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Our new mower is just doing wonderfully but fall is coming. We have a lot of trees that drop a huge lot of leaves. Our dealer doesn't recommend towing anything behind it but does say the recommended bagger should pick up our leaves well. It cost over a thousand dollars so I don't want to buy it unless it will really do the job. What is the consensus on that? Thanks for any advice. Kenny R

horsegeeks,
Wish I could offer some advice, but I had to chime in when I saw you have the Gravely. I looked at a BUNCH of zero turns over the last few weeks and just yesterday picked up my final choice(a Gravely Pro-Turn 152 XDZ with the Kawasaki). I haven't mowed with it yet because I'm still trying to get the feel for a ZTR after using a lawn tractor with a steering wheel for the last 20 years. I'm just driving it around the yard at 1/3 throttle to get used to it. Was this your first zero turn? How long did it take you before you didn't leave divets in the lawn when turning it around? I think we will both be very happy with our Gravely's...the only other ZTR I considered that was built as well was the Bad Boy Outlaw.

P.S.
Have you considered using a mulch kit instead of a bagger? Not sure if that would handle large volumes of leaves or not. Good luck on solving that!!!!

I have used it for almost a whole season now (52 hours) to mow about 5 acres and just love it. It was my first ZTR so it took about two mowings to get accustomed to the "new age" steering. I still occasionally leave an arc when I turn too sharp. The Gravely is the model below the full commercial types but it still has a three year consumer and 1 year commercial warranty. I mow a lot more now that I have a decent mower.

I have never used mulching blades but we have so many leaves I just don't know. Good luck with your purchase

horsegeeks said:

Our new mower is just doing wonderfully but fall is coming. We have a lot of trees that drop a huge lot of leaves. Our dealer doesn't recommend towing anything behind it but does say the recommended bagger should pick up our leaves well. It cost over a thousand dollars so I don't want to buy it unless it will really do the job. What is the consensus on that? Thanks for any advice. Kenny R

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On the Gravely website they show all the accessories that can be towed behind your ZT HD 60. They offer a trailer hitch kit for adding other tow-behind accessories as well as a Mulching kit.
Zero Turn Mower Accessories - Gravely ZT HD

Go for the Largest Cyclone Rake Model, i think it the Commander PRO, They will do the Job. depending on how bad the leaves are you will have to slow down some, but these units will whole a lot of chopped up leaves, The Cyclone Rake is a notch above the rest

LakeRat1

Gravely has a hitch kit and a 36" roller. I know you don't need a roller, but if they sell a roller you should be able to tow other things. If it does not say what the towing capacity is in you manual, I would contact Gravely at the customer service number and ask them their recommendations. Make sure you get their answer in writing, so you do not void the warranty. A 36" roller is going to be a lot heavier than a vacuum system.

Rivets said:

Gravely has a hitch kit and a 36" roller. I know you don't need a roller, but if they sell a roller you should be able to tow other things. If it does not say what the towing capacity is in you manual, I would contact Gravely at the customer service number and ask them their recommendations. Make sure you get their answer in writing, so you do not void the warranty. A 36" roller is going to be a lot heavier than a vacuum system.

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That's a good idea. I was surprised when the dealer said not to tow anything when they sold the hitch kit.

+1 on the cyclone rake... they have a ton of videos on their website, shoud give you a good idea. I towed my CR with a 13hp snapper zrider so I doubt you would have any issues!

horsegeeks said:

Our new mower is just doing wonderfully but fall is coming. We have a lot of trees that drop a huge lot of leaves. Our dealer doesn't recommend towing anything behind it but does say the recommended bagger should pick up our leaves well. It cost over a thousand dollars so I don't want to buy it unless it will really do the job. What is the consensus on that? Thanks for any advice. Kenny R

Click to expand...

On the Gravely website they show all the accessories that can be towed behind your ZT HD 60. They offer a trailer hitch kit for adding other tow-behind accessories as well as a Mulching kit.
Zero Turn Mower Accessories - Gravely ZT HD

forget baggers , leaf rakes , cyclone rakes. i have lots of leaves also and tried every thing including burning them off . get some gator blades and a mulch kit . i have a husqurvarna MZ6128 , bought a mulch kit 200.00 , It had 3 mulch blades and baffels that you bolt under the deck . you wont be sorry . its the only way to go .By the way I have an inground pool with tall trees on 4 sides , so dealing with leaves is not an option . Ive done it all and wasted a lot of money . I just gave away my three bin bagger last month .

