Acorn problem-Walker mower question

[Tom M King]

We get overrun with White Oak acorns enough that it's a big job to get them up. There is at least an acre of ground that gets completely covered with them some years, and it's not all in one place.

I don't have a yard vacuum, but have been looking for an excuse to get a Walker mower. Does anyone have any experience with a Walker mower getting up acorns, especially acorns in grass? I can deduct the cost of the mower.

Any good ideas are welcomed, but not the manual harvesters.

[Perry Holbrook]

Don't the deer take care of them?

[Tom M King]

I wish. We have two herds of deer, but the biggest problem with acorns is on the point. It's something over two acres, and I've thinned the trees down to the point that there are only White Oaks, and a very few Red Oaks left. I've never seen a deer on the point. I don't think they like their only escape path to be across water.

The other problem area is inside the yard on one side of the house. The ground is covered with Moss under large Oak trees inside a fence. I think that's too close to the dog yards for deer to come in.

[Ole Anderson]

I have a John Deere Z425 zero turn with a blower and bagger. Doesn't touch my acorns. Maybe if one lowered the blades enough to scalp the lawn? Thinking you would need a true vacuum, like a Billy Goat?

[Tom M King]

Yes, my zero turn sucks up and shreds leaves, but it doesn't do anything with acorns but move them around. I was thinking about the Billy Goat yard vacuum, but would rather have something to ride on. That's why I wanted to know about the Walker collection mowers. It's a pretty widespread area to use anything to walk behind.

[Rob Luter]

I have a similar problem, albeit on a smaller scale. I have hickory trees and certain years the nut production is over the top. I get them off the driveway with a snow shovel after giving the squirrels a few days to feast on the nuts I’ve driven over and cracked. The yard is a different story. I have a Snapper rear engine mower (think Forrest Gump) with a high lift blade and rear bag collector. It sucks the nuts right out of the grass. It pulls so hard I only use it occasionally and when nuts are dropping, as it pulls soil particles up too. Most of the season I just use a mulching blade. As acidic as the acorns are I don’t recommend grinding them up.

[Tom M King]

I took down all the Hickory trees on the point, and in our yard because they made such a mess. Not only the nuts, but they were always dropping sticks too, and not just small ones like Oak trees do.

We do have a Snapper Hi-Vac mower that I use in the dog yards. It's a pretty good vacuum, but even self-propelled it's still a lot of area to cover with a walk behind. There would be a Lot of emptying the bag too because I'm sure it would need to be emptied when a quarter full, or would get too heavy. I haven't tried it on the acorns yet, but I thought it might be rough on the mower only designed for grass.

If a Walker would get the acorns up, I could also use it in the dog yards just by enlarging the gates. That would be a big help too.

[Tom M King]

I found a yard work forum, and it looks like a Walker won't do it. This is what was recommended, but I'd like to see one work, or at least talk to someone who uses one. At least it's self propelled. Funny that Acme tools sells them.

https://www.acmetools.com/mv-29-in-self-propelled-lawn-litter-vacuum-mv650sph/730719003077.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiA45qdBhD-ARIsAOHbVdHHbBdLGam-uAxXH90lvxcrhVQbmucZxpQGNFqNG_wc6f86GC4SFjYaAlubEA Lw_wcB

I bad review, and I found a youtube video that doesn't look that impressive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlcrLnwODlY

[Rob Luter]

I found a yard work forum, and it looks like a Walker won't do it. This is what was recommended, but I'd like to see one work, or at least talk to someone who uses one. At least it's self propelled. Funny that Acme tools sells them.

https://www.acmetools.com/mv-29-in-self-propelled-lawn-litter-vacuum-mv650sph/730719003077.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiA45qdBhD-ARIsAOHbVdHHbBdLGam-uAxXH90lvxcrhVQbmucZxpQGNFqNG_wc6f86GC4SFjYaAlubEA Lw_wcB

I bad review, and I found a youtube video that doesn't look that impressive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlcrLnwODlY

Coincidentally, I used to have a Billy Goat. I bought it used at a garage sale. It wasn't worth the $100 I paid for it. The thing just didn't work well beyond leaves and grass clippings. I sold it the same year at a garage sale.

[Tom M King]

Thanks Rob. That's good information.

[Jim Becker]

You need a nice flock of Turkeys to clean that up. :)

[Keith Outten]

You might try a sweeper. I use a sweeper to gather up gum balls and it does a nice job, pull it behind whatever riding mower you have or a garden tractor.

[Steve Jenkins]

We have a Cyclone Rake that works great for grass and leaves but used it once on acorns and they chipped up the impeller enough I had to replace it. It tows behind a side discharge garden tractor.

