The Observation Deck

Does anybody have any idea when leaves are going to be collected? I've worked very hard the last two weekends to get them to the street, as have so many others in our neighborhood. Now they're all covered with snow. I hope they get collected before we get our first “realâ€Â￾ snowfall and they get plowed all over everywhere.

Last year, we piled up all the leaves starting before the first collection dates. It snowed before they came, and we didn't see any leaf collection after that til the following spring.

HEY THEY'RE COLLECTING OUR LEAVES!

All the neat Rube Goldberg stuff is on my street right now. Two front-end loaders and three guys with backpack leaf blowers. Oh wait, there's FIVE more guys with leaf blowers, I see eight of 'em now, blowing up a storm. And now there's two more front-end loaders, I can see four from here.

Oh look over there at the corner, there's FOUR large pickups. A couple have plows.

Soon we'll see the garbage trucks, then finally the street sweepers.

So now that it's Saturday, which do they get, time-and-a-half or double time?

Tim Liston wrote:All the neat Rube Goldberg stuff is on my street right now.

Haaaaahaaaaa......thats the funniest thing I've read all day.....

thanks Tim....

Quit Bitchin!! I saw how many leaves there were. There were 80 huge piles spaced every 30 feet or so. Do you think that one or two guys could have blown them out in the street, , piled em up and loaded them in a truck? The leaves came down late this year and I think that we should be happy that they get picked up this way instead of having to bag them all. Stick to what you do for a living and quit complaining about every facet of the city.

Katie Sizemore wrote:Quit Bitchin!! I saw how many leaves there were. There were 80 huge piles spaced every 30 feet or so. Do you think that one or two guys could have blown them out in the street, , piled em up and loaded them in a truck? The leaves came down late this year and I think that we should be happy that they get picked up this way instead of having to bag them all. Stick to what you do for a living and quit complaining about every facet of the city.

Katie---

I think that as I pointed out in a thread before that Lakewoods 'System' for leaf collection is maddeningly inefficent. I can't speak for Tim, but I am happy that the city collects my leaves, but I am unhappy in the manner in which they do. Whats so wrong with finding a better, more efficent, COST effective way? Is that 'bitchin' about the city?

Whats so wrong with finding a better, more efficent, COST effective way? Is that 'bitchin' about the city?

So what is your efficient cost effective way? Tell us what you would do, and how YOU would do it better. I am happy with they way they picked up my leaves. I didn't have to bag them. So it was a little later this year, big deal. They got the job done.
I am sick if all the bitchin', too. Get over it.

the leaves on my street were picked up wednesday.

There were huge piles in the street but they were gone by the time I took a second look out the window.

nothing to complain about here.

I agree with Mary and Katie, Lakewood does a great job, we could all have to do it ourselves. My husband and I are both very pleased with the service Lakewood provides.

Mary Breiner wrote:

Whats so wrong with finding a better, more efficent, COST effective way? Is that 'bitchin' about the city?

So what is your efficient cost effective way? Tell us what you would do, and how YOU would do it better. I am happy with they way they picked up my leaves. I didn't have to bag them. So it was a little later this year, big deal. They got the job done.
I am sick if all the bitchin', too. Get over it.

Well---in a previous thread, I observed that other cities simply use a garbage truck with a sucker attachment, it takes 1 guy to drive the truck, 2 guys to rake and suck. Now compare Lakewoods method of leaf collection, 1 garbage truck, 2 front end loaders, at least 3 guys blowing, followed by the street sweeper. Now common sense tell me that more manpower=more money spent. Its not that efficent. Now I realise that it would probably take some money to get the proper 'sucker' attachements for garbage trucks, but it than we could save money by not having at least 6 guys doing the same job 3 guys could do.

Oh I'm not upset about the actual timing of the collection. I understand mother nature has her own adgenda. I just think the way we do it is silly.

Again, what is so wrong with finding a better way? I don't think improving is bad? Do You?

Anne. do you realize the enormous amount of leaves collected in Clifton Park? It would take at least 3 weeks with a suck truck and a couple of rakers, to do the the same job as was accomplished on 1 day. You keep harping on cost effective, well those suck machines that you speak of are not cheap. As I watched the leaf pickup today, I saw some old outdated equipment being used, and a lot of hard work being done by the crew. My hats off to the hard working city workers!!!

So Katie and Mary,
I assume you've operated the suction trucks before? Perhaps you built them and understand all the physics behind them? Perhaps you benchmarked their speed as part of your laboratory duties?

I'm guessing none of the above is true. The point I'm trying to make, is that both of you have thrown out some pretty big assumptions while jumping all over people in this thread simply for making suggestions.

I don't know which way is better, but considering I'm not an expert at this, I see no problem with ordinary citizens asking the questions.

Now if either of you are suck truck experts, I apologize.

Bryan Schwegler wrote:So Katie and Mary,
I assume you've operated the suction trucks before? Perhaps you built them and understand all the physics behind them? Perhaps you benchmarked their speed as part of your laboratory duties?

I'm guessing none of the above is true. The point I'm trying to make, is that both of you have thrown out some pretty big assumptions while jumping all over people in this thread simply for making suggestions.

I don't know which way is better, but considering I'm not an expert at this, I see no problem with ordinary citizens asking the questions.

Now if either of you are suck truck experts, I apologize.

Funny you should post this because I have operated and worked on these type of trucks. The use a vacuum pump to create a vacuum in the tank which in turn pulls leaves or whatever detritus into the tank. They operate at a maximum vacuum of nearly 15 psi. They are easily choked by heavy wet debris and require partial air draw to pick up the material. John and I both grew up in Euclid and this is what they used to pick up the leaves there.

There is a place and time for every type of tool used. Under heavy wet large and densely packed leaf loads the vacuum system is highly inefficient. Under dry conditions they work great. So I guess it boils down to weather conditions as the deciding factor for which method of leaf pickup you are going to use.

I've got nothing to complain about here. Where I used to live, which had a ton of trees as well, I paid nearly double in taxes and didn't get nearly as much of the services I get in Lakewood. Leaf collection happened once and then you were on your own. So you had to bag or compost whatever you could. And the kicker? You could only put out two bags for collection a week...if you did more, you would get charged per bag. And you had to get the leaves up because it rained so much that they turned into slipperly sludge.

I am sure all hoped to not discuss leaf pick up again till next fall but I just watched the sucker truck with it's remote arm suck up the packed,frozen/wet leaves on my front lawn and my neighbors. It worked very well and didn't seem to struggle with the condition of the leaves.
...and of course thank you lakewood for picking them up even after the "official"leaf pick up had ended.
Now go visit the new bookstore...........