mulching

[GroundUp]

What exactly is mulching?? again be specific. i have used search forum. but cant really find exactly what this is.. ALSO when i mow a lawn should i bag up clippings? or leave them on the lawn. If i bag them i bet this is more xpensive to the customer. so how should i charge for this. seeing as i would have to dispose of clippings. Please help with this. thank you.

[PxPx]

I'm glad you had the guts to ask this. I have been wondering this as well. I figured it would cost more to bag the clippings (where can you dispose of them also?!) I tried searching as well and couldn't find anything specific. Any ideas?

[daveintoledo]

the chute of the mower is blocked, and special blades chop and re chop the clippings and disperse them back into the lawn, eliminating the need to bag, and also puts nutrients back int the soil

i do not bag clippings, i mulch or side discharge, if i had to bag the clippings i charge much more, a 35 dollar yard would be 50 or 55 dollars

many people here do bag the lawns, i guess it depends on the needs of your customers and your location

[lawnmaniac883]

OK, mulching is basically recycling the grass clippings by chopping them up several times. We accomplish this by using mulching kits which block off each blade under the deck and by covering the discharge chute. I am not sure what mower(s) you are running but if you can get away with it, mulch each property, some grass types need to be bagged to look good but for others it will not make any difference. If you bag, charge more for it.

[daveintoledo]

I'm glad you had the guts to ask this. I have been wondering this as well. I figured it would cost more to bag the clippings (where can you dispose of them also?!) I tried searching as well and couldn't find anything specific. Any ideas?

this is the newb forum and anyone who makes fun of you can pound sand...
:)

[GroundUp]

Lol. Thanks once again for all the help. I guess i could offer bagging. just charge them more (money money money). but I think for starters ill just cut the grass with a mulching kit. These expensive?

[daveintoledo]

or are you getting, how many accounts do you have...its kind of relivent to the equipment you use...

[GroundUp]

42'' lesco

[daveintoledo]

i have read that mulch kits are available for 32,36,48. and 52 inch models.....id go to there web site and see, there may be some aftermarket brands that will work too..

[PxPx]

this is the newb forum and anyone who makes fun of you can pound sand...
:)
Yeah, I know:drinkup: . I am used to other forums (as you can see my post count is puny) where they flame you for anything and everything. I guess I wasn't thinking that we are mature adults here (I think!). Anyway, that makes sense to me now. I know what mulch is, and thought mulching was spreading mulch over the yard. But now I can see it never hurts to ask.

[Hard Worker]

You probably have already thought of this but in case you havent make sure you have a good site that you can dump your clippings if you decide to go that route. The property owner may have an area that you can use if your lucky. If not you may have to pay to dump these. Check on the prices so that you can add that into your bottom line.

My advice is to buy a mulching kit like the others have suggested. Most grass species you will never notice especially if you run Gator brand mulch blades. These things will chew the grass to shreds.

I know I run doubles on some of my lawns using a high lift blade on the bottom and a Gator on top. I use this setup especially with leaves. Turns leaves to dust.

Again, this site has been so helpful to me. Don't be afraid to ask a question. Some may give you a hard time but most on here are here to help you out.:waving:

[CompletePropertyCare]

If you have a mulch kit installed, can you also bag if you take off the chute blocker?

[Jason Rose]

Don't expect much mulching capabilities with a mower deck that only has a plate or plug in the chute. All the clippings are still going to be forced to the discharge side of the deck and when they get there there's no way out but down. This makes a real nasty trail of grass on one side.

Many mowers now have full mulching kits available that enclose each blade under the deck into their own cutting chamber. The grass can't go left or right from that blade, only down. Lesco mowers don't offer full mulch kits for some reason still, only a metal plate that blocks the chute.

Mulching all the time is not feasable in all parts of the country. I think many on here that boast that they mulch all year are either FOS or their grass only grows an inch or two a week. (don't get offended, I'm mainly jealous of you that can mow all day and not have any grass to haul and dump, what a life!) Iv'e tried mulching, even bought an Exmark mower with a full mulch kit. Totally worthless! Grass was always too tall or too wet to be mulched and going over it 2 and 3 times was not an option, for one it's time consuming and 2 all the turning and driving on the lawn every week is very hard on the grass.

I can't see how side discharge can be an option either, unless all your properties are huge estates that have no mowing around landscaping or the house needed. I have 2 large lawns I don't bag except for around the house but even those need bagged some weeks to make them look good (i mean no visible clippings, I do not allow visible clippings left on the lawn)

So most everyone bags here. Maybe our grass is on crack but I have literally see 6 to 7 inches of growth per WEEK on lawns that aren't even over fertilized, not just one week but sometimes many many weeks of that. Bagging that kind of growth is only really possible with a ZTR. Doing it with a large walkbehind would leave you looney from dumping the catcher every 100 feet.

[daveintoledo]

in the spring, we do move to a 4 to 5 day schedule instead of one week, everone around here realizes this is just how our climate is... so they dont mind..... and once in a while i will have to double cut... but with this turboforce deck.... life is easy........:)

[justinslawncare]

i saw in ur profile that this is your first year in business. one thing i did was adding mulching(flower beds not grass clippings) as an extra service. now i mulch most of my customers twice a year and it makes them happy and the yards look better. if u get in this make sure u buy the mulch in bulk and not bags. its much cheaper this way.

[daveintoledo]

i saw in ur profile that this is your first year in business. one thing i did was adding mulching(flower beds not grass clippings) as an extra service. now i mulch most of my customers twice a year and it makes them happy and the yards look better. if u get in this make sure u buy the mulch in bulk and not bags. its much cheaper this way.

he is not asking about applying mulch.... but about mulching mowers i beleive:)

[mslawn]

Mulching is the way to go as long as you have a machine with a real mulch kit that chambers each blade. I had the bright idea to start bagging one time with one of my 60" ztr's and i decided real quick that was a mistake (too time consuming and then you have to dispose of the clippings). We will only bag commercial properties where trash is a concern. A good mulch kit will make leaves turn to dust in the fall.

[GroundUp]

can anybody give me a price range of mulch kits? or a good website?

[mslawn]

Last one I bought for a 72 was about-$175.00 or so, I think it was the same for my 60". A smaller mower would probably be less. I can't remember what my 36" and 48" kits cost.

[GroundUp]

ok . not too pricey. thanks

[The Cowboy]

Mulch kits should be no more'n 200 bucks. I don't use one, but thought about it. I run doubled blades instead. The downside to double blades is the airflow becomes so great you can mess up some of the flower beds with grass clipping if you aren't careful. To prevent this I use an adjustable discharge chute cover.

[miketina]

There are two kinds of mulching. Laying mulch as a fertilizer around trees and flower beds and there is mulching the grass clippings which is what everyne else has mentioned.

[daveintoledo]

[QUOTE=miketina]There are two kinds of mulching. Laying mulch as a fertilizer around trees and flower beds and there is mulching the grass clippings which is what everyne else has mentioned.[/QUO

bark mulch in bed is attractive and functional helping against wed control
while it will biodegrade, there is little if any nutritional value to the mulch beds....but there is a nutritional value to mulched up grass clipping in the yard

[ed2hess]

We have been mulching grass for a lot of years with Snappers and Scags with the plate over the outlet(device sold by company). And the job done is just fine, we do 100% year round. We bought a $250+ kit for one of our new 48"ZTR machines and never bothered putting it on because the machine does fine with the outlet blocked. I am afraid that putting the extra baffles under the unit will load the unit down in big grass in the spring?