Agri-Fab 45-0320, 42" Tow-Behind Lawn Sweeper

I have 2+ acres of grass to cut using my Husqvarna ride on mower. Each time I mow it leaves a line of grass cuttings to the right of each pass. I initally purchased a Husqvarna Triple Lawn Mower Bagger for around $700 which turned out to be absolutely useless. Just a hint of dew or dampness in the grass and it would block up after just a few feet of collecting cuttings, I spent hours trying to get it to reliably collect grass but it never did! Then a few months ago I saw this lawn sweeper on sale for just $133.71 with coupon. Despite a few negative reviews I decided to try it out, I mean it couldn't be any worse than the triple bagger could it ? We have had a very wet spring and I have had to wait until late May (24th) for the grass to be somewhat dry to give the sweeper a try. It took about an hour to assemble and the collecting bag is far from perfect but I manage to decipher the poor instructions and assemble something that looked like the picture in the advert ! The Husqvarna deposits the grass clippings to the right side of the tractor making using the sweeper useless while doing the actual cutting. There was a lot of grass as it was so late in the season, so huge piles/lines of grass got deposited on my lawns. After cutting I connected the sweeper and after some trial and error setting the height I started to travel over the lines of grass to see how well it worked. At first it hardly collected any grass due to the hight being set way too high but after lowering the brush height I was amazed at how well it worked. In less than 15 minutes I had collected all the grass which had taken more than an hour to cut. The sweeper left a very clean finish to the lawn and even exposed a few areas I had missed in my initial cut. Unloading the grass was a challenge as I had to back up to drop the cutting in the chosen location but I only had to do that six or seven times and got the hang of it by the end. The grass was long about 8-10" and I estimate that the sweeper collected more than 1000lb of clippings, it held up very well over bumpy ground the height adjustments staying where I set it during the whole time. Now this is just its first use and I have no idea as to how it will hold up. As others have pointed out the collecting bag is probably the weakest link in the sweeper so as I use this product I will report back with updates.

I know, cheesy title. But... it gives you a good picture of what this sweeper was able to do for me. My review will be kind of long to get into the details, but if it's too long just don't read it :) Here's my review from set-up to putting it away. 1. Set-up was horrible. The pictures weren't that clear and the parts are all thrown in one bag. You'll have to use the picture of the screws to match up which is which. Agri-Fab has partnered with a video "how-to" company so you can watch it get put together. This helped during some of the process, but the guy in the video moved really fast and didn't spend much time on the details. Different viewing angles, for example, would have helped quite a bit. I had a hard time fitting some of the parts, but most of them fit. There are two cleaver pins to the canopy bag connection poles that didn't go far enough through for the cotter pins to go through. However, the cleaver pins were able to hold the bag onto the sweeper itself during use without the cotter pins. I will be contacting Agri-Fab about this. I was able to get this set-up in the end (obviously). 2. Connecting the sweeper to the lawn tractor was easy. Push the pin through and you're good to go. The instructions for this were clear and the video was even better. Common sense would probably even work with this one. 3. My yard was (is) the perfect test yard for this sweeper. Due to the hot summer last year I literally had thousands of acorns fall from my oak trees. Several winter storms brought down numerous sticks/twigs. My yard had/has debris all over (I still have a ways to go). I raked most of the leaves up last fall, but there were too many acorns. The sweeper did really well considering it's at the low price point for a sweeper. I had to make several passes and acorns that were dug down into the dirt didn't come up, but it was impressive how much did. Within one hour I had multiple trash bags worth of acorns, sticks, pebbles, and bits of leaves. This thing even picks up larger sticks. As far as leaves, yes... it works. 4. As I said before, it's not a miracle worker. Acorns that are dug in obviously don't get swept up. When you turn sometimes the wheels to the brushes don't turn (which means the sweeper doesn't work). However, if you keep it in a pretty straight line you'll be okay. The height settings are easy, you just need to play around with them to find the best height for your grass. If you have bumpy parts of your yard like I do, don't be surprised to see missed spots from where the brushes didn't touch the ground enough. 5. Storage is easy enough. You can detach the canopy bag and collapse it. I placed the sweeper itself on it's side in my shed so it took up minimal space for it's size. Overall I'm pleased with my purchase and don't regret it. I gave it four stars because of the two cleaver pins that didn't fit and the difficulty with putting it together. It's performance met my standards, but also didn't exceed them enough to warrant five stars in spite of the previous noted problems.