Tindal said:

forget baggers , leaf rakes , cyclone rakes. i have lots of leaves also and tried every thing including burning them off . get some gator blades and a mulch kit . i have a husqurvarna MZ6128 , bought a mulch kit 200.00 , It had 3 mulch blades and baffels that you bolt under the deck . you wont be sorry . its the only way to go .By the way I have an inground pool with tall trees on 4 sides , so dealing with leaves is not an option . Ive done it all and wasted a lot of money . I just gave away my three bin bagger last month .

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Thanks for the reply. We had our yard done by a Pro for years and never had to worry with the leaves. Now that I am retired it is all mine to do. The new Gravely does a great job with the lawn but haven't tried it with leaves yet so I am a beginner. My question is what happens to the leaves after they have been mulched? Are they small enough to where they just sort of disappear? How do mulching blades work?

When I mulch it looks like you vaccumed it . everything is pulverized . I mulch my grass when i cut also , theres no clippings left . i ran over one of those shopper papers that they throw out beside the road ,and I ran over it abot 3 times and it was gone . you could not see any paper left. get the mulch kit you wont be disapointed .

Tindal said:

When I mulch it looks like you vaccumed it . everything is pulverized . I mulch my grass when i cut also , theres no clippings left . i ran over one of those shopper papers that they throw out beside the road ,and I ran over it abot 3 times and it was gone . you could not see any paper left. get the mulch kit you wont be disapointed .

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I'm going to give mulching a try. The money for a vacuum or leaf bagger just isn't in the budget this year. Gravely has a mulching kit that I am going to order today. Thanks everyone for the ideas.

Well I had my mulching kit installed today while I had the end of season servicing. When I mulch the leaves do I set the deck up high and chop the leaves up and then mow?

horsegeeks said:

Well I had my mulching kit installed today while I had the end of season servicing. When I mulch the leaves do I set the deck up high and chop the leaves up and then mow?

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horsegeeks,

Do you mean to say the mulching kit didn't come with "instructions":0)
Seriously, I've never used a mulch kit for leaves(since I have a septic system for my home sewer treatment with field lines running through a major portion of my lawn I never planted any trees to avoid their root systems invading my septic field lines requiring a call to Roto Rooter). I did install a mulch kit on my previous Craftsman lawn tractor, but it was to get rid of the piles of grass clippings whenever I mowed. It worked real good for that but I did have to mow with the deck a notch higher than I did before the mulch kit was mounted. Maybe someone with "leaf mulching" experience like user Tindal will chime in and give you some advice.

Well even though I am sick with a really miserable cold I just had to try the mulching kit out. How simple it is to make the leaves just disappear. Under three big trees that had the grass covered with leaves one pass was all that was needed. The mulch kit was a very good investment. Thanks for the idea. Kenny R.

horsegeeks said:

Well even though I am sick with a really miserable cold I just had to try the mulching kit out. How simple it is to make the leaves just disappear. Under three big trees that had the grass covered with leaves one pass was all that was needed. The mulch kit was a very good investment. Thanks for the idea. Kenny R.

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Sorry to hear you are under the weather:0(
Sooooo....you just set the deck height like you normally do and "mowed the leaves/grass"?? Glad it worked out for you(sounds MUCH easier than baggers, leaf rakes and cyclone rakes)!!

Just cut like you normally do ,watch the leaves or grass disappear . with heavy grass it takes more horsepower ,you may have to slow down a little when mulching .but with leaves its no load on the mower at all. again the mulch kit is the only way to go !!!!

Tindal said:

Just cut like you normally do ,watch the leaves or grass disappear . with heavy grass it takes more horsepower ,you may have to slow down a little when mulching .but with leaves its no load on the mower at all. again the mulch kit is the only way to go !!!!

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Tindal,

Do you keep the mulch kit on your mower(did you say what make/model?) all the time? I am still toying with the idea of getting a mulch kit for my Gravely, but since I would have to mount steel baffles under the deck as well as mounting the mulch blades & outlet cover I doubt I would care much for taking it off & putting it on all the time(although I did just purchase a MoJack which would make that "easier"). Even though I'm not seeing any piles of grass clippings without a mulch kit, like you said I'm certain my lawn would look even better with that "vaccumed look"!!

djdicetn said:

Tindal,

Do you keep the mulch kit on your mower(did you say what make/model?) all the time? I am still toying with the idea of getting a mulch kit for my Gravely, but since I would have to mount steel baffles under the deck as well as mounting the mulch blades & outlet cover I doubt I would care much for taking it off & putting it on all the time(although I did just purchase a MoJack which would make that "easier"). Even though I'm not seeing any piles of grass clippings without a mulch kit, like you said I'm certain my lawn would look even better with that "vaccumed look"!!

