By
Matt
August 31, 2022Upgraded Gear is supported by its readers. We may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you when buying using a link on our site.
An oak tree is a stunning specimen of beauty, providing a canopy of shade under its wide branches and beautiful leaves. But each season, a single oak tree can drop thousands of acorns. The acorns litter your lawn and picking them up is a pain in the grass. It can feel like a full-time job if you have the wrong tools. However, with the right tools, picking up acorns is easy and takes no time at all.
To create this article, we spent hours researching product data and user reviews for different acorn picker uppers. After reviewing the data, we've compiled a list of our top picks.
Tip: If you need help, then we recommend skipping ahead to our buying guide which lists important things to consider when purchasing a acorn picker upper.
| Garden Weasel Small Nut Gatherer |  | Best for Small Areas | Type: Rolling Pick Up | Power Source: Manual Push | Total Price: $ | VIEW LATEST PRICE | Read Our Analysis |
| Agri-Fab 45-0218 26-Inch Push Lawn Sweeper |  | Best Walk-Behind Lawn Sweeper | Type: Walk Behind | Power Source: Manual Push | Total Price: $$ | VIEW LATEST PRICE | Read Our Analysis |
| Bag-A-Nut Small Acorn Harvester |  | Best Premium Choice | Type: Walk Behind | Power Source: Manual Push | Total Price: $$$$ | VIEW LATEST PRICE | Read Our Analysis |
| Agri-Fab 45-0492 Tow Lawn Sweeper |  | Best Tow-Behind Lawn Sweeper | Type: Tow Behind | Power Source: Lawn Tractor / ATV | Total Price: $$$ | VIEW LATEST PRICE | Read Our Analysis |
| Makita SW400MP Paddle Sweeper |  | Best Power Broom for Acorns | Type: Paddle Broom | Power Source: Electric or Gas | Total Price: $$$ | VIEW LATEST PRICE | Read Our Analysis |
| DeWALT DXV12P Wet/Dry Vacuum |  | Best Shop Vacuum for Acorns | Type: Vacuum | Power Source: Electrical Outlet | Total Price: $$ | VIEW LATEST PRICE | Read Our Analysis |
More Details on Our Top Picks
The Garden Weasel is easy to use and very effective at cleaning up small nuts on the grass. As the cage rolls over an acorn, the wires separate, and the acorn pops inside. Emptying out the cage is also easy. Just pull two of the wires apart and pour the collected nuts into a bucket. It couldn't be simpler!
Additional highlights include a durable welded construction, flexible but resilient wire cage, and a lifetime warranty. As for collection size, the small model is for picking up nuts between 3/8" to 3/4" in diameter.
The Agri-Fab 26" lawn sweeper is a great leaf collector and it also works well at picking up acorns, according to several reviews. It's easy to set up and use. Just lower the brush height using the adjustment knob and you can pick up objects closer to the ground. Additional features include flat-free tires, an easy empty hopper bag, and a 4.5:1 gear ratio making it easy to push across your lawn. The Agri-Fab 45-0218 is made in the USA and comes with a 3-year warranty.
The Bag-A-Nut is the best acorn picker upper on the market. Period. But is the premium price worth it? If you have a serious acorn problem, then yes. It's definitely worth the cost.
Is it hard to use? Not at all! Simply push the Bag-A-Nut across the area with the acorns to start picking them up. In the process, you might even make the neighborhood squirrels jealous! Once the hopper fills up, empty the collected acorns, and you're ready to go again! One trick that we read about was to use a rake or leaf blower to clean any leaves or pine needles from the area before you start.
The Bag-A-Nut company has been around for years and is family-owned and operated. They focus on making great nut picker uppers and have different models for all types of nuts. The small acorn harvester is designed for nuts between 1/4" to 1" in diameter.
The Agri-Fab 45-0492 is one of the best tow-behind sweepers on the market. In addition to leaves, some owners have reported that it works great on smaller objects such as acorns too! It's easy to use and you can pull it with a zero-turn mower, garden tractor, or ATV. Make sure to set the correct brush height to a level for what you want to pick up. Finally, put on some headphones, listen to the game, and pull it across your yard!
