6 Best Lawn Sweeper Reviews in Australia for 2024

What is a Lawn Sweeper?

A lawn sweeper is a rolling machine with large capture bags, or hoppers that have bristles attached either to their axles or powered by the rotation of the wheels.

The stiff bristles are tightly packed to flick and push yard debris on the surface of your lawn up into a catcher bag at the rear of the tool.

For larger lawns, it can be attached to the back of lawn mowers, and take no extra energy to use – simply clip on and pull to catch every last blade of grass behind you as you go.

For smaller lawns, there are push lawn sweepers which are designed for regular use, particularly in gardens with overhanging trees where fallen leaves or conifer needles can present a frustrating and constant problem.

When Do You Need a Lawn Sweeper?

They are ideal for homes with overhanging trees, or for professionally kept lawns, where every blade of grass counts.

They are useful for some very specific circumstances, like golf course maintenance and leaf collection, but are just as good for domestic gardeners to collect leaf litter for compost, or remove fallen pine needles.

What to Look for When Buying a Lawn Sweeper

We’ve looked at every lawn sweeper on the market to filter through to our top picks in this article, and all of them share a few things in common:

• Adjustable bristle depth
• Detachable bags
• Power

Every lawn sweeper has adjustable bristles, allowing you to sweep your lawn regardless of its length, and the detachable bags make for easy and safe storage of these often expensive tools.

What’s really important though is the fact that no lawn sweeper, apart from one, is self-propelled. They all work off the power of manual pushing, or the rotation of the wheels while being pulled by a ride-on mower.

If you are on the market for ride on mowers, find out everything you need to know here. 

Capacity

Lawn sweeper capacity can vary hugely between models, with some tow behind models boasting 750L hoppers and other push sweepers holding just 40L of grass clippings.

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Obviously, for larger lawns, choose a bigger model, but keep in mind that the really high-capacity lawn sweeper will need a ride-on tractor or quad to pull them.

Weight

When it comes to a tow behind lawn sweeper, weight isn’t much of an issue. You’re planning for that in advance by buying a lawn sweeper that you have enough garage space for.

For push models though, don’t just jump straight in for the biggest sweeper, remember it’s you that has to power it by force. So choose a model you’re confident with. 9kg is a fairly comfortable weight for a lawn sweeper, anything over that is quite an effort to push around the garden.

Width

For push lawn sweepers, which isn’t too important, but for tow behind lawn sweepers, it’s an essential consideration. If you plan on attaching a lawn sweeper to the back of your lawn mower, there is no point at all in buying one that is narrower than the mower blades, because you’ll miss half of the grass clippings. Measure your lawn mower before buying a tow behind sweeper.

Different Types of Lawn Sweeper

There are two types of lawn sweeper, and both work the same way, using stiff bristles to flick and dislodge debris from between blades of grass, and throw it backwards into a hopper or bag. The difference is how you power it.

Push lawn sweeper

Push lawn sweepers are designed to be manually pushed around the garden. They are powered by the rotation of their own wheels and should be emptied when the bag is nearly full to avoid the bristles from clogging.

Tow behind lawn sweeper

Tow behind lawn sweepers are hard to store, but very efficient, especially when used in conjunction with ride on mowers, catching any dropped grass clippings along with shredded leaf litter as you drive.

Tow behind lawn sweepers help to save time as well as improving the look of your lawn.

How to Use a Lawn Sweeper

Here are our three sacred rules for using any lawn sweeper:

Use on dry ground

Never use a lawn sweeper on wet lawns, their weight can damage turf, and their bristles are easily clogged by wet leaf litter and soggy grass clippings.

If you do use your lawn sweeper on a wet lawn, clean it thoroughly afterward so that wet soil and grass clippings don’t clog up the axles or hopper before the next use.

Use when you mow the lawn

Tow behind lawn sweepers should be used in conjunction with ride on mowers. This saves you time, and effort and reduces the chances of leaf litter and grass clippings being left out in the rain.

For push lawn sweepers, use them as soon as possible after cutting the grass. The longer you leave your grass clippings the harder they are to retrieve.

Grass grows quickly, and grass clippings settle fast, so get straight out with your lawn sweeper after cutting the lawn.

Set the brush height

Lawn sweepers have dense, stiff bristles and are designed for one job, and one job only. Setting the bristles too low can damage your lawn and your lawn sweeper.

Set the bristles so that they are flicking the tips of your grass, not digging into the thatch.

Maintaining a Lawn Sweeper

There are a few basic maintenance tips that cover most models of lawn sweeper, which can help you improve the lifespan of your tools:

Assembly / Disassembly

Follow the manufacturer’s instructions when assembling a lawn sweeper, but also, try to assemble and disassemble a lawn sweeper at least once a year, and clean and oil any moving parts.

They take the brunt of garden dirt and grass clippings, so can quickly build up grime and grease.

