gutter guards/leaf filters

[DickMidnight]

i have a simple gutter system that feeds a rain barrel behind my coop that i use to fill the water bucket.

my coop is in a heavily treed area, so i took a 6” length of hardware cloth and covered the gutter.

it works well, but not great. i’m looking for something better to install, probably this spring.

what, if anything, is everyone using to keep leaves and sticks out of their rain barrels?

 

[3KillerBs]

I doubt I'll have any issues when we put the gutters on because Neuchickenstein lacks shade, but if we do we'll probably just buy the commercial gutter guards.

They're not perfect -- especially for pine needles -- but they work decently.

 

[DickMidnight]

How about steel window screen material?
The kind sold at home improvement stores in rolls is what I am thinking.

I would add it to the hardware cloth so it is supported by the hardware cloth.

this is a good idea. it would create a fine filter over top of the hardware cloth.

i think i’ll grab a roll this weekend and see how it does this fall/winter.

 

[DickMidnight]

I doubt I'll have any issues when we put the gutters on because Neuchickenstein lacks shade, but if we do we'll probably just buy the commercial gutter guards.

They're not perfect -- especially for pine needles -- but they work decently.

we have them on our house, and they’re actually a massive PITA because they weren’t installed correctly by the previous owners. one of those “great in theory, bad in practice” things.

for the coop, i was thinking of those foam gutter wedges. they seem easy enough to pop in and out to clean the gutter once or twice a year.

 

[perkolator]

No real input, but if I was collecting rainwater under trees I'd likely have one of the filtration systems that people use for their rain barrels. Basically a fancy sediment trap with a filter, could probably even DIY it. At my last house we had gutters on full perimeter and a japanese maple that loved to put out leaves and seeds - I used these coarse foam gutter inserts for filtering out leaves in the rain gutters, seemed to work pretty well as long as you clean them out seasonally. If you don't, the accumulation of leaves decomposing on top collapses the foam.

 

[azygous]

An old sock over the end of the down spout.

 

[21hens-incharge]

How about steel window screen material?
The kind sold at home improvement stores in rolls is what I am thinking.

I would add it to the hardware cloth so it is supported by the hardware cloth.

 

[DickMidnight]

An old sock over the end of the down spout.

secured how? wouldn’t that rip eventually?

that’s also not quite up to my aesthetic standards. but i was thinking about a clean out filter in the downspout.

 

[Chicken poppy]

secured how? wouldn’t that rip eventually?

that’s also not quite up to my aesthetic standards. but i was thinking about a clean out filter in the downspout.

Maybe some rubberbands? Dunno.

 

[DickMidnight]

i guess this isn’t a big concern for people with gutters on their coop.