He Built His Own Leaf Vacuum

He Built His Own Leaf Vacuum FARM HOME Miscellaneous 32-5-27 "I take care of a church property that's 18 miles from where I live. I wanted to use a leaf vacuum but I couldn't justify the cost and I also wanted one I could tow on the highway," says Leonard Lilienthal, Roosevelt, Utah. He started with a walk-behind vacuum. "It was a pain to use as it would plug up and I'd get dirty emptying the bag, which had to be done frequently," says Lilienthal. "I dismantled the machine and built a small trailer out of an axle from an old tent camper. I mounted the unit's engine and blower assembly on the trailer, along with a plywood box." The box's rear panel opens up to remove the leaves and is held in place by three bolts with wing nuts. He built an adapter boot for the mower deck from a short length of plastic 4-in. sewer pipe. He bought a 15-ft. length of 4-in. dia. vacuum hose from a company called Trac-Vac and made some couplings from 4-in. pvc pipe. "There's only about 4 ft. of hose between the vacuum and the mower deck. When I need to suck up leaves that I can't reach, I remove the hose from the mower deck and couple on the other length of hose. That way I can get into flower beds and around the base of shrubs and into irrigation ditches," says Lilienthal. He spent about $300 to build the machine. "The most expensive item was the hose which cost $104. I purchased the walk-behind vacuum years ago at a pawn shop. The only problem with the rig is that it has a lot of suction. I have to be careful if there's any gravel around where I'm cleaning up or it'll pick up gravel and small rocks," notes Lilienthal. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Leonard Lilienthal, Rt. 1, Box 1836, Roosevelt, Utah 84066.

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