Ohio Steel 42LS Sweeper, 42"/18 cu. ft.

Works great on our pine needles!

I really wanted to like this lawn sweeper, but I don't. It gets the job done ... once assembled (not easy) and hitched to the yard tractor (royal pain in the butt).First and foremost, I would suggest the design just isn't very well thought out. Here are a few examples. One of the last assembly steps is to install two tension rods (long 1/4" solid steel rods) to hold the top and bottom of the grass catcher open. To do so, you have to basically sit inside the grass catch (not easy when you're 6'3" like me) all hunched over, and use both hands to bend the each bar into a "C" shape so you can insert the ends into holes punched into the top and bottom horizontal grass catcher frames. The bent tension bar will be under a lot of load, and if your hands get sweaty (mine did) it may slip out of your hand a rip a big hole in the nylon mesh grass catcher bag (which it did). I took me a few tries to finally get the tension bars installed. After figuring out how best to do it through trial and error (multiple rips in the mesh), I could probably install them all day now and not do any damage, but the burden is on YOU to figure out how to do that, because the instructions won't help you at all, or warn you that the rods can easily damage the nylon mesh.My next complaint about the design concerns trying to move the sweeper unit from one point (say, storage) to another (maybe where the tractor or ATV is parked. Even if you have to move it less than 10 feet, I found it to be a royal pain in the behind. The sweeper isn't balanced to make moving it by hand easy. You have to wrestle with the damn thing to position it so the wheels will roll instead of just drag, and there's no way to stop the sweeper brushes from spinning (e.g. a disengage feature) so you have to fight the resistance of the brushes.I will, however, say that once the sweeper is assembled and hitched to your mower or tractor, it works pretty darn well. I was fairly impressed.I would probably recommend the unit to a friend, but I would warn that friend about the poorly thought out design, so they can make an informed decision.Haven't had the unit long enough to speak to its durability. The first time I used it I had just mowed a small pasture that had gotten a little overgrown. The 'grass clippings' were up to maybe 12" in length (sort of like hay straw), much of which got wrapped around the inner wheel bearing recesses and had to be cut out with a knife and scissors. I can see where over a prolonged period of use, the wheel bearings are likely to get compromised by dirt and grass debris, requiring either periodic disassembly and cleaning, or replacement. We'll see.

I had a little problem getting the wheels to turn at first, but after I got that figured out worked great. Does a good job.

Works great but the bottom has worn too quickly! After 4 sweeps, it has holes in the bottom.

The plastic gear that turns the brush lasted one use. Blew the leaves on the road (paved) the leaves were maybe 4 layers deep. I set the level to 4 first pass the lawn sweeper picked up some. I lowered it to level 2 made a pass perfect it worked perfect. 3 more passes the brush bushings were done. The total length of each pass was maybe 10 yards. .. now I have to call and order more gears. .. "do not buy this model".

Great price!

I purchased this exact model through Ohio Steel directly to replace an older model that I finally killed after many years of use. It comes unassembled but is easy enough to put together with 2 people. I've had no problem with the brushes breaking or the wheels stopping on this model. It should be noted that if your lawn is not fairly smooth (mine has more mole hills than grass) it will bounce, missing leaves in that area. Just make another pass from a different direction.The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is that they have not redesigned the pull method to empty the hopper. It gets too heavy for me to empty so I have to stop at 1/2 full because I just do not have the strength to pull the rope. My husband added a second rope to increase the length and give me better leverage but I'm still very sore at the end of the day. I wish someone could design a pulley system that would make it easier to empty, regardless of the load.

fast delviery, great product.