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Anybody got any creative ideas used to aid in mulching leaves? I've got 2 large poplar trees and one sweet gum that create a tremendous amount of leaves in the fall.

Every fall I'm faced with the same problem. Mulch them at least once a week or they pile up 1 foot thick. You might ask, "Well what else do you have to do?" Well I work 12 hour shift work, 14 days a month. It get's dark by 5:30 so by the time I get home from work at 7 pm, it's already dark. It may rain on my off days. So I have to find the right opportunity. So I might have to go more than one week between mulchings. By that time, the leaves are 6" to 1 foot thick.

I have to raise my deck all the way up and "pre-mulch" them then set the deck back to #3 (halfway) then go back over them. Then basically mow in circles over and over again. Otherwise they pack between the steering and the deck.

The worst leaves by far as sycamore leaves followed by hickory leaves by the way the curl up.

I have thought about doing something to a deck like Pumper54 did to his push mower.

http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/showthread.php/28928-Home-made-heavy-weed-brush-cutter

And add two horizontal guides ahead of the front wheels and a shield aimed upward a bit on top of the guides so that would channel the leaves into the deck. If that makes any sense.

This would pretty much be a dedicated mower specifically built to mulch leaves. I don't know if I want to swap decks between seasons. It would be easier and cheaper to buy an old MTD for a couple hundred bucks and modify the deck on it.

Another thought was to build some sort of pre-mulcher and attach it to the front end that would chop the leaves up from 6" to where they would be about 2" thick. I actually have one of those reel push mowers I could attach to the front end but it only has a 16" cut or so.

Anybody had this problem and found a creative solution?

I am liking your idea for a modified mower with a "scoop" on the front. I am thinking it could be made from light gauge metal and mount to the front of the mower to protect the open front. Make the sides angle out just wider then the cutting deck size with the top angled up like you said to help guide the leaves into the mower. You might have to mow very slowly to prevent over loading the mower.

Wish I knew how to use a design program as I could show you what I was thinking.

Tom

You could also look at a dedicated leaf vacuum if the area to be cleaned is not too big.
Some of them have a mulching capacity .
You can then compost the leaves in place of mulching them back into the lawn.

Of course the other idea is to buy one of those self powered leaf sucking devices pulled behind my mower. But I've heard you need something will balls to pull it. My lawnmower only has 21 HP.

But as much as they cost, it's hard to justify spending that much for something I won't use year round. On the other hand my father planted a bunch of maple trees 50 years ago and they also create a tremendous amount of leaves so maybe I can get him to split the cost with me.

Seems like the open front might blow the leaves away...

Well I got an idea. Wonder if I could build something like a snowplow to go on the front that would chop the leaves up prior to running over them? That way they would not pile up between the deck and underside of the mower.

The big question would be how to power this thing since the engine is vertical shaft? I'm thinking an electric motor but I don't know if the mower's charging system could handle it.

Belt driven PTO shaft.