If you’re looking to do a bit of yard work, then there are various tools and accessories that you can purchase, with two of them being lawn sweepers and lawn baggers. With that being said, lawn sweepers and lawn baggers are not at all the same things, and this warrants an in-depth comparison between the two.
Lawn sweepers, such as those from VEVOR can be a highly effective tool in keeping your lawn clean and organized, but lawn baggers can have their benefits as well. Today, we’re going to compare lawn sweepers and lawn baggers to see which one is best for you.
Table of contents
What Is a Lawn Sweeper?
A lawn sweeper is a device that is designed to remove leaves, twigs, grass clippings, and smaller stones, as well as other debris, from your lawn. These work by using a series of rotating brushes that are attached to an axle which spins in a circle.
As you tow the lawn sweeper or push it across your yard, the brushes spin quickly, which sweep up the debris into a collection bag or hopper. The efficacy of a lawn sweeper is in large part determined by how well the brush comes into contact with the ground.
There are lawn sweepers that you can push in front of you and those that you can tow behind you. Push lawn sweepers are great for light debris and smaller yards, whereas those that you can tow behind you are ideal for larger yards and bigger debris, as they can be attached to a tractor.
What Is a Lawn Bagger?
We then have a lawn bagger, which is a special type of attachment that you can put on a riding mower or a lawn mower. These are designed to collect a variety of debris such as leaves and grass clippings as you mow your lawn.
A lawn bagger is generally connected right to a lawn mower’s discharge chute, where the clippings come out into a large hopper or one or more connected bags. As you mow your lawn, the bag collects all of the clippings without you having to do any work, therefore reducing the need for you to do any manual cleanup after the mowing is done.
Lawn baggers can come in various capacities and sizes, with some even having multiple bags for larger lawns. If you’re looking to maintain a manicured lawn, then a lawn bagger is the right option for you.
Pros and Cons of a Lawn Sweeper
What’s really nice about the lawn sweepers is that they have many different benefits.
Pros of Lawn Sweepers
- One of the main benefits is that they are very effective at collecting a variety of lawn debris. This includes grass clippings, pine needles, small twigs, leaves, and even small rocks. Lawn sweepers are therefore very useful during the fall when there are plenty of leaves and other debris on your lawn.
- What’s also suitable about lawn sweepers is that they can be attached to the back of the tractor or riding mower, allowing you to easily clear your yard without having to do any manual labor.
- Something else that you might appreciate about lawn sweepers is that they don’t rely on your mower’s cutting ability. You can use them before or after mowing your lawn, or you don’t even have to mow your lawn at all. This makes them ideal for use around the year.
- Furthermore, if your lawn has delicate or uneven terrain, bagging might not be a suitable option, in which case a lawn sweeper is much better.
Cons of Lawn Sweepers
With all of that being said, lawn sweepers do also have a few drawbacks that need to be mentioned.
- Lawn sweepers often don’t do well with very heavy or wet debris, which can clog the brushes.
- Although larger tow-behind models are convenient, they require a tractor or mower to pull behind.
- Launch sweepers can also be fairly large and bulky, which means that they generally require a good deal of storage space.
- Lawn sweepers may also need a good deal of maintenance, as those brushes and wheels require regular cleaning, and sometimes replacement.
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Pros and Cons of a Lawn Bagger
Just like lawn sweepers have their pros and cons, so do lawn baggers. Let’s start by taking a look at all of the different pros of lawn baggers.
Pros of Lawn Baggers
- Lawn baggers are just really easy to use because you don’t need to do any manual work. Simply connect them to your existing lawn mower, and they do the rest for you.
- Lawn baggers collect the grass clippings as you mow, therefore leading to a manicured lawn.
- Lawn baggers are excellent for just collecting grass clippings.
Cons of Lawn Baggers
With all of that being said, lawn baggers also have their drawbacks that we need to talk about.
