Deere Z335E (or M), how good does it mulch and bag?

[Nitecapt]

I am thinking about the Deere z335 for my 1 acre property. I have looked at so many mowers in this price range I am bug -eyed. The reason I have settled on the Deere is because of my style of mowing. I mulch all summer with my current walk behind Honda 21” then mulch AND bag in the early spring and especially in the fall where the leaves are cut into tiny pieces and effectively vacuumed up and bagged. Nothing is left on the ground. Alas, I am getting older. I have eliminated Ariens, Toro, exMark and others. Why? Because they need a series of baffles and blades installed for mulching, so twice a year I have to get under those machines and do mechanical stuff. Not so I am told with Deere, which just has a baffle at the discharge chute for mulching and is removed for bagging before the bagging kit is attached. Now, that causes me to be suspect of the mulching quality and the bagging ability so I am looking for comments on those features. I am also considering the possible benefit of cross fitting high lift mulching blades (making an X under the deck) for finer mulch and perhaps better vacuuming ability.
Can anyone give me some input?

 

[bertsmobile1]

You need totally different air flow under the deck to mulch , throw or bag which is why they make the baffle kits .
The decks that do everything are a case of "Jack of all trades, master of none "
So they can do all three but don't do any one of them as good as the dedicated deck.
See if the dealer will allow you to do an at home trial with the Z335.
I have only one customer with a 335 & bagger and he is very happy with it.
Oddly enough he in on an acre as well but most of the yard is now flowering shrubs , chook run & veggie garden as he has discovered bee keeping .
There are a couple of different ways to go about this.
I have a yard crane so very rarely get under anything I sling the front wheels so I can sit on a chair & comfortably work on decks.
One of those cheap engine hoist from HF will happily lift the entire mower 5' off the ground or stand a z335 vertical.
Just one point to remember if you go this way is oil will get into the cylinders so pull the spark plugs first then give the engine a good spin before you replace them to expel the oil ( if there )
I got this trick from a motorcycling friend who is also a mower tech and he is over 80 , weighs about 25 stone and is some what barrel shaped ( not that I can critise that ).