A lawn sweeper, also known as a leaf sweeper or lawn brush, is a garden

tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates b ...

for the mechanical removal of debris, such as fallen

leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

, pine needles, twigs, grass clippings or

litter Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. Litter can also be used as a verb; to litter means to drop and leave objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups ...

, from a

lawn A lawn is an area of soil-covered land planted with grasses and other durable plants such as clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawnmower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic and recreational purposes. ...

or paved area. Lawn sweepers operate via a rotating brush mechanism that sweeps up the debris and deposits it in a collection

hopper Hopper or hoppers may refer to: Places *Hopper, Illinois * Hopper, West Virginia * Hopper, a mountain and valley in the Hunza–Nagar District of Pakistan * Hopper (crater), a crater on Mercury People with the name * Hopper (surname) * Grace H ...

for disposal.

Types

Push lawn sweepers, which resemble a simple wheeled manual

lawn mower A lawn mower (also known as a mower, grass cutter or lawnmower) is a device utilizing one or more revolving blades (or a reel) to cut a grass surface to an even height. The height of the cut grass may be fixed by the design of the mower, but g ...

, are maneuvered and powered by hand. A forward pushing action transfers power from the wheels to the brush mechanism via a gearing system, causing it to rotate, and the debris is picked up and transferred to a bag or hopper mounted on the machine. Powered lawn sweepers resemble push lawn sweepers, but the brush mechanism is powered by a

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organi ...

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

motor An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power g ...

. Tow lawn sweepers are towed behind a vehicle, such as a garden

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commo ...

or ATV and are designed for use in larger areas. They are generally wider and have greater

capacities than push and powered lawn sweepers.

Alternatives

Lawn sweepers are an alternative to

raking Raking (also called "raking ratio estimation" or " iterative proportional fitting") is the statistical process of adjusting data sample weights of a contingency table to match desired marginal totals. References {{Statistics-stub Estimation m ...

or the use of

leaf blower A leaf blower, commonly known as a blower, is a device that propels air out of a nozzle to move debris such as leaves and grass cuttings. Leaf blowers are powered by electric or gasoline motors. Gasoline models have traditionally been two-str ...

s and garden vacuums. They are also an alternative to lawn mower baggers or grass baggers which are generally more expensive and have a smaller capacity.

External links

A 1950s lawn sweeper displayed at the Kansas Museum of History
Gardening tools Lawn care Leaves {{tool-stub