ever raise the engine on a walkbehind mower?

I have a snapper 21" mower, and the lawn is fescue. I try to cut it around 3" to 3 1/2", which means the wheel height adjustment is at the max, or close to it. That puts the lip of the deck pretty high above the ground, which I assume is the primary reason I've never had as good of lift as I thought it should. Sometimes the cut isn't smooth, and it doesn't pick up leaves as well as I think it should. The first 10 years I used a snapper ninja blade. Now high lift mulching blade that was recommended here (I forget exactly what it is, but I found threads here with people preferring it over the gator blades).

I'm considering raising the engine about an inch, so the lower lip of the deck sits closer to the ground. What I'm thinking about using is with 1" box tubing. I'd cut a notch every couple inches so it could be bent in a circle. Then I'd weld the cuts solid, and drill holes for the engine mounting bolts.

Has anyone around here tried it? Would this improve the lift? Would the blade sitting higher in the deck cause any other problems?