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Thread: Riding lawnmower grass catchers - blower or no blower?

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
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    Lubbock Texas
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    931
    [QUOTE=Paul Greathouse as ours. If your cutting 2 acres, it seems like bagging would be a serious pain.

    [/QUOTE]///////////////////////
    I mowed 2.4 acres in MD for five years and had a Zero turn mower. NO ONE in that neighborhood bagged their lawn clippings. I tried catching the grass at first but if it was at all wet it would jam up in the chute. It was always too wet. I finally took care of the brown stripes of cut grass laying on top of the lawn by removing the discharge guard from my mower (The way the pros do it). The clippings fly out and upward so much that there was no "stripe" of clippings left on the lawn. Look at the pros and see what thay do.
    No PHD, but I have a DD 214

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Athens, Alabama
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    197
    You could use a larwn sweeper, but the issue of bagging the cut grass still remains. We have one and it works very well, but you definitely want to bag the grass when it is dry.

    Regards, Colin
    Where's the beef.

  3. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Jenkins View Post
    If you decide to go with a blower check out cyclonerake.com
    Interesting. I'd only seen the type that grab blower power from the right blade pulley. ....Great, another engine to feed .
    .
    "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning".
    Robert Duval in "Apileachips Now". - almost.


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  4. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim FInn View Post
    ///////////////////////
    I mowed 2.4 acres in MD for five years and had a Zero turn mower. NO ONE in that neighborhood bagged their lawn clippings. I tried catching the grass at first but if it was at all wet it would jam up in the chute. It was always too wet. I finally took care of the brown stripes of cut grass laying on top of the lawn by removing the discharge guard from my mower (The way the pros do it). The clippings fly out and upward so much that there was no "stripe" of clippings left on the lawn. Look at the pros and see what thay do.
    Stripes.... almost the entire lawn is a 'stripe' of brown now. I've never had the chute on it. Problem is it just sits there waiting for the next cut. The new growth is added to this and the brown gets thicker. In some spots it's starting to rot.

    I've been cutting every 5 days, so it isn't too long when it's cut.

    The green stripe is 48" wide.
    .
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    Last edited by Mitchell Andrus; 08-14-2010 at 6:57 PM.
    "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning".
    Robert Duval in "Apileachips Now". - almost.


    Laserpro Spirit 60W laser, Corel X3
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  5. #20
    Getting rid of it is no problem, we've got woods on all four sides. Bagging isn't going to happen.
    .
    "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning".
    Robert Duval in "Apileachips Now". - almost.


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  6. #21
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Weston, CT
    Posts
    274

    Blade height?

    Mitchell- How tall is your blade set? If set at 3 inches or higher, the clippings can settle down into the lawn. But if you set the blade low, the clippings don't have much room to settle. The mulching blades do help as they chop the clippings finer, helping them settle.

    Having said all that , you are fortunate that your grass is still green and growing. We are having a very dry summer, and likely will have to reseed the lawn this fall and start all over.

  7. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Archambeau View Post
    Mitchell- How tall is your blade set? If set at 3 inches or higher, the clippings can settle down into the lawn.
    In July and August I set the deck very high so the lawn doesn't dry out. Although, that's my NJ brain working. In the NC hills, we're getting showers almost every three days and plenty of morning dew. The grass is wet enough nearly every morning to wet your shoes til about 10:00.

    In NJ I could skip all of August almost every year.
    .
    Last edited by Mitchell Andrus; 08-15-2010 at 8:02 AM.
    "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning".
    Robert Duval in "Apileachips Now". - almost.


    Laserpro Spirit 60W laser, Corel X3
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  8. #23
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Griswold Connecticut
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    Mitch

    My old Honda 4013 had no blower with the bagger,and was so useless that I quit using it. My John DeereX540 has the blower powered off the deck and it works like a dream. The only time I've actually clogged it to the point of not working was when I was mowing tall wet grass and heavy wet leaves at the same time.I can mow wet grass all day long.
    If you're really trying to get the debris off the lawn, a powered chute is the way to go.
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

  9. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Cutler View Post
    Mitch


    If you're really trying to get the debris off the lawn, a powered chute is the way to go.
    Yea, I'm finding that is true.
    .
    "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning".
    Robert Duval in "Apileachips Now". - almost.


    Laserpro Spirit 60W laser, Corel X3
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  10. #25
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Post Falls, Idaho
    Posts
    192

    Plus 2 for gator blades

    I had the same issues and since I am in town and no place to dump it, hated bagging and taking everything to the dump every week or paying extra for the trash haulers. Heard about the gator blades and read about them on a few forums (google Oregon Gator blades) Bought a pair for my Craftsman 42" garden tractor and never looked back. They keep the cut grass in the air longer so the blades get to cut it over and over. They are sharpened most of the length of the blade instead of just the ends for this reason. If I wait too long to mow and the grass is really tall in some areas I will have a little residue showing so I just go over it a second time which is way easier than emptying bags and disposing of it. Our local landscaping company said you need to thatch every 2 or 3 years regardless of whether you mulch or bag and that the cut grass helps retain moisture and provides good food for the lawn. No affiliation with the company, just happy I found something that works really well and does not cost a fortune (more money for woodworking tools)

  11. #26
    I have a cub cadet 32 in walk behind that I covered the output chute with a formed piece of sheet metal and it mulches OK so far the 8 HP engine does not seem to labor any more with it on,before that after cutting I would move in a circle without turning around at a higher speed and the clipping used to all go into a pile.Now I'm no longer dizzy.

  12. How did all the worms in your lawn die off?
    That's what eats the clippings.

    Maybe you should seed your lawn with worms.
    Possibly the previous owner poisoned them trying to kill off some kind of bug he perceived as interfering with his efforts at growing a monoculture lawn and in the process killed everything?

    Also take some of the top soil in a couple mason jars and see if you can cultivate an ant colony or worms in it. Just to see if it's poisonous.
    Worms eat dead leaves and fallen grasses.

  13. #28
    Join Date
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    Wouldn't that only be true if the dead leaves/grass were hugging the ground? If it's sitting on top of the live grass, they're probably not going to go after it.
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  14. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Hintz View Post
    Wouldn't that only be true if the dead leaves/grass were hugging the ground? If it's sitting on top of the live grass, they're probably not going to go after it.
    If a worm ate it's own weight in a day, I'd need a lot of worms.
    .
    "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning".
    Robert Duval in "Apileachips Now". - almost.


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  15. #30
    An update, work-around...

    I'd raised my deck quite high in an effort to keep the lawn from frying. A pro told me to mow at normal height or lower and let the lawn get a bit brown.... If the blades are tall, they catch more sun and dew and grow faster in August, not slower. The extra speedy growth makes more debris when you cut, exactly the problem I'm having - the lawn can't absorb all the debris.

    Kinda makes sense. The next few cuts I'm going to gradually lower the deck and see. I think I'll be blowing into rows and raking a bit just to keep up with the extra.
    .
    "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning".
    Robert Duval in "Apileachips Now". - almost.


    Laserpro Spirit 60W laser, Corel X3
    Missionfurnishings, Mitchell Andrus Studios, NC

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