Took some time putting it together. Had to move the bar in the first step to line up the holes. They should say that in the directions. Works great

I was excited to realized I had put this thing together correctly. It started sweeping right away! But then two things happened: 1) the hopper gets halfway full, and doesn't accept any more clippings without my manually adjusting the load to make room. 2) I made a sharp turn trying to dump a load, and the rubber tire popped right off of the plastic hub. Not the entire wheel, just the outer black rubber tread. Customer service is replacing the entire wheel, which will be a pain to install-- maintenance already, after only the first time using it! Really! Agri-Fab should design and manufacturer better quality wheels, where the tread is at least affixed in some way. Apparently, the black tread is just slipped onto a plastic hub, and there's not even a groove to keep it attached. It's like a cheap child's toy! In any case, it's really disappointing to research and think I'm buying the best, when I already have to fix something.

Some of this review won’t make sense until the sweeper is in your possession because of the number of parts involved. I (84 year old) started assembly alone, late in afternoon when tired. I made mistakes because the non precise drawings are not clear enough showing certain parts true shape. The small bend at end of two tubes where the hitch tubes connect the hopper to the tractor is an important factor. I mention working alone because help would make putting the hopper part together far easier because it’s big and floppy. Rested next morning I watched the video, its necessary for things. But the man in the video shows the ends of the tubes facing down where the hitch tubes attach to the hopper, both sides. See Picture where persons left hand is. That tube must face up on both sides, not down like he is doing. It’s that first time assembly of something with not so good instructions that’s hard sometimes. My second picture shows the tube end facing up before he installed it on the hopper as they should. A retired jet mechanic, I’ve worked in aviation all my life, so I thought, how hard can it be to put this beast together—wrong!! The hopper for example is best assembled with two people, I did it alone and was difficult because it’s big and floppy and hard to see what to do while putting it together. One person hold it open would make installing the parts much easier. An important comment the manufacturer makes, if wheels won’t turn, they lock up, brushes don’t spin when pulling the sweeper first time is because the brush setting is at lowest setting for shipping and must be readjusted, calibrated before use and best performance. About half inch from ground. I have since used this sweeper in Florida and on St Augustine grass. This is a creeping type grass, not typical vertical growing so this sweeper won’t do a perfect cleanup. But with huge Florida oaks dumping hordes of leaves on to our yard, I’ll take any help I can. Go slow to keep from having to redo from mistakes like I did. The last pictures, my garage is full as it can get, the sweeper taking the last couple feet of floor space available. That space between my chipper and a cabinet. As shown, the hitch tubes removed from the hopper. A little extra work but like that chipper, it’s same issue, a little extra work removing the feed tube so it fits in that space. I recommend this sweeper, once you get the beast put together. It and has a three year warranty.