Emptying the hopper when it's full is simple. Just pull the steel lever to dump out the contents for easy disposal. Additional features include a 44-inch wide sweeping path, two semi-pneumatic tires, and four sweeping brushes. The Agri-Fab 45-0492 is made in the USA, and it comes with a 3-yr warranty.
The Makita SW400MP is a fantastic paddle broom that works great for acorns. It features a heavy-duty design, with 12 durable rubber paddles and a wide 23-inch sweeping surface. It also works great for sweeping away rocks and gravel, grass, pebbles, piles of leaves, and even snow!
An important thing to keep in mind is that this paddle broom is just the paddle and connecting arm. It doesn't include the actual motor used to drive the broom. That's a separate purchase and you'll need to get a Makita Couple Shaft Power Head. Makita offers a cordless power head (XUX01Z) and a gas power head (EX2650LH). These are compatible with many other attachments, including line trimmers, edgers, pole saws, hedgers, and tillers.
Overall, this route is expensive, but it can save you money down the road if you need the additional attachments.
The DeWALT DXV12P is a great shop vacuum for sucking up acorns. Wait. What? You can use a shop vacuum to suck up acorns?! Yep! A shop vac can suck up many types of objects, and with the right sized nozzle, it can even suck up acorns and small nuts on your lawn. It is a long process, so it's not the best option if you're in a hurry.
As for specifications, the DXV12P features a 5.5 horsepower motor, a 20-foot extension cord, and a 12-gallon holding tank. The best part is that you can use it for all kinds of other things too, aside from just picking up acorns. Use it to clean out your car, your garage, inside your workshop, etc.
Whether small or large, acorns can become an eyesore in yards, driveways, sidewalks, and patios. Acorns left on the ground can also pose a threat to pets and children because they are choking hazards and possess toxic tannins. Acorns can also ruin your lawn or shoot out of your lawn more like a bullet, hitting someone or breaking a window.
Unfortunately, cleaning up acorns is a pain. But to keep your lawn healthy, it's important to deal with the mess. If you'd rather not use a rake for acorns, there are other options. Here are some of the best nut gathering tools to quickly and easily pick up acorns from your yard.
Types of Acorn Picker Uppers:
The least expensive of all the acorn picker-uppers is a flexible wire basket roller. It has a wooden handle like a rake, and at the bottom is a flexible metal cage shaped like an oblong ball.
As you roll the cage across your lawn and it goes over an acorn, the wires on the cage separate, and the acorn is sucked inside! It's an ingenious idea and a great solution to an acorn problem.
How do you empty the cage when it's full? Easy! Just pull apart the metal wires so the acorns fall out.
So what's the downside with using a basket roller? The main problem is that it takes time and some elbow grease to use. You can't roll it over a section of grass and expect it to pick up all the acorns at once. It only picks up a few at a time. So you'll need a couple of passes on a patch of grass before it's acorn free.
As for brands, some of the brands we like include Garden Weasel and Nut Wizard. Both of these nut gatherers have good reviews and are top sellers with consumers.
The Bag-A-Nut rollers are a category unto themselves, and there really isn't anything else like them on the market. The company has several models of these harvesting tools for all sizes and types of nuts.
If you have a serious acorn problem, then the Bag-A-Nut roller is the best acorn picker-upper for your needs. Instead of a wheel, the machine rides on a giant plastic roller that picks up the acorns and then ejects them into its basket. It's so efficient that it can theoretically pick up 50 gallons of acorns in just a few hours!
So what's the downside? Cost. The Bag-A-Nut is a proprietary and patented product, so if you want one, you'll have to pay the price. Is it worth it? If you have a LOT of acorns, then yes. It's totally worth it.
The next type of acorn picker-upper is a lawn sweeper. It's not an obvious solution to an acorn problem because these machines are mainly designed to pick up leaves. They are fantastic garden tools for that reason alone.
