Farmall Cub

The last 100' or so of my driveway is gravel and with the mild winter we had, I ended up pushing a lot of that gravel up into the lawn while plowing snow. When I lived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the local municipalities would spread crushed mine rock (stamp sand) on the roads in the winter time. Sometimes you'd end up with an inch or more of this sand in your lawn come spring. I used to rent a Shindaiwa Power Broom from the local Rent-All place to sweep the sand back to the edge of the road where the township would come along with vacuum trucks for reclamation.

I looked around my local area here in SE lower MI and nobody rents something like this, so I bit the bullet and bought one. I got the Makita EX2650LH power head (4-stroke, 1.1hp) and the SW400MP rubber flap attachment. I joined them, put engine oil and fuel in the power head, and fired it up. It started on the first pull and ran like a champ. 45 minutes later I had all the gravel out of my yard. There were some areas I had already gone after with a leaf rake, but it was a lot of effort and missed both the larger rocks and the fine gravel. This thing got it all!

PROS: It runs great, has plenty of power, is quiet, doesn't produce smoke like a 2-stroke,and was way more effective than raking, no mixing fuel

CONS: It is quite heavy, and takes a lot of effort to push forward against the opposing rotation of the paddles

I look forward to seeing how this does cleaning up the wood/bark debris after I do my summer wood cutting/splitting. I suppose you could do some light snow removal from sidewalks/parking areas with it too. As a bonus, when my weed whip finally bites the dust, I'll simply buy one of the string trimmer attachments for this and have a multipurpose power head.

Here's a video of another person using one. Do yourself a favor and hit the mute button. I don't know why anybody would couple Toto's 'Africa' with a power equipment demo video.

And here is a during and a couple of after photos. I didn't think to take photos when I was doing the worst parts. Note that some of the gravel it didn't get is impacted in the dirt/clay from previous seasons.

So the bottom line is that handling this thing was quite a bit of work, but was much less strenuous and more efficient than using a rake. And if I keep even one rock from becoming a missile and hitting a passing car on the highway while I am mowing, I call that a win.

That don't even look like fun.

Shane N. wrote:That don't even look like fun.

Next winter, I do fully intend to kneel on a plastic sled and turn this around backward to propel me around the yard. That might be fun if it works.

Urbish wrote:

Shane N. wrote:That don't even look like fun.

Next winter, I do fully intend to kneel on a plastic sled and turn this around backward to propel me around the yard. That might be fun if it works.

Please have your wife video it

Turn it around to the rear of the sled and have it push the sled.

We have a similar Stihl version of the power head that currently has a tiller and edger attachments, and it has a set of wheels. I tried out someone else's Stihl version of the gravel broom (looks just like the Makita pictured) this spring and it works well. I think the wheels really help in supporting the head and letting you adjust how much downward force to put onto the broom. I plan to get the broom attachment for our Stihl power unit.

Shane N. wrote:

Urbish wrote:

Shane N. wrote:That don't even look like fun.

Next winter, I do fully intend to kneel on a plastic sled and turn this around backward to propel me around the yard. That might be fun if it works.

Please have your wife video it

Urbish wrote:

Shane N. wrote:That don't even look like fun.

Next winter, I do fully intend to kneel on a plastic sled and turn this around backward to propel me around the yard. That might be fun if it works.

It does look like you have to " lean into it " . but if it gets the job done . coppersmythe......

Update: The engine is leaking oil where the plastic oil fill tube meets the aluminum crankcase. I contacted Makita customer service which directed me to ship/take it to the nearest authorized service center for possible warranty repair. The closest one is 30 miles away, so I think I will just pull it apart myself and check the o-ring.