One of the problem that occurs frequently for us is clogged gutters. I am sure that many people experience similar problems and the source of the clogs will vary. In our case, the problem is due to pine needs. We are blessed with numerous large pine trees, but that can also be a curse as pine needles are very difficult to rake in the fall and seem to clog the gutter quite easily.
The question then is whether one of those gutter systems that claims to prevent gunk from getting into the gutters will work in our case or whether our best bet is to increase the frequency of cleaning. I am still debating this. My concern about the gutter systems is that I have no idea if they work since pine needles are actually quite small and so they may pass through the system. Does anyone have any experinece with this?
I also recently ran across a robot from iRobot called the Looj. This is one of those robots like the roomba that supposably will clean the gutter. In theoru, it would require you to simply put the unit in a gutter and it will automatically handle the rest. I have no idea if this works, but the idea certainly appeals to the techie in me. It does sound too good to be true and so I am skeptical.
I have no practical experience, but I would think a commercially available gutter screen would be fairly effective, as not all pine needles will deviously orient themselves to pass through the mesh. However, some will naturally make their way in. So instead of 1-2 cleanings per year, you might only need one every 2 years.
Your suggestion is a good one, but the ultimate goal is to remove all manual gutter cleaning which may not be a realistic option. If regular cleaning is still required, the question then comes up about how easy it is to access and clean the gutter. Not sure if there is a clear answer.