But the lesser-known fact is that you can use some models of lawn sweepers to pick up acorns and other types of nuts. If the model of lawn sweeper features a height adjustment knob, then you can lower the height of the brushes and start to pick up more than just leaves. You'll have to try your luck, but you should be able to pick up acorns, walnuts, buckeyes, and hickory nuts! They are very effective tools at picking up all types of nuts!
The least expensive lawn sweeper is a walk-behind model. It holds a lot of leaves and a crazy amount of nuts. You can find different widths of sweepers, but 26-inches is the most common.
The next step up is a tow-behind lawn sweeper that you attach using a tow-bar to your garden tractor, zero-turn mower, or ATV. You might also be able to hook it up to a golf cart if you have enough power.
Is there a downside to using a lawn sweeper to pick up acorns? Not really. Just make sure to read the reviews to confirm that the one you buy picks up acorns or whatever type of nut you're trying to sweep off your lawn. Most lawn sweepers are heavy-duty and can last years, easily paying off their investment.
What in the world is a paddle broom? Imagine a shaft that connects to a roller which has evenly spaced rubber fins over its surface. Now imagine the motor portion of a trimmer (aka: weed wacker) attached to the shaft. That's a paddle broom.
Is it good for picking up acorns? Well, it's fantastic at sweeping acorns (and just about anything else) into a pile.
You can use it for all kinds of projects around your house, from sweeping gravel off your grass, moving sand, dirt, snow, you name it.
What are the downsides?
The first is the price. Usually, you'll have to buy the shaft and paddle portion separate from the motor portion. But the upside is the motor portion works with other types of attachments, such as trimmers, edgers, hedgers, tillers, etc.
The second downside is your back will hurt if you're over six-feet tall and have a large area to sweep. The broom is great if you have large piles of acorns. But if everything is spread out over an acre, then yeah, your back will hurt.
Last but not least is a shop vacuum. I bet you didn't know that you can use a shop vac for picking up acorns. In fact, many people use shop vacuums to pick up all types of nuts off their lawn! Crazy, right?
It really does work, and you can suck up a lot of acorns!
What are the disadvantages? The main problem with using a shop vacuum is that it can take some time to suck up all the nuts off your lawn. But, if you have the time, this is really one of the least strenuous ways to pick up acorns on the cheap.
Just make sure you have a hose attachment long enough. Otherwise, you'll have to bend over a lot and your back will ache. Also, make sure to buy an extension cord long enough. Other than that? It's a great way to pick up acorns if you have spare time.
Besides our guide on buying an acorn picker upper, we also want to answer some of the commonly asked questions about these products. If you have a question we haven't answered, then please drop us a line. We'll try to get it answered and add it to this article.
Acorns are a great source of nutrition for many animals. Acorns can be eaten by squirrels, pigeons, deer, raccoons, and even some types of birds. You can also grind up the nuts into a meal to make bread (after first leaching them to remove the toxins).
If you just let the acorns sit on your lawn (as most people do), they will hurt your grass, pose a choking hazard to small children, and may turn into projectiles if your mower hits one.
Picking up acorns is usually a pain and time-intensive process. But with the right tools, it can go fast and isn't that bad. At the end of the day, you're left with a beautiful lawn, at least until next year.
Unfortunately, some people try their luck at picking up acorns using the wrong tools and they end up getting upset at their oak trees for no good reason.
Leaf Blowers - Not a great choice for picking up acorns. Most small nuts bury themselves into the grass and don't blow out. The only type of leaf blower capable of blowing acorns is a walk-behind blower. But it still takes forever and isn't the best choice for this kind of job.
Leaf Vacuum - Using a leaf vacuum on a blower to suck up acorns is also not a good idea. Usually, the impellers in these machines are plastic and are easily ruined by the hard shells of a nut. Even vacuums with metal impellers will struggle to deal with acorns and are not the best choice.
Traditional Rakes - A rake can move acorns into a pile. But unless you're a teenager and have all the energy and time in the world, there are much more efficient ways to clean the nuts off your yard.
Lawn Mower - A lawn mower is also a bad idea. It lacks the suction to effectively suck the nuts into its bag. It's also dangerous if one shoots out the chute and hits something or someone!