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I'm thinking about just taking the mulching kit off for the growing season. I mow our horse pastures with ours too and they get pretty thick where the horses do their thing. I think I can mow the pastures one more time this season and I can make my decision for the Spring then

horsegeeks said:

I'm thinking about just taking the mulching kit off for the growing season. I mow our horse pastures with ours too and they get pretty thick where the horses do their thing. I think I can mow the pastures one more time this season and I can make my decision for the Spring then

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Yes , I keep mine on all the time , although when i miss a cutting and the grass gets a real tall it will slow you down a little . I took the chute off . Now I can get close to things on both sides. It's not worth the hassle to take it off and on . I just leave it on .

Tindal,
I noticed you list a Husqvarna as your mower. What year & model do you have, how many hours do you have on it and how pleased are you with it? I "almost" got the high-end residential model MZ5424S when I first started looking. The Mulch kit I bought at Sears for the Craftsman 54" YS4500(made by Husqvarna) would have fit the ZTR. I ended up deciding to spend a little more and get an entry level commercial ZTR.

Mine never comes off. You like how you lawn looks through out the summer. Just make sure that you don't cut wet.

djdicetn said:

Tindal,
I noticed you list a Husqvarna as your mower. What year & model do you have, how many hours do you have on it and how pleased are you with it? I "almost" got the high-end residential model MZ5424S when I first started looking. The Mulch kit I bought at Sears for the Craftsman 54" YS4500(made by Husqvarna) would have fit the ZTR. I ended up deciding to spend a little more and get an entry level commercial ZTR.

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I have the MZ 6128 , it has hydrogear 3400 drives , 28 hp 61 inch cut ,fab deck , I can cut at 10 mph and it looks good . I paid 5000.00 for it , I buy gator blades at agri supply for 11.00 each X 3 = 33.00 per set . I get about 50 hours per set of blades . and thats a lot of grass, I have had mine going on 2 years and im well pleased , I would buy again , no regrets at all.also theres no choke to deal with and thats a great feature.

Tindal said:

I have the MZ 6128 , it has hydrogear 3400 drives , 28 hp 61 inch cut ,fab deck , I can cut at 10 mph and it looks good . I paid 5000.00 for it , I buy gator blades at agri supply for 11.00 each X 3 = 33.00 per set . I get about 50 hours per set of blades . and thats a lot of grass, I have had mine going on 2 years and im well pleased , I would buy again , no regrets at all.also theres no choke to deal with and thats a great feature.

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Yep, I think you got a keeper there!!! And a good price for the features you have(the MZ5424S had a stamped deck, the ZT3100 trannie and a 24hp Kawi engine). For $1,000 less it still would have been a good mower for the money. I simply got the 'commercial fever" after I looked at the Toros, Dixons, Bad Boys & Gravelys and like you I have no regrets whatsoever going with the Gravely I bought. One of the Bad Boys had the "chokeless" engine(I think it was a 31hp B & S Cyclonic) and I was a little "leary of that". Good to hear it's not prone to problems!! Maybe more engine manufacturers will go to that feature.

For you guys that mulch your leaves....

I have a lot of leaves. It ranges from ankle high to knee high in spots. I haul out multiple trailer loads of chopped leaves three or four times in the fall and I only have a 3/4 acre lot. (That includes my house, garage, outbuildings and pool). I just can not comprehend that leaving so many leaves will not harm my lawn.

In the summer I use mulching blades and a plug but in the fall I switch to Hi Lift blades and my bagger. I have a conventional lawn tractor.
Will mulching be a option for me, or will I kill my grass with too much acid oak trees?

horsegeeks said:

Our new mower is just doing wonderfully but fall is coming. We have a lot of trees that drop a huge lot of leaves. Our dealer doesn't recommend towing anything behind it but does say the recommended bagger should pick up our leaves well. It cost over a thousand dollars so I don't want to buy it unless it will really do the job. What is the consensus on that? Thanks for any advice. Kenny R

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I had the same situation I purchasesd the bagger for my JD X140 results as follow. Pick up leaves good. Grass suck up while mowing not so good it does vacuum dry leaves and grass when dry. It can easely block if the load is high but if the vacuum pipe is kept clean good results.

Hope I helped
Regards
PJ

I have old growth on 3 sides with pines in front . I have to mulch leaves around the old growth a couple of times a week so as the leaves don't get to thick .I haven't had a problem with leaves killing my centipede and st .Augustine grass. MULCH the only way to deal with leaves !!!

i had a big country yard that when the leave's fell, i just mow over them and left them lay where they blew to. it was great mulch for the next year. now living in town here, much smaller yard, i mulched and bagged them, put them in a pile, mulched the pile and repeated the process a third time. my pile was reduced to 1/10th to 1/12th the size it was. also the pile was more prepared mulch, will not have the big pile of leave's next spring. used the mulching around the 4 trees i planted in the yard this year. :thumbsup::smile::thumbsup: