Here's What You Should Consider Before Buying A Lawn Sweeper

Raking your yard can be back-breaking work. It can take hours out of your day, and it's a chore that you often have to repeat over and over again as trees slowly lose their leaves throughout the season. As much as you might love to let the leaves spend the winter on your lawn, this can cause mold or disease that will affect your grass in the spring. Luckily, there is a tool that takes care of leaves with ease that could help you sip a pumpkin spice latte on your front porch instead of spending all that time raking.

A lawn sweeper, sometimes called a leaf or yard sweeper, works a lot like a vacuum cleaner. However, unlike most popular leaf blowers, they are unpowered. Instead, the device uses high-speed brushes to collect leaves, twigs, and other debris from your yard so that you don't have to rake them up. The brushes spin as the sweeper's wheels turn, making batteries or a power source unnecessary. The debris collected by the brushes is then collected in a hopper for easy disposal. 

Buyers have two types of lawn sweepers to choose from: a push sweeper that requires the user to walk behind it and push it across the grass, and a tow-behind sweeper that users can attach to a lawn mower and pull across their yard. Lawn sweepers are easy to use, quiet, and efficient, but there are a few factors to consider before you invest in one, including the size of your yard and your budget.

The type of lawn sweeper you select will largely depend on the size of your lawn. A push sweeper is best for smaller yards because you'll have to do less manual pushing. If your lawn is on the larger side, a tow-behind sweeper, which attaches to your lawn mower like a cart, would work better because it has a larger sweeping path and can pick up more debris. These typically have larger storage hoppers as well. Of course, tow-behind sweepers will only be an option if you already have a lawn tractor or a riding mower.

Another factor to consider is cost. Push sweepers are generally cheaper, but not always. For example, most offerings on Amazon are priced between about $150 and $200, although the cheapest option at Lowe's is priced at $339. Meanwhile, the cheapest tow-behind mower at Lowe's at the time of this writing would set you back about $278. This depends on the size, though, with other larger tow-behind models priced closer to the $400 to $600 range. 

No matter what type of sweeper you go with, you should also consider the size of the hopper. A smaller hopper bag will need to be emptied more often. You'll also want to think about exactly what you expect the sweeper to grab. If your yard is full of smaller items like pine needles and nuts, choose a sweeper with adjustable brushes and a higher quantity of brushes so it will completely clear your lawn. If you want a durable sweeper that will last, look for sweepers made from steel or heavy-duty plastic. Ultimately, a lawn sweeper will save you time and a sore back, but you'll want to select the best one for your needs.