this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2024
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Possum Lodge Skunk Works

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Leaf Vacuum (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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If necessity is the mother of invention, laziness is the grandaddy.

I have almost a half acre which gets covered in oak leaves during the fall. I have to get them all to the burn pile on one end of the property which usually involves blowing them into separate piles and transporting each pile to the burn pile a bit at a time.

I figured there has to be an easier way to do this. I used a leaf blower/vac, a 4" flexible hose, and an insulation disposal bag that I had leftover from another project. It works pretty good. Actually better than the vacuum does with the shoulder bag probably because the airflow isn't as restricted.

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[–] WhyDoYouPersist 18 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Out of curiosity, what necessitates moving the leaf litter at all? Asking genuinely, not trying to rain on your triumph--very cool setup. Just want to mention that leaf litter provides several natural benefits as part of its ecosystem you may not be aware of:

-It provides shelter and food for ground insects that enrich soil and feed birds over winter

-Butterflies and especially moths (who also pollinate) rely on leaf litter to protect eggs from the elements over winter. We don't see nearly as many fireflies as we used to due to loss of their habitat when leaf litter is removed

-It acts as natural mulch, leaching nutrients and decomposing into additional top soil layers, as well as conserving water by moisture retention

-Energy/fuel is expended to collect and move the leaf litter, on top of negating all the above

I'd love to know if there's a unique circumstance in your situation that requires the use of collection and burning rather than natural decomp, I'm certainly open to learning something new.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Good question and all valid points.

There's a few reasons for removing the leaves. One being pest control. Another being that they're a fire hazard (especially relevant since we're currently under one of the worst droughts in decades).

There's also the matter of keeping peace with my neighbors who won't appreciate all my leaves blowing into their yards or potentially plugging up their drainage culverts and flooding their basements, which around here is a very real possibility.

Burning them is just a matter of convenience but now you've made me think I could actually spread them in the woods behind the house and maybe that would be a better way of handling them.

[–] WhyDoYouPersist 2 points 1 month ago

That makes sense, thanks! Neighbors and peer pressure I've found are one of the most difficult hurdles to overcome when it comes to restoring or maintaining native ecosystems, for those who are interested in doing so.

Good point about the fire safety aspect. It's interesting: prior to human disruption and development, wildfires were a massive key to the sustainability and reinforcement of health for native flora and soil. Most cities won't let you perform prescribed fires on your property to try to emulate that (for good reason, of course!). Because you're removing the leaf barrier during drought, the next best thing to conserve moisture in the soil would be locally produced mulch. A good rule of thumb is to mulch at least a couple inches deep all the way to the drip line of the tree (where the roots extend to and even beyond), just imagine a line dripping straight down from the very outer circumference of branches on the tree. And as another user said, never put any mulch or other organic matter within a few inches of the trunk to keep decaying matter and the organisms it attracts away from the tree tissue.

The pest control aspect theoretically should work itself out by keeping the native ecosystem as intact as possible. Too many pests means an abundance of food for beneficial predators such as wasps, dragonflies, songbirds and birds of prey. Of course if you're referring to pests as meaning invasive species that outcompete natives, that's much trickier.

I'm sorry for the wall of text and unsolicited advice but it is a passion of mine so it's hard to shut up once I start. That stuff is literally worth it's weight in gold to the natural world; you might even want to try composting it as another option, but anywhere you move it to will be all the richer for it.

In any case, I appreciate the engineering of your jolly green giant leaf sucker and I hope it serves you well if you continue transporting the leaf litter.

[–] ikidd 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Reverse your sucker and suck them out of the bag and spread around the trees. Assuming the bag is porous enough to do this.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Just avoid making a mulch volcano around the base of the tree. That would be bad for the tree.

[–] kalpol 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Well I need this to vacuum all the old insulation from my attic.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

In my experience the small Harbor Freight dust collector works pretty well for this.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

Red would be proud. Once you vacumm those bad boys up, have you considered composting the leaves? It sounds like you have room to have a discreet compost heap behind some trees.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Patent it! An ideal alternative to regular leaf blowers if they will be banned (I hope).