Best way to MULCH leaves???

[armyofgoodmusic]

Ive heard a lot of peoples ideas of the best way to mulch up leaves. What do you do and how do you do it? Anyone double up gator blades? If so how do you double up the blades? Does anyone use a plate to block the discharge? Let me know what works best.

[JABBERS]

I have a exmark 26efi 60" mower. I have a mulch kit and it works well but you can't side discharge w/o taking it off. This year I got a trimmer trap chute blocker. I put down the blocker and mow then if really thick mow a different way pretty fast. I make one last fast mow side discharge open and it looks like it was picked up. I will never put my mulch kit on again.

[integrityman]

I'm doing some experimentation with leaves w/ various blade setups. Stay tuned.

[MJS]

I run gator blades in the fall - but I can't say they do a great job with the leaves being as wet as they are right now... multiple passes are still a good idea.

[White Gardens]

I use my simplicity 34 inch coronet with a 16 horse Kohler Command. Though a smaller residential set-up, I still can be efficient on average to semi large residential yards.

With the bagging system that I have, there is a very large blade that goes on the discharge side of the mower. It's about twice as wide as a normal blade and has a much larger fin on it to create velocity.

Not only does this blade created the vacuum and blowing needed to put the debris in the hopper, it also chops the living daylights out of leaves.

So, with the bagger tube off, and a homemade OCDC to block large sticks and rocks, I can destroy piles of leaves in a matter of 3 or 4 passes.

If the leaves are too thick, then I chop them the best I can, raise the deck and suck up the worst of the debris left over. Sometimes I tarp and blow some leaves to areas of the lawn that have no leaf debris and chop them there and just spread out my mess.

Simplicity now makes a zero steer coronet, and I might actually buy one next year.

[Herrick]

I just installed my mulch kit on my Z830 with Gators... turned the wet piles of leaves into power in 1-2 passes. I couldn't belive it. Still won't be good enough for some people I suppose, but I think it'll be good enough for most.

[MJS]

I just installed my mulch kit on my Z830 with Gators... turned the wet piles of leaves into power in 1-2 passes. I couldn't belive it. Still won't be good enough for some people I suppose, but I think it'll be good enough for most.

I think turning leaves into power would be good enough for just about any lco. . . :p

I know. Couldn't resist...

[Herrick]

I think turning leaves into power would be good enough for just about any lco. . . :p

I know. Couldn't resist...

Haha! Wouldn't that be awesome!!

Darn typos... :laugh:

[Puddle of Oil]

gator high lift blades, they grind em up real good!

[corey4671]

well here's what i do...If I have room...I make about two or three passes around the perimeter blowing the leaves to the center. I determine which way the wind is blowing. For example today the wind was strong out of the south. Starting at the south side of the yard, I come over about 15 feet from the perimeter and make a pass blowing back into the wind. At the end of the pass I make a right turn and come along the perimeter still blowing in. At the end of that pass make another right turn and make a pass in the opposite direction to the left of the first pass. In this method you miake right turns all the way across the yard and essentially double mow the leaves and grass but it's not like throwing it all the center and having to deal with a large amount of debris when you get to the center. Has worked great for me and even the pickiest customers say it looks like the yard has been vac-ed. The key to this method though is to continue doing this weekly as the leaves fall...not waiting til they all fall off. This really doesn't take me much longer than a normal mowing visit but I add about 20% on to the bill each week for the extra time. Consider also in the late fall there is little to no trimming to do but you need to account for extra time blowing leaves out of beds and other nooks and crannies prior to mowing