Lawn Sweeper vs Bagger – Which One is Better in 2024?

While a beautiful garden is a matter of pride and increases the value of your house, an unkempt garden looks like a scene straight out of a nightmare. Whatever the season, you do need to cut grass and collect fallen leaves. But this does not mean you need to do everything by hand.

Advancement of technology has led to the availability of lawn sweepers and lawn baggers, which will save you from sweating over a pile of leaves.

Lawn sweepers and baggers are tools that clean up your backyard. A bagger is good for picking up grass clippings, while a lawn sweeper is better for getting rid of all the garbage in your garden.

Now, if you are on the fence regarding the lawn sweeper and bagger, this lawn sweeper or bagger guide may be of some help to you.

Lawn Sweeper vs Bagger

Now, let’s compare the features of both products. After reading the comparison, you’ll have no doubt regarding which one is the right fit for you. In addition, we’ll also introduce their advantages and drawbacks.

• Capacity

The Agri-Fab 45-0492 has a ‘Flow thru’ hopper, which is designed to fill more completely, thereby reducing the time needed to empty it. It has 25 cu ft mesh back, which means you can fill about 20 bushels of leaves effortlessly.

To avoid going back and forth with a small bagger, go for MTD Double Bagger for riding lawnmowers. With two bags, you do not need to stop continuously to empty baggers and then start mowing again. However, it has a capacity of 6.5 bushels only.

• Assembly

The best thing about the lawn sweeper is that you can assemble it within thirty minutes. And you won’t have to call a technician for that. If you follow the manual properly, I don’t think you’ll come across any problems. But let me mention that the manual of this product is a bit hard to understand.

MTD Bagger fits most cutting deck of 42-46 inch, made in 2010 or after, and the kit comes with different pieces necessary to fit the baggers with lawnmowers. So, assembly of  MTD Double Bagger will vary depending on the brand and year of your lawnmower.

• Height Indicator

Agri-Fab 45-0492 Lawn Sweeper comes with an easy indicator to measure the length of grass and height can be easily adjusted too. Whereas, MTD Double Bagger does not have any such indicator, and so you will need to use your judgment.

• Dumping Garbage

In Agri-Fab 45-0492, you can operate the dump lever without leaving your tractor seat.

However, with the MTD Double Bagger, you don’t need to move the seat to empty the bags as it has a Top hinged Hood, but you definitely need to leave your seat to dump it.Now, let’s look at the pros and cons of both products.

Pros and cons of lawn sweeper and bagger

Pros of lawn sweeper

•  Lawn Sweeper ensures smooth transport to the working area.
• These tools are designed for different types of work.
• Large capacity to collect debris and trash.
• The metal components of this item are well-made and quite sturdy.
• Easily adjustable height collection bin with a large capacity.
• It's good for Cleaning the drive and picking up leaves from the garden.
• In addition to being easy to set up, this product is also very easy to use.

cons of lawn sweeper

• It may not be suitable for terrain with highs and lows.
• A large amount of storage space may be required to store this item.
• The basket can fall out if you don't pay attention.
• The bag material is lightweight, its frame is also lightweight.

Pros of Lawn Bagger

• I found it easy to assemble and the instructions were clear.
• The product is easy to handle and works perfectly.
• On the lawn, it works well and picks up the grass easily.
• Its bushel capacity is good.
• Your bagger will leave no grass clumps behind and will save you a great deal of time.

cons of Lawn Bagger

• Clogs easily if the grass is a bit high or wet.
• Bags fill up real quickly.
• When collecting wet grass, the performance is poor.
• It is not particularly effective at collecting different types of debris.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here we have some of the most commonly asked queries regarding the debate between lawn sweeper and bagger:

1. Is a lawn sweeper better than a rake or a leaf blower?

Yes. It is better because, with a rake, you can comb the leaves and arrange it in a pile, but you need to pick it up and put it in a bag yourself.

With a leaf blower, you can blow the leaves, but as with a rake, you need to pick them up yourself and put them away. Whereas, with a lawn sweeper, you can collect leaves, twigs, pine needles, etc. and store it in a bag without doing manual labor. So, it is more efficient and time-saving than both rakes and leaf blowers.

2. Does a lawn sweeper pick up leaves only?

No. As your garden has many more things besides leaves, such as twigs, dog’s poop, pine needles, dead weeds, etc., a lawn sweeper can vacuum your lawn and pick up everything.

However, it depends on the type of lawn sweeper; for instance, with a push lawn sweeper, you can pick up things that are smaller and lighter like dead leaves and small twigs. For more thorough cleaning, use a tow lawn sweeper that can pick up everything except large branches or twigs.

3. Is a lawnmower only good for picking up leaves?

No. With different attachments, you can do quite a lot. For example, with an aerator, you can break up clumps of dirt, or with a shredder, you can chop off the grasses and leaves and turn it into natural fertilizer.

Final Words: Which One to Choose?

Now that you know the features of both lawn sweepers and baggers, the question is which one to go for. This depends on the length of your lawn. Now, if the lawn is huge, it is better to get a lawn sweeper instead of baggers as it would need to be emptied several times.

Next, you need to consider the wetness of grass in your lawn. Both lawn sweepers and baggers have difficulty cutting wet grass, but lawn sweepers are better than baggers at cutting wet grass.

The last thing you need to consider is the kind of debris that you need to clean from your lawn. If you have pine cones and needles, twigs, leaves, etc. you should go for a lawn sweeper as it is designed to clean heavy debris from lawns.

Baggers are better when all you need to clean are leaves, dry grass, and pine needles, not cones. So after considering these matters, get the one best suited for your lawn.

And do share this lawn sweeper vs bagger guide with your friends and family.