Customer Reviews

Heavy Duty 24" Magnetic Sweeper for Concrete, Carpet or Grass - Quick-Release - Adjustable Sweep Height

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having been involved in several roofing jobs over the years - and with a neighbor who is a professional roofer - and family members in the construction business - I've tried many nail collection methods. When a crew of 14 roofers rips off old shingles and completes a 50-square job (150 bundles) in one day, nails are going to fly. Ground conditions vary widely around most houses. Non-concrete surfaces also vary according to how wet the ground is. Nails become embedded in wet soil, leaves, mulch and grass and stick like they were in glue. Most professional roofers do not collect nails. That's not how they make their money. Most of them use light drag magnets without wheels. They make one swift sweep and leave. Therefore, it is up to the homeowner. One of my hobbies is lawn care. I can't afford to run a large, expensive commercial mower around a house that has recently had a roofing job without first making certain that the ground is free of nails. Having said all of this, there is no perfect collection method for all surfaces. First off, the magnetic bar inside this 24" sweeper is not designed to be adjusted. Even if it was, it would only make it less effective by keeping the magnet further away from the nails and failing to lift them out of the dirt. This sweeper is an aluminum housing with a magnetic bar inside. When the handle on top of the housing is lifted, it raises the bar from the bottom of the housing and releases the nails. The best idea would be to have large, adjustable wheels that can be easily raised or lowered based on surface conditions, along with a powerful magnet about three times stronger than this one. It would be heavy. With this 24" sweeper, cleaning concrete is a breeze. No sweat. One sweep, maybe two, and it is done. However, sweeping grass, leaves and dirt is a whole different story. Several sweeps are require over a period of weeks until no clicks are heard. This is especially true if the ground was wet when the roofing job was done. Sweep after the soil dries and then again after a good rain. Eventually, the clicks of nails impacting the sweeper will cease. During my initial sweeps when dozens of nails are collected every few feet - and especially on large jobs - I set up several dumping stations around the house. Plastic trays about 26" long that the sweeper will fit inside or tarps work well to catch the nails. When the clicks of metal against metal become less frequent, it is easier for me to wear a belt or shoulder pouch and turn the sweeper up on one wheel and pick off the nails by hand. And in extra thick grass, mulch and leaves, I then pull out a 6-pound, 10" magnet on a rope designed to lift boat motors weighing up to 300 pounds from lake bottoms. Dragging and swinging it is tons work. It takes time, effort and a lot of sweat. Cleaning off the nails is a challenge, but there will be nails. You can count on it. And the deeper the leaves and mulch, the more nails you will find. In addition, you'll need to pick up all the chunks of broken shingles by hand. There will be many. You'll be surprised how often you discover a nail embedded in a shard of shingle that the magnet failed collect. Bottom line is made in three points: 1. This 24" Magnetic Sweeper is definitely worth the money. 2. No sweeper is perfect is all conditions. 3. Know what to expect.

The sweeper arrived in good shape and went together easily and I eargerly took it outside, after coming home from work, to begin picking up nails from a recent re-roofing job. Grass that is taller than the bar will dislodge nails, etc....so I found myself clearing off the bar every time I heard the 'click' of another nail being attracted to the bar; this worked but I didn't cover as much ground as I had hoped before it got dark. Although the bar is height adjustable, this requires one to take a wrench to unlock hex nuts and retighten in order to adjust to the current grass level. It would be great to have a system wherein the height could be adjusted 'on the fly' and not have to stop, find the wrench, and adjust both ends independantly, depending on the changing grass height.

This hovers nicely over ground, so it rolls easily, and yet it finds metal nestled down in the dirt. I used it after a roof replacement, when nails get sprayed all over the yard. If you make a pass around the yard, you may see nothing. Run the magnet around and you'll be amazed - for all the nails that it picks up you'll wonder how you could've missed seeing them. Only a minor nit about the tool; the handle length set screw should be a little more substantial.

Have used this just shy of 1 year. Strong magnet picks everything up.

Would like a quick adjustment for height. Around job sites with uneven ground, it can bottom-out and pull nails off magnet. A design that allows one to lift the magnet body relative to the ground at the handle on the fly.

Handle connection to magnet body is sloppy. Plan on drilling more holes or welding handle to body permanently.

We use these to pick up metal chips in our machine shop, works great, very lightweight and a good value for the price.

Since I am having a lot of work done to my house, inside and out, I've used this tool both to pick up the pounds of nails left by the roofing contractor and the drywall nails that fell on the floor when I pulled the drywall down from my ceiling. I very useful item!!

This sweeper picks up everything it claims. We are still picking up nails at our construction site and will likely continue to do so for several more months.

Couldn't ask for a better pick-up tool. Strong magnet will pickup everything from bolts to wire staples easily. Height adjustment is very handy to tune your sweeper to the task at hand. No issues sweeping thru grass.

Works great on smooth floors and also in our yard which is small stone. I like the auto release feature.

Seems to do the job just fine. Picks up everything and anything metal, including metal shavings. Well worth the money.