[ron.dittmer]

After the final assembly of the bagger to the mower, I have to say that I am disappointed in its design. My biggest complaint is concerning the lower chute, how it mounts to the cutting deck with bolts. It is not "banded" as I am accustom to. What happens when I hit something (and I will) with the leading surface of the chute? It will break off! The 33 year old "band & groove" system I retired, the band would stretch while the chute shifted, then snap right back into place without a fuss. Another reason I hate the bolt-on version is that I have to get on the garage floor on my back to get the bolts in when installing it, and it is nearly as bad when removing it, and it will only get worse with corrosion on the bolts. I removed and installed my old bagging system often in a couple of seconds.....not this one. . You'd think they would learn from 33 year old designs. It was cheap too, almost no extra money to make it that way.

I have other complaints about this bagger but the bolt-on chute design is my "MOST SERIOUS" complaint. At least the bagger works well....while it is not yet broken. I see the need to stock up on lower chutes....SHEESH!

 

[Crazy 4 grass]

Pardon me if you've already stated this in a previous post. Why exactly are you bagging?

 

[Integrity-LC]

Im not sure what engine you have but if its the Kawi 691V you can upgrade the filter system to a Donaldson and you will be glad you did. Kawasaki FX canister air filter on FR691V engine?

 

[ron.dittmer]

Pardon me if you've already stated this in a previous post. Why exactly are you bagging?

You ask a good question. Here is why.
1) The lawn looks so much better.
2) Not just cleaning up grass clippings, but also lots of debris from all the trees.
3) I have a very convenient place to dump all the clippings on the property, filling in a deep ditch.
4) MOST IMPORTANTLY, it greatly reduces insects. Bagging, vacuums up lots of bugs with the clippings. What bugs remain, can't find refuge in absent clippings. It is a very noticable difference, bagging versus not bagging.

 

[ron.dittmer]

Im not sure what engine you have but if its the Kawi 691V you can upgrade the filter system to a Donaldson and you will be glad you did. Kawasaki FX canister air filter on FR691V engine?

This is interesting. I have a Kawasaki FR691V engine as shown.

Where is such an air filter system bought at a decent price?

My regular practice with this new mower is blow all the grass off everything. I also open the filter lid and blow at the air filter of which I always see a light cloud of dust and debris fly away from it. This observation did have me wonder if the stock air filter is adequate for all it is collecting.

 

[tdipaul]

IMO clippings and shredded leaves are good for the lawn as long as they drop down in between the blades of grass and dont pile up on top and smother it

 

[Integrity-LC]

This is interesting. I have a Kawasaki FR691V engine as shown.
View attachment 518117
Where is such an air filter system bought at a decent price?

My regular practice with this new mower is blow all the grass off everything. I also open the filter lid and blow at the air filter of which I always see a light cloud of dust and debris fly away from it. This observation did have me wonder if the stock air filter is adequate for all it is collecting.

I bought the complete kit from here: https://www.powerequipmentman.com/product/kawasaki-fr-air-filter-upgrade
Im at 100 hours on the Donaldson intake and its still clean, the stock filter was constantly plugged, had to clean it every few hours and it was worse with the bagger on. Its worth the $$

 

[ron.dittmer]

Working with Power Equipment Man for my Kaw FR691V, with shipping the Donaldson air intake will cost me $230 +tax.

Where can replacement filter cartridges be purchased most affordably?

 

[Brucey]

Amazon has them for $20 if this is the correct fit.

Donaldson P822686 Filter https://a.co/d/6LoOK3W

 

[SouthEastTurf]

Buy 2 single packs and save $. 84 over buying the 2 pack .

 

[ron.dittmer]

I am taking the Donaldson air filter system under consideration, especially because I am bagging with so much debris airbourn by the engine intake area. I had previously bought 2 extra standard filters. I may use up what I have, then buy the Donaldson. Then again, if I can't keep up with the "blowing clean of filter elements", I may buy the Donaldson much sooner.

I greatly appreciate everyone's input.

 

[Prestigious1]

I am taking the Donaldson air filter system under consideration, especially because I am bagging with so much debris airbourn by the engine intake area. I had previously bought 2 extra standard filters. I may use up what I have, then buy the Donaldson. Then again, if I can't keep up with the "blowing clean of filter elements", I may buy the Donaldson much sooner.

I greatly appreciate everyone's input.

I would first see how your experience is with the stock air filtration system. If an air filter is getting clogged up in a few hours, well that just seems hinky to me. Also, don't blow to hard onto the outside of the filter. Air filters should be blown out from the inside out. Blowing air on the outside packs the particulates in deeper leading to air restrictions you cannot see, but well may feel if the mower starts bogging where it didn't before.

Do you feel like you need a weight kit on the front?? If so, you could get some used tractor suitcase weights and have someone fab up a bracket to fit your machine and the weights.

