[treed]

After battling leaves the past several years, I decided last year to find a better way. So I found a mulch kit for my 112L last year, and finally had the opportunity to give it a try last night. After waiting for enough leaves to fall in my front yard to give it a good test, last night I was ready. Went one pass around the front yard, and I got to say, I'm impresed. The leaves were mulched and cut up enough that there was hardly any indication they were there. The only drawback was the exhaust routing on the 112L. It comes out the front and downward, and had a tendency to blow some of the leaves out of my path. Maybe I can run a vertical exhaust stack, I once saw a picture of a modified 111 that had one.

 

[Greg]

treed,

I've been bagging mine up but maybe today I'll try mulching. We got 90 large plastic garbage bags of leaves, mostly Maple, last year. More than I can use for compost in the garden!

 

[Live Oak]

I used to use my Stihl ST400 backpack blower to blow all the leaves into a pile and drag them over the garden on a tarp. I am talking 100's of bushels of leaves. Last year I got fed up with it and tried chopping them up the the 72" MMM on the 4410. It did a great job and chopping the leaves up into small enough pieces that they just composted into the lawn. That is what I am doing this year too. This year I am trying the Gator blades to see how well they work. I use the F525 to chop up the leaves on the steep hills and slopes.

 

[chrpmaster]

The last several years I have been using a 15 cu ft bagger on the back of my grasshopper and though it is the easiest bagger I have ever used (don't even leave the seat to empty) I have always wondered if it would be better for the grass if I just mulched. I have about 2 acres I mow. The acre in the back of the house is surrounded by mature maples and oaks so it gets buried with leaves but the acre in front of the house gets a lighter coating of mainly maple and cottonwood leaves. I have often thought it may work to mulch the front but wanted all of your opinions about it before I bought the mulching setup and how fine to mulch it before I quit going over it.

Thanks
Andy

 

[Live Oak]

I tried cutting it and blowing it into wind rows first and then cut the wind rows and spread the cuttings back out as much as possible. I figure I must have run over the leaves maybe 4 or 5 passes this way. Within a few weeks the cuttings were pretty much not noticable anymore.

 

[Live Oak]

I will say that the kids are really missing my 40' circle, 7' high leave piles though. :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :tractorsm

 

[John Deere Dave]

I have always mulched, you can't beat it as it saves the back I have yet to try out the X475 mulching leaves, but I bet its better than the GT275 was

 

[memmurphy]

I've mulched for several years. If there are too many to be fully cut up, I pull my sweeper behind while mulching and put the excess it collects on the garden.

Mark

 

[treed]

This was the first time for me at mulching leaves, and like I said, I was highly impressed, and may I add, pleased. I have a lot of oak trees and it's been a battle every fall. I tried the sweeper thing, just too many trips to unload the hopper. Raking them is too much of a chore and too time consuming. I would rather drive around my yard, mulching as I go. I'll see how many more times I have to do this as the leaves are now beginning to fall more rapidly.

 

[slipshod]

My way is much easier

I let the wind blow them over to the neighbor's yard.

 

[Ingersoll444]

So far this year I have been just mulching them into the soil with the hand mower, and it has been working well. When the REAL large ammonts of them start falling I will work up to Bagging with the hand mower, then to the sweeper with the tractor. I have a bagger for my 444, but that is still not running, so I have to use another plan.

 

[leolav]

My mow n vac has been incredible this year. Not a single issue with it. I mowed using it yesterday AM and it still took me over 6 hours to do my lawn and my dads place. I hauled away 18 loads of leaves. And the kick in the pants is that the leaves are still falling like no tomorrow. No way I could mulch that many leaves.

 

[chrpmaster]

:ditto:

I did the same thing in the front yard Saturday and with in 20 minutes the wind had covered it again so that you couldn't tell I had done anything

Andy

 

[Live Oak]

I am just keeping up and running over the leave and mulching them up every few days with the MMM on my 4410. Seems to be doing a great job. Only problem is that the next day it looks like nothing was done. I will be glad when the leaves are done falling.

 

[Archdean]

My solution and any one can do it!! I fabricated this baffel out of an old Automobile Bumper shield!!

It is attached to a 54" deck on an 1860TG Diesel Kubota!! and pulverizes all leaf material, just mow as normal!!

Dean

<img src=http://www.greencis.net/~custer/baffle1.jpg>

 

[Live Oak]

Good idea Dean. I have been having really good results with my MMM letting it spread the leaf clippings out. After I run over them few times, the clippings ase small enough to just settle into the grass and not be noticed.

 

[ducati996]

Dean & Chief,

Isnt there mulching kits and chute plate covers available from Deere and Kubota? I know Chiefs mower is the big 72" but dont they offer a plate to close the chute?
I cant say enough how effective my Cub 3204 is on mulching leaves and small sticks. Last year I did my own and 2 neighbors houses (same plot size) and a few other houses ( approx. 10 acres in all)..
I made a believer out of myself and a few others (who later got themselves a JD 4010 w/54 mulch deck ).
I know Dean got something to work already but Chief just imagine how much better the mulching would be if the discharge chute is closed and the mulching option added!! This is probably obvious already I know..

Ducati

 

[Archdean]

Originally posted by ducati996
Dean & Chief,

Isnt there mulching kits and chute plate covers available from Deere and Kubota? I know Chiefs mower is the big 72" but dont they offer a plate to close the chute?
I cant say enough how effective my Cub 3204 is on mulching leaves and small sticks. Last year I did my own and 2 neighbors houses (same plot size) and a few other houses ( approx. 10 acres in all)..
I made a believer out of myself and a few others (who later got themselves a JD 4010 w/54 mulch deck ).
I know Dean got something to work already but Chief just imagine how much better the mulching would be if the discharge chute is closed and the mulching option added!! This is probably obvious already I know..

Ducati

Duc,
I looked at mulching kits and you are much better off making your own IMO a good size dried dog poop would dent or land on your porch with most kits I have seen, but never looked at Kubota's offering!! I made this one 5 years ago it worked so well I never thought anything could do as well so stopped trying!
Dean

 

[Live Oak]

Duc, I have looked at the Deere 72" TRICYCLER MULCH Kit but they are INDEED pricey. Real nice kits and I would love to have one but for the price they charge, I just can't justify it. I may try something like Dean has and thanks for the tip. I wasn't sure how well a mulching chute cover worked.

<img src="http://jdpc.deere.com/pimages/MP80/MP8040_________UN01JAN94.gif">

72" TRICYCLER MULCH KIT
Part # BM18151
about $275

 

[Ingersoll444]

Dean,

Did almost the same thing years ago with my Moms old JD112. This was when I was a young, and used to have a small Bis mowing lawns, and yard work. I had my biggest costermer, and two or three of my smaller ones want me to mulch up the leaves. Well with a,at the time 12 yo mower, and no mulch kits that I could find, my stepdad and I, fabbed up a plate[cut of peace of some hood if I remember right, and added a new set of blades. Worked good in all places except were the grass was to long.