Save time and labor with these fall cleanup go-to solutions

Solutions like Mulch Mate help speed up fall cleanup, allowing contractors to save on labor costs. (Photo: Platinum Landscape & Design)

Alex Huber, owner and operator of Platinum Landscape & Design in La Plata, Md., is a long-time user of Mulch Mate trailers. His company offers maintenance and enhancements to a 60-percent commercial and 40-percent residential client base.

“Labor is a hard thing to come by, and Mulch Mate’s equipment allows companies like mine to do these bigger jobs with fewer people,” he says. “It’s been so important for us.”

Huber, Jack Morgan, operations manager for Ultimate Innovations in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Martin Beerman, owner of Beerman Lawn Service in Leawood, Kan., share their go-to tools for fall cleanups.

Once leaves begin to fall, Huber says Mulch Mate equipment typically saves his company roughly one hour of labor a day, adding up to around 400 hours in 2021. Mulch Mate trailers load and unload mulch and debris into wheelbarrows quickly, with the press of a button.

“Those (hours saved over the year) equaled about $30,000 in payroll saved for us,” he says. “Guys are running the trailer back and forth instead of having to wheelbarrow it each time. For leaf cleanup, we just put a tarp in the bottom (of the trailer) and go from there. That’s opposed to needing to drag the leaves or blow them all out to the curbside.”

Tools to maximize leaf pickup

Relentless leaf fall in Hawaii hasn’t stopped Morgan from staying ahead of the curve. Morgan says Leaf Burrito’s reusable lawn debris system is vital in maintaining that success. Crews fill the leaf burrito and roll it up to transport and dump. His company serves clients evenly divided between residential and commercial sites, offering design/build, maintenance, tree services and a plant nursery.

“While it’s generally not at the volume you see during the fall season, the leaf pickup and maintenance is a 365-day process here,” Morgan says. “We have a few tree species that do an annual drop, but most in Hawaii are just dropping continuously. When looking at our biggest property cleanup jobs, I’d say Leaf Burrito cuts down on the activity time by about 10 percent.”

Morgan says a highlight of using Leaf Burrito is the time saved as well as cutting down on materials used. He estimates he’s reduced his bag use by 75 percent.

“You’re going to reduce your time on the handling, gathering and emptying by half at the end of the day,” he says. “You just open that big thing up and dump it out. It’s as simple as that.”

Dependability breeds long-term collaboration

Beerman Lawn Service puts Billy Goat leaf vacuums to use for its fall cleanup jobs. Beerman says his full-service lawn maintenance and snow removal company’s 18-hp and 26-hp leaf blowers save time.

“A large part of our fall business is leaf cleanups and we have built three trailers mounted with Billy Goat leaf vacs which allow us to do large volumes of leaf cleanups in shorter time and less labor than loading by hand into trucks,” Beerman says.

He adds his company’s use of Billy Goat products dates to 2008, citing consistent dependability that’s led to product upgrade purchases. He also uses a Billy Goat sod cutter.

“We really could not imagine running our leaf business without the vacuum setup,” he says.

Beerman says upgrading to the 26-hp vacuums in the last two years made a big difference.

“It is even more of a time saver because of how much power and suction the machine provides,” he says. “We have noticed that even wet leaves are able to be vacuumed with this machine.”