Inspect the bristles after use

After every use, inspect the bristles of your lawn sweeper for clumps of leaf litter or grass that is caught. Remove any other yard debris to prevent the bristles from being bent in the long term.

Store the bag neatly

For smaller lawn sweepers, make sure the bag is stored neatly and safely. If your bag is damaged accidentally, your lawn sweeper will be rendered useless, so keep it safe when not in use.

1. Agri-Fab 45-0492 44-Inch Lawn Sweeper

I’m a big fan of the Agri-fab tow behind lawn sweeper. It’s lightweight, and incredibly easy to store, with simple mechanisms that slow it to be folded away fully up against the garage wall, so it takes up barely any space.

The catcher bag is made from reasonably tough material too, and thanks to the pull cord it’s really easy to empty. Just drive over to your compost and tug. The hopper just folds up and drops everything there with no effort at all.

2. GARDENA Leaf and Grass Collector

Gardena always makes useful tools for medium-sized gardens, and we love them for it. Their small lawn sweeper is perfect for most domestic lawns and is specifically designed for tidying up fallen leaves in the autumn.

The long stiff bristles are perfectly designed and easy to adjust using the simple gauge on the front of the lawn sweeper. Of all the small lawn sweeper on review here, it has the best capture bag too, made of durable material and with wide sides so there’s no risk of overspill.

3. Agri-Fab 45-0218 26-Inch Push Lawn Sweeper

Agri-Fab has the widest range of lawn sweepers of any manufacturer, with models to suit all garden sizes, but they are all on the heavy side.

However, for a large domestic garden with overhanging trees, it’s pretty much the best lawn sweeper you can buy, with extremely stiff bristles that don’t miss even the smallest pine needles.

4. vidaXL 103L Lawn Sweeper 

VidaXL are well known for their budget garden tools and furniture, but they’re also well known for building from budget materials, and this is no different.

If you want to save money and buy a fairly decent lawn sweeper that gets the job done, then this would suit you right to the ground, but it’s far from perfect.

The catcher bag is made from really flimsy tarpaulin which will rip if you accidentally pick up stone or sticks, and the body of the machine is built from thin plastic sheet and feels brittle.

This is a budget tool with a budget price tag though, so it’s definitely worth the money.

5. Agri-Fab 45-0570 30-Inch Push Lawn Sweeper

If you’ve got a large lawn, but you don’t have space for ride on mowers or quad bikes, it’s worth considering this 30” lawn sweeper by Agri-fab.

It’s a push-type lawn sweeper, so requires no power, and is lightweight when empty. Just be mindful to empty it regularly so it doesn’t get too heavy. 

There are some issues with manufacturing, with the fittings degrading quickly but, for the price, it’s worth it when you can replace the nuts and bolts for a few cents.

6. Agri-Fab 45-0320 42-Inch Tow Behind Lawn Sweeper

The cheapest tow behind lawn sweeper by a long way is the Agri-Fab 42” model, which is lightweight enough to tow on even a small lawn tractor. Its hopper isn’t huge, but it’s not meant to be.

The smaller hopper helps to keep the weight down and is designed for use on large lawns, rather than for landscape management. And, like all Agri-fab lawn sweepers it folds away neatly for storage, making it ideal for homes with big gardens, but small garages.

For any large lawn in a domestic setting, or even a small sports field, the Agri-Fab 44” tow behind is the best lawn sweeper you can buy. It’s incredibly easy to set up, and folds away perfectly in a garage or shed. 

Agri-fab has clearly designed this with convenience in mind and it shows. It’s easy to empty, easy to clean, easy to store, and just easy all round. If you’re going to buy a lawn sweeper, this is the one we would recommend.

For smaller gardens, it’s got to be the Gardena Leaf and Grass Collector. It’s small but mighty, with stiff bristles that work really well and get 99% of yard debris from the surface. 

There are cheaper lawn sweepers out there, but you won’t find anything as sturdy as this in the same price bracket.

Lawn Sweeper Frequenly Asked Questions

Are lawn sweepers worth it?

A lawn sweeper can save you hours of work in large gardens but are an expensive luxury for small backyards, where a rake will usually do the job. For large gardens, there is no tool that can match a lawn sweeper for efficiency.

Can you mow and use a lawn sweeper at the same time?

As long as your ride-on mower has a powerful engine and a strong towing capacity then it is much more efficient to mow and use a lawn sweeper at the same time. Make sure you regularly empty the lawn sweeper if it’s getting near the mower’s weight limit though.

Is a lawn sweeper better than a lawn bagger?

Lawn baggers are just massive bags that catch grass clippings from ride-on or zero-turn mowers (Check out our guide for choosing the best zero turn mowers in 2024). 

They have very limited uses and won’t help to remove fallen leaves or pine needles from your garden. Lawn sweepers are significantly better tools. 

Will a lawn sweeper pick up wet leaves?

A lawn sweeper can pick up wet leaves, but should not be used for that purpose. Lawn sweepers can damage wet lawns, so avoid using them until the lawn, and leaves have dried out enough.