Earthwise LSW70021 21-Inch Width Leaf & Grass Push Lawn Sweeper, Black

I was - like many - a little skeptical when I seen this product, but decided to give it a try.Some context:I do have a full household of the sleep-all-day / turn-up-half-way-through-any-chore-and-offer-help adolescents, so its difficult to get help when it comes to things like raking and collecting leaves. I own two leaf blowers, a battery powered over the shoulder type as well as a B&D leaf hog. Both work well if you want to blow leaves into a big pile, or suck and mulch into a trash can (assuming you have the attachment). However:- if you're blowing leaves into piles you still have to scoop them into the trashbags, try getting that going on a slightly windy day.- if you're blowing leaves then mulching into a trash bag, on a dry day you'll get a LOT of dust from the shredding.So they kind of work, but they still have their disadvantages.The target yard is just over half an acre all told. One tree out front, three out back. All of course shedding leaves at slightly different times. I'll say 'average'.The lawn sweeper is easy enough to put together, some areas aren't too clear but nothing i couldn't work around. It does have a stopper on the front for raising and lowering the brush height, you might need to play with this a little to get what works for you. You can also play with the brush height a little as you push it round the yard to get the optimal height for scooping up the leaves.So I tried this on a lawn with a scattering of leaves, does work but it will pick up most leaves, but not all. Where it really comes into its own is with a denser coverage. However on really dense coverage you're likely to have to run a rake through to loosen up the leaves a little first.See the pictures for an idea of its effectiveness.It does fill up quite quickly and you'll find yourself reaching in to compress the leaves while you're going. One pass of the yard was enough to fill up the collection bag, but you're going to be stopping where the coverage gets denser, compressing the leaves, backtracking and pushing on.(I much prefer this minor inconvenience to stooping over and collecting leaves with a scoop)NOTE FOR MANUFACTURERS: a helpful design improvement for the collection bin would be a hinged flap with a cord or a pull-plate with a cord, to let the operator compress the leaves in the bag towards the back so you can collect more leaves in a single pass.Circling back to the product. Unloading the bag and tipping it into a trash bag works with the bigger backs and the medium sized ones. For the medium sized bags you'll see I take the collector out and hold it on its side and pull out the leaves by hand, which works just fine.But get yourself a bag stand to take the initial few deposits of leaves, then pull it out of the frame, compress and it'll be ready for a few more. Don't know if it makes sense for the manufacturer to provide one, but they might be missing out on an opportunity for a few more sales.Overall:- works well on medium coverage- collection bin can get filled easily, have to stop and compress- twigs will clog it, remove them first- unloading is straightforward, take out, tip it on its side above the bag and unload by hand.- will be defeated by dense coverage, loosen it up with a rake first to spread it out then collect it.- wet leaves are not your friend.. let them dry- use the adjustable stopper at the front if the holding height when operating isn't high or low enoughAll in all its a very good product that means one person can collect leaves (as long as you get a bag stand as well). I'm very happy with it and look forward to seeing some improvements in future versions, by which time I'll probably need a replacement or spare parts.A lot less stooping to load up oversized bags in the windy weather. No more dust from mulching. I can tackle the leaf-collection gradually on my own without much help.Its not for everyone, but if you can't afford a ride along mower with the leaf collector attachment and you have the same problems with leaf-collection that I do , this might be just the thing for you.Thanks guys!

Ok, the ratings and reviews on this yard sweeper run from terrible to great. My experience is on the higher side of middle.I like the idea more than the workability of the product, but I won't give it up either. I have almost 3 acres of yard and I live in the southeast so we are talking leaves and PINE NEEDLES ( aka pine straw ). You have never appreciated raking nice light lovely leaves until you try raking pine straw. The pine in this area have needles from about 6 inches to nearly 10 inches and when they fall the entire yard will become solid orange in a few hours.Well, this little machine is not that easy to use when the pine straw is deep; the straw is too heavy and it while the sweeper will pull it up, it will not toss it into the bag/catch. Instead, when the straw is too deep and too heavy it will simply fall off the sweeper fingers (for lack of a better word) and fall short of the bag/catch. Also, you will have to hold the thing up a bit as you push otherwise the back support (what keeps it standing up when on its own) drags, so by the time you have gone back and forth for a bit you can feel it in your shoulders and forearms. Also, many others say this too, the bag or catch is a bit small; I can do one run along one side of the yard then I must dump it. If I don't dump it the load is so high the items picked up by the sweep run into what is already in the catch and then fall short, back onto the lawn.However, contrary to many other comments, I do like it and for me it works well (not perfect, but well). I do some raking when the leaves and pine straw is too deep or wet, but I prefer this as it is much easier (despite constantly having to empty the catch/bag). I am attaching photos to show the effect it has, now do keep in mind that the green part has been swept, and I did a couple of runs (this is not the result of only one pass, you must pass back and forth a few times to get your yard clean of pine straw, with leaves it is better). It takes me about an hour to do my front yard, the back is three times larger with a huge slope so it takes a great deal of time.There were some questions on what it picks up. I find that mine picks up small branches, leaves, pine cones, trash, nuts and other small items that end up in the yard. The smoother your yard is, the more likely it will pick up stuff. The one issue you may want to be aware of is that if you are going at a good clip those items, other than leaves and pine straw, can come flying up at you; I often have to dodge flying bits as I sweep. Now, the bigger pine cones often will not navigate the sweeper and I have to go back to pick them up manually.All in all, it has saved me many a weekend of blisters on my hands from raking and back soreness from raking.Would I buy it again? You bet. Is it perfect? Far from it, but until someone creates a better mouse trap I will manage quite nicely thank you!

Maybe worth $40 and it could be so much better with a few design changes. You will need several passes over the same areas to fully capture all leaf debris.Initial thoughts:- Instructions: The assembly instructions were a little dark in print for seeing the detail on the first three steps.- Adjustability for the user height- None -This is more comfortable on the arms for those under 5'9"- The bag design is a wide open mouth type catchment, this allows for gravity to hopefully catch leaves by the brushes fling them forward and up in to the scoop sending them backward at the top of the wheel/brush rotation. This causes a couple of problems. Approximately 10%+ of the debris will fly off to the side missing the bag. The user will also get dust, insects and pollen thrown up in the air as you walk forward in to the cloud. With the threat of fleas, ticks and airborne particles affecting allergies; this design seems odd.You should remove clothes before entering your home.- Most Acorns and similar weight tree litter will not lift and backward through the 20 inches of needed travel required by the brush catchment.Redesign ideas:Add a higher backstop and side fences for the flying debris and extend the front brush shroud another 8 + inches. I'd pay $15 more for these minimal changes.Full redesign could be for reversing the brush rotation so debris will go back and under, in to a lowered collection bag, with a sweep under motion. Then the top of the bag would not need to be so open and the dust cloud reduced.When considering all criteria versus the cost, this product deserves a rating of two stars or lower. The five star reviewers should mention their criteria, it is confusing shoppers who want true value in products.