CRAFTSMAN (CMXGZBF7124266) 42-Inch, Hi-Speed Tow Lawn, 22 cu. ft Hopper Bag Capacity; Leaf & Grass Catcher, with Adjustable Brush Height and Dump from Seat Handle

I bought this even after reading all the bad reviews, knowing my yard is not perfectly level i hooked it to the mower and went all the way around my yard with it and learned where the unlevel passes are and took 10 seconds and unhooked sweeper and used the mower to blow the stuff into the level passes (the clean ones) and took 10 seconds and hooked up the sweeper and went to those areas and swept it up no problem my yard is clean. you have to learn your yard, use the adjustment height setting, if the wheels are sliding reset it. if you have to use the mower to blow everything to the best area of your yard then sweep it up i have an unlevel yard with 21 pine trees and 6 other tress and don't rake anywhere. the condition of your yard is not the sweepers fault learn your yard when and where to use it. 100% results 1st time out not going happen, trial and error will get you great results with it. i love this thing i do all my fall clean up sitting on my mower

I bought this as a backup for our bagging mower. The first thing I did before buying was to read reviews and found that a lot of people found this difficult to put together, some saying it took five hours! Given I'm not overly mechanically inclined the assembling time was a concern to me. I also read that many people received damaged units. Good news on both of these concerns, it took only two hours for me to put together and it came perfectly intact with all the parts. I was able to assemble it all on my own with no extra hands but it would have been helpful to have a helper. The parts were not labeled well but most of the bolts are easy to tell because there are basically small, medium and large ones and small with pins so you can figure it out.On to performance! I only used it once, to pick bout 12 loads worth of leaves and pine needles. It was extremely wet having over an inch of rain the day before. The pictures above represent one pass over an area heavy with wet leaves and pine needles. Pretty solid for one pass on very wet leaves and pine needles. I noticed that you have to monitor the speed and terrain, if you are going too fast the sweeper will bounce and won't pick up leaves. It also doesn't pick up well on uneven surfaces like around tree roots. The storage area is large enough to haul more leaves than a typical bagger will but you have to keep that in mind because this may be too much for some mowers to haul safely without damaging the mower.It's early but so far I'm pleased with the purchase. Will update at the end of the fall season.Update: I have about a year's worth of use out of this and the nob doesn't the wheel that adjusts the height won't turn and now the brushes are too low to use the sweeper. I will have to figure out how to fix it.

Shipping was fast. Once I opened the box I sorted out all the parts then made sure everything was there. I'm not sure why all the complaints about the instructions probably not reading the whole thing, I did it a few times and if I would have just read the last sentence I wouldn't have had to go back. Putting this thing together was actually easy. It has a lot of pictures also that can help.i saw people say it took 3 hours to put together there are only like 12 bolts. Took me maybe 30 minutes and I only used a pair of needle nose and a nut driver, all of my tools where at work. Works well, no issues yet. Seems sturdy.

TOP LINE: In my opinion, this Craftsman Lawn Sweeper is UNACCEPTABLE because of defective parts and impossible customer service.1. Both hitch tubes were supposed to be marked "L" and "R". They were not marked and difficult to determine which tube was left and which was right. The manual is unacceptable because of poor-quality illustrations and substandard explanations.2. One hitch tube was missing both holes for the bolts that attach the tube to the main chassis. Fortunately, I have the equipment to drill the correct holes ... Unfortunately, most people will not. VERY POOR product quality!3. I tried to contact Craftsman to obtain the correct hitch tube, but it was frustratingly impossible. I was referred to a non-existent "chat." After close to an hour, I gave up.If I didn't need a lawn sweeper, I would return the whole mess to Amazon and try another brand. Instead, I'll fix Craftsman's mistakes and keep it. Sad state of affairs!Ps: About 10 years ago, I bought this same sweeper and had similar issues: Missing parts!

I purchased this several months ago and found it was pretty easy to assemble. I have used it numerous times and it does exactly what I need it to do. The capacity is amazing, something I was really looking for, and it stands up to consistent use. I'm not entirely happy with how easy the wheels slip, but if you are just using it on your standard mower and the grass is relatively dry then you should have no problem. I shopped around quite a lot to find a deal as good as this. I cannot speak to the price at whatever time you are reading this but I can highly recommend this product.

When it is working this is a very good sweeper and makes the lawn look good. The problem is that the machine does not hold up over time. I have had this one for almost 4 years and I am on my third set of nylon cog gears and my third brush shaft. The shaft is drilled with 1/4 inch holes to fasten the brushes and this greatly weakens the shaft. TWICE it has snapped in two and so the third time I had it welded solid and used flat u clamps to attach the brushes. Also, the Height adjustment is controlled by a PLASTIC friction thumb screw... REALLY engineers?!!! This is the first part to fail causing the brushes to descend too deeply into the grass. I rigged a solid brace onto the machine to hold the height at a consistent level. Like I said, great and very functional design, but the manufacture is cheep and lazy, using parts that just do not endure typical use.