[Tom M King]

I think a sweeper would be worth a try. I might buy a cheap push one, and see how they work to start with.

I see flocks of Canada geese down there that look like they're eating something, and I don't know what else it would be, but they don't seem to be making much of a dent in the number of acorns.

edited to add: Google said geese do eat acorns. Maybe they'll take care of them, but it's not looking real promising yet. Their numbers are increasing, so maybe the word is getting around. Don't want them in the yard though, they leave too big of a mess.

[Mel Fulks]

The American Indians dried them , ground them between rocks to make cooking flour.

[Tom M King]

Yes, I found some places that will even buy them, but I just want to get rid of them, as easily as possible.

edited to add: Here's a place that sells 25 for $2.29. I must have a million dollars worth.

[Rich Konopka]

I have an agrifab lawn sweeper that is awesome for picking up hickory nuts, pine needles, pine cones, and leaves. It picks up everything thing at its lowest setting

[Rob Luter]

The American Indians dried them , ground them between rocks to make cooking flour.


Back in the 1970s some friends and I got on a "back to basics" kick. We read books by Euell Gibbons ("ever eat a pine tree") as well as the Foxfire series, all of which taught live off the land skills. We made acorn pancakes using a recipe in one of the books. They tasted like ass.

[Ronald Blue]

One of these might be the ticket. I have saw a bigger device used to pick up walnuts and hickory nuts.

https://www.amazon.com/Bag-A-Nut-12-Push-Acorn-Harvester/dp/B088LH2VBD

https://baganut.com/product-cat/harvesters/acorns/

[Tom M King]

Thanks Ronald. I've seen those but not sure they'd last more than a few years here. If I could try one, it would be different. If I had to go over all the area here two or three times, it would take a Lot of time. If it got them all up in one pass, it would be worth it. Still looks like a whole days work at best, and I'm not sure how long the tines would last.

Also, I would need both sizes. Would still like for a Walker mower to work, or at least a pull behind vacuum.

https://www.cyclonerake.com/?gclid=CjwKCAiAhqCdBhB0EiwAH8M_GrBEM7fvsS0PKhtpyjk 5uzU2ZOejyyLudg_XzANTlRmyDAiDOgFGJhoCJg8QAvD_BwE#

[Tom M King]

Looks like this will be the answer. It comes with spacers for different sizes of nuts and a good company behind it.

https://www.cyclonerake.com/cyclone-nut-rake-tow-behind/

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

You need a yard vacuum. For prime prosciutto crudo, the pig is to be fed only acorns the last six months before slaughter. I have seen 40 lb bags of acorns for hog feed, IIRC, it was $18 a bag back maybe 7 years ago. Take notice the name of the company. $750 for a15 to 20 pound bone in ham

https://laquerciashop.com/products/acorn-edition-prosciutto?variant=31786976641071

[Allan Dozier]

Looks like this will be the answer. It comes with spacers for different sizes of nuts and a good company behind it.

https://www.cyclonerake.com/cyclone-nut-rake-tow-behind/

That looks very interesting. I wonder if it only would work over solid ground. Do you keep the areas of concern blown free of leaves? Some of my areas have grass of some degree and we keep it blown free of most leaves, other areas we just let the leaves build up (also called forest) where I doubt it would work.

[Tom M King]

My zero turn mower shreds leaves down to fine particles with a couple of passes, using combination mulching/lift blades. Leaves are not left for very long. I go over them several times in the Fall because if I let them get too thick, the mower pushes them rather than picks them up to shred. It only sucks up a small percentage of the acorns.

I used to use a 13hp Billy Goat blower, but it hasn't been started since I bought this mower. I only use a small blower to get the leaves away from the house, and from close to trees, and then the mower takes care of them.

The grass is all hot weather grass, so it gets cut short all the time anyway, and has been dormant for a couple of months by the time I need to get the acorns up.

[Tom M King]

I tried the Snapper Hi Vac on the ones in the yard this morning, and it worked great. This is almost all on Moss, and I was mostly worried about tearing up the moss, but was careful so it wasn't so bad. That mower is only 21" wide, so not great for a larger areas, but in the yard here I kept at it and got it done in less than an hour. I saved the acorns and will give them to a local guy who raises a few hogs a year, and kills them himself. Got about 2 bushels out of the yard.

I think it would have done even better if the high lift wings weren't more than half worn down on the blade that I have on there, but I didn't want to put a new blade to this job.

Now that I've found out that this mower will do it, it renews my curiosity to know if a Walker mower has as much suction. If it does, it will be the ideal solution for the point, and I've been wanting one anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55s2Bt0fDTo

It looks like the blower impeller shouldn't have a problem with acorns.
https://partsgeorgeohayesandson.com/products/walker-mower-10-5-blower-wheel