Pro's and Con's to a mulch kit!

[Crazygator]

I was wondering the pro's and con's of adding a mulch kit to the exmark turf tracer walk behind. I have seen lots of post elsewhere that mention having to run the machines in reverse just to get all the leaves. Also, do you leave it on all season or just for leaf season? So I pose this question to all you exmark pros! Thanks

[SlimShady]

We used to run in reverse with doubles on leaves with the kit but after adding rubber skirts around the front & sides of the decks we are able to cut in forward with minimal blowout problems.
Micro mulch does poorly in spring growth. Cutting a small hole in the baffle chamber blocker & discharge blocker reduces clumping somewhat.

[EJKane]

I tried a mulch kit on a Lazer this fall. It worked great for leaves,
especially in reverse. I was not impressed when I used it to mow a few thick lawns. I had to do alot of double cutting and if I would have been side discharging, I could have gone over them once. I also feel my Lazer has a better quality of cut as a side discharge.

[accuratelawn]

I put the mulch kit on in October and leave it on for the remainder of leaf season. It works good for the first few weeks in early Spring until the grass really get going. Heavy juicy growth slows you down. Better to take off the mulch kit and double cut or bag.

[65hoss]

Crazygator, here is my attempt to answer your question. First off let me tell you my setup. The 36" metro has the mulch kit on 100% of the time. The 52" Lazer HP has it on from end of April until mid-November. Then I have been running the ultra vac.

I cut the same type grasses as you, since its TN. I have fescue under my tree and the rest of my lawn is thick zoysia and thick bermuda. I have several customers that I seed fescue with and then cut during the year.

Mulch kit on zoysia and bermuda is awesome. If I'm there every week and keep things under control I can cut as fast as I want. Some of my big lawns I cut wide open. The cut is perfect. If I get into something thats out of control, no big deal, I just slow up a little and still its usually one pass. The lawn always looks bagged. There is never anything laying on top. As you know, in our area, there IS a difference in appearance from a bagged lawn and a side discharged lawn. With zoysia and bermuda you can still see the clippings on top. Double blades help, but don't eliminate the problem. If its wet we normally don't cut like that around here anyway. But with dew in the mornings you are still fine as long as its under control. Very tall stuff my clump a little, but all you do is make a very fast 2nd trip over and its GONE.

Fescue is a little different. I've noticed the fescue doesn't cut quite as well. Not bad, just not as good as the others. But in our areas, we don't deal with it very much anyway. So, for the few I do, its not been a problem. Cut grass clippings of fescue fall into the soil better. Fescue doesn't make the carpet that zoysia and bermuda does, so it doesn't trap all the cutting on top. If I was cutting all fescue I would probably side discharge until leaf season. Then I would mulch or ultra vac them.

The reason we back over leaves is for 2 things. If you have a huge pile of leaves going forward they just get plowed around. Going backwards over them the get pulled into the deck and grind up easy. Then just go back over forward and they are GONE. This isn't just for mulch kit, but on side discharge too. If you back over them, it will not throw them as much, but keep them under the deck to be ground up really nice.

post #2 in a moment

[65hoss]

Post #2, I was afraid something might happen since the size was getting larger.

For leaves, real gator blades work best with the mulch kit. Don't try to use double with the mulch kit, I got a 10' wall of dirt and chopped leaves in front of me that I kept driving thru. For grass, gators don't work very well. The airflow is not correct for the mulch kit and it will windrow down the right side of the deck. The exmark mulching blades are designed perfectly for this. They do good with leaves, just not as good as gators.

For the ultra vac I have been using a double setup. Exmark mulching blade on bottom and gator on top. Talk about grinding leaves. The design of the mulching blade is for cutting then cutting many times over to chop into small pieces. Then add the gators and well, you get the point.

Mulching only during grass season is great. But next year for leaf season I may try something different. For grass you need the perfect airflow the mulch kit and blades give you. But for leaves its not as picky. I may try the Director from York Sheet metal for leaves. This way I can mulch whenever possible, but if someone insist on bagging leaves I can easily put the ultra vac on and suck them up. You don't go back and forth now. Installing the mulch kit and taking it back off is to much of a job. After you learn it well, you will still have 30+ minutes involved. Not a quick task.

To sum it up, in this area with zoysia and bermuda I say the mulch kit is great. If I cut only fescue and other cool season grasses I would get by with side discharging. But on warm season grasses I use the mulch kit bagged look to distinguish me from the other guys. If you want to wait until grass season to try it, you can come my way and drive the lazer all over testing. The invitation is open. Hope I made some sense and helped in some LONG way.;)

[Crazygator]

Hoss,
Thanks for spelling it out. I think I got it all too...ROTFLMAO ! I may come visit just to check it out. Thanks dude!