Do pull behind lawn sweepers get these well enough to justify buying one?
In Southeast PA and these sweetgum seed pods are my nemesis. If the grass is short enough (short, end of season cut) would a pull behind yard sweeper get these up or would there still be raking and manual pick-up involved?
Yes, early in the season prior to them being ground into the grass.
Use my 2x – early and late. Does 85% of them!
Ambitious-Fish-8111
Can confirm. Works on pinecones too
hal60mi
Do yourself a favor and cut the tree down. I had one. It’s endless work.
chalupa_batman77654
Had these in my parents yard in Houston. Didn’t know those devil balls we’re all the way in Pennsylvania too
waitwhat757
Yea my parents house had these and they were what we called “gumballs” in Va. Hated stepping on these, even with shoes on. Without shoes they may as well been legos!!
nineinchplate
My old house had 5 huge Sweetgum trees. My parents bought us one of these after living there 8 years. I had considered earlier, but thought too expensive. The thing was amazing and wished i had the whole time. I had the 18″.
Yes, though they also like to wedge themselves into the wheels of my lawnsweeper
Mtolivepickle
Cut the tree down.
BalanceEarly
Yeah, especially when you step on sweetgum balls barefoot!
Dad_Vibes_23
Those trees are straight up cheeks. Sweeper will work, but a chainsaw works better.
Forsaken_Star_4228
Thanks for posting. We had 70 mph wind last week and apparently my driveway was the catch all for tons of them. I’m not even sure what neighbor has this tree but they are quite the annoyance.
Not that I have much room to talk with my pair of Bradford pear trees. One of them is over my driveway and gets the worthless berries all over our vehicles around this time. Must not be much food around because a family of squirrels seems to love them. Hoping for a buyback program one of these years so I can convince my wife to get rid of them.
Bert_T_06040
I’d rather invest in having the tree cut down. Problem solved.
Moist-Carpet888
I gather them up in a pile and shovel them into 5 gallon buckets then toss them in the fire pit. The balls are super annoying but we love the tree itself.
Ricka77_New
Yeah they should get picked up….some will likely get stuck in the bristles, but my sweeper picks up just about anything..
14 Comments
Yes, early in the season prior to them being ground into the grass.
Use my 2x – early and late. Does 85% of them!
Can confirm. Works on pinecones too
Do yourself a favor and cut the tree down. I had one. It’s endless work.
Had these in my parents yard in Houston. Didn’t know those devil balls we’re all the way in Pennsylvania too
Yea my parents house had these and they were what we called “gumballs” in Va. Hated stepping on these, even with shoes on. Without shoes they may as well been legos!!
My old house had 5 huge Sweetgum trees. My parents bought us one of these after living there 8 years. I had considered earlier, but thought too expensive. The thing was amazing and wished i had the whole time. I had the 18″.
https://baganut.com/product-cat/harvesters/sweet-gum-balls/?srsltid=AfmBOoopJ6zCe_cjgYIQxLVuBT4y786JnaMKmBLDvDoS4LJprmRKPUtR
Yes, though they also like to wedge themselves into the wheels of my lawnsweeper
Cut the tree down.
Yeah, especially when you step on sweetgum balls barefoot!
Those trees are straight up cheeks. Sweeper will work, but a chainsaw works better.
Thanks for posting. We had 70 mph wind last week and apparently my driveway was the catch all for tons of them. I’m not even sure what neighbor has this tree but they are quite the annoyance.
Not that I have much room to talk with my pair of Bradford pear trees. One of them is over my driveway and gets the worthless berries all over our vehicles around this time. Must not be much food around because a family of squirrels seems to love them. Hoping for a buyback program one of these years so I can convince my wife to get rid of them.
I’d rather invest in having the tree cut down. Problem solved.
I gather them up in a pile and shovel them into 5 gallon buckets then toss them in the fire pit. The balls are super annoying but we love the tree itself.
Yeah they should get picked up….some will likely get stuck in the bristles, but my sweeper picks up just about anything..