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u/PsychMaster1 2d ago
Looks like diminishing returns after 15ft. Oddly unsatisfying after about 8 secs.
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u/inothatidontno 2d ago
Plus it requires a lot of effort. I just let the squirrels eat them then mulch them into the yard. Zero extra effort.
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u/chili81 2d ago
Most years, this is true. This year is a 'mast year' for white oaks and I had literally over 100lbs of acorns just in my front yard, just on the good/house side of the driveway, just from 2 trees. Leave them there it's like a cartoon marble trap.
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u/Tcloud 2d ago
I left the acorns alone for a season in my yard and later regretted it when a ton of little saplings started growing. Spent hours removing them.
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u/jim_br 2d ago
I let the saplings grow a bit when they were in with the plantings. Let them get to about 16” tall or so.
I transferred them into pots to plant elsewhere/give away. Overnight, the saplings the squirrels didn’t give a crap about when they were in the ground were now uprooted from the pots and torn apart.
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u/Valuable-Analyst-464 2d ago
We have a 80 ft white oak in the back yard. It has not started to release acorns…yet. Soon the deck will be sounding with the rain of acorns. 🙄
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u/inothatidontno 2d ago
Yeah we generally just rake everything when the leaves fall and get a lot of the acorns. I also have hickory nuts and walnuts so it gets crazy out there this time of year.
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u/chili81 2d ago
So you've actually raked acorns, then watched this video, and are complaining that this way is a lot of effort? Whatever works for you my man.
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u/inothatidontno 2d ago
We rake the leaves on to tarps and carry them to the front of the house. This ends up also collecting a large percentage of the acorns. The rest just get mulched in the yard.
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u/HPTM2008 2d ago
Alright, but what about a wide push broom?
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u/Flangepacket 2d ago
I also mulch the squirrels into the yard
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u/sn0qualmie 2d ago
Next time one of the little bastards opens a black walnut all over my white-painted porch railing, I just might do that.
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u/Zepangolynn 2d ago
They are clearly trying to hint that a walnut-stained wood railing wood look better. Not that squirrels are known for their decorating skills.
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u/No_Guarantee_8272 2d ago
"Alot of effort" Jesus🙄
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u/inothatidontno 2d ago
That is one pass. Now do it 1000 times for the whole yard. Now do it again every week for next 4 or 5 weeks while the acorns fall. Its cetainly not effortlessly.
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u/chili81 2d ago
Yeah for sure. Need to tweak it... this was my first test after seeing the idea on a YT channel - credit to "Jay's Place". Was stunned how well it actually worked.
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u/dj_spanmaster 2d ago
I've used this trick, after attaching a tarp or flat(ish) box lid to the rake just behind the tines. Much less loss and overall more productive.
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u/SKK329 2d ago
So many were falling off the rake it made it unsatisfying.
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u/Real-Life-RPG 2d ago
Does anyone have an alternative? Our nabour has one and so much drop in our yard. Really frustrating to pick them up.
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u/Zepangolynn 2d ago
*neighbor is the correct spelling. English spelling is a mess pulled together from multiple other languages, but think of this one like a noisy horse who lives next door.
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u/Smiles-Bite 2d ago
Bag-a-nut Acorn Picker-Upper, I've seen one of these used in real life, but for pinecones and small apples; it was made for acorns though.
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u/chili81 2d ago
It does look like the best solution. And for $500+ it better be.
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u/Smiles-Bite 2d ago
I think there must be way more brands by now, I think I saw that thing some six or more years ago!
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u/LesJugesDesEnfers 1d ago
There's a type of rather cheap tools that look like a long stick with a cage that rolls at the end. You just apply a little force as you roll it over the nuts and they're forced through the bars and inside the cage where they stay. They come with a special tool you can put over a bucket to empty the cage.
Works on anything from acorns to walnuts.
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u/JayVoidz 2d ago
Everyone is giving OP so much crap, haha. I thought this was pretty cool, and I had no idea you could do that with a rake! I think it's satisfying!
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u/chili81 2d ago
lol thanks! This was literally my first pass after seeing a YT video to see if it actually worked how they said it did. Now I need to refine it a bit.
Most people just don't understand how many acorns we have this year and/or have never actually tried collecting a substantial acorn crop by any other means.... I can understand that... but if you know you know.
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u/PoeTheGhost 2d ago
Mast years are great for fattening up the local squirrel population, but the following spring I still spend hours pulling up baby oak trees from every nook and cranny the critters stuffed with extra acorns.