 

[Brucey]

The really critical thing with the Kawasakis is to keep the cooling fins clear of debris. On my fs561 when I take the air filter cover/shroud off there's two blow out ports, on either side of filter. Makes it easy. But some of the other bigger units I think you need to do more work to get access to the cylinder heads.

 

[ron.dittmer]

I would first see how your experience is with the stock air filtration system. If an air filter is getting clogged up in a few hours, well that just seems hinky to me. Also, don't blow to hard onto the outside of the filter. Air filters should be blown out from the inside out. Blowing air on the outside packs the particulates in deeper leading to air restrictions you cannot see, but well may feel if the mower starts bogging where it didn't before.

Do you feel like you need a weight kit on the front?? If so, you could get some used tractor suitcase weights and have someone fab up a bracket to fit your machine and the weights.

Good point on blowing out the filter. I did have that in-mind. I have been cleaning off the air filter with a leaf blower from a distance for the reasons you mention. I figured every 4th cleaning should be done from the inside-out.

The universal front weight I added (weighing 37 pounds on my bathroom scale) fit well in the forward-most possible mounting position. I did have to drill 2 holes. I also added thick felt pads on the weight to protect the paint on the mower. It seems to be very effective for my particular MZ48 mower with bagger.

Here are some pics of the 37 pound front counter weight.

Here is the mounting surface. It is well supported on the back side, not floating as it appears.

 

[ron.dittmer]

Back to the bagger.

This is what the lower bagger chute mounts to. You can easily see the one square mounting hole on the right side where a carriage bolt mounts the chute to. There is another hole on the lower-left side, barely noticed at this angle. It is not easy to mount or remove the lower chute. The provided fancy wing nuts don't cut it.

I need to take some more pictures to include the blade baffles that came with the bagger. This pic was taken when the mower was brand new, delivered to my house.

More pics to follow....eventually.

One more point about the bagger.
I had bought a rear hitch seen here.

The bagger support system is naturally bolted to the back of the machine, but the bagger kit came with an identical rear hitch because it utilizes the hitch for mounting purposes. So now I no longer have a "working" rear hitch. More pics to come showing this. It is unfortunate Husqvarna did not include that extra hitch made longer with an extra hole so that I still have a hitch. It would not interfere with the hanging bags. I like having a rear hitch, now need to have something fabricated. What was Husqvarna thinking here, trying to save a dollar or two? This is a dissapointment.

 

[Prestigious1]

Back to the bagger.

This is what the lower bagger chute mounts to. You can easily see the one square mounting hole on the right side where a carriage bolt mounts the chute to. There is another hole on the lower-left side, barely noticed at this angle. It is not easy to mount or remove the lower chute. The provided fancy wing nuts don't cut it.

I need to take some more pictures to include the blade baffles that came with the bagger. This pic was taken when the mower was brand new, delivered to my house.
View attachment 518506
More pics to follow....eventually.

I wonder if you were to use plastic bolt/nuts, or plastic fender bolts for cars if they would break off with impact before damaging the chute? I believe shear pins for a snow blower would still offer too much resistance...

 

[ron.dittmer]

I wonder if you were to use plastic bolt/nuts, or plastic fender bolts for cars if they would break off with impact before damaging the chute? I believe shear pins for a snow blower would still offer too much resistance...

I have since wondered if Husqvarna mounted the lower chute so securly because any such movement, the blade would chop it up. The blade is well exposed, I think done for increased blowing force to move grass more effectively through the chute up to the bagger.

 

[ron.dittmer]

Back to the stock Kawasaki air filter that I still have.

Because of the talk over bagging and its effect on the air filter, I decided to remove the air filter from the machine. Being too late at night to run a leave blower, I decided to tap the air filter on the garage floor to knock out what comes. WOW, a whole lot of green dust came out from what had been the underside. The top side that I blew off after each cuttinng had minimal debris.

So......

The stock air filter sure needs regular maintenance when bagging.

 

[Integrity-LC]

Back to the stock Kawasaki air filter that I still have.

Because of the talk over bagging and its effect on the air filter, I decided to remove the air filter from the machine. Being too late at night to run a leave blower, I decided to tap the air filter on the garage floor to knock out what comes. WOW, a whole lot of green dust came out from what had been the underside. The top side that I blew off after each cuttinng had minimal debris.

So......

The stock air filter sure needs regular maintenance when bagging.

Yes it does, even when not bagging. Its a poor design IMO for a ZTR. The multi stage filter is much, much better.

 

[ron.dittmer]

Yes it does, even when not bagging. Its a poor design IMO for a ZTR. The multi stage filter is much, much better.

I have noticed some aftermarket OEM-style air filters include a secondary foam band filter as shown. I wonder if it helps or hurts.