Mulching is the way to go!!!

[Highpoint]

Ok guys and gals, I,m new here on the forum and am real impressed with what you all have to say but let me just say this about leaves. I used to hate em, now I love em!! We used to blow out the beds and tight spaces with backpack blowers, then nibble away at the piles with out Walker 48". Most of the properties took 10 to 20 man hours!!! We charged hundreds. NOW we still blow the leaves out of the beds and tight spaces into the lawn or driveway. These pyles can get 5' tall and run hundreds of feet long. We use our 5' Exmark turftracer walkbehinds with mulching kits. Push down on the bars and GO GO GO!!! I relize running over the pyles several times seems foolish but you can knock those huge pyles down to just inches tall. Then either pick up the debris with your collection system or if still in the lawn, use the backpack blowers to "blend" into the grass. These jobs now take " and i am not kidding " 3-6 hours and we still charge the same amont as we used to. The clients got used to the fees so Yipee!!

 

[awm]

Sounds like the plan to me

 

[Sammy]

Now that mulching time is here, remember to check and clean your air cleaner more often. Also blow out any leaves and dust and dirt build up around your hydros. Heat kills !

 

[powerreel]

I mulch too, what are you going to do if you over feed the soil with all that debris? The soil does slow down in the fall, this can cause rot in grass. Just curious-

 

[John DiMartino]

If that works for you-great,my Dixie chopper isnt mulch kit compatable-and it blows the leaves everywhere,I couldnt see it doing a good enough job to satisfy any homeowners around here.I run gator mulchers and a STD lift now,it does get about 75% of them if you go over it twice and windrow it,then back over the windrow.By then i couldve had my DC to another job already by using the trac-vac.So thats what I do,and it just does a much nicer job,especially with pine needles and acorns.If I had a mower that could mulch good then i would do it that way.The Dixie deck moves a lot of air and it has to go somewhere-the vac pullls it all in the collection bin abd lets the air out without the leaves.The second you close the OCDC,the leaves start blowing out the sides and front-even at 1/2 throttle.

 

[chrisbolte]

Side discharge does a fine job in my area! Mulching is extra

 

[ETturfman]

Hi everyone. I'm new here too and I actually just
started my business up this year so all of this info.
is priceless, if you know what I mean. I use a
Honda 36" walk behind with an Accelerater bagger and
what I've found to be the best method so far is to blow
everything out onto the lawn then go over it with the
mower until the bagger is full. At this point it
starts mulching the leaves so I go over and over the
the lawn until there's not much left. Then I empty
the bagger and start bagging the rest. So instead of
buying a mulching system for my mower, all I buy is
the mulching blades. Plus, since the leaves are already
mulched, more fits into my bagger, thus increasing
productivity. So far it's working for me. I have one
question though. Is there any way to cut down on the
amount of dust? Anyone?