"Warren" wrote in message
news:WvMvb.79342$Dw6.379940@attbi_s02...
Shepherd wrote:

On a yard as small as yours with only one tree, raking is no problem
at all.
On the lawns around here that measure from 20,000 to 25,000 sq. ft. or
more,
with half a dozen large mature oak trees, it is a very big deal
indeed.

If raking up one tree is faster than blowing the leaves, why would it be
faster to blow the leaves of 12 trees than rake 12 trees.

Or to put it into numbers:
Time it takes to rake up one tree: 30 minutes. Time to rake up 12
trees: 12x30=360 minutes.
Time to blow the leaves of one tree: 60 minutes. Time to blow the
leaves of 12 trees: 12x60=720 minutes.

The difference? When I swing the rake, it doesn't matter if there is
just the natural layer of leaves under it, or up to 5 or 6 times that
depth. Takes the same effort. With the blower, it may blow that single
layer just as fast as the rake, but as the pile builds up, the blower
becomes less efficient.

And if those leaves are wet, add 50% more time to raking; double -- or
may be triple, depending on the size of the engine -- the time for
blowing.

It's also more difficult to blow onto a tarp than it is to rake onto a
tarp. With the rake, all you have to do is lift the rake high enough to
miss the tarp. With the blower, you have to aim pretty darn high to miss
the tarp, and when you do that, you miss the leaves, too.

I'll grant you that my arms would be falling off if I raked-up under 12
trees, but I'd be bored to death, and my arms would still be sore after
spending 12 hours with a blower hanging from them. At least if I raked,
my pain would be accompanied by a muscle and aerobic workout, not simply
cramps from stretching my arms out, and carpal tunnel syndrome from the
vibration of the blower.

If I had a dozen trees, I wouldn't have the time to rake or blow the
leaves. But I would have the time to use a yard vac. A dozen trees in
about 180 minutes. The leaves are already shredded, and if they're wet,
there's hardly an increase in the time it takes.

But if you want to carry around your blower, that's fine with me. It's
not my time, and it's not my arms.

BTW... 20,000 to 25,000 square feet of lawn is far too much work to
begin with. Unless you need that size of a lawn for kids to play
football, you could save yourself a lot of work, and have a much more
aesthetically pleasing landscape, by converting some of it to perennial
beds. There's nothing attractive about 20,000 square feet of nothing but
grass.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Blatant Plug: Do your Christmas Shopping Online
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/associateshop.com

Your logic stinks!

Your math would not get a passing grade even in elementary school!

Your option of what others like is unasked far, unwanted and stupid.

Go find a busy street and see if you can dodge the cars.

I don't have time nor desire to play silly games with an obviously immature,
ignorant adolescence.

Shepherd