- Lawn baggers add a lot of weight to your lawn mower, especially when they are full. This can make controlling your lawn mower quite challenging, especially if the terrain is uneven or hilly.
- Lawn baggers also have trouble collecting wet grass clippings, and in some cases can get clogged.
- Lawn baggers also require a good deal of maintenance, as they need to be regularly cleaned and unclogged to maintain airflow.
- Furthermore, lawn bagger bags often don’t last that long, and generally require fairly frequent replacements.
Lawn Sweepers vs Baggers: Main Differences
There are some pretty big differences between lawn sweepers and lawn baggers that we need to discuss, so let’s sum them up right now.
Tool vs Accessory
One of the biggest differences between lawn baggers and lawn sweepers is that the former is simply an accessory that you attach to your lawn mower, whereas the latter is a standalone tool that you use on its own. Lawn sweepers are something that you push in front of you and they operate on their own, whereas lawn baggers are simply bags that you attach to the shoot of your lawn mower.
Picking Up Debris
Another big difference between lawn sweepers and lawn baggers is the way in which they pick up debris, and what kind of debris they pick up.
For a lawn sweeper, they use a series of brushes that spin as you push the sweeper along your lawn, and make you pick up a variety of debris, from leaves and twigs to small sticks and even small pebbles.
However, lawn baggers are simply attached to your mower, which means that they only collect whatever grass clippings your lawn mower removes from your lawn. Lawn baggers are only for grass clippings.
Size, Weight, and Storage
What you then also need to consider when it comes to the differences between lawn sweepers and lawn baggers is that because lawn sweepers are standalone tools, they’re much larger and heavier, and therefore require more storage space. Lawn baggers are much smaller and lighter, and are therefore not only more maneuverable but also require less storage space.
Ease of Use
When it comes to ease of use, a lawn bagger is decidedly easier to use. The reason for this is because you just have to attach it to your lawn mower, and it really does the rest of the work for you. However, a lawn sweeper involves you actually having to push the device along.
If we are talking about a tow behind lawn sweeper, you still have to attach it to your mower and ride around with it. With that being said, a sweeper are far more functional and therefore considered the better tool.
Maintenance
You then need to think about maintenance needs as well. The reason for this is that lawn baggers, although they need a bit of cleaning and unclogging, generally don’t require much maintenance.
That said, lawn baggers, the bags themselves, often break down fairly quickly and require regular replacement. On the other hand, lawn sweepers tend to be much more durable and require less replacements, although the brushes also need to be maintained on a regular basis.
Ideal Use Scenario
Lawn sweepers are best used in situations where you have to pick up many different types of debris, whereas lawn baggers are best used to collect grass clippings from your lawn mower.
FAQs
Here are some of your most frequently asked questions about lawn sweepers and lawn baggers.
Can you use a lawn sweeper for wet leaves?
Although some lawn sweepers may be specially designed to handle wet leaves, in general, lawn sweepers are better at picking up dry debris and leaves. What’s debris and wet leaves can be very heavy, and they can clog the brushes or the sweeper itself.
Can I use a lawn bagger with all types of lawn mowers?
Although most ride-on lawn mowers are compatible with baggers, this is not always the case. Therefore, you need to check with the manufacturer first to see if your lawn mower is compatible with lawn baggers.
How often do lawn baggers need to be emptied?
How often you need to empty the bag on your lawn bagger depends on the size of your lawn and the frequency at which you mow. Most bags should be emptied when they are roughly two-thirds capacity.
Final Thoughts on Choosing Lawn Sweeper vs Bagger
The bottom line here is that if you need an all-in-one tool, something that you can use to simply push across your lawn and pick up a wide variety of debris with ease. A lawn sweeper is the way to go. Although lawn baggers are great accessories in themselves.
They’re really only useful if you have a lawn mower that is compatible with a lawn bagger. When it comes down to it, a lawn sweeper is a much better tool. Remember, VEVOR has lawn sweepers available that are high in quality and relatively low in price!
