Seeking help understanding baggers for fall leaf collection

I have a Hustler Raptor SD 54" and about 2 acres of lawn spotted by deciduous trees throughout (mostly sugar maple). I've only been in this house a couple years, and I bought the mower when I bought the house. Last Autumn I tried collecting leaves with a tow behind lawn sweeper that I found at a garage sale. It did pretty poor, and left a heavy mat of leaves that killed large patches of grass this Spring. I'd like to understand my options around baggers / collectors. I found this (https://www.foards.com/products/933028) but its pretty expensive. I don't want to spend a ton on something I'll only use a few times each year.


I imagine there are third party alternatives? Recommendations?


Are there different kinds of baggers? Which is best for leaves?


Are they straight-forward to temporarily connect to my mower?


What else do I need to be thinking about?


Thank you!

Hi Northwoods, I also had the same problem with leaves. For years I used a pull behind lawn sweeper on my rear discharge mower and it picked them up just fine. The problem was having to empty the sweeper very often. I finally got tired of that and after considering my options I went with a DR vac system. I also upgraded my mower to a side discharge model. The DR vac that I bought has a huge capacity. Pabird

I have a SD54 and I run Meg-Mo blades. For fall clean up I made a heavy screen(expanded metal) and bolted it to the opening. I blow and mow everything to the center of the yard and shred everything till there’s nothing left. The Meg-MOs shred everything down to 1/4” pieces. It’s good for the yard.
My neighbor used to bag. One day I took all 20 bags to my yard, because he didn’t believe me, and dumped them in a line 30’+ long drove through them. 6-7 swipes and all that’s left is dust. He’s now a believer!

Yes I also mow until nothing is left. In fact when I trim my trees and bushes I do the same thing. Just throw the trimmings out in the yard and run back and forth over them.
This mower is so powerful it just shreds everything to tiny pieces that rot away pretty fast.
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Im a round them up and chop them guy too but have to do it several times ea fall...but its fun...and scrubs the deck pretty clean. once size is reduced i put the basket catcher on my discharge for final pickup if need be.