The 8 Best Lawn Sweepers Make Clearing Leaves a Breeze

At 72.7 pounds, the Yard Commander's 42-inch sweeper is the lightest of the tow-behind options in this guide. Its universal hitch attaches quickly to most lawn tractors and ATVs but not to zero-turn mowers.

Four 10-inch nylon brushes sweep into a 17.79-cubic-foot hopper, which holds a little over three lawn bags' worth and empties with the pull of a string. The corrosion-resistant steel construction delivers stability and ensures use season after season. Yard Commander doesn't publish a gear ratio or a top speed.

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This mid-size lawn behind a tractor is worth a look. Its 42-inch path makes it manageable to steer easily around beds and trees, and the 22-cubic-foot hopper, about four lawn bags' worth, empties with a rope from the seat. Five hitch positions let you choose the one that leaves the hitch tubes (the bars running from the hitch to the sweeper) roughly level with the ground.

Its four spiral brushes twist along the shaft, so part of each always touches the grass and it doesn't bounce and chatter over uneven ground the way straight brushes can. Sealed bearings (ones that come greased and closed) keep dirt and grass dust out of the brush shaft, so it keeps turning freely.

I like fiberglass-reinforced nylon wheels on a machine that lives outdoors, since the glass fiber stiffens them against knocks and a solid wheel can't go flat.

Ohio Steel doesn't publish a wheel size, but a retailer lists 11-inch wheels, and smaller wheels turn more often. At a 3-mph cruise, that puts its 4.5:1 gearing at about 410 brush turns a minute, so its lower ratio costs it less than the number suggests.

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Width saves laps on a big lawn, and Brinly's 54-inch sweeper has both the widest path and the largest hopper in this guide, at 54 inches and 30 cubic feet. Brinly says its six Double-Helix brushes (brush strips that twist in a spiral around the shaft) pick up continuously, even through turns. Brinly lists no brush speed, but its 12-inch wheels and 5:1 gearing put it at about 420 turns a minute at a 3-mph cruise, or 560 at the 4-mph cap. A 10-position lock arm sets brush height from about 1/4 inch to 3-1/4 inches, high for deep leaves and low for clippings.

Its clevis (the U-shaped fitting at the front of the hitch that pins to your tractor) mounts two ways, for hitch plates 7 to 10 inches off the ground or 11 to 14, so it rides level on a low hitch or a high one. At nearly 62 inches across, it needs a wide gate and shed door.

Set aside a few hours for assembly. The vinyl hopper is a tight fit, so work it onto the frame a section at a time. With acres to clear and a tractor that fits its hitch, this is the one I'd want. It's the most expensive sweeper in this guide, but the width and the hopper are what the extra money will buy you.

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For a lawn that doesn't justify a tractor, Agri-Fab's 26-inch push sweeper is the one I suggest. Its hopper holds 6.2 cubic feet, a little more than one lawn bag, and that’s a lot for a machine this size. Its four brushes are geared at 5:1.

Small wheels help here. Its 9.8-inch wheels turn more often than a tow-behind's, so at a brisk 3-mph walk the brushes spin about 515 times a minute, and they slow down when you do. Brush height adjusts by sliding a tube and locking it with a knob.

At 26 pounds, it's light enough to hang on a garage wall, and the hopper frame comes off if you'd rather store it flat. Upkeep is a few drops of light oil on the brush-shaft bearings twice a year, plus cleaning and lightly greasing the wheel gears every two years.

While it's simple to put together, the plastic body flexes, so be prepared that it pushes hard with the brushes low and needs a flat lawn to pick up well. On a small, level lawn, it's the push sweeper to get.

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Scotts' 26-inch push sweeper is the lightest machine recommended here, and it's sized for small jobs like a townhouse lawn, patio, or a driveway after a windy night. Its hopper holds 3.6 bushels, about 4.5 cubic feet, or a little less than one lawn bag, which is the smallest hopper in this guide. The whole sweeper weighs under 22 pounds. The hopper unhooks from the frame so you can carry it to the compost pile and tip it out.

American Lawn Mower Co. makes it under the Scotts name, touting its adjustable height control for moving between grass and hard surfaces. For my own setup, it's the one that I'd likely choose. I move around the country a lot and keep my gear modular, and a sweeper this light and small is the easiest to toss into storage.

Keep in mind that it’s best suited for a light fall of leaves. Plan on more than one pass, and if light debris sails past the hopper, slow your walk until it lands inside. Leave heavy, damp leaf piles to a bigger machine.

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Brinly's 42-inch sweeper is built for a thick layer of leaves. Two things lift a deep layer—how many sweeps the brushes make and how high they reach, and it ties for the most in this guide on both.

The brush roll is highly adjustable with 10 labeled height settings. This lets you tailor the sweeper to your desired height based on density of your leaves and yard and grass type.

While not the lightest tow-behind option in this roundup, the Brinly is on the lighter end of the spectrum, which makes it easier to hitch up to your tractor and also puts less strain on it when full of wet, heavy leaves.

Continuous-contact Double-Helix brushes, geared at 5:1, according to the company, last 2.5 times longer than other brushes. Its clevis fits hitch plates 7 to 10 or 11 to 14 inches off the ground, so it rides level on a low or a high hitch.

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Ohio Steel's 50-inch model is sturdy, and its heavy steel build runs across a 50-inch path, which suits a big, open lot with pine needles, cones, and sticks to clear. Against a 42-inch sweeper, the narrowest tow-behind size here, its extra 8 inches cut about one pass in six, so an hour's sweeping takes about 50 minutes.

Its brush shaft runs on sealed ball bearings, so you never have to oil them, while some sweepers' brush shafts need oil every season. The chute (the opening debris flies through into the hopper) is 9 inches across, room for a pine cone or a fist-sized clump of wet clippings. Anything bigger catches on the lip and dams everything behind it.

Its 26-cubic-foot hopper holds about five lawn bags' worth, one of the larger hoppers in this guide, so on a big lot you stop to empty it less often. Behind a 50-inch path, I'd want that capacity, since a wider sweep fills a hopper sooner.

What can be an issue is a hopper bottom that wears through where it meets the ground, so set the hitch height that keeps the hitch tubes level and the bag off the ground. Among sweepers under $400 in this guide, it's the widest.

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