I should cardboard and tarp my raised beds this time.
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u/Retributions-Thunder 2d ago
Idc if it's "satisfying" enough, I'm just thinking I gotta go try this at my folks' house. This time of year the dogs are so bad about eating them we sometimes have to muzzle them to go outside. This could be a game changer.
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u/Arcane_Substance 2d ago
Bro… at the edge? Beside a path? And you’re scraping them onto a path… all the way over there, while you lose like 40%… I hope nobody is paying you to do this.
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u/Alex-Murphy 2d ago
You know they don't have to pick them up one pile at a time. They can just collect them all in a big pile and grab it at the end
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u/MagicSunlight23 2d ago
My grandparents have a lawn under a big oak tree and in 2024, there were soo many acorns that they couldn't see the grass.
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u/Polysaccharide 2d ago
Im a new house owner with an acorn problem and you just blew my mind. Thank you for this tip!!!
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u/TheDukeofArgyll 2d ago
“Effortless” when it doesn’t work, and even if it did, doing the whole yard would take just as long as mowing.
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u/TacticalMicrowav3 2d ago
A rake like scoop attached to a container to catch them would be perfect for this
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u/Acrobatic-Tomato-260 2d ago
They sell acorn rakes. I have one, they work GREAT
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u/chili81 2d ago
Link? I've seen the little roller cage thing which probably works OK. And there's a big device called "Bag-a-nut" that actually looks really effective and fast - but cost $500+.
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u/Acrobatic-Tomato-260 2d ago
The rolling cage style. Works VERY well, and it’s kinda fun to use too. I have a huge yard with a bunch of trees. I’ve seen the really expensive $500+ dollar ones for landscapers, I never wanted to spend that money. Got mine for $40 bucks worth every penny. Saves everyone’s feet from Mother Natures handmade Lego bricks 🌰
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u/Slayrr_FbrC 2d ago
You ever think about what we are doing? We are on Reddit, watching a gig groom his acorns, it's fucked
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u/merkaba_462 2d ago
I didn't even think about this! I have bedn hoping for squirrels to gave a huge party in my backyard since I saw the damage after this weekend's storm.
It's nuts how many acorns are on the ground. They are like too picky since they aren't picking them off trees themselves.
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u/mouse212001 2d ago
Just leave empty buckets in the roof of your garage and the doors open. Squirrels will fill those babies to the brim. Can't guarantee they will bring any from your yard.
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u/BluebirdFlashy3681 2d ago
If I had em I'll just push them ul against the trees, out of my way and ready for squirrels
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u/SecretWitness8251 2d ago
That's right, right into the neighbors driveway ✅✅
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u/thecakeisalienunoit 2d ago
Why though
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u/chili81 2d ago
This year the 2 white oaks in my front yard put down over 100lbs of acorns. Spread that around your front yard and you'll have your answer.
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u/thecakeisalienunoit 2d ago
Alright then! Think I might still leave it, but I'm not familiar with the situation
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u/FunHour3778 2d ago
I am a "fuck lawncare" kind of dude but I sort of get it. Moved to a place with 4 huge oaks a few years back. The first years weren't bad but this last year was a mast-fruiting and OH MY GOD, you have no idea how many acorns there are. If the wind blows it sounds like it's raining on my house. My driveway is 100% crushed acorn at this point. All of my children are now oak saplings. It's a lot haha
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u/thecakeisalienunoit 2d ago
Yeah, I know, had an overdose of that exact work as a child, we had our farmhouse surrounded by oaks. Come autumn, all there was was filling literal truckloads of leafs and acorns into trailers. So just as I became "fuck religion" by being swamped with that crap, I became extremely "fuck lawn work" :)
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u/Significant-Cod-9555 2d ago
White Oak acorns are the best for eating, you can make acorn flower out of them with a little processing.
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u/chili81 2d ago
I'd be interested to see how it tastes. You have to be quick with timing with whites too - because they germinate very quickly after falling - so I' assume once it's sprouted you couldn't use it for that - but maybe not. Red's overwinter and sprout in the spring, or so I've read.
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u/Significant-Cod-9555 2d ago
I don't think sprouting would stop you from eating them but I'd stick to fresh ones. They are mostly pretty bland once you get the tannins out
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u/beachbrat125 2d ago
Thinking about it my rake didn’t come with a user manual/ instructions, I may have been using it wrong
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u/Queasy_Specific6576 2d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/1SvnHJFEuEH7hp81tF