Lawn sweepers can be effective at picking up sticks from your lawn, but their ability to handle sticks depends on a few factors. In this article, we’ll look at how lawn sweepers work, what features help pick up sticks, and tips for using a sweeper effectively on sticks.
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How do lawn sweepers work?
Lawn sweepers are powered, wheeled devices that are pushed or pulled across the lawn to pick up leaves, grass clippings, pine needles, and other lawn debris. Most lawn sweepers work using a rotating brush system to sweep up debris and direct it into a collection bag or hopper.
There are three main types of lawn sweepers:
- Brush sweepers – Use spinning bristle brushes to sweep up debris.
- Reel sweepers – Use a rotating reel brush to sweep and collect.
- Vacuum sweepers – Use a powerful vacuum to suck up debris.
Brush and reel sweepers rely on the brushes making contact with debris to sweep it up. Vacuum sweepers use suction power rather than contact with bristles.
Lawn sweeper features for picking up sticks
The most important features for a lawn sweeper’s ability to pick up sticks are:
- Sturdy bristle brushes – Thicker, more sturdy bristles are better for sweeping up sticks without getting tangled or damaged.
- Powerful vacuum (on vacuum sweepers) – More suction allows the vacuum to lift sticks up off the lawn.
- High brush speed – Faster spinning brush speeds can flick sticks into the hopper more easily.
- Large hopper opening – A wider opening allows the brushes to throw sticks in with less precision needed.
Higher-end lawn sweeper models often have these features to improve stick pick-up. Lower-end basic models may struggle with sticks more.
Tips for using a lawn sweeper on sticks
Here are some tips to help your lawn sweeper work better for picking up sticks:
- Set the brush height higher – This allows sticks to stand up so the bristles can grab them more easily before sweeping them.
- Go slower – Moving at slower speeds gives the bristles more time to flick sticks up.
- Do multiple passes – Doing one pass forward and one pass backward helps grab sticks you may have missed.
- Apply downward pressure – Pushing down slightly as you push can help the bristles dig in and grab sticks.
- Clear excess debris – Prevent buildup of leaves/grass from blocking the bristles.
Following the direction sticks are laying can also help the bristles sweep them end-over-end into the hopper. Sweeping against the direction of the sticks makes pick-up more difficult.
Conclusion
Lawn sweepers can be used to pick up sticks, but work best on smaller sticks rather than large branches. Models with sturdy bristles, strong vacuums, fast brush speeds, and wide openings perform better on sticks. Going slower, doing multiple passes, and using downward pressure also helps. With the right technique, lawn sweepers can be a handy tool for keeping your yard free of fallen sticks.