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"Bonnie" wrote in message
...
I am thinking of purchasing a lawn tractor.

Those of you that own one....are you able to mow over
(shred) your leaves in the fall finely enough to
either leave them on the lawn as mulch, or bag and
compost them?
=== Sure, I do that all the time. Before I got my
present lawn tractor I'd just mow twice, a day apart,
to finish the semi-mulching stuff. Leaves especially
mulch in nicely. Also:
Many lawn tractors these days come with what's
called a "mulching plate" and "mulching blades", as
mine does now. The plate simply plugs the chute where
the grass clippings come out, and the blades have more
of a shape to create a cyclone under the deck so the
cuttings are held in the air until they're chopped so
finely they're not much more than wet dust, which falls
into the lawn and disappears quickly. It does an
excellent job with or without the plate for mulching.
The only drawbacks I've noticed a
-- You have to mow a little slower and a little more
often for perfect mulch creation. You're not supposed
to cut more than a third the length of the grass at any
one time, so a neglected lawn might take a couple or
three passes if you want it all to mulch so it doesn't
leave obvious clumps of grass around.
-- Mulching works better the dryer the grass is.
Trying to mulch in the early day wetness of the grass
can leave clumps of cuttings around and end up
unsightly. It'll require another cutting later in the
dry to dissipate the clumps. If it gets too damp, the
grass can actually clump enough to plug the deck
unerneath because it gets so sticky, and the fine
cuttings build up on the tires like a quilt an inch or
so thick. And, the deck becomes a real bi_ch to wash
out.
-- Mulching requires keeping the under deck fairly
well cleaned out, as in a hose spray.

But, I like it so much, I do it all the time. I mulch
about an acre total, less the house, garage and a large
shed and it's a good way of feeding the lawn. Total I
mow the full 5 acres about three times a year but of
course only the house acre gets mulched.
If you mulch properly, you don't have to de-thatch
the lawn every year either - the clippings are so small
they just disappear right into the soil and roots. A
touch of fertilizer/weed killer in the spring, and
you've got a nice, green lawn that won't brown up in
the dry weather until long after other's lawns have.
My lawns stand out like a big sore, green thumb late in
the summers; everyone thinks I water all the time; I
seldom water except in dangerously dry periods, and
then only when I know the well levels are high enough.

On the other hand, if all you're worried about is
really the leaves & small branches, a chipper/shredder
is great. It's a lot cheaper (`$500, maybe less) than
a lawn tractor at $1,2000PLUS. We even shred our
newspapers and mail in it, and put it out front by the
road: The Amish take it and use it for bedding to mix
into the straw for the cattle. Never, EVER put wet
stuff in a shredder, though; it'll plug it in a hurry!
g
Oh, get one with an automatic starter: they're bears
to pull if they don't disengage the cutters! It's like
spinning a huge gyroscope to get it started.

Pop



My property really doesn't need a rider (144' x 85')
but if I could do my leaves myself (mostly oak which
don't compost well unless shredded pretty finely) it
would nearly pay for itself in one season. Last year
it cost me $500 to have someone rake and cart off my
leaves (a lot of trees). I'd like to be able to shred
the leaves, then put the bagger on the rider, ride
over them again, empty the bagger and dump them in a
compost pile.

It will cost me nearly $500 to have someone mow this
season (and that's only once every two weeks). I
would love to be able to compost my leaves but I need
to be able to shred them. The reason I don't mow
myself is that after the 1½ hours that it takes me in
the heat of the summer, I am so wiped out, it ruins
the rest of the day for me. I know...I'm a whimp.
(I'm 49, hate the heat of the summer. I prefer 30° to
80°.)

Anyway, what are your thoughts on this?

Bonnie in NJ