Yard work gets more challenging the older I get. So I’ve hung up my rake in exchange for a Hand-Push Lawn Sweeper. But is a Lawn Sweeper worth it? I began using one this fall and found that pushing this lightweight lawn sweeper is faster and easier on my back than raking. Read on for more benefits of the Lawn Sweeper.
What is a Hand Push Lawn Sweeper?
A hand push lawn sweeper helps you gather leaves and other small, light debris up off your lawn in a shorter time and with less effort than raking. It somewhat resembles the old-fashioned reel lawn mowers. Instead of a blade assembly though, the lawn sweeper has a rotating brush that sweeps up leaves as you manually push it forward. The leaves sweep into an attached collection bag that you empty and refill as you walk your way across the lawn.
The Massimo Hand-Push Lawn Leaf Sweeper does a good job sweeping up leaves and other light debris from grass and driveways.
How does a Hand Push Lawn Sweeper work?
As you push the Lawn Sweeper forward, the tires turn, which causes the brush to rotate and sweep up leaves, stems, and thin twigs into the collection bag. We swept up leaves from pecan, oak, and maple trees.
Is a Hand Push Lawn Sweeper Worth It?
Benefits of the Massimo Hand Push Lawn Sweeper:
- Light Weight: You could probably hang it up in your garage or shed. We just lean it up against a wall.
- Easy to Push: Even at my age, the lawn sweeper isn’t difficult to push.
- Picks Up Leaves, Stems and Small Twigs: We have pecan trees whose leaves fall attached to longish stems. The lawn sweeper does not have trouble picking them up. It also picks up small twigs along with the leaves. It picks up dry to slightly damp leaves although damp leaves are heavier to push.
- Faster Than Raking: Pushing the lawn sweeper is faster and easier on my back than raking.
- Adjustable Height: A front adjustment lets you dial in the height of the brushes for the right balance between pick up and push ability. (Set all the way to lowest setting for flattest areas like the driveway. Set to the highest setting for deeper grass or deeper leaf piles.) You may have to readjust until you find the right height. Terrain or grass level changes may require further adjustment.
- Easy to Empty: The collection bag is easy to detach from the sweeper for emptying. It’s also fairly lightweight when filled with dry leaves.
- Build Quality: For a light, plastic gadget with moving parts, the Massimo Lawn Sweeper has held up pretty well so far.
- Collection Bag: I’ve pulled the collection bag out to empty it more times than I could estimate and it still snaps back onto its rails as easily as day one.
- Material — The collection bag seems durable. Although light and thin, the bag hasn’t gotten any holes, tears, or worn areas as of yet (nearing the end of leaf season with a largish yard).
- Hardware — One of the bolts that attaches the upper push bar to the lower one tends to loosen and fall off. Luckily it is covered with a bright red knob, and I’ve found it in the grass both times it happened.
Some Things to Consider
For me, the Benefits outweigh the drawbacks of the Massimo Lawn Sweeper. The Lawn Sweeper is much easier than raking all those leaves. However, there are a few things to consider before purchasing.
Long Grass, Leaf Piles Can Impede Forward Motion: If your grass is on the longish side, or you have a depression filled with leaves, the brushes may stop spinning, which stops the lawn sweeper. You may have to adjust the height of the sweeper.
Bag Does Not Fill Completely: The back of the 100L collection bag is higher than the front so the collection bag does not fill up completely. I find myself stopping to push the leaves farther back into the bin to make room for more leaves.
Did Not Pick Up All of the Acorns and Pecans: We only wanted to pick up leaves so this really did not bother us, but worth noting.
Assembly Instructions: The Sweeper itself is not difficult to assemble, but the included instructions might be confusing. This is an easy fix, though, because you can view Massimo’s Lawn Sweeper step-by-step assembly video on YouTube:
Massimo Hand Push Lawn Sweeper Assembly Video
Size: The Amazon listing for the Massimo Hand Push Lawn Sweeper as of last check (Nov. 2022) lists it as a 26” lawn sweeper. The one we received is actually closer to 21” wide.
Not a Vacuum: The Lawn Sweeper isn’t a vacuum, so some leaves get left on the ground. You might have to go over some areas more than once. Long stems can get wound around the wheel axle. Branches can get stuck in the brushes and cause the sweeper to stop. So depending on your lawn, you may have to stop to pull out stems and branches.
Hand Push Lawn Sweeper is a Keeper
The Massimo Lawn Sweeper has been a big help is gathering leaves this season. I’m sold on the idea of how lawn sweepers work in general. If you have a bigger yard, you might want to consider one of the larger capacity lawn sweepers or even a tow-behind lawn sweeper if you have a way to pull one. I thought about getting a larger hand push lawn sweeper. But at my age I have to balance how I feel on any given day with how many leaves I can gather at one time. So I will definitely keep the Massimo sweeper, and think about getting one of the larger sweepers.