening the rear as if to dump a load of leaves. This allows the bag flexibility by the flaps not being attached by the Velcro. As you're standing at the rear, lay the bottom flap inside the bag, fold the left side down flat and then fold the right side down flat. During the folding process the other flaps will be tucked in to the fold. After that I use a bungee cord wrapped around the folded bag to hold it together, and then hang it on the wall mounted hooks. Hopes that helps. Thanks for watching!
sagr 98 To answer your second question, no the hose does not get clogged often. In my video the clogs happen when I was picking up thick amounts of wet leaves, and the clogs were few under such rigorous circumstances. Thanks again!
My hangup with the clogging is sticks/twigs more so than leaves. They seem to constantly get lodged sideways and then the leaves build up the clog and always farther down one end or the other than I can reach. I'll spend more time dislodging the clogs with a rake handle or something than I do sucking stuff up. Other than that, this thing is pretty awesome.
sagr 98 I've only had a clogs from sticks two or three times, but you definitely want to be sure to clean up the sticks before the leaves start to fall. Thank you.
great video it seems like it make more sense to blow those leaves out onto the lawn with a backpack blower then run over them with the cyclone rake anyway excellent video
I have an older model,we do about 25 acres of lawn,it is a great machine but I don't like it on our john deere zero turn,,its better on a conventional tractor
don cannell Yeah, that sounds right. I've not used a zero turn but, it does seem easier on a traditional tractor. Thanks for watching and commenting Don.
Why did you find it important to to let everyone know youre a cop?
I'm sure he's proud of his chosen profession. Why shouldn't he be? I'm a trucker and damned proud it!! Will Robinson, if you have an axe to grind get over it.
Then why dont you go by Ye Ole Trucker? Cops are thug bullies and extortionists.
Dont you will haw best compost like in one year. Keep it for your grass.
Throttle? Wide open all the time!
Jordendog Yes, when I am actively cleaning leaves the throttle is wide open, Jason Aldean style.....lolol
Dont buy one...the cheap plastic housing broke into pieces....demanding my money back...
Hey Mike, sorry you had a bad experience. I still LOVE my Cyclone Rake. It's still going strong after four years. I hope they remedy your issue. Good luck!
Hi Mike - No need to demand...We have the best warranty/guarantee in the industry. If you purchased the unit from us and are using it at your home, we have a complete 1-year guarantee to get your money back. Or, if it's still under our 3-year warranty, we'll gladly replace it as long as it wasn't neglect or misuse that caused the failure. The housings have been in production for 20+ years and rarely have we seen a housing break. But if it happened and it's a material defect...no problem. Please give our support team a call at 888-531-7253 and we'll get this resolved.
@@CycloneRake Thank you guys at Cyclone Rake for addressing my viewers concerns. I love the way you stand behind your product. Great Job!
Great video. I wonder how well it will pick up Acorns? I have millions of them.
wingzofsteel Thanks for commenting. Sorry for such a late response. It's amazing how much Google has managed to mess up TH-cam. I do not have acorns on my property. My dad does and I remember it doing well enough that I did not have any complaints.
Good video. However, my Red MaxEBZ 8500 900CFM can blow a 1 1/2 acre yard in about two hours. It would also clear that ditch in no time flat.
Awesome bro!
I have Husqvarna's strongest backpack blower, and it's the same as the Redmax, and I agree that's an effective way to clear a lawn, I guess I am thinking of having both (the blower gets used all year round, even when there's light snow to blow off the driveway).
David DaveEA Thanks for the comment David. I'm sure both products will get the job done however, the leaves in the ditch were soaking wet and I'm not sure if a Redmax blower can handle that job. Maybe it can. I have not seen it in action. The other thing to remember is if you are blowing leaving you still have to pick them up and dispose of them, unless you blow them in to the woods. In either case have fun cleaning. It is that time of year again. I will be going outside in a few minutes to clean my yard with my Cyclone Rake.
Small but nice
Erik Loggen Thanks for the comment Erik!
Good to composting