I generally don't write poor reviews, however, based on this product I need to warn others. I received this item to add to my lawn and landscape business. The problem started with the instructions. No instructions printed, just diagrams and poor one's at that. Difficult to identify what and where the nuts and bolts went and no narrative to help. The diagrams attempted 3D diagrams to little help. The box had a couple of key pins and bolts missing, but I was able to go ahead with my own from pieces I had on hand. I could not figure out why the "hopper" kept hitting the wheels when pushed forward. After 4 calls and 3 calls received from tech support it was determined a support bar needed to be slid into a pocket across the bottom of the hopper. This remedy fixed the problem but looking at the instructions it was nowhere to be found. Next, getting the fabric hopper attached to the rest of the sweeper. Clearances' were so tight I needed to ask assistance from a neighbor to get the fabric of the hopper onto the aluminum frame. The next step was unbelievable so I checked and checked and it was found to be a need. The instructions directed that a hole be cut into the fabric on the lower side of each end. The hole was to be about 1/4 to 1/2 inches into the edge of the fabric. A pin with slip went through the hole and was held in place by the cotter pin. The area where the hole was terribly thin and the nearby edge was not re in forced so I am sure it would unravel in no time, that and there was such a tight stress, it was immanent for both sides. After piecing this sweeper together it felt very flimsy but I went with it. I arrived at the site and performed my de thatching. After approximately 20 minutes of sweeping, the inevitable happened. Not at the sites I earlier predicted, but at the border where the hopper seam held the channel of the aluminum frame began to unravel. That was it for me. Now I have been at retailer's such as Sears and Ace Hardware and Agri Fab is the predominant brand of this kind of tool. But I say the hopper was made of very cheap material (very similar to a cheap tarp which would disintegrate if left in the sun). The one star I gave this item was for the courtesy of the tech support person "Mike". He was patient, polite and professional. No go for my money. I will pay double for a good quality machine, however I have no lawn sweeper at this time.

Watch the assembly video! Watch the assembly video! Watch the assembly video! Did I happen to mention that you should WATCH THE ASSEMBLY VIDEO! I was impressed with the build quality of the unit coming out of the box. I ignored the assembly instructions, at least to begin with, since many of the reviews, which were mostly positive, complained about the assembly instructions. So, I went directly to the assembly video. It was quite helpful, although not 100% clear about everything. I do recommend watching it though. At one point, the video talked about inserting 'plastic plugs' into the bag frame to hold some of the tubes together. We simply could not find them, so in desperation I referenced the assembly instructions. They actually looked pretty good to me, although I was viewing them in the light of already watching the video and having the unit mostly assembled. It turns out that they upgraded these plastic plugs to steel clevis pins. I suspect that they plastic plugs weren't durable enough. By the time we were done assembling the unit, it was too late to test it, so my son and I raised the brushes to their highest setting to, avoid filling the bag with grass clippings, and he drove it to our storage location. Despite that, this thing was picking up clippings like crazy, so it really did seem to work. I'll update this review if it doesn't perform when we use it for real!

Yikes! Who drew the assembly instructions? I say "drew" because there are no written words. Everything is an awful "exploded blowup" that is difficult to understand. It should have taken 45 minutes to put together....it took me 3 hours. Not because of difficulty of assembly but, in trying to understand the directions. Items that are meant to be done on both sides are not indicated leading one to believe that there is some reason not to do both sides. Hey did you know that a tiny feather in a diagram means "finger tight" and that the picture of a wrench means tighten? I didn't even notice them at first. Anyway, it would be great if someone in the company would post a video on how to assemble. The good news is it works. Pickup of up to 60-70% of acorns on the ground. Had to set the brushes lower than recommended. Don't believe it picks up twigs and sticks. My first try I ran over a 12" stick that was covered by leaves in the first 10 feet of operation and it jammed the brush. Leaves are a snap. Actually it works so well that I couldn't get more than 50 yards without having to empty the hopper. So, grit your teeth and struggle thru the assembly, right now I think it is worth it.

These are excellent our 2nd one

It was easy to put together works good

va très bien pour ramasser les feuilles mais après quelques heures d'utilisation les roues sont lousse car il n'ont pas mis de roulement à billes au centre, mais seulement du plastic comme roulement c'est pas fort comme idée, déçu de mon achat

Wow, what a fantastic (not) cheap and fragile assembly that is so incredibly easy to do, especially with the oh-so-amazing YouTube video tutorial! I mean, who needs a properly made instruction manual, right? It's not like it's important or anything.

Cannot pick up wet or embedded leaves. Need to be able to disconnect the brush-rotating feature so it can be hand-pulled for storage or exact positioning.