Mulching kit on mowers

Question? If you have mulching kit for mowers do you use them all season or is there a certain time you start using the kit?

Lawn care business tips

I personally do not use mulching kits on mowers. I have found them to be counter productive. They may work on dry, thin grass, but once you cut thicker, wet grass, it just creates a horrible mess

[sharpblades]

I run mulching kits on all my mowers. at times it may seem counter productive, but I have found that mulching looks neater and the customers tend to like how the clippings are not blown into the landscaping, pools etc... On the other hand, if I am trying to catch up on missed lawns from rain that are overgrown I will take the plate off.

[LawnCareMan280]

Originally Posted by sharpblades

I run mulching kits on all my mowers. at times it may seem counter productive, but I have found that mulching looks neater and the customers tend to like how the clippings are not blown into the landscaping, pools etc... On the other hand, if I am trying to catch up on missed lawns from rain that are overgrown I will take the plate off.

I created my own mulching kit because I would by a factory built one from my John Deere Dealer but it was to expensive so I just cut out a peice of scrap metal from our old furnace duct and i measured it to fit it to the end of the discharge and it works great especially in the fall for leaf cleanup put the piece of metal on the dischrge end and mulch the leaves it works great not even a mess it shreds it so much you can barely see it when it get's put back in the ground and it is really healthy for the turf. Try it sometime! It works great!

[LawnCareMan280]

Originally Posted by KimKriel

Question?

If you have mulching kit for mowers do you use them all season or is there a certain time you start using the kit?

I use it all season but if the turf is overgrown I just take the plate off. But it looks better less clipping on landscaping etc. I like mulching because it takes less time for cleanup and it is healthy for the turf.

[turf&tree]

Lawncareman is right. A true mulching setup is healthier for the turf because you are returning the nutrients to the soil and feeding beneficial micro-organisms.
But, make sure you have a proper mulching setup on your mower. Most good ones won't let you side discharge which is not true mulching. I run exmark mowers with micro mulch kits spring summer and fall. Rain or shine and never have a problem. I ran them last year with record rainfall without problems.

[stevef1201]

I also made my own with a piece of sheet metal. I curved mine to follow the baffles. Man what a difference in the look of the lawn

[Steve]

make sure you have a proper mulching setup on your mower. Most good ones won't let you side discharge which is not true mulching.

What do you feel makes a proper mulching setup?

[Naylor's Lawncare]

I had bought a mulch kit for a johndeere walk behind i owned.The kit consisted of a block of plate around each blade.I loved the kit.I would think if you would just block off the discharge,how ever many blades you have under your mower would throw to much to your blade next to your discharge and over load it and cause a bad looking cut.

[SECTLANDSCAPING]

Originally Posted by stevef1201

I also made my own with a piece of sheet metal. I curved mine to follow the baffles. Man what a difference in the look of the lawn

/\ Thats the correct way to do it. Just blocking the chute is not a mulch kit.


This is what the baffles should look like.


I have deck like this and I just added a thick rubber mat over the chute.



A mulching kit should look like this.