Waste if time and energy.
And there is no need to bag
#8
Av8r
I mow in some of them, but when they decide to let loose, I could have a foot or more and I am not mowing that acidic mess into my lawn. Bag and drop in compost pile. Only bag in fall and first cut of the season (after I de thatch), then the bagger is retired again until fall. Vacuum also does a great job of ridding my lawn of thousands of acorns in the fall
#9
X-man
I always bag my grass. I know that I shouldn't though...
What I should do is, don't bag unless the grass clippings are highly visible on the lawn.
I have a mulching blade on my Bolens. I have yet to go find a mulching blade for my cheap *** Weed Eater mower.
Since 2000 when I got my mower capable of bagging, a Lawn-Boy 10247, I've bagged...I guess I've not been doing what's best for the lawn.
#14
exotion
Really long grass/ leaf clean up I bag rest of the time I mulch
#15
bt3
The only time I bagged is when I had a Lawn Tractor.
With my walk behind mowers, I mulch 99 percent of the time. In the fall, when the leaves get too much to handle, I will mulch them as best I can, and then bag them.
My Snapper HiVac is the tool for this.
IMO, Mulching is the best you can do for your lawn. It's free fertilizer.
#16
Mike88se
Only when I get one of those one off jobs where the customer has let the grass get way too high... and is willing to pay extra for bagging.
My lowly DYT 4000/Intek has 3 bag system. It is handy for me, a homeowner, however... (Frequent visitors plug your ears): I have repeatedly confirmed that 3 bags full of damp grass load down this rig to the point of overheat on a hot summer day (especially on slopes). Oil temp hovers around 300F in the sump. I paid the ?$300 for the hard bags which have been durable. And I do complete my mowing in half the time of my neighbor who uses a sweeper. Now I watch oil temp carefully. The bag feature is still great for leaf pickup in fall. As I drive around this countryside I only see a few baggers in use. :2cents:
#18
grumpygrizzly
Hey, my job is to keep the mowers running.. When my wife mows the lawn, she mulches..
I've sold mowers with and without bags from my repair fleet. None of my customers insist on having one on mowers that don't and vice versa. Maybe it's just because they only answer my CL ads when they see one with a bag or no bag, depending on if they're that specific on their search.
I don't use a bagger, it's hassle for me and it stresses my lawn. I am satisfied with my mower, and it keeps my lawn healthier.
#20
bt3
Oddly enough, I happened to be talking to a neighbor about this topic today.
He said to me, "I see you use a bagger on your lawn 1/2 the time. Why is that?"
I told him that he sees me alternate between the Snapper and the Lawnboy and that this is what is confusing him. The Lawnboy does not have a bag attached as it's a dedicated mulcher. The Snapper does have a bag permanently attached, BUT, I have a PLUG in the chute so it's really a MULCHER that LOOKS like a bagger. I only remove the plug in the late fall for a final pickup.
He said he wanted to start mulching next season. He always bagged. He thought I was a hybrid guy that had somehow discovered that bagging alternately is the way to go. I told him that I (as I posted earlier in this thread) always mulch grass because it's free fertilizer and easy to do with no clippings to deal with. My Bagging is only in the late fall when the leaves are so bad I can't mulch them small enough and have to bag the final mow cleanup.
Yes, most stock blades can do the job well enough. It just depends on how fussy you are about the clippings it leaves behind and the amount. On really thick, tall grass I can definitely see a difference between my stock blades and my mulching blades.
I bought some "Gator" mulching blades for my Snapper and the LawnBoy. They actually do mulch even finer than a stock blade. The old Gator Blades were heavy duty. The new ones I'm not so fond of. They have really cheapened the product in my opinion. But they still work.
My favorite is the Snapper "Ninja" blades. These are basically turbine blades where you have an extra blade above and at an offset degree angle from the bottom blade. REALLY chops the clippings into very tiny bits. It's my favorite mulching blade by far. I wish I could get one for my LawnBoy.
I also invested (many years ago) in a Snapper "High-Lift Kit" that is simply "Wings" you bolted on to a stock Snapper blade that gave the blade twice as much lift to, as the old ad used to say, "Even pick up Pine Needles". I can testify that it does even pick up pine needles. Amazingly every single one of them. So when I do the final bagging in the Fall, I put this blade on with the High Lift kit.
#23
Snapperfreak
I usually bag but my 2cycle WR snapper has the ninja blade and chute plug when I feel like mulching...which